Salsa in the City

Mike Gaudioso is probably one of the oldest members of the Philadelphia Latin Dance Community.  I am sure you have seen this dapper dressed gentleman on the dance floor many times.  What you do not know if that he was supporting many newbies across the years and serves as an Organizer on Philly Salsa meet up and the its sister-Meetup, the Philly Bachata Meetup.  Let us learn at the feet of a wise and probably the longest standing active Latin dancer in Philadelphia as of the time of this writing.

Imagine this, you wake up on the adventurous side and decide to go salsa dancing.  You put on your favorite clothes, the ones that spark great joy and you set out for the salsa social.  You park your car in a sea of cars and you know the dance is going to be great.  You wish you arrived a bit earlier since the dance is clearly packed and it seems like you might be the last to arrive. 

As you open the door and enter the main room a stiffening feeling suddenly overcomes your body.  Your brain has just registered that everyone seems to know everyone else and none of these faces are familiar to you.

There is a cool crew laughing in one corner and the pretty girls are all huddled together.  Many of the awesome dancers are cliqued near the DJ and each seem to pass between each other like the baton in a relay team. 

Salsa dancing will stimulate at least 4 of our 5 senses.  The ones that are most impacted are sight, hearing, smell, and feel.  I am not sure if taste comes into everyone’s dance experience, so I will leave that one to the dance commandos.

Sonya wrote a wonderful article "Why do women turn men down (in dancing) and what to do about it." and there was a comment that desired to hear from a man's a point of view. I did ponder the question for some time.  I also met up with our buddy Joe to hear his thoughts as well.  Here is how it stacks up between the both of us. Stephen Choo Quan is going to do Part1 and Joe Figueroa will do Part2.

Sonya wrote a wonderful article "Why do women turn men down (in dancing) and what to do about it." and there was a comment that desired to hear from a man's a point of view. I did ponder the question for some time.  I also met up with our buddy Joe to hear his thoughts as well.  Here is how it stacks up between the both of us. Stephen Choo Quan is going to do Part1 and Joe Figueroa will do Part2.

I caught up with Liz Becerra Castro one of the lead dancers for Art in Motion (AIM).   We were going to have an interview win, lose or draw. I think like Katniss Everdeen the "odds were in her favor".  Let's dive down into the juicy stuff.

We are already an easy decade deep into the Salsa scene in Philadelphia.  I was looking around to see the future of the next decade.  One such influencer has been a personal friend over the past few years.  Its about time that a wider audience got to be up close and personal too with the sexy Marianna Bel

It was a warm summer night in Buckhead Atlanta, the year was 2004. Some friends and I traveled from Philadelphia to Atlanta and wanted to go out dancing at a Latin Club.  We were anxious to polish our budding dance skills.  We danced salsa and made new friends. We also danced the ...

One good night Stephen and Joe was talking about their favorite local follows in the Salsa Scene.  We called this list "Stephen and Joe's Favorite Five".  Now has come the time to unveil our little secret.

Here is our list of MUST DANCE WITH Girls in our area (in alphabetic order)

Barbara Capaldi is one of the cornerstones and the most highly credential dance instructor in the New Jersey/Philadelphia/Delaware area salsa scene. Barbara has been a dance instructor and coach since 1987. Additionally, she has a Bachelors' degree in Education from Rutgers University. In July 2004 Barbara received the Licentiate degree from the United States Imperial Society of Dancing for International Style Dances. Obtaining this Licentiate degree has been a goal five years in the making. Barbara consistently strives to use her continued education to be the best teacher for her students. Barbara's next goal is to attend the World Salsa University, which is offered at the Puerto Rico Salsa Congress this July for which she will receive an International Certification in Salsa Dancing.