Hey dudes, are you into salsa, bachata, meringue, cha-cha, samba, kizomba, zouk and what-have-you? Then start polishing those dancing shoes, for the Manila-Boracay Latin Dance Festival, a project of Eurotel, will be held on Nov. 21-28.
Eight days and nights of dancing fun are promised by the organizers. A major feature of the festival is the Manila International Salsa Competition.
This was announced at a recent press conference at Eurotel Makati.
There will be dance socials every night, local and international DJs, and 40 dance workshops. The Manila Salsa Congress will be held Nov. 21-24 with a welcome pool party, workshops, shows and parties.
The deadline for registration of the salsa competition is today. The semifinals will be held on Nov. 22, and the finals on Nov. 24. Competitors will be judged on timing, musicality, choreography, connection, appearance, techniques and showmanship.
They will also present their choreographed routine using their choice of music, which must be 90 percent salsa.
The second component, the Boracay Splash Dance Festival, will take place on Nov. 25-28, with a sunset beach party, workshops, day activities, parties and finally a Latin Party in the evening of Nov. 28.
The delegates return to Manila on Nov. 29.
Organizer of the event is Manila-based Ana Palma, a dancer-choreographer who has won many awards in dance competitions here and inother Asian cities. During the press con, Palma and dancing partner Michael Wisniewski performed an exhibition number which wowed the media persons and other guests present.
Prominent foreign dance artists who have confirmed their participation in the festival include Billy Fajardo and Katie Marlow of the US; London-born Leon Rose, a Caribbean salsa dancer; Neeraj Maskara of India, Olesya Sydorenko of the Ukraine, now based in Dubai; and Tze (pronounced Zee) of Singapore.
During the open forum, Wisniewski opined that “Filipinos are great, great dancers and people from abroad want to see Filipinos dance. There’s something extra, spice in Filipinos… there’s something about Filipino culture. There’s social dancing, and we are very social in this.”
Palma said, “Pinoys are natural dancers. Kahit anong tugtog. (no matter what kind of music is being played). Others have to study pero ang Pinoy mabilis, mabilis talaga ang Pinoy (Filipinos learn a dance fast).”
As for salsa, the dance instructor said that “it is not hard to learn this as long as you are interested. Even disabled, autistic persons can learn this, according to a doctor I met. They enjoy, it’s good for them.”
Call 3550000; visit www.eurotel-hotel.com.