AnonymousSalsaDancer
Changui
So, in a month I'll be attending the Berlin Salsa Congress. This will be my third congress, or second large one. The ones before were the Limburg Salsa Festival (five minute drive from where I live, can't not go, right!?) and Bachaturo in Warsaw two weeks ago.
There will be one very big difference for me, though, as my girlfriend is currently on an internship in China and therefore will not be joining me. One other person I know is going, but she'll probably be all over the place and in no mood to stick around, so let's just assume I'm on my own for the congress.
Now I'll want to do tons of workshops. Of course I'll spend my time at the parties too, but I currently view this more as an opportunity to learn from the best than to party hard
Finding partners in the workshops is not something I'd consider a problem. I heard that Berlin tends to be follow-heavy, and I'm a pretty easy-going extroverted guy that usually doesn't have any trouble starting a random chat.
But... What workshops to attend!? There's a ton happening and there are a lot of artists I don't - or hardly - know. So what gems should I definitely go for?
To make it a bit easier to help me, a little bit about how proficient I am or consider myself.
In salsa, I dance on1 and on2. I mainly learned on1, but while dancing, I can choose pretty freely between the timings. I'd say I'm 95% as good on2 as I am on1. Taking Adolfo's workshop at Bachaturo did show me that I have a bit more trouble following a lesson on2. While dancing, I feel the momentum and movement rather than think about timing, and because of that I can dance on1 and on2 almost equally well. But while learning, counting has to happen because there isn't any momentum, and then suddenly my learning ability drops.
At the two earlier festivals I was able to follow the on1 workshops I followed with relative ease (for example the Advanced on1 with Johnny Vazquez at Bachaturo, or the on1 master class with African Jet in Limburg). I also took a couple of courses in Cuban Salsa, around 35 or 40 lessons, including 25'ish that the local Cuban school called 'advanced', though I have no idea where that puts me, since I never took any international Cuban workshops or lessons.
In Bachata I'm alright in Dominican, Moderna and Sensual. In Dominican style, I will have had around 15 lessons from a great teacher by the time the congress happens. In Moderna, I learned mainly on the floor since the style doesn't interest me as much. In Sensual, I took some boot camps and workshops. At Bachaturo I was able to do Korke & Judith's advanced workshop without sweating too much.
As for kizomba, I'm not really all that interested in taking workshops, but in case there's something amazing I'll miss otherwise, I'll just mention that I'll have some 40-45 lessons under my belt by then. Felicien & Isabelle's 'Fluid Moves' intermediate workshop at Bachaturo was a breeze.
And I've also taken some courses in body movement, rumba, orishas, styling etc. Those'll add up to around 40 lessons by now, I think.
So, long post, let me summarise
Help me pick workshops for the Berlin Salsa Congress!
Proficiency:
Salsa: On1 able to follow advanced level workshops, on2 let's say intermediate, Cuban let's say intermediate too.
Bachata: Sensual able to follow advanced level workshops, Dominican low intermediate'ish perhaps? Moderna, I don't know, intermediate too, I guess.
Kizomba: Intermediate, but not very interested.
Body movement, rumba, orishas, styling: Intermediate'ish too I guess?
There will be one very big difference for me, though, as my girlfriend is currently on an internship in China and therefore will not be joining me. One other person I know is going, but she'll probably be all over the place and in no mood to stick around, so let's just assume I'm on my own for the congress.
Now I'll want to do tons of workshops. Of course I'll spend my time at the parties too, but I currently view this more as an opportunity to learn from the best than to party hard
Finding partners in the workshops is not something I'd consider a problem. I heard that Berlin tends to be follow-heavy, and I'm a pretty easy-going extroverted guy that usually doesn't have any trouble starting a random chat.
But... What workshops to attend!? There's a ton happening and there are a lot of artists I don't - or hardly - know. So what gems should I definitely go for?
To make it a bit easier to help me, a little bit about how proficient I am or consider myself.
In salsa, I dance on1 and on2. I mainly learned on1, but while dancing, I can choose pretty freely between the timings. I'd say I'm 95% as good on2 as I am on1. Taking Adolfo's workshop at Bachaturo did show me that I have a bit more trouble following a lesson on2. While dancing, I feel the momentum and movement rather than think about timing, and because of that I can dance on1 and on2 almost equally well. But while learning, counting has to happen because there isn't any momentum, and then suddenly my learning ability drops.
At the two earlier festivals I was able to follow the on1 workshops I followed with relative ease (for example the Advanced on1 with Johnny Vazquez at Bachaturo, or the on1 master class with African Jet in Limburg). I also took a couple of courses in Cuban Salsa, around 35 or 40 lessons, including 25'ish that the local Cuban school called 'advanced', though I have no idea where that puts me, since I never took any international Cuban workshops or lessons.
In Bachata I'm alright in Dominican, Moderna and Sensual. In Dominican style, I will have had around 15 lessons from a great teacher by the time the congress happens. In Moderna, I learned mainly on the floor since the style doesn't interest me as much. In Sensual, I took some boot camps and workshops. At Bachaturo I was able to do Korke & Judith's advanced workshop without sweating too much.
As for kizomba, I'm not really all that interested in taking workshops, but in case there's something amazing I'll miss otherwise, I'll just mention that I'll have some 40-45 lessons under my belt by then. Felicien & Isabelle's 'Fluid Moves' intermediate workshop at Bachaturo was a breeze.
And I've also taken some courses in body movement, rumba, orishas, styling etc. Those'll add up to around 40 lessons by now, I think.
So, long post, let me summarise
Help me pick workshops for the Berlin Salsa Congress!
Proficiency:
Salsa: On1 able to follow advanced level workshops, on2 let's say intermediate, Cuban let's say intermediate too.
Bachata: Sensual able to follow advanced level workshops, Dominican low intermediate'ish perhaps? Moderna, I don't know, intermediate too, I guess.
Kizomba: Intermediate, but not very interested.
Body movement, rumba, orishas, styling: Intermediate'ish too I guess?
