Salsa Dancing in Washington DC - Salsa Dancing in DC

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This will be a 2 parter, since I can't write too much now. So, it’s the 2^nd day of Salsa in Washington DC! Woohoo . . . Ok, so most of you know that I’m here for a marketing conference (in my life as internet marketer), and the hours are brutal in the meetings (from 7am to 7pm at least), but y’all got to know I’m going to find some time to salsa dance.

They’ll be more news coming, but let me tell you about the first 3 outings (ok, so I’m going out every night, uh, SalsaCrazy, remember?).   Washington DC is now the home of one of my good friends, and ex dance partner, Kristiaan. She is divinity in female form (uh, redundant), and one of the finest followers in the world, hands down, no exception.  Everyone she dances with puts her at the top of their list, and I am no exception. I absolutely adore it, and her.  We met at the Wednesday night Club Zanzibar, a nice club on the waterfront in Washington DC. I arrived early and took the class, and it was … uh, interesting? It was on2, and all shines (no partner-work). The only problem is – this was a club, and there were many rote beginner’s there (about 20 in all).  Unfortunately, these same beginners, apart form barely getting the beat, were of course, unable to dance after the lesson, which limited me to a few meringue dances until some more dancers showed up.

And yes, the dancer’s did show up!  About a hundred total. I dance about 10 times, and was never turned down for a dance, although I did see it on occasion. It was a small night, for such a large metropolitan area, which kind of surprised me.  We get so jaded in the bay area, but we should always remember that we have one of the best salsa dance scenes in the world. I’ve never seen any seen like it in the world, yes, including New York. We have amazing musicians, bands, and nightclubs, that can accommodate large crowds.  So lucky . . .

Anyway, once you dance with Kristiaan, it’s hard to appreciate almost anything else, but I did find much to appreciate. There is something in the connection she can give to her partner that’s . . .ok, I’ll stop.  Anyway, I had some other good dances, although not quite as connected. Like most scenes, it’s more geared towards moves and flashy patterns than connectivity, but I have to hand it to the Wednesday night crowd, they knew how to party.  Definitely not enough women, which I’d find to be a recurring theme in Washington DC salsa, but good music, and fun dancing.

Thursday night, I went out to Cecilias, in Arlington.  I won’t say much.  There were 14 people there, 11 of them men. I actually met a nice woman, got a few dances in, but all in all, it was completely dead on Thursday. I was told that Friday would be better, but I opted to try out a club called Caribbean Breeze instead.

This club was great, and had great drinks I might add (which contributed to my not showing up to my early morning meetings on Saturday – doh!).   It didn’t start until late, since it’s a restaurant, but at about 10pm there were a few people there, and by 10:30 there was dancing. This is run by Earl (GoGo Earl?), of www.stuckonsalsa.com, and he came over to say hello. I also recognized Beto, a friend whom I’ve met at various congressos and in San Francisco a few times. Great guy! Apart from that, I had a few people whom recognized me from the DVDs (actually at every club I went to . . . I suppose anonymity isn’t in the cards for me anymore).

I danced a lot, and stood around a fair amount too.   It was a friendly crowd though, and I had a lot of fun at the club. It was definitely a smaller crowd than I thought it would be. I would guess about 100 people tops, but a fun club nonetheless. This was my best night so far, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the club. It's not a wood floor (stone), but it's fun dancing and good music. There were both on1 and on2 dancers there, of varying levels, including some well known teachers.

More Soon . . .

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