| Dushi Curacao Salsa Tour |
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Sunday July 29 – Salsa Tour Warming Up Party
F lights that are longer than one hour are great when you haven’t slept for almost 24 hours. That was the case for Jareau and myself so we slept for the entire flight from New York to Miami and from Miami to Curaçao. We arrived in Miami with Ashvin (DJ Manhattan) and met up with Shaka Brown (Clavekazi), Vianette and Tato (Latin Groove). Shaka and Vianette took a later flight than the rest of us so only Jareau, Tato, Ashvin and I arrived in Curaçao together. Monica (Steven’s wife) and Ismael picked us up and brought us to the Howard Johnson Hotel. Sanileo (Curaçao Salsa Tour) met us there and took us to Tato’s hotel which was on the other side of the river. The area of his hotel is great for shopping and they have free wireless – we were a bit envious. Once everyone was checked in, we came back to the Howard Johnson and went to a nearby home-style BBQ truck and grabbed some dinner.  The food was excellent and the women who worked there were extremely sweet. Or should I say “dushi,” which means sweet in Papimiento, the native language of Curaçao. By the time we finished dinner it was already 6:30pm and we all had to be downstairs by 8:00pm sharp so we headed back to our rooms to get rested and get ready.Giselle, Ismael’s wife, came to pick us up at 8:30 and we headed over to the Granbeeuw. It’s a really nice venue with an outdoor terrace and great floor to dance on. Most of the people arrived around 11pm so we had a very quiet hour or two of dancing. The evening was great and the dancing was fantastic. I danced with a few people I’ve never danced with: Ronald from Curaçao, Raimundo, Rayonell and a few others. I even had a chance to practice Zouk with Chandrika. The night ended around 1am and we all headed back to our hotels. I was looking forward to finally getting some sleep. Monday July 30 – Salsa Tour Welcome PartyWe woke up early and headed straight to Mambo Beach. Mambo Beach is a beautiful beach, not far from the hotel. It’s barricaded off by some large rocks so it almost looks like a very big salt water pool. The weather was perfect and so was the temperature of the water. Shaka, Jareau, Vianette, Tato, Adriana, a few other Venezuelans and I played a few games in the water, practiced our headstands, and tried doing a variety of acrobatic poses. Nabia from Venezuela, a trained ballet dancer since the age of 5, beat us all when it came to flexibility. I’ve got a lot of stretching to do. After a couple of hours at the beach, we called for a van and a taxi came to take us back to the hotel. A word of warning, if you are ever visiting a foreign place and need to take a taxi or any privately owned method of transportation, make sure you ask them how much it costs before you begin your ride. Our ride for 7 people to Mambo Beach was $1USD per person. When we took the taxi back to the hotel with 8 people, the driver told us, as we arrived at the hotel, that it was $4USD per person. He was charging us almost 5 times what we paid to go there. Always make sure you verify the amount before committing to it. We arrived at the hotel just in time for dinner which was a nice catered meal of chicken and rice at Café Havana. Troy and Jorget had arrived by this time so we all had a chance to sit down and enjoy dinner and some laughs. We finished up around 6:00pm and headed to our rooms for some rest before the night’s festivities began.
Tuesday, July 31 – Salsa Tour Night of the ClassicsTuesday was another day at the beach. This time we tried out Hook’s Hut beach. It was a little closer and we didn’t have to worry about anyone scamming us because Monica organized the ride there and back. There were a few more Venezuelans (Raimundo and Brayan) at the beach to hang out with. The beach looked beautiful but the majority of it was rocky. So, we ventured out to find a sandy spot; Chandrika and I found one on the other side of the beach. That’s when the fun began. It was Jareau, Shaka, Vianette, Chandrika, Nabia, Raimundo, Brayan, Troy We were doing shoulder stands and all sorts of acrobatic tricks. Nabia is super flexible and so is Vianette. So, I spent more of a time orchestrating than actually doing the stunts. After that, we had a 300 Faceoff between the men and the ladies. There was a group of guys who each had a set of exercises that they needed to complete and there was a group of ladies who also had to do the same; we did pushups, squats, running, jumping jacks and side bends. The guys won that round; we let them. Lol The workout made us all hungry so we enjoyed a nice lunch of chicken wings and sandwiches until Monica returned to pick us up. We got back to the hotel around 5:15pm, gathered around for a quick dinner at Café Havana and got some rest. and myself.
Tuesday night’s party was held at the Plaza Hotel. The hotel is very grand and all open air. There’s also a small area behind the DJ booth where you can stand on the edge and see nothing but the ocean. It was very beautiful. I was extremely nervous, however, because tonight was the first time I was going to perform my solo routine to “Vivir La Otra Vez.” After the show I didn’t feel the best about it but once I saw the video I realized it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. There were a few parts that I did differently in practice and I definitely felt nervous. Now there’s plenty of room for improvement for the next event. Ana and Joel, Salseros con Clase, Salsa People, Salsa Friends and the Gentlemen Dancers also gave a show. The Gentlemen Dancers did their Mario Bros. routine and I have to say that this is one of the best routines I have ever seen in all of my travels. The music, which was created by one of the dancers, was perfect and always remained true to the theme. The choreography was musical and lots of fun with some very creative and difficult movements. I was floored. The social dancing at the Plaza Hotel was a lot of fun. There was plenty of space and lots of open air to cool everyone off. Nabia’s birthday was also today and she was a bit nostalgic, missing her family, so I arranged for a birthday dance for her. It was her first time having a birthday dance and she was all smiles after that. J The night ended around 2am and we all headed back to our rooms. Shaka had a small Bachata after-party in his room but I had to teach in the morning so I couldn’t stay too long. Wednesday, August 1 – Mambo Beach Salsa Explosion in White
After the workshops, we gathered a group of us together (Troy, Jorget, Jareau, Raimundo, JR, Chandrika, Ana, Joel, Adriana and myself) and headed to a Bahia beach. It seems like we are getting a tour of the different hotels and locations at night and a tour of the beaches during the day. Bahia beach is a nice, semi-secluded beach. It seemed even smaller when we went because there was a large tanker blocking the majority of the entrance. It could have been a bad point about the beach but we were able to make the most of the anchored tanker. We swam out to one of the anchored wooden posts, climbed up the ropes attached to the tanker and dropped into a dive from there. It was my first time diving. I still couldn’t do the jump off the platform into a dive but I’m building up to it. Wednesday night was at Mambo Beach and it was an all white theme. Everyone looked great and considering everyone had been on the island for a few days, we all had nice tans to go with our white outfits. The dancing wasn’t the best because the floor was really difficult to dance on and I kept thinking that my shoes were going to break; I didn’t end up dancing as much or as hard as I would have liked to. There were a few performances in the middle of the night including: Shaka & Vianette, Venezuela Latin Dance and Salseros con Clase. The highlight of the night was the break dancing group. They had a very long routine full of tricks and stunts. They even did belly flops but on their back—something I’ve never seen. The rest of the night was mostly reggaeton and bachata which was much easier to dance to than fast salsa. When the party ended a bunch of us ran to the beach and jumped in the water. The water wasn’t cold at all and it was incredibly refreshing—definitely lifts the spirits. After that we all headed back to our rooms. Thursday, August 2 – Salsa Meets TumbaThursday was a Salsa Tour day at Mambo Beach. We arrived there around 12:30pm and there were plenty of people already there. They had organized a ride for any of the Salsa Tour people that were interested. The ride was very painful; I would have preferred the banana boat ride from last year. This ride sat three people in little hollowed out seats. As the jet ski would go fast, the water under our bodies felt like we were being dragged across rocks. To add to it, there was always water whipping our faces so you couldn’t see anything. Half the time I was screaming “make it stop.” Lol After the ride we were able to get a hold of a few floating rafts and a large group of us spent the rest of the time at the beach racing and playing games on the rafts. The beach day ended around 5 and we headed back to the hotel for a quick bite before the evening’s party.
Thursday night was at the Villa Maria – a really beautiful and grand villa. They had a small stage which was very slippery but, by far, one of my favourite dance floors of the week. I danced every song, as usual. I had some really fantastic dances with Brayan, Jorge, Joel, Sharief, Raimundo and a few other people. The performances of the night were fantastic. Dushi Korsow performed an interesting folkloric routine which had people from the crowd participating including Tato, Joel and Troy. Venezuela Latin Dance, Grizzly Dance Company, Salsa Friends and the Gentlemen & Divas Dancers gave excellent shows. The flexibility and training of the Venezuelan dancers never ceases to amaze me. I really need to start stretching more. Lol After the shows the dancing continued until 2 am and we all headed back to our hotels. Friday, AugUST 3 – ENNIA Salsa Competition NightFriday Shaka and I taught a Turn Pattern class. Everyone really enjoyed the complexity, the smoothness, and the creativity of Shaka’s style as well as the little styling tips I added for the ladies. After the class we grabbed a quick lunch and walked over to Holiday Beach—about a 20 minute walk from our hotel. It was a quiet day at the beach because not a lot of people knew about this beach. It ended up just being us (the people from the US), Raimundo, Nabia, and older couple?? We left the beach around 6:00pm thinking we had to be ready for 8:00pm. The reality was that we were being picked up at 7:00pm so of course we were all a little bit late.
The after party was at the gazebo plaza right outside the Howard Johnson hotel. We had music and lots of dancing. I was amazed to see so many people come out. We stayed out until 6:30am and then went to sleep. Saturday, AugUST 4 – Live Music Night
After the workshop, Johnny from Venezuela gave me a really nice Venezuelan cap. I wore it for the rest of the day. A small group of us headed over to Holiday Beach again. While we were there, Raimundo gave me his Venezuelan bracelet. It was too big for my wrists so I wore it around my ankle instead. It felt really nice to receive something to remember all of these beautiful people. We spent a few hours at the beach and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the evening.
Saturday night was at the Hato Caves, a completely outdoor location. The music was great and although the floor was pebbles it wasn’t that difficult to dance on it. There were a few performances by Imagen Latina, Habana Caracas, Salsa People, Salsation Dance Company and some out of town groups. All of the performances were entertaining and full of energy. One of the people that I was hanging out with over the week, Claudia, has a really beautiful smile on stage. It was my first time seeing her perform and she has great presence. Once the performances were over, it was back to dancing to Cuban Express – a local band and to DJ Manhattan and DJ David Montreal. One of the best parts of the night was when it started raining. Most of the people headed for cover but I went outside with my arms outstretched and let the rain hit me all over. And then Raimundo came and asked me to dance. That was one of my best dances because it was in the rain. I’ve always imagined dancing in the rain but never really had a chance to experience it – all I can say is wow. Somewhere near the end of the night Shaka and I pulled together a few people from our classes and had a little battle. That was fun. The night ended around 2:00am and we all headed back to the hotel in the hopes to repeat the after party from the previous night. We arrived at the Howard Johnson Plaza a little after 2:30am and improvised some music with the help of Shaka’s iPod and iPod speaker. Unfortunately, the local police forced us to break everything up because they didn’t allow congregations in such large groups at those hours. Next year, we’ll have to have the permission of the government to have an after party there every night of the Salsa Tour. So, since the party ended early (5:00am) we headed back to our rooms. Sunday, Aug 5 – Salsa Tour Pool PartySunday was a free day for everyone – there were no workshops or any other commitments scheduled. We had one small commitment between the instructors which was to put together a small surprise performance for Steven and Sanileo. That didn’t take us long to do so, we all headed to Mambo Beach right after. This had to be the best beach day. All of the people from Habana Caracas?? Were going crazy with photos. Anytime anyone tried to take a picture 10 or more of them rushed the people and ruined the picture (or made it better). After they did that twice even I joined in on the fun. Lol We left the beach around 5 to go and get ready for the evening.
Raimundo, Yorkie and Vianette hung out in our room until we had to leave. Rai was supposed to come to the airport with us but once we packed the luggage in, it was clear we wouldn’t have enough space. It was sad to say bye to him and Yorkie. As soon as we closed the car door, I was instantly missing Raimundo and Nabia. Over the course of the week they became like family and best friends to me. I miss them and Gaby, Claudia, Jorge, Carlos, Brayan, Joaldry and the others even now. I’m glad I was able to give them all something also. I gave Raimundo and Nabia an autographed copy of my new Body Movement by Magna DVD. To Jorge I gave a leather bracelet because I noticed that he accessorized with that a lot over the week. And I gave Jesus (Duro Papa) my “Magna” shirt. I have one more gift to send to a couple of people but I haven’t made it yet. Heheh Overall, this year’s Curaçao Salsa Tour was one of the best events of the year for me. Thank you Sanileo and Steven for inviting me again and for letting me a part of the event this year. Thanks to iMambo.tv for helping organize such a fun group of instructors. And thank you to all the people from Curaçao, Holland, Aruba, and Venezuela for making this trip so memorable and so warm and friendly. I love you all!!!
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Monday night was at the Zeilhaven Brakkeput.. We arrived extra early again because we were traveling with David and Ashvin, the DJs. The night started off slowly but by 10pm it was very busy. At that time, Steven and the Minister of Tourism gave a few words and officially launched the Curaçao Salsa Tour. The rest of the night was full of great dancing and great music. All of the instructors were asked to give a small freestyle performance which was followed up by Imagen Latina giving a really nice performance. Though the floor wasn’t the best for dance shoes, everyone ended up dancing all night, including me. I think I need to start walking around with a towel like some of the guys in the dance scene because I was completely drenched with sweat after every song. But hey, I’m not complaining. Curaçao is beautiful and the weather is fantastic. 
Wednesday morning at 10:00am was my Spins workshops – labeled “Spinning Explained.” When I arrived I thought it might have turned into a small group private lesson but by 10:10am the room was packed with people. This was my first 1.5hr workshop and it went very well. Everyone was doing their doubles very cleanly, even the people that were struggling with ½ rotations in the beginning of the class. Even I learned of a different way to explain spotting. When the workshop finished I went outside with the Spins by Magna and the Body Movement by Magna DVDs. I completely forgot to announce the body movement dvd to everyone. 
Once everyone was ready we headed to the Brakkeput Mei Mei where the Ennia Salsa Competition was being held. The competition started a little late but all the performances and costumes were well worth the wait. Manoa and Femke really surprised me this year. Their growth since last year was incredible and I was really excited to see Femke dance with a beautiful smile on her face. Brayan and Joaldry were the most enchanting couple for me as a judge. They had just the perfect mix of salsa roots, technicality, creativity and passion. That opinion was unanimous among the judges because they ended up winning the first prize of $3500USD. Congratulations to them; they deserve it! There were a few performances in between the competition rounds which were very entertaining. Again, the training of the Venezuelan dancers is very evident and makes their dancing much different than what I’m used to seeing around the world. After the competition results were announced, everyone rushed the stage to find as spot to dance. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much time to dance so Sanileo organized an after party at the Hotel.
My Saturday started off with my Ladies Styling workshop which was held at the same time as Shaka’s Men’s Styling workshop. Shaka and I decided to a mini competition tonight between the ladies and the men so we both taught 12 counts of 8 to our respective groups. Raimundo, that sweetheart, attended my workshop. The movements were not typically what people expect from a Ladies styling workshop but I guess it’s exactly what one would expect from my workshop. It was a fun sequence and everyone enjoyed it. 
Sunday evening was at the Curaçao Airport Hotel. The dancing was fun in the beginning of the night but then a lot of the ladies, including myself, had to go and get ready for the Bikini Competition. In retrospect both myself and Vianette should not have competed for a prize but perhaps just given a small exhibition instead. The competition was fun nonetheless. For my final round I was completely dressed in Venezuelan colours thanks to Johnny (the cap), Raimundo (the anklet) and Nabia (the bikini top). It was my way of saying “thank you” to the Venezuelans who I spent most of my time with for making my trip so memorable. It was my first time competing like that, let alone in such minimal clothing. I won Best Talent, Jessica won Best Legs and there was a tie between Vianette and Jennifer for Best Overall score. After the competition all of the instructors came together and did our ad hoc performance to Frankie Dante’s Chupa El Piruli. Overall the performance went well but I think everyone had a slip up somewhere, including me. Lol We all still enjoyed ourselves and that’s the most important thing. The salsa night ended at 12:00am but the DJ still played some music after. I danced near the pool in my bare feet and I had some great dances with Shaka, Carlos, Brayan, Raimundo and Jorge. Finally, around 3:30am we started heading back to the hotel so we could pack and go to the airport.