RugKutta
08-26-2004, 01:40 PM
W'sup errybody
What's your most memorable salsa experience?
Mine was my first time going to the Saturday night socials that happen every 2nd and last Saturday at the Sanctuary in Atlanta. There was a workshop going on all day that day, which unfortunately I missed becasuse of work. Me and a group of friends, some from out of town, got to the social that night kind of late, but we were lucky enough to catch the last performance of the night. Everybody who had performed seprately earlier did one huge group performance, sometimes dancing together, sometimes solo, as couples, multiple couples, etc. What I saw completely blew my mind. I had never seen anything like that before that night. I've been dancing for a year and a half now and consider myself pretty decent at least, but I looked at those folks dancing and was like "dang.....I can't even touch that w/ a 20 foot pole..." I had to pick my jaw up of the floor several times. One of the the dancers got on the mic before the end and mentioned that this was the biggest salsa event ever in Atlanta w/ the most big name salsa people there....people like Gordon Neil, Juan Matos, Diane Nunez, and some other awesome dancers who's names I forgot. I felt excited and honored to be able to see something like that. I remember wanting to ask some of the salseras who performed to dance after that, but I thought to myself "They're too good for me. I probably couldn't keep up w/ them. I'd probably bore them to death." Nontheless, I still had a great time that night dancing.
The very next night, my salsero in crime Gary and I went to the Afrisalsa social for the first time. We were having a great time already, when to my surprise the same people who performed the night before showed up! I was encouraged that the ones that I talked to and congratulated the night before actually remembered me. I thought it was so cool how these guys were so down to earth and approachable...it's so easy to think that someone who is a better dancer than you would be unapproachable and arrogant, but they were far from it....it was like being a casual basketball player and playing pickup ball w/ the Detroit pistons or something. Also, I got a chance to dance w/ the same ladies who I had told myself were too good to dance w/ me. It encouraged me sooooo much that they still smiled and thanked me for dancing w/ them (I thought to myself, 'no, no, no, thank YOU!!!') even though I wasn't as skilled as the guys they performed w/. It's such a comfort to know that for them it was all about dancing and having fun, not about what you could or couldn't do on the dance floor. I was already hooked on salsa before that weekend, but I officially became a Salsaholic after that.
Luv, Peace, and SALSA,
Myron aka Rugkutta
What's your most memorable salsa experience?
Mine was my first time going to the Saturday night socials that happen every 2nd and last Saturday at the Sanctuary in Atlanta. There was a workshop going on all day that day, which unfortunately I missed becasuse of work. Me and a group of friends, some from out of town, got to the social that night kind of late, but we were lucky enough to catch the last performance of the night. Everybody who had performed seprately earlier did one huge group performance, sometimes dancing together, sometimes solo, as couples, multiple couples, etc. What I saw completely blew my mind. I had never seen anything like that before that night. I've been dancing for a year and a half now and consider myself pretty decent at least, but I looked at those folks dancing and was like "dang.....I can't even touch that w/ a 20 foot pole..." I had to pick my jaw up of the floor several times. One of the the dancers got on the mic before the end and mentioned that this was the biggest salsa event ever in Atlanta w/ the most big name salsa people there....people like Gordon Neil, Juan Matos, Diane Nunez, and some other awesome dancers who's names I forgot. I felt excited and honored to be able to see something like that. I remember wanting to ask some of the salseras who performed to dance after that, but I thought to myself "They're too good for me. I probably couldn't keep up w/ them. I'd probably bore them to death." Nontheless, I still had a great time that night dancing.
The very next night, my salsero in crime Gary and I went to the Afrisalsa social for the first time. We were having a great time already, when to my surprise the same people who performed the night before showed up! I was encouraged that the ones that I talked to and congratulated the night before actually remembered me. I thought it was so cool how these guys were so down to earth and approachable...it's so easy to think that someone who is a better dancer than you would be unapproachable and arrogant, but they were far from it....it was like being a casual basketball player and playing pickup ball w/ the Detroit pistons or something. Also, I got a chance to dance w/ the same ladies who I had told myself were too good to dance w/ me. It encouraged me sooooo much that they still smiled and thanked me for dancing w/ them (I thought to myself, 'no, no, no, thank YOU!!!') even though I wasn't as skilled as the guys they performed w/. It's such a comfort to know that for them it was all about dancing and having fun, not about what you could or couldn't do on the dance floor. I was already hooked on salsa before that weekend, but I officially became a Salsaholic after that.
Luv, Peace, and SALSA,
Myron aka Rugkutta