Baltimore Salsa Blog

What is a Salsa Congress?!

Excerpt from May 2010 KayaDance Newsletter (with permission)

KayaDance & the SalsaNation Dance Team had the pleasure of attending the New Jersey Salsa Congress last weekend (April 2010). A fabulous time was had by all. For those that may not be familiar with what a Salsa Congress is all about, here is a little background to help inspire your inner salsa.

The Congreso Mundial de Salsa Tour is an organization that started the original Salsa Congress in Puerto Rico that then continued in Los Angeles. Promoters desiring to begin a congress in their area can reach out to Congreso Mundial de Salsa Tour to start a Salsa Congress in their own city but it is not a requirement.

The first salsa congress in the world took place in Puerto Rico in 1997. The promoter was Eli Irizarri. The impressive number of participants who attended the first congress was 375, coming from 19 different countries. In 1998, the number of participants increased to 550 from 23 countries and included 32 salsa companies performing and teaching. By 1999 interest was rapidly spreading and attendance grew to 800 participants from 34 countries with about 56 salsa companies performing.  As the interest and participation began to increase, it inspired the desire to have a congress in the states. Therefore, in 1999 two years after the first salsa congress in the world, a promoter Albert Torres teamed with Bacardí to make one of the most successful salsa congresses in the city of Los Angeles. Albert’s first event was approximated at having an overwhelming 3,000 participants making it the largest attended Salsa Congress at that time. Since 2001, Albert Torres continues to produce the event independently without the help of the Congreso Mundial de la Salsa Tour.

So, What is a Salsa Congress? A salsa congress is mainly a meeting of professional and amateur salsa dancers to celebrate salsa in their community and possibly advance in skills through, music, dancing, performances, training sessions and much more. Salsa congresses have a set of common elements: shows, workshops, social parties, live bands, booths/vendors, master classes or competitions.

When does a salsa festival reach the level of a salsa congress, an international salsa congress or a world salsa congress?

Answering that question involves considering the following criteria; Number of participants, community interest, international lineup, media coverage or most commonly, prestige.

Personally, I returned from New Jersey more motivated than ever.  After three days of salsa the music is still ringing in my ears. Many inspirational flashbacks will be with me for a long time, especially the Eddie Torres and Griselle Ponce workshops and performances; the incredible Manuel Dos Santos, Angel Ortiz and Monika Stoyanova easy way of teaching and the fascinating fast pace performance of the Colombian team.  SalsaNation Dance Team represented Baltimore in a congress for the first time as a Salsa Team, and made us proud.  Our city has been previously represented by Dance in Time Casino Rueda in other congresses.  I was thrilled to see a lot of friends, instructors, salseros and salseras dancing to fiery Latin rhythms played by outstanding orchestras and having the time of their lives.

A good salsa congress is THE ULTIMATE experience for any salsa lover. I highly recommend attending at least two a year if you can. There is always room to improve and definitely a lot to learn and a salsa congress can help provide that growth for you. Another reason to go is to have a great time having a lot of fun and meeting new people that share your love for salsa. There is one consistent area I saw room for improvement at all the congresses I have attended. In most congresses, I observed that people don’t always switch dance partners but instead they choose to dance with their own peers. Dancers should be open to sharing the dance experience with each other. I will work on a creative way to encourage more open dancing opportunities for our Baltimore Salsa fest next year.