The Winter Salsa Carnival Competition continued at a packed Dovercourt House Sunday night as people warmed up to DJ Nilson's music, anticipating the competition. The room got even more crowded as people surged in just before the 7:30pm. competition starting time.
Six couples - Rajeev & Claudia; Jason & Roxy; Andrew & Shirley; Jenzy & Anya; Balazs & Zsuzsanna; Daniel & Selena put it all out before hundred of screaming cheering salsa fans and five judges and Jenzy's mom!
The judges strutted their stuff again, dancing some salsa for about two minutes before taking their seats at the edge of the 'stage.' This is a little something that is fast becoming a Winter Salsa Carnival Competition tradition as Mark Anthony has some fun're-assuring' the competitors and the packed house that the judges did indeed know salsa. But then don't we like watching everyone dancing?
The judges for 27 January 2008 were:
Go Dance Mambo's Stephanie; United SalserosRene Delgado; City Dance Corps' Tina; Caryl; Korikoa's Gen.
It was then the competitors' turn to strut some of their stuff,warming up a bit as Mark-Anthony introduced them to the crowd. Then it got down to business. Of the evening's six couples, four would advance to the semi-final round Sunday 10 February.
Mark-Anthony gave out some interesting facts about each of the judges while they were compiling their scores after each competitor's turn. Did you know that Korikoa's Gen. was a figure skater with ten years experience?
And did you know that Go Dance Mambo's Stephanie was the first instructor in Toronto to produce an instructional DVD and was the first to introduce On2 or Mambo with its intricate body styling and timing to Toronto?
All of this week's competitors had stage presence and confidence. While any of them were able to advance to the semi-finals, only four could.
It was close.
The top four advancing to the semi-finals in February with scores out of 400 are:
1st with 371 points are Daniel & Selena;
2nd with 258 points are Andrew & Shirley;
3rd with 356 points are Jason & Roxy;
4th with 345 points are Balazs & Zsuzsanna.
Short videos of each competitor are posted on www.myspace.com/salsat0 and on FaceBook.
Competitors looking for an edge going into the semi-finals can go through the resources listed below. Pay very close attention to timing and feet, especially when doing shines. Even when facing the crowd, competitors might want to be on opposite feet to keep the timing working, playing it as book-ends in a mirror, so when coming back as a pair, there is no shuffling or 'cheating' to get couple timing back.
Review the short videos here or from friends as 'game tapes.' On2 dancers pay very close attention to timing on turns. Feet and turns have to be on On2, not On2 feet with On1 turn timing. Ensure that both are indeed moving to On2 timing.
Resources for Competitors
SalsaTO's Dance Notes A judge's and a competitor's insight to salsa competitions - more coming.
World Salsa Championship Rules
Winter Salsa Carnival Competition Rules
