"Best in the world I'm telling you!" Irina breathlessly said, her face glowing. "You have to go!", she exclaimed, squeezing my arm for emphasis.
Irina's highlight was the 14 - 17 April 2005 4th Annual Mediterranean Salsa Congress in Eilat, Israel. An entire hotel complex was salsa central. All of Eilat was moving to the beat. $US200 got Irina a complete Congress experience including all food, drinks, workshops, salsa parties, shows and room.
DJ Henry Knowles was the headline DJ. Irina noted that his style is like Toronto's own DJ Julio. World class instructors included Edie "The Salsa Freak" & Al "Liquid silver" Espinoza, LA, Ismael Otero, NJ/NYC, Frankie Martinez, NYC, Aviv "Vivo" Ben-Yishay, Israel/NYC, Super Mario, UK, Karel Perez, Israel, Oz Aspir, Israel, Shani Talmor, Israel, Johnny Vasquez, Mexico, Keren Cohen, Israel.
"The dancers are so happy, so professional," Irina continued. Irina danced until 5:00am for the whole Congress. Every possible style of salsa was there; On 1, On 2, NYC, LA, Cuban. "There was lots of Casino Rueda with very complex patterns," Irina continued. For Friday's traditional "March to the Red Sea," everyone danced and partied their way to the sea.
Salsa was everywhere. Mondays it was Cuban at Club Bailatino in Tel Aviv, Tuesday it was Casino Rueda at Hazira in Tel Aviv. There was salsa on the beach Friday afternoons in the sand 3pm-6pm at the Acadia in Herzelia. What a Happy Hour!
The energy was unbelievable. Edie "The Salsa Freak" noted from her 2004 Congress experience, that Israeli Salsa dancers are the some of the best in the world, as they are dancing like it is the last thing they would ever do. 2005's theme was ""Let's promote peace dancing the salsa."
Editor's Note:
Irina's pictures came from some thoroughly salsa'd out negatives.
