Indy's INtoSalsa Dancers Trek to Toronto for Salsa Congress
by Chad A. Wright
posted Oct. 13, 2004

Have you ever imagined what it would be like to go dancing at a place where you shared the floor with many of the best salsa dancers in the world? Where the best Indy dancers were average among the best? Where the dance floor was five times the size of the Blue Cactus, and relatively as crowded on its busiest night? Where there were hundreds, perhaps thousands of attractive, smilin' and stylin' salsa dancers? Where there were three salsa classes available on the hour six hours a day, breathtaking performance in the evening, and dancing until 4am for three days? Where fast-paced salsa music was the norm, rather than the exception? And where a group of good friends with a shared history act as your home base? For Yang, Erin, Ancil, Krista, Susan, Shane, Vinod, and I, we don't have to imagine anymore. We just returned from Toronto's 2004 Salsa Congress.

If some of that description sounded intimidating and no doubt humbling, that's because it was at times. If it sounded exciting, inspiring, uplifting, renewing, and tiring, that's because it was all of those things too. But more than anything, it was a lot of fun.

The Friday night performance started the weekend off with a bang, as our virgin eyes saw artistic renditions of salsa that we could only have imagined, with the exception of a few of us who had been to a congress before. The performers ranged in age from six to fortyish. Regardless of their ages, they were all spectacular.

There was little time to see much of the city, as our days were filled with resting from the night before, taking salsa classes from 11-5, and taking in the salsa scenery -which was not lacking in the least. It was difficult for us first timers to pace ourselves and not try to take every class possible. The congress veterans knew to take breaks, but others of us pushed until going into brain freeze.

There were so many interesting classes for dancers of all levels. Many of the classes taught how to dance on two. It was quite confusing to me, especially when I was nearing the brain freeze threshold. Aside from that, the classes ranged from learning patterns, to incorporating African-Cuban-Puerto Rican-and other styles into salsa, to body isolation, to salsa aerobics. There was something and more for everyone.

The late night parties were undoubtedly the highlight of the trip. For one, the performers and instructors were dancing amongst us. And not only had people traveled there for the congress, but Toronto, I learned, was a major salsa hotbed. That being said, I think all of us felt a rush from just being around such quality. No doubt, the greatest learning we did came not from taking the classes, but from diffusion.

As is the case in Indy, the dancers there were very diverse, friendly, and generally eager to dance with everyone. Likewise, as there were many who simply embraced the passion of the dance and human connection, there were some who wasted their energy judging others.
Conversely, there seemed to be a disproportionate ratio of women to men (poor guys). As a result, it wasn't uncommon for many of the women to ask men to dance.

As far as the fear factor, we all seemed to deal with it in our own ways. One of our dancers said, "I feel like a baby here." At times we would use each other to warm up our bodies and pump up our psyches, and periodically return to home base for a touch of the familiar. Yang, of course, was all over the place, dancing with every salsera in his path.

Then I hit my stride on Saturday night. Somehow it just didn't matter when one of the seemingly pro dancers would appear to be bored a minute into the song and give me the "Thank you" kiss off at the end of the song. Sometimes I would just let them go and start doing shines when they got that look. I got to a point where I was just flowing, feeling, and smiling, just like the feeling I had during the amazing body isolation class I had taken that day. The point was that I truly didn't care. I was there to have fun and be comfortable in my skin, and that was what I did. That night was definitely the most fun I have had with dancing thus far. That feeling was what I started salsa for.

Of course the trip would not have been the same for me if I had not had all my friends there to share it with, and I am grateful for that. Even when we didn't interact, it felt good to have their energy there with me.

If I were to sum up what the 2004 Toronto Salsa congress was to me, it was a lot of things, but they all boil down to one thing: embracing what it is to be human.