Street Salsa St. Clair - Fri. Nite!
WOW! Unbelievable! Overwhelming! You had to be there. So much music in one place. So much street dancing in one place! Hot summer night, live hot salsa filling the air, people dancing in the streets. Hillcrest Village and TLN scored a touchdown with their First Annual Salsa on St. Clair Street Festival.
The smiles on people's faces said it all. Even the musicians and the hosts were awestruck by the number of people that came out to celebrate things latin. Musician and Jazz FM 91's Amanda Martinez exclaimed, "Very exciting to host the first salsa event."
"Dance in the Street!" Amanda exclaimed.
And dance they did, Salsa, Cumbia, Bachata, Merengue, Reggaeton with Salsa, Salsa with Reggaeton, they did it all. Old ones, young ones, in between ones, social dancers, superb dancers, beginners. The music and the passion coming from the stage and the crowd brought them in.
Amanda Martinez, the first act on the mainstage set the whole week-end with "Gracias A la Viva." Thank you for life. With keyboardist Julio Cesar Jiminez getting the salsa riffs going, Amanda snuck in a few of her trademark bossa pieces, "...much more than salsa..." and the crowd ate it up and wanted more. All night long, the crowd sang the music.
Singer Luisito Rosario came virtually off the plane from an appearance on Dispierta America direct to St. Clair to sing and entertain the sea of people that filled St. Clair West. City Councillor Joe Mihevc exclaimed that Latin Americans from Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Rerpublic were making contribution to the city and to the neighborhood.
"One Word - Salsa!" Mihevc said.
Every musician, from Amanda MArtinez, to Plan C, Lucho de Sedas, to Luisito Rosario & Café Cubano, and the street musicians -- Fuzion, Wayove, Fiesta Gigana, Maracatu Nunca Antes -- , revelled in this true festival. "Dance on the tile!" they called out. Calling out the different countries, "Ecuador, Colummmmbia, Chile... Like a roll call, the crowd shouted back!!! As the heat in the crowd grew, so did the heat in the musicians.
More pix to come for Saturday!! Including Maracatu Nunca Antes' tribal parade.
