alvinthethird
Son
One of my buddies posted this on fb, and I thought I'd share it here to hear what SF thinks, particularly members who have attended congresses in the US and elsewhere- are the criticisms valid in europe, asia, austraila as well?...im largely in agreement with his points, especially the 1hr workshop and the trimming of the performance time.
Why I'm Hopeless About The "Established" Salsa Congress Format
it too early for the venerable Festivus holiday, but I shall air my grievances anyhow, in no particular order of importance:
I. 1-Hour Workshops
You're lucky if you learn a turn and/or shine pattern properly, but normally it's a rush job. The instructor's philosphy and why they do what they do (why it works) is lost in the race to deliver the "product" to the paying customers, who eagerly await at the end of the lesson with cameras ready.
Not only that, but there is an overabundance of workshops, and one can never really enjoy something from all the artists in attendance. The way the current system stands, promoters and consumers could save a lot more time and money if they simply let the consumers record a video of the patterns and movements with counts and music. 5 minutes per workshop is all you need, and then you move on to the next instructor and so on. Granted, I've been able to absorb an incredible amount of knowledge AND some philosophy by artists within 1 hour, but they're the exception rather than the norm.
Instead of having tons of workshops by decent artists, perhaps the best alternative is having fewer yet more insightful and useful workshops (2+ hours, with breaks) by universally established masters of their craft. European and other congresses abroad typically have more alternatives, such as bootcamps and intensive/focused training, so I'm disappointed that the U.S. largely stuck with that "drive through" or "career fair" model.
II. Too Many Performances By Everyone And Their Grandma
Yes, everyone who would like stage experience should be able to get it; Yes, we all start from somewhere; Yes, it can be an exhilarating experience and challenge to perform in front of a somewhat-international audience; Yes, it can be a blessing to have shared the same stage as world-class dancers, which serves to validate your dance journey in whatever way it suits you. I acknowledge these are benefits that should not be ignored, but a Congress isn't the most ideal setting to find these. The issue isn't a matter of "who gets to perform," but how overloading the performance schedule does a major disservice to both performers (experienced or otherwise) as well as the general audience in attendance.
The reason for this is that for 3-4 days on a given Congress weekend, most events will have upwards of 4 (sometimes more) hours of shows per evening. By the time the actual headliners come on, it's already well into midnight or 1 A.M. Afterwards, the ballrooms are closed for a while until they take the seating out and the live band sets up. It's not until very late that people can actually social dance to the musicians that were sold to them. Making matters worse, not every city allows for events to go until too late, with the exception of L.A. and New York (but even those pale in comparison to how late congresses abroad can go until).
Why so many shows? Don't Congresses have an audition process where prospective performers send in a video, which helps the promoter determine if they have what it takes to be on stage?
The answer is essentially "more performers = more money." Unless you are an extremely successful dancer or team, you will actually end up paying to appear on stage (and more than likely, paying your own way and accommodation). In exchange for this monstrous investment, promoters may offer a miniscule discount in the form of a "Performer's Pass," but that's it. Now, if one takes into consideration a performer who manages to get some friends and family to attend the event (and pay to get in, of course), the promoter gets even more money out of the performer. Let's say the promoter prohibits video recording of the shows, but sells DVDs after the event--well, this is yet another way the promoter extracts more money out of the performer (of course, the performer will never see a cut of those DVD sales).
Simply put, it's nonsense. It's tantamount to me paying the public schools I work for in order to work in them--not on a "break even" base but putting me further in the red, just for the experience and manufactured privilege to be there.
Promoters will hardly enforce those audition video requirements because...why should they? It's free money! However, that causes a dragged-out schedule for everyone else, and limits how much others can enjoy the headlining acts. A better solution would be to only book the headlining acts and allow for plenty of time to social dance and enjoy the live band and DJs. The result is everyone has the option of how much to enjoy the evening rather than being forced to sit and wait for hours just because the promoter wanted to squeeze more money out of gullible performers. Even better, why not do away with performances altogether and have multiple live bands per evening?
III. Fading Appeal
In my travels around the U.S. I've come to find that the appeal of Salsa Congresses is usually dependent on the experience level of the participant. Beginning and relatively inexperienced dancers will typically focus on the "whole package" mentality: Workshops, parties, social dancing, performances, and bands. Intermediate dancers are still focused on the social aspect, but might throw in a few private lessons here and there. Advanced dancers essentially forego the majority of workshops and performances, instead opting for the bootcamps/intensives (if offered), private lessons, and social dancing/meeting new people. These notable differences in approach are what leads to the development of unique Salsa jargon or ways of describing things amongst dancers:
Person A: "Hey, are you going to the Yellow Brick Road Salsa Congress?"
Person B: "Hmm, I'm not sure--is it a party congress or a dance congress?"
"Party Congress" is another expression for having a great time, without much focus on the learning and dancing aspects: Parties (whether sponsored by the congress or in hotel suites), "freakshows" (stunts like twerking contests, wet t-shirt contests, etc), and pretentious themed parties (lingerie night, PJ night, etc). A "Dance Congress" is essentially a congress that foregoes all the trivialities of Party Congresses and instead maintains the focus strictly on the social enjoyment and technical advancement of dancing.
Most congresses market themselves as Dance Congresses, but end up being Party Congresses. Before people assume I'm an old fart because I don't like Party Congresses, perhaps consider the hundreds of dollars spent in 3-4 days and how little you receive in return besides hangovers and sleep deprivation.
---
The aforementioned points are just a few of the reasons why I will not be at congresses. There is plenty more, but that's all I want to point out at this time in the detail I employed.
If you are just getting started with your dance journey, I do recommendCongresses as a starting point and something fun to do for a few times. As the current model stands, the luster will undoubtedly fade, at which point I would recommend alternative ways of exploring the many avenues in dance and music (such as focused seminars and talks by various artists).
I'm hopeful a more sustainable system will arise in my time. In the meantime, I will pursue other avenues for learning and enjoying dance that do not involve Congresses. That, or I'll just wait until I can begin a more regular travel schedule abroad. See you on the [non-congress] dance floor!
Why I'm Hopeless About The "Established" Salsa Congress Format
it too early for the venerable Festivus holiday, but I shall air my grievances anyhow, in no particular order of importance:
I. 1-Hour Workshops
You're lucky if you learn a turn and/or shine pattern properly, but normally it's a rush job. The instructor's philosphy and why they do what they do (why it works) is lost in the race to deliver the "product" to the paying customers, who eagerly await at the end of the lesson with cameras ready.
Not only that, but there is an overabundance of workshops, and one can never really enjoy something from all the artists in attendance. The way the current system stands, promoters and consumers could save a lot more time and money if they simply let the consumers record a video of the patterns and movements with counts and music. 5 minutes per workshop is all you need, and then you move on to the next instructor and so on. Granted, I've been able to absorb an incredible amount of knowledge AND some philosophy by artists within 1 hour, but they're the exception rather than the norm.
Instead of having tons of workshops by decent artists, perhaps the best alternative is having fewer yet more insightful and useful workshops (2+ hours, with breaks) by universally established masters of their craft. European and other congresses abroad typically have more alternatives, such as bootcamps and intensive/focused training, so I'm disappointed that the U.S. largely stuck with that "drive through" or "career fair" model.
II. Too Many Performances By Everyone And Their Grandma
Yes, everyone who would like stage experience should be able to get it; Yes, we all start from somewhere; Yes, it can be an exhilarating experience and challenge to perform in front of a somewhat-international audience; Yes, it can be a blessing to have shared the same stage as world-class dancers, which serves to validate your dance journey in whatever way it suits you. I acknowledge these are benefits that should not be ignored, but a Congress isn't the most ideal setting to find these. The issue isn't a matter of "who gets to perform," but how overloading the performance schedule does a major disservice to both performers (experienced or otherwise) as well as the general audience in attendance.
The reason for this is that for 3-4 days on a given Congress weekend, most events will have upwards of 4 (sometimes more) hours of shows per evening. By the time the actual headliners come on, it's already well into midnight or 1 A.M. Afterwards, the ballrooms are closed for a while until they take the seating out and the live band sets up. It's not until very late that people can actually social dance to the musicians that were sold to them. Making matters worse, not every city allows for events to go until too late, with the exception of L.A. and New York (but even those pale in comparison to how late congresses abroad can go until).
Why so many shows? Don't Congresses have an audition process where prospective performers send in a video, which helps the promoter determine if they have what it takes to be on stage?
The answer is essentially "more performers = more money." Unless you are an extremely successful dancer or team, you will actually end up paying to appear on stage (and more than likely, paying your own way and accommodation). In exchange for this monstrous investment, promoters may offer a miniscule discount in the form of a "Performer's Pass," but that's it. Now, if one takes into consideration a performer who manages to get some friends and family to attend the event (and pay to get in, of course), the promoter gets even more money out of the performer. Let's say the promoter prohibits video recording of the shows, but sells DVDs after the event--well, this is yet another way the promoter extracts more money out of the performer (of course, the performer will never see a cut of those DVD sales).
Simply put, it's nonsense. It's tantamount to me paying the public schools I work for in order to work in them--not on a "break even" base but putting me further in the red, just for the experience and manufactured privilege to be there.
Promoters will hardly enforce those audition video requirements because...why should they? It's free money! However, that causes a dragged-out schedule for everyone else, and limits how much others can enjoy the headlining acts. A better solution would be to only book the headlining acts and allow for plenty of time to social dance and enjoy the live band and DJs. The result is everyone has the option of how much to enjoy the evening rather than being forced to sit and wait for hours just because the promoter wanted to squeeze more money out of gullible performers. Even better, why not do away with performances altogether and have multiple live bands per evening?
III. Fading Appeal
In my travels around the U.S. I've come to find that the appeal of Salsa Congresses is usually dependent on the experience level of the participant. Beginning and relatively inexperienced dancers will typically focus on the "whole package" mentality: Workshops, parties, social dancing, performances, and bands. Intermediate dancers are still focused on the social aspect, but might throw in a few private lessons here and there. Advanced dancers essentially forego the majority of workshops and performances, instead opting for the bootcamps/intensives (if offered), private lessons, and social dancing/meeting new people. These notable differences in approach are what leads to the development of unique Salsa jargon or ways of describing things amongst dancers:
Person A: "Hey, are you going to the Yellow Brick Road Salsa Congress?"
Person B: "Hmm, I'm not sure--is it a party congress or a dance congress?"
"Party Congress" is another expression for having a great time, without much focus on the learning and dancing aspects: Parties (whether sponsored by the congress or in hotel suites), "freakshows" (stunts like twerking contests, wet t-shirt contests, etc), and pretentious themed parties (lingerie night, PJ night, etc). A "Dance Congress" is essentially a congress that foregoes all the trivialities of Party Congresses and instead maintains the focus strictly on the social enjoyment and technical advancement of dancing.
Most congresses market themselves as Dance Congresses, but end up being Party Congresses. Before people assume I'm an old fart because I don't like Party Congresses, perhaps consider the hundreds of dollars spent in 3-4 days and how little you receive in return besides hangovers and sleep deprivation.
---
The aforementioned points are just a few of the reasons why I will not be at congresses. There is plenty more, but that's all I want to point out at this time in the detail I employed.
If you are just getting started with your dance journey, I do recommendCongresses as a starting point and something fun to do for a few times. As the current model stands, the luster will undoubtedly fade, at which point I would recommend alternative ways of exploring the many avenues in dance and music (such as focused seminars and talks by various artists).
I'm hopeful a more sustainable system will arise in my time. In the meantime, I will pursue other avenues for learning and enjoying dance that do not involve Congresses. That, or I'll just wait until I can begin a more regular travel schedule abroad. See you on the [non-congress] dance floor!
I think all the input is too much and it begins blend together and cancel out. Again good advice from Wessex...pick and choose what you do. Quality not quantity.
Now that is a feast for the female eyes... 
--I would much rather sleep in and sightsee instead. I try to spend the afternoons sightseeing and trying out the local cuisine at every congress I go to.