There's No Place Like Home
by Chad A. Wright
posted November 22, 2006

Our recent trip to compete at the 5th Annual San Francisco Bay Area International Salsa Congress Competition was many things. It showed us that we are on the path to realizing our dreams if we stay committed to going as far as we are capable of. Most of all, it was a blessing, and a reminder of what is most important to us.

Of course we went to most of the dance performances, which were amazing - some of the best we'd ever seen. We also went to a few salsa workshops, but unfortunately had little time to social dance or see San Francisco. We were too busy practicing, and working on our outfits and music.

As newbies on the international competition scene, we met lots of the world's most famous salsa dancers, and of course Albert Torres, through innocent eyes. It was like being a beginner salsa dancer all over again in the social sense. Though we personally knew a few people, like some of the people who sell clothes, and some of the cabaret dancers, we were by no means a couple most of the crowd of about 2500, nor had Albert Torres, ever heard of.

We learned that politics played a part in the decision making of this level of a salsa competition. We watched as the written rules weren't always the same as the actual rules. The greatest lessons we learned from those observations is that we have to go with the flow of how the game is actually played, and we have to pay our dues like everyone else.

Though we arrived on Thursday, Sunday, competition day, rolled around surprisingly fast. We had to perform in the preliminary round, which included a freestyle dance for 1.5 minutes alongside the other couples - Imagine several couples performing acrobatics on one stage! And then we individually performed our routines. As nerve racking as the first round was, to our relief, we were chosen to compete in the final round.

However, after seeing our competition in the preliminary round, we knew that two of the couples were out of our league. It so happened that the cabaret division was the most competitive. To give you an idea how good those two couples were, I saw the same competition (world qualifier) in LA earlier this year, and the San Francisco competition's cabaret division seemed to be tougher than its LA equivalent.

When we went back to our room after the preliminary, we were trying to find our motivation to dance in the final round. I said several things to try and lift our spirits. But it took me a few minutes to find the right words, the right reason to be motivated. "We are here," I said, "to share the art we have created together from our hearts and souls. We are here for all the hard work we have put into this to see what our best might be. Those people didn't get that good over night. It's a process to become the very best at something. If those people win, it's because they deserve it." Finally, I hit it: "We are here to represent our homes - where we come from. We are here for your dad, who is sick, and my grandma' who just died. We are here for Buenos Aires, Argentina; and we are here for Indianapolis, Indiana and all the people who love and support us."

With those words said, something shifted in both of us. As hard as it had been to be focused in the preliminary round with all our nervousness, we fully arrived in San Francisco at that moment. When we performed in the final round, we mostly had fun. We performed our choreography as well as we could have, and we did it from our hearts with pride. The crowd really felt us, and we felt them - and we could feel our home there with us.

Even though we didn't qualify in San Francisco, we carried away a truck load of wisdom. And we still intend to go to Las Vegas to qualify for the World Salsa Championships, though we will make a few changes from the lessons we learned in San Francisco.

In closing, Karina and I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all those who have given us support in this challenging process we have committed ourselves to. To name a few: Intosalsa - namely Yang and Erin!; The Intosalsa Dance Company; The Red Room; The Vault; DJ Shawn Juan; DJ Jimmie Jim and The VIP Crew; Gino and Lisa; everyone who bought our t-shirts; our families; everyone who came to one of our performances, clapped for us, gave us a phone call or sent us an email. Your love and support carried us through!

With great appreciation,

Chad