Best Salsa/Weather Combo in the World?

[TrulyMadlyAmanda]

That sounds like a great option, thank you guys. My brother currently lives in Las Vegas, but is likely to end up in San Diego eventually, so that's obviously a plus.

Obviously I'm going to need to do a lot of research...but to start me off, can you name any club nights plus their region, please, so I can check out the websites and travelling distances?

I hesitate to bring this up, but...two minuses friends of mine who've lived in LA raised are smog/cloudiness and finding some of the people rather shallow (in the sense of being mainly into fitness and celebrities). You get all kinds of people in all kinds of places...but would you say that's a fair assessment? Is the Salsa scene friendly (either to newcomers or established dancers)? Is it more political or do promoters generally support one another? Is the smog/cloud central-LA pollution-related (in other words, is it sunnier towards San Diego)?

Thank you again for the suggestion, and sorry for the flood of questions.

 

[Smejmoon]

smog/cloudiness

did not want to bring this up, but i could never live in la; lack of sky depresses me every time i go there. and i can take clouds and mist easily; smog is something worse. maybe when i'm not there it's better

 

[Cabaiguan]

almost never rains in portland??? I grew up in portland, it rains like 357 days a year!!!

I second that. I grew up in Portland as well and the rain is non-stop! WIll never go back because I find the constant grey skies so depressing!

 

[thepresenceon2]

Salsa dancers die a slow death in Miami. Avoid there. It's a great party city, just not for salseros/as. Glad you are back, if only for a quick hello and I hope noone on this forum thinks no means anything other than No. Socal seems to fit your bill although, nyc I'd nyc and we're a three to four hour flight got to most of the Caribbean... You can't beat that...

 

[GForce85]

My answers will only be about LA since when I've gone down to SD it has always been for a particular social or their salsa festival, so I'm not sure what their night-to-night situation is.

Obviously I'm going to need to do a lot of research...but to start me off, can you name any club nights plus their region, please, so I can check out the websites and travelling distances?

You can check out vidasalsera.com; it has most if not all salsa nights sorted by night of the week, plus always tells where the live music is going to be. Highlights are Steven's Steakhouse in Commerce (East) or Hacienda Hotel in El Segundo (West) on Sunday nights, PCH Club in Long Beach on Monday and Thursday nights, Wokcano in Santa Monica (West) on Tuesday nights, the Warehouse Friday nights, maybe Granada in Alhambra (East) on Saturday nights but I usually end up going to socials if I dance at all on Saturdays.

I hesitate to bring this up, but...two minuses friends of mine who've lived in LA raised are smog/cloudiness and finding some of the people rather shallow (in the sense of being mainly into fitness and celebrities). You get all kinds of people in all kinds of places...but would you say that's a fair assessment? Is the Salsa scene friendly (either to newcomers or established dancers)? Is it more political or do promoters generally support one another? Is the smog/cloud central-LA pollution-related (in other words, is it sunnier towards San Diego)?

Hmm a lot of people are into fitness but I'm not sure that's a bad thing; I don't generally see anyone being pushy or showy about it, they just want to do it for themselves. Obviously there are probably people like that out there, but I don't come across them. Regarding celebrities, as far as I've seen people who have lived here for any significant amount of time don't really care anymore haha. I'm sure there are plenty of shallow people, but I can't call it fair assessment overall because there's such a diverse group of people living here. I didn't have any trouble at all surrounding myself with good people.

Regarding the salsa scene: I'd say there's some spotty cliquishness toward the very top of the performer pool (performers here mostly still social dance regularly as far as I can tell), but the scene is friendly overall. When I first moved here I was a newbie (~6 months dancing), and I had no problem getting dances and making friends. Established dancers are always welcomed with open arms as well as I think they would be in any scene. Ladies generally have an even easier time given the ratio.

Regarding scene politics: I've seen maybe 1 blowup in 7 years out here (between two promoters in Long Beach), but other than that people either get along or don't bother each other (the urban sprawl makes it easy to avoid "turf" issues). I don't generally see any promoters bad-mouthing anyone's events, and I'm friends with two promoters in particular who have competing events and still are good friends with each other.

Regarding smog: the cloud is over the city proper. I live in El Segundo and work in Santa Monica and neither of them has a smog cloud over it, although on a clear day (so almost every day lol) you can look toward the city and see the cloud. I've actually barely spent any time in San Diego during the day, so premier can probably give you a better idea as to whether there's a smog problem there. Orange County is clear, at least in the towns I've gone to (Costa Mesa, Garden Grove, Anaheim, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana).

 

[azana]

Amanda, so great to have you pop up! I'm not that active on Forums myself these days and one key reason is the strong women's voices gone missing, like yourself and Lolita - and serious traveller chick voices!

Anyway, gave you all this advice last time - as did others - and then you went somewhere completely different!

I like LA very much myself, and tend to crash in Santa Monica. It's a nice place to be, and there are direct buses to the airport, the central station and also Dodger Stadium

 

[nowhiteshoes]

Is it just LA that is smoggy and not California? I am hoping to move out to California long term.

 

[GForce85]

Is it just LA that is smoggy and not California? I am hoping to move out to California long term.

I think just LA since it was developed around cars and so many people live here. There are train system buildouts going on right now and electric/hybrid cars are building momentum, so it will get better. Getting away from LA I haven't seen any more smog clouds, but I haven't been up north. I assume the Bay Area is fine because they have much better public transport.

 

[TrulyMadlyAmanda]

Thank you so much for both the detailed information and the warm welcome back messages! Really appreciated.

Azana is absolutely right, lol. Last time everyone helped me with information, I weighed it up carefully...then went in a completely different direction, lol. I do tend to follow my heart/gut in the end. I wouldn't be able to do that without all the great insider information people help out with, so please keep it coming!

By coincidence I just read something online about the 8 most feminist places in the world to live, and San Jose, California came in at number four. I think the list was a bit America-heavy, though, and probably too dependent on official statistics about isolated issues. Still, probably worth a look.

 

[SnowDancer]

About LA and smog: When I go there to visit my parents, I'm always surprised at how clear the air is. I grew up there a long time ago; and despite the population being much smaller then, the pollution was terrible. And if you can afford to live near the coast (Santa Monica, Venice, etc), it should be fine.

That said, I think Portland is a much cooler city.

 

[Al Israel]

Portland is great from April to October, the rest of the time...
and the salsa scene from what I saw the last couple times I visited and snowdancer's answers probably wont excite you that much even though I am going to see El gran combo next month at an open air festival

 

[terence]

That said, I think Portland is a much cooler city.

One month, I spent a year there,

 

[Salsa Student]

One month, I spent a year there,

Groucho Marx?

Since the bay area has been mentioned here I'll throw out a Mark Twain quote: "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."

 

[Desafinado]

I just read something online about the 8 most feminist places in the world to live, and San Jose, California came in at number four.

I wonder why. I live in San Jose and this is surprising. San Jose is in the center of Sillicon Valley and most of the cultural focus is on technology, and male dominated. The salsa scene is lead heavy. What makes San Jose a feminist place to live?

 

[Salsa Student]

I wonder why. I live in San Jose and this is surprising. San Jose is in the center of Sillicon Valley and most of the cultural focus is on technology, and male dominated. The salsa scene is lead heavy. What makes San Jose a feminist place to live?

Because it's lead heavy?

 

[Fractal]

Feminists don't dance, because salsa is sexist, there are different roles for men and women!

 

[bailar y tocar]

Because it's lead heavy?

Last time I was in the Bay area (salsa eons ago = 8 years back), there were as many women leads as men leads in the Cuban scene. I suspect many of the women were better leads.

 

[GForce85]

Feminists don't dance, because salsa is sexist, there are different roles for men and women!

C'mon man, really?

 

[Salsa Student]

Last time I was in the Bay area (salsa eons ago = 8 years back), there were as many women leads as men leads in the Cuban scene. I suspect many of the women were better leads.

Interesting, in my local (non-Cuban) scene there's only a handful of women who lead and I can only think of one who does so regularly.

 

[Desafinado]

I suspect many of the women were better leads.

Of course, for the same reason that the men who follow are usually better followers. Dancers who cross over tend to be better dancers, more technically aware, and more motivated to learn.