Slow month overall. Feeling somewhat stuck. Poor month for Salsa.
Oct 5 Mon. Clarendon Grill. Uncharacteristically quiet. Very few dances, good or not.
Oct 6 Tue. Barking Dog. Better night. DJ was Bruno for second night in a row. I came up with 25/25/25/25 rule for Bruno – 25% good, 25% okay, 25% yucky, 25% non-Salsa.
Oct 10 Sat. DC Dance Collective. DJs were EricB and Dola. One of the more notable familiar song was Del Agua Brava. Very few people showed up – probably the TSR/SOS Black and Red Night can be blamed. Introduced to Haleh
Oct 12 Mon. Clarendon Grill. Bruno might have played that Chinita song for third night in a row. Formally met Christian (nice dance with Luz to No Critiques), Tega, Royston (usually wears a cap) and Lorenzo.
Oct 14 Wed. I tried to go to Station 9. It was closed. I took a look at Pure nearby, but gave up after hearing predictable Marc Anthony and no obvious signs of dancers.
Oct 15 Thu. Bambule. DJ was Neo. Quiet night. Earl blamed the rain. Maybe a little over one hour of dancing – it wasn’t too bad all things considered. Mari was there.
Oct 18 Sun. Lucky Strikes. DJ was Renzo. It was about expected. I was introduced to Julie while chatting with Tanya and Renzo. Also Cecelia.
Oct 21 Wed. Another bad luck with Station 9 – the Salsa night was cancelled for something else (I don’t know what). Pure was playing Oscar D’Leon – we didn’t stay (chatted briefly with Masahiko and friend).
Oct 23 Fri. The Salsa Room. DJs were Hercules and Georgie. Hercules played popular standards (Babarabatiri, Chango Ta Beni, Preparen Candela (WS), Anacaona, Hong Kong Mambo, Rebelion, El Que Se Fue (GSR), Merecumbe (JC)) or so-so not-great but generally not horrible tunes. Hercules also played either Babarabatiri or Chango Ta Beni twice. Georgie played more varied selection (Los Salseros Se Van, popular recent version of Cao Cao Mani Picao, the Chinita song, Ponme El Alcolado Juana were familiar tunes). This probably was a more popular night than usual because of Orlando Machuca’s birthday.
Oct 24 Sat. DC Dance Collective. DJs were EricB and Steve Martin. EricB used Kako Y Totico again. Also was it second or third La Llave in a row with normal crowd? Familiar songs from SM included La Agonia and Usted Abuso. With a bigger crowd, EricB decided to go obscure as well, so Steve wins my vote by a nose. I think I enjoy Steve’s selections more when there are few people left. The heat and humidity at DCDC with large crowd is not enjoyable – a big minus. Formally met Manuel.
Oct 26 Mon. Clarendon Grill. DJ Bruno started his Merengue (x2) and Bachata (x2) considerably earlier than usual. Apparently this was because of the Halloween costume contest, which nearly 40 people entered. Despite the unexpected change in musical program, I managed to dance a few times including once with someone named Jenny, whom I never seen before. There were many people present, but many quickly exited during or after the contest. There was another b-day dance for Orlando Machuca as well. Thus I managed not to dance with many people I probably would have danced under normal circumstances – this sort of thing seemed to happen often this month. A new learned name is Olga. Oh yeah – and that Chinita song again was played (Mario Ortiz All-Star Band). One thing though – smaller number of total number of songs seemed to have meant smaller proportion of songs I found awful by DJ Bruno (i.e. the 25% rule did not apply tonight).
When I saw the calender and saw that there were five weekends and that the second Saturday DCDC social had the TSR/SOS Black and Red night, I knew that this was going to be a weak month. Thus I took the time to check out the venues other than Clarendon Grill and Barking Dog. It wasn’t as thorough as I had hoped (mainly because of the Station 9 fiasco), but I think I now have enough to give a DC summary. See below – I may update this in the future.
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Weekly nights of note
Mondays
Clarendon Grill 1101 N. Highland St. Arlington VA
Beginner 7-8 PM, Intermediate 8-9 PM
Instructor – Keith Givens / DJ – Bruno
Music – Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, Cha Cha
Open dancing 9 PM-1 AM (typically ends 12:30 AM)
Entry: $5
Free Parking: Easy (treet parking + free underground garage on Highland St)
Metro: Excellent / Clarendon
Clarendon Grill is the best On2 weekly spot in DC. Most On2 dancers can dance On1, but for people who dance On1 only, other venues are just as good and possibly better. DJ Bruno’s shtick is 2 Merengue and 2 Bachata in a row at 10 PM. Most On2 dancers time their arrival to avoid this 10 PM “Salsa break” for whatever its worth. Dancing extends to pockets of concrete floor above small main wood floor.
Lucky Bar 1225 Conneticut Ave. Washington DC
Free Salsa class 8-9 PM.
Instructor – Avram / DJ – Silenzio
Open dancing 9 PM-late
Entry: free
Metro: Excellent or Good / Dupont Circle or Farragut North or Farragut West
Free Parking: Difficult (probably)
I hear this place can get crowded. I never went.
Tuesdays
Barking Dog 4723 Elm St. Bethesda MD
Beginner 7-8 PM, Advanced Beginner 8-9 PM
Instructor – Michelle Reyes / DJ – rotates (includes El Sonero, El Oso Negro, Bruno, Neo)
Open dancing 9 PM-midnight
Music – Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, Cha Cha
Entry: $5 cover, $10 with lessons
Free Parking: Easy-Moderate
Metro: Good / Bethesda
This is the other weekly On2 spot. It’s a good deal for On1 dancers too. Tile floor surrounds a fairly small central wood floor and is also used by many dancers. Perhaps because the dancing is done on second floor, it can get somewhat warm – although not too bad.
e-Citie 8300 Tyco Road Tysons Corner VA
Never visited this place. It might be better than Café Salsa in Alexandria. I don’t know.
Wednesday
Station 9 1438 U Street NW Washington DC
8:30-9PM Salsa, 9-9:45PM Bachata
Instructor – Earl Rush, Psyon / Salsa; Lee “El Gringuito” / Bachata
DJ – Lee “El Gringuito” – Bachata, Salsa Romantica, Salsaton, Salsa hits, Salsa Vieja, Merengue, Cha Cha
Guest DJs on special nights – Hard Salsa, Mambo, Cha Cha
Entry: $10 for lessons, for party $10 men, $5 women
Parking: Difficult
Metro: Good / U Street
The venue seemed fairly nice, but I never danced here despite attempting to get in 3 different times. Lee supposedly plays more Romantica than anyone else in DC. My understanding is that this is the best option for Weds.
Pure Lounge 1326 U Street NW Washington DC
This is very close to Station 9. I took a peek twice but did not go in.
Ozio Restaurant & Lounge 1813 M St NW Washington DC
Lesson 8-9:30 PM
Instructor / DJ Edgar “The Elite Rumbero”
Music – Salsa, Bachata, Merengue and much more
Open dancing to late (closes 2 AM)
Entry: $8 for lessons, free entry
Metro: Exellent or Good / Dupont Circle or Farragut North or Farragut West
Free Parking: I’m guessing difficult
The venue location is central so it might be worth checking.
Umberto’s Night Club 11230 Grandview Ave Wheaton MD
It exists and still going at the moment. No personal experience.
Thursday
7-9:30 PM Instructor – Earl Rush
Open dance to midnight or so?
Entry: $10 for lessons, $8 entry
Free Parking: Easy-Moderate
Metro: Excellent / Friendship Heights
I hear this place is quite hit-and-miss. Floor is nice and spacious, and venue is convenient for cars or public transit. It might get better – or not. [updated Oct 30. This venue no longer runs Salsa nights.]
Sunday
Lucky Strikes 701 7th Street (second floor) NW Washington DC
Lessons 8-9 PM
Open dancing to around midnight
Instructor: Earl Rush and guests
Entry: $10 for lessons, free entry
Free Parking: Moderate
Metro: Excellent / Chinatown
Floor is nice and spacious, and venue location is convenient. Decent hangout.
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The venues listed below have multiple Salsa nights with open dancing until as late as 2 AM.
Wednesday to Saturday
Habana Village 1834 Columbia Road NW Washington DC
Beginner, Intermediate/Advanced 7:15-9 PM
Instructor (Wed, Sat) – Zulma, Victor, Victoria
Instructor (Thu, Fri) – Leon, Ruth, Bob, Henry, Dupree
DJ – Azucar, Jim “El Duro”
Music – Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, Timba, other
Entry: $10 lessons
Parking: Difficult
Metro: Good / Woodley Park Adams Morgan
I hear it can get crowded here. I hear it’s a fun place to hang out.
Thursday to Saturday
The Salsa Room
2619 Columbia Pike Arlington VA
Instructor - Orlando Machuca (On1, Thu), Saoco (Cuban, Fri), Karen Aguilar (Sat)
DJ – Hercules and guests
Music - Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, Reggaeton
Free Parking: Easy-Moderate
Metro: Not Recommended / Clarendon
This place has the biggest floor of all the regular venues. It is dark and cavernous with strong AC. The resident DJ Hercules apparently tends to overplay some artists. The one time I paid careful attention to the DJ, I noted that Hercules used one album 3 times in a single night including one song twice in a span of less than 2 hours.
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Notable regular non-weekly events
second and fourth Saturdays
DC Dance Collective 4908 Wisconsin Avenue NW Washington DC
9-10 PM On1 and On2 lessons
Open dancing 10 PM to 2 AM
Instructor – Tommy Smith and Jimmy Yoon
DJ – rotating DJ (includes EricB, Steve Martin, Dola, Bruno, Neo, Renzo, others)
Free Parking: Easy
Metro: Good / Friendship Heights – Tenleytown-AU
This is a social not a club. The music here tends to be highbrow and obscure. It's also a regular On2 hangout. Weak AC is a big negative as it is usually hot and humid when it’s crowded.
Other venues I have some knowledge of include National Harbor (new developmental area with poor public transit and costly parking)
There is fair number of irregular events, but many of these are not well established. The best bets are SOS special events hosted by Earl Rush about half dozen times a year and Clavekazi socials hosted by Shaka Brown. With Shaka now living in Miami, I’m not sure what the fate of Clavekazi socials will be, however. Another reasonable bet is Scene Magazine Release parties hosted by Renzo, which presumably will go on as long as that magazine stays alive.
Finally Manuel seems to be trying to get a (monthly?) social established on Saturdays with DJ Andy, who I was told by one source was the top DJ in DC long time ago (until he and his old business partner broke up). I haven’t been to the venue, but it looks nice (see picture). Location is okay and parking looks good. It’s not particularly close to Metro (nearest stop is Clarendon). Good DJ + good floor means = high potential and worth checking out. Next night is on Nov 21.
Spates Hall Community Club at Fort Myers Base
214 McNair Road Arlington VA
9 PM to 1 AM
Meanwhile I’m going to try to turn this poor October around by visiting Philadelphia Salsafest on Oct 31 (Saturday only for me).
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