Catching up with Salsa Stars @ the Canada Congress

I had the chance to catch up with Burju of Boston's Hacha Y Machete about sacrifices a dancer makes in order to travel the world. Since 2004, I've seen Burju and her partner Victor growing from social dancers, to salsa instructors, to having a school, to expanding their dance team, to travelling worldwide in the past year and a half. I was always impressed with their genuine expression, passion and exceptional choreos, sense of musicality.

So there we were at 8pm at the Congress Pre-Party, and Burju explained that they have actually made huge decisions in order to travel every weekend to congresses and salsa festivals to teach and perform. They've let go of their school, and kept 3 student groups plus their pro group. However, some of the pro team decided to leave due to less commitment from their leaders. The jet lag is difficult to adjust to on a weekly basis, but since they're young, they've decided to go for it, build their name and juice it.

"Probably the most difficult sacrifice is losing friends," Burju continued. "When you are on such a busy circuit (the salsa Hollywood celebrity circuit!), friends get upset that you don't contact them on a regular basis and lose interest." Burju even mentioned to one friend, "Three months I haven't called you? I haven't even spoken with my own dad in three months!".

"The upside is that you do make new friends who understand, who are perhaps doing the same thing as you", says Burju. "And having your husband as your partner makes a big difference too...I don't know how others do it when they're not a couple!"

I've always wondered how a dance company manages to do everything at once. I made my own sacrifice not to travel and develop my school here in Toronto, since my own backyard matters to me more to build long-term relationships. I do wonder though, 'what if?', what if I had chosen the other path. It does seem glamorous, even though I know it is a very very tough journey with few but worthwhile rewards.

The great thing is that we get to enjoy their performances and workshops and I for one, am very inspired by Burju.

It's amazing how all gestures have a ripple effect. I had met John (replacing Al & Karla) from San Diego, when I lived in L.A dancing in Seaon Stylist company in 2000. I caught up with him on Sunday at the congress after having seen him performing with his partner Liz (www.johnandlizproductions.com). "Wow," I said, "John, I knew you when you were a salsa baby, and now look! You're all grown up! (haha). You've worked so hard and now you are in the world salsa championships. Congratulations!" And do you know what he told me? I was the first person to have shown him how to dance on2, back in 2000! It was in the parking lot of Cocomo's restaurant in, with my then partner Jay Ruiz. How funny is that! John is such a great person and a great teacher. They have very good DVDs too if you're interested in buying them online!

Then i saw Ana and Joel of Boston's Masacote. I had also met them in 2004 while they were still social dancers. So good to see their troupe is still together, despite their heavy travelling schedule. I asked Joel if their theatre piece called, "Afterlife" was inspired by actual events, such as the passing of a friend, to which he replied, "No, we choreographed it to my piece that happened to be called Afterlife." Ah, anticlimactic answer! Well it was indeed a moving choreography. Ana reports she is thrilled to finally have created a theatre piece to Joel's compositions. Dates for this production are at www.masacoteentertainment.com.

I commented that I thought they did a great job with their dancers. There are 3 men and 3 ladies. All ladies look like they are trained perhaps in ballet and contemporary, moving from their core and highlighting long extended arms and torsos in their piece. The fellas however are Latin dancers and one has had martial arts training, and all move in a different way. The way the piece was choreographed however, made all dancers look strong and the formations unified. I was very impressed! It is hard to find members for a dance company in the Latin genre who have the same training, therefore choreos can be quite limiting. It hasn't stopped Masacote from reaching new heights!

Lastly, I caught up with Marie Josee of Montreal. I had heard that her company Chilital is having a salsa festival which she then confirmed! Yay! It will be in Laval, August 6th, 2009. And GoDanceMambo is invited! I got to know MJ while working in Bermuda for 2 years in a row. Lovely person, same with Roberto. They run a tight ship, so i have no doubt their festival will be top notch. Look out for  Carlo Bernard's (Caribbean Latin Groove) salsa festival in Ottawa July 26th as well!

I am so happy that I started travelling from 1999 and I witnessed so many of today's top salsa dancers/instructors growing. In fact, I've decided to pool all my pics and videos in a video montage for my 20th anniversary of salsa coming in January 2009!