Brit Salsafest 4 – After the workshop

February 4, 2006

The reputation Blackpool has for being a party central for lads and hen nights seems well justified. On my way to dinner, some drunk lads accosted and asked me if I played for Manchester United. On my way back to the hotel after the night of dancing, another drunk group asked me whether I knew of or made a good chicken curry. I was warned about this sort of thing at my workplace so I wasn’t surprised. As my colleagues said, it’s not the most romantic place in the world.

Dinner was with a large contingent of Cambridgeshirers. The group did not stay together very long though. When I found myself back to the Winter Gardens, I joined yet another large Cambridge group at the top of the queue for the Empress Ballroom; I had a mistaken idea that the venue (or at least one of them) would open at 7:30 PM. Being early did allow me to grab a chair at the balcony for the show. Unlike others in this second group, I chose to and managed to get in some 5 warm up dances before the show started (before I got cold again).

Tonight’s shows were on the average much more impressive than last night’s shows. Tropical Gem was the big highlight – they have such scary machine-like precision. Swing Guys, who closed the show, were also a great fun. I enjoyed Salsa Dance Squad, but one sitting next to me was bothered by their music. Sacuye seemed to get fair bit of response to their humor from the audience. Leon Rose & Susana Montero apparently cancelled or postponed their performance or switched their time slot with Iris & Osbanis. From distance, it was difficult to get a good look at body movements of Juan Matos, Osbanis, Hacha Y Machete, etc.

Paul Young really talks too much. While it makes perfect sense to acknowledge other people, the way he does it feels very self-promotional and it really drags on. The amount of space dedicated to VIPs for tonight’s show seemed a little excessive too.

Dancing was pretty good tonight – possibly higher in level on average compared to last night but the many of the dances were more difficult to pull off well because I was feeling tired so much of the time. I probably had 25-35 dances from 9 PM to 2 PM.

I’m told that this congress is considered to be a friendly one. I like it a lot on the whole. Many former complete strangers indeed have acted very friendly towards me. Many one-time acquaintances seemingly have become familiar friendly faces. Is it strange that I sometimes feel as if I am treated as if I’m invisible or even persona non grata from people who have known me for quite some time while seemingly being accepted as a part of the group instantly by others? Maybe it helps that I’m not a close neighbor and that there’s no pre-existing baggage.

I was photographed by someone I didn’t expect – possibly for an expected reason. Hmm.