Main Party At The Hamburg Congress

July 19, 2008

After another dinner with Tracy (this time Italian – Tiffany’s I think? It was less interesting all-around than Café Paris last night), I headed to CCH shortly after 11:30. This time I missed the first set of shows altogether.

After a few decent or better dances typical of this Congress, I watched the second set of shows seated in the far corner looking at the screen rather than the performers directly. I think this made the performances even less interesting. I disliked pretty much all of the music and especially the way they were cut up and bandaged together. The only exception was Eddie Torres. The dancing was okay but not particularly impressive on the screen, but the music represented a change back to sanity. The final act Swinguys were utterly boring on the screen – no doubt in part because I have seen the same act several times already. I wonder how they and the rest of Alberto Torres’ entourage will be received in Cali.

The rest of the social started well enough. Solid to very nice dances. Then Andy Montanez and his band Mercadonegro started. Hmm. First two songs were so-so. Third was better. Three of the best known hits were Se Le Ve, El Swing and Un Verano En New York. Although Andy Montanez is a pretty big name, he doesn’t have a great deal of hits – probably no more than a half dozen dance hits are known even to a fairly serious non-native collector. For me the extending of many of the songs didn’t do much – quite boring in fact. The attempted conversation with the audience fell completely flat, not surprising given only a small minority of the dancers spoke Spanish.

It was a relief when the DJ started spinning again. The first several songs were nice well-known ones too. The songs choices by the DJs for the rest of the evening was very good and much to my liking. Even the DJ who played the three Timba in a row last night was doing much better in terms of selection – at least to my liking. However, the same guy was making a big nuisance of himself in other ways including using sound effects (nonchalant to irritating), premature stopping of songs (why? why? why?) and the worst – accidental or deliberate lowering of the volume on two different occasions. I think there were some boos and hisses second time it happened. Amazing. The two times I look at the DJ booth in irritation both nights, it was the same clown acting as if he’s on the top of the world or acting defiant.

Overall Salsa dancing for me was better than last night. Very very good. There wasn’t as much Cha Cha, but I found enthusiastic partners for most of the opportunities given. I felt less tired at the closing time at 5 AM compared to how I felt by 3:30 AM Friday night.

Once again the space closest to the stage and to the left of centre was the most crowded. Once again I ended up staying away until much later in the evening. I was dancing more than taking breaks, and huddling in tight space simply did not appeal. I couldn’t even tell you how much social dancing the performers and big names were doing because I really wasn’t paying attention. Also I wouldn’t have been able to recognize most of them anyway – aside from Mario and Edie, who I did spot once or twice all night and Eddie, who I didn’t see during social dancing. My impression was that many of them were indeed dancing unlike at Bournemouth for whatever its worth.