salsamarty
Son
San Francisco dancer in NYC – 5 nights of salsa reviews
Note: This is transferred directly from DanceForums. A SalsaForum member suggested I repost it here. I am aware that there is some membership overlap. Hope this helps those who only visit SalsaForms.
Thanks to DF members for recommending clubs.
These reviews apply to my week in NYC on September 21-28. Five nights straight is definitely a record for me. This is not exactly a statistical sampling but I think the experience tells me a little about the difference between the SF and NYC salsa scenes. Here is a summary of the clubs for other visitors to the city.
Monday – Taj (48 W 21st St). This is a nice dark intimate bar. The skill level of the dancers was pretty good. A few criticisms though . . . The dance floor was a little too slick for the leather soled dance shoes I was wearing so I had to be pretty careful. The drinks are way too expensive. The music is a tad too loud but fortunately I brought my earplugs. I got in several dances and I generally had a good time. I probably wouldn’t go back if there is an alternative. Some DF members mentioned Session 73 for Monday’s.
Tuesday – Sidebar (120 East 15th St.) I got to Sidebar at 9pm and the dancing was already going strong. The bar is an oval and there is room to dance on both sides of the bar though the all the dancing was only on one side while I was there making for a fairly small dance space. It is well lit and there is a mezzanine where you can sit to watch the action. The skill level of the dancers is very high. Everyone was really friendly and I got a lot of dancing in. This place is basically fantastic and I would be here every Tuesday if I lived in NYC.
Wednesday – LQ (511 Lexington Avenue) Don’t go here . . . enough said . . .
Thursday – Club Cache (221 W 46th St) This place is a hidden gem and I do mean hidden. It was a block from my hotel and I thought I would just check the location earlier in the evening. All I saw was an Italian restaurant. It turns out that at about 9:30 a sign goes up over a door that normally says “Tony and Tina’s Wedding” and “voila” you have Club Cache. Down some steep stairs and there is a nice dance/performance space. There was a short on-2 beginners lesson by the bar. The skill level of the dancers was very high and I recognized some of the dancers from Sidebar. Once again I had a fantastic time here and would highly recommend this club. It starts a little late. I was there from 10pm – 1:30pm.
Friday – Abakua (412 Eighth Avenue) This is an elegant dance studio on a fourth floor, one side of which is Club 412. It opens at 9pm but few people show up before 10:30. It is a social so I socialized with the few people who were there and got in some dancing. They were mostly beginners. At 10:30 the really experienced dancers showed up. This club is where I finally met my match with the NYC salsa scene. The music was great but it was also very challenging for my level of musicality which is pretty weak on my part. I couldn’t really keep up. I did enjoy watching for a while. I would recommend this club to highly skilled dancers. This club gives me something to aspire too.
So here are the differences between the SF and NYC salsa scenes that I saw during my 5 nights of salsa:
* It is a very young crowd. There is more age diversity or lets say a larger age range in San Francisco.
* The skill level of the NYC clubs is very high. There were almost no beginners and intermediates. I would rate myself as an intermediate. I try to dance with advanced dancers whenever I can because how else will I get from here to there? NYC was fun but a bit intimidating.
* All the music was DJ music this past week. No live music which SF has regularly Tuesday – Saturday. I would assume that NYC has live music somewhere sometime.
* The places I went to in NYC were relatively small crowds relative to the crowds in SF but I realize that crowd size can be highly variable.
* I wasn’t going out for the lessons. The one lesson at Cache was about 30 minutes of the basics. Club lessons in the Bay Area are a much bigger thing. They go on for about an hour. There are beginner and intermediate level lessons. They can sometimes get pretty large attendance. There can easily be 40-50 couples at Allegro or Cocomo for lessons in SF
Basically, I had a great time and look forward to returning sometime. Thanks. I wouldn’t have been able to have this good a time without DF member recommendations!
Note: This is transferred directly from DanceForums. A SalsaForum member suggested I repost it here. I am aware that there is some membership overlap. Hope this helps those who only visit SalsaForms.
Thanks to DF members for recommending clubs.
These reviews apply to my week in NYC on September 21-28. Five nights straight is definitely a record for me. This is not exactly a statistical sampling but I think the experience tells me a little about the difference between the SF and NYC salsa scenes. Here is a summary of the clubs for other visitors to the city.
Monday – Taj (48 W 21st St). This is a nice dark intimate bar. The skill level of the dancers was pretty good. A few criticisms though . . . The dance floor was a little too slick for the leather soled dance shoes I was wearing so I had to be pretty careful. The drinks are way too expensive. The music is a tad too loud but fortunately I brought my earplugs. I got in several dances and I generally had a good time. I probably wouldn’t go back if there is an alternative. Some DF members mentioned Session 73 for Monday’s.
Tuesday – Sidebar (120 East 15th St.) I got to Sidebar at 9pm and the dancing was already going strong. The bar is an oval and there is room to dance on both sides of the bar though the all the dancing was only on one side while I was there making for a fairly small dance space. It is well lit and there is a mezzanine where you can sit to watch the action. The skill level of the dancers is very high. Everyone was really friendly and I got a lot of dancing in. This place is basically fantastic and I would be here every Tuesday if I lived in NYC.
Wednesday – LQ (511 Lexington Avenue) Don’t go here . . . enough said . . .
Thursday – Club Cache (221 W 46th St) This place is a hidden gem and I do mean hidden. It was a block from my hotel and I thought I would just check the location earlier in the evening. All I saw was an Italian restaurant. It turns out that at about 9:30 a sign goes up over a door that normally says “Tony and Tina’s Wedding” and “voila” you have Club Cache. Down some steep stairs and there is a nice dance/performance space. There was a short on-2 beginners lesson by the bar. The skill level of the dancers was very high and I recognized some of the dancers from Sidebar. Once again I had a fantastic time here and would highly recommend this club. It starts a little late. I was there from 10pm – 1:30pm.
Friday – Abakua (412 Eighth Avenue) This is an elegant dance studio on a fourth floor, one side of which is Club 412. It opens at 9pm but few people show up before 10:30. It is a social so I socialized with the few people who were there and got in some dancing. They were mostly beginners. At 10:30 the really experienced dancers showed up. This club is where I finally met my match with the NYC salsa scene. The music was great but it was also very challenging for my level of musicality which is pretty weak on my part. I couldn’t really keep up. I did enjoy watching for a while. I would recommend this club to highly skilled dancers. This club gives me something to aspire too.
So here are the differences between the SF and NYC salsa scenes that I saw during my 5 nights of salsa:
* It is a very young crowd. There is more age diversity or lets say a larger age range in San Francisco.
* The skill level of the NYC clubs is very high. There were almost no beginners and intermediates. I would rate myself as an intermediate. I try to dance with advanced dancers whenever I can because how else will I get from here to there? NYC was fun but a bit intimidating.
* All the music was DJ music this past week. No live music which SF has regularly Tuesday – Saturday. I would assume that NYC has live music somewhere sometime.
* The places I went to in NYC were relatively small crowds relative to the crowds in SF but I realize that crowd size can be highly variable.
* I wasn’t going out for the lessons. The one lesson at Cache was about 30 minutes of the basics. Club lessons in the Bay Area are a much bigger thing. They go on for about an hour. There are beginner and intermediate level lessons. They can sometimes get pretty large attendance. There can easily be 40-50 couples at Allegro or Cocomo for lessons in SF
Basically, I had a great time and look forward to returning sometime. Thanks. I wouldn’t have been able to have this good a time without DF member recommendations!
hey it was nice to read about your experience of the NY salsa scene. 
. 