Thoughts on my dancing and participation in the local salsa scene

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Background Story

In recent weeks I have been having so many thoughts on my participation in the local salsa dance scene. I need to address them and settle what needs to be settled.

I've been finding it hard to feel satisfied after a dancing night out. And this is coming from someone who started salsa-ing way back in 2000, a slow learner who took three to four times longer than others to learn the basics, and used to enjoy it very much especially in the USA. I have been in the local scene since my return in 2003 and yes, I've seen a lot of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I'd say the years from 2005 to 2009 and then from 2010 to 2011 were good overall for me. To summarize, those were the Golden Years. But of course, good times never last, bad times do and will happen.

In fact for a period of time, the year 2012 and most of 2013 specifically, I withdrew myself from the scene due to severe dissatisfaction and disillusionment. Things happened that threw me down to a very low point in my life and I didn't want to be reminded of my failures by seeing those who succeeded where I failed.

Only after my life got better did I come back gradually. But I wasn't the same anymore. I didn't feel the need to dance as many dances as possible. I became picky, choosy, selective about many things - the songs, the persons, the potential connection, things like that. If I got three or four satisfying dances, that fulfilled my satisfaction quota for the night and I would go home unless I felt like hanging around and catching up with acquaintances or friends.

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These are the thoughts I've had that bug me (in no particular order):

Why I don't dance often anymore.
Whether I should quit dancing Bachata.
Whether I should take classes or workshops.
Why am I into the salsa dance scene. My motivations and reasons.
When should I stop dancing altogether.
Whether I should go for any major salsa event or not.
Whether I should take up Kizomba.
Why am I not talking much most of the time.

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Why I don't dance often anymore. Reasons why I do not dance much at times:

I don't like the music. This is of course a very subjective matter. What I don't like, other people may like, and vice versa. I could say that a particular song is damn boring, repetitive, long-winded, hard to catch and so on, but someone else might say it's damn good.
The gender balance is skewed. Not enough girls, in simple straightforward language.
Not enough people to dance with.
I don't like the person. Again for whatever reason, maybe because we don't have a good connection, or maybe because that person is an asshole or something. But if I'm asked I usually just go through the motions for the sake of social harmony. But I try to avoid if possible.
I'm not feeling well. If this is the case I wouldn't go out unless I want to just meet a friend or some acquaintances.

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Whether I should quit dancing Bachata.

At one time I learnt quite a fair bit of nice leadable Bachata moves. But of late, I have been losing interest in Bachata. Maybe there's no connection with my partner? Maybe I forgot how to do some of the moves I learnt? Maybe I feel there's too many Bachata songs being played in a row? Maybe most of the dances I've had aren't satisfying?
I know Bachata is popular, but I somehow can't do it as well as I do Salsa. Perhaps only one dance in three, four, or five is satisfying. Often, none.
Unless I somehow rediscover the satisfaction in dancing Bachata, most probably I'm on my way out.

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Whether I should take classes or workshops.

To be honest, I enjoyed the upper beginner and pre-intermediate classes in those days. But after reaching the intermediate level of classes, I just didn't enjoy the class anymore. To be fair they do have some cool routines, but I hated shines and wasn't interested in half the things in class. So I lost motivation and stopped going after a while.
The short simple answer: Most probably not, because I don't enjoy taking class anymore.

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Why am I into the salsa dance scene. My motivations and reasons.

I should address the difference between these two general categories of dancers:
Those who want to challenge themselves with difficult stuff, do performance, go competition, take advanced stuff and whatnot, and
Those who just want to learn the basics and a usable, leadable, memorizable repertoire of favourite moves and cool stuff that is not too difficult to acquire, and strictly for the purpose of social dancing.

I belong to the latter group. I hate the stress and pressure of forcing myself to be what I am not. I joined dancing to reduce stress levels and I don't need any extra stress to screw me up.
Otherwise what's the whole damn point of dancing? If it gives me more stress, I might as well do something else instead.

I told myself I will not do performance or competition or anything that is difficult to grasp and gives me hell lot of stress and pressure. That's non-negotiable.
I will only do as much as I can take without getting stressed out.
I will only do what I want to do. I pick and choose.

A lot of those who are really into dancing dance because they love the dance, they want to challenge themselves, to perform, to excel, to express themselves and so on. It's all good and I respect that.

But for me, my goals and motivations are not the same.

I go into dancing purely for the social aspect, human connection, and in the good old days, to reduce stress. To get to know people. That is why solo dancing never attracted me. Then again my definition of reduce stress may be very different from other people.

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When should I stop dancing altogether.

If I feel I'm not getting what I want from it, then it's time to get out and do something else.

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Whether I should go for any major salsa event or not.

Again, I doubt I can dance to the maximum for three nights in a row. After a few songs I'll just be recycling moves. And perhaps a bad experience I had during SISF 2010 affected my mind regarding the kinds of songs to expect. Please save me from those damn boring repetitive 8-minute long songs! 
As I'm a guy, I won't benefit from going to major events compared to the girls. They can dance with all the superstars and shine as a result, but I will run out of moves if I were to dance with the stars. The only good thing I can think of for a guy is having to improvise on the spot and hoping for a good connection.
As for workshops during events, it's very draining to go to all of them, and I am not keen on perhaps half of what's offered. And from other people's experience, they end up unable to retain 50% of what they learnt.
Only plus point for motivation is the chance to meet up with acquaintances and friends I may not have seen for a long time.

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Whether I should take up Kizomba.

I like the music. But I don't know how to dance it. What's holding me back is that I have not picked up a new dance for years and I dread having to hit the learning curve again. It took me three to four times longer than others to overcome.
And perhaps my embarrassing experience with West Coast Swing made me very reluctant to start learning a totally new dance. I took a workshop consisting of two parts. The first part I could cope. The second part really killed me.
I couldn't absorb anything. Couldn't get the whole sequence of steps and moves into my mind. You know, it's like when you're studying and nothing enters your brain despite you forcing yourself to do everything to learn it. I don't want that to happen again.
Perhaps a slow, controlled entry into Kizomba would work. Perhaps.

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Now this, and it is not only salsa, is that quite often I don't feel like talking. If I feel like it and can click, then it's okay, otherwise I'm much more comfortable saying nothing.

Reasons why I do not talk much at times: (This is not necessarily a salsa thing, it can happen in any kind of social gathering or event)

The subject matter is something I don't care about.
The subject matter is something too deep or technical or not familiar to me.
The language used is not what I'm comfortable with. For example some people insist on using deep Mandarin with me when I only know basic stuff. Just because I look Chinese doesn't mean I can speak perfect Mandarin with all those indirect allusions and classical language from Confucius' time.
We just don't click for whatever reason.
The people are not friendly.
I'm mentally drained from a long day or whatever reason and the last thing I want to do is force myself to talk when I just want to sit back and relax.

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To Sum It Up

Perhaps I am fed up of the scene after being in it for too long. Perhaps I am rather opinionated on certain matters that affect my satisfaction level. Perhaps I have not been meeting enough of the right people. Of course I have met some nice people, but it's not enough to give me the motivation to continue dancing.

At the end of the day we may have to disagree on certain things. It's okay. I'm not you and you're not me. My motivations may not be the same as yours.

Satisfactory Salsa Weekend

The recent Sultan of Selangor's Birthday weekend fell on a Friday and so the whole Kuala Lumpur road traffic got jammed like crazy. Which is why I stayed home the whole day, since I work in Selangor and had no need to go down to KL for any reason.

Anyway that's not the main point. I just want to note that I had a good time at salsa on Friday night and Saturday night after a series of disappointing mid-week outings. Let's just say that there was a good variety of dancers during the nights I felt were satisfactory enough to merit mention.

If there's something missing, it's that I didn't manage to dance with all the people that I wanted to dance with due to time constraints - I had to leave early on Friday night for a "tahnee" session with a group of non-salsa people at a non-salsa venue within walking distance. But given a choice between a salsa and a non-salsa event that clash, I'd pick the salsa event unless there are compelling reasons to go for the non-salsa one. 'Nuff said.

The End -> A New Beginning

So last night was Little Havana's last salsa night before they close for renovations under a new owner. Two hundred and twelve people attended, from regular salsa people to those who have been away from the scene for some time. I wanted the night to end on a happy note and I'm glad it did.

Thank you everyone for your support. You all know who you are :)

There's a saying that goes something along the lines of "the end of something leads to a new beginning". An optimistic view of events, perhaps. One step at a time.

Life goes on.

Little Havana Salsa Finale?

Latest news: Berita terkini: 最新消息 : சமீபத்திய செய்தி : Little Havana has had a change of ownership. There will be one more Salsa Night this Friday, 5 June 2009 before they close for renovation. Hopefully we can continue salsa-ing there after the renovation's complete.

Salsa Congress Beach Party 沙沙大会海滩舞会 Parti Pantai Kongres Salsa ஸல்ஸ காங்கிரஸ் பீச்சு விழா

Now this has nothing to do with the Congress Party of India (INC), the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), or the United States Congress ("Congress"). It's about the Malaysia World Salsa Congress Beach Party event at Sunway Lagoon on the evening of Saturday, 2 May 2009.

Ticket says 7pm so I arrived around 7:15pm and found out that I was too early. Apparently the sound system and stage setup could only begin after the last daytime customer of Sunway Lagoon has left the place. Water park closes at 6pm, people need to shower and change clothes so it's usually around 6:45pm when the last customer leaves. That being the case, methinks that 8:30pm would be a more accurate time to print on the ticket, allowing an hour and a half for setup.

Anyway we were allowed in at 7:45pm, and there was still a little twilight before the sky darkened completely. Sunway Lagoon's normally closed at night save for special events like this one, so I took the opportunity to experience the nighttime atmosphere in a man-made resort setting.

Lepaked around, chatted with friends and acquaintances, got a primer on the locker system from a friendly Sunway staff and walked the length of the Surf Beach. Checked out the pergolas, giant trampoline and waterfront pavilions.

Thought of taking a dip in the water, cos the air felt so hot and humid, but swimming wasn't allowed cos there's no lifeguard at night and no one wants to get tangled up with liability issues. Nevermind lah, can still wet our feet in the shallow section where sand meets tile and water.

Sand and salsa dance aren't the best of friends. Your dance shoes' suede soles will die faster from the abrasive effects of sand. Sand will scratch the wooden floorboards and spoil them in no time, plus make the floor dangerous for high-powered stunts. That's why the organisers had dedicated sweepers to clear the stage after every performance. Thumbs up to the cleaning crew for ensuring safety!

For the party people, there was a makeshift wooden platform raised several inches above the sand. Of course sand kept getting on it. It sloped a little but having a platform's better than nothing. At least the performance stage was level despite the sloping ground below.

After what seemed like an eternity, the show started. The emcee Jamie Jesus did an excellent job of getting everyone into the party mood, you can learn a lot from watching how he speaks. Some warm-ups, bringing on the cheer and giving encouragement to the performers who worked very hard and practised wholeheartedly for showtime.

Time passed so fast when the performances came up one by one. Impressive, power-packed, great performances! I can't recall the exact sequence of performances now, but rest assured that I truly enjoyed each and every one of them.

After all the performances concluded, 'twas supposed to be party time with live band, live music. But, the party pooper just had to happen. Potong stim when the music went dead like a blackout struck the system dumb. There were police and enforcement officers from the local authorities in the midst of talking to the organisers.

What happened? 究竟乜嘢事发生呀？ Apa dah jadi ni? என்ன ஆச்சு?

Apparently there were some unresolved issues with the local authorities. No idea what those issues were. As time passed by it became apparent that the party's over. No more. 收档啦。 Dah tutup kedai dah. எல்லாம் இல்லை. There ain't gonna be any dancing tonight. Not that there was any announcement or pengumuman along the lines of "Para hadirin sekalian, harap maklum, majlis ini telah dibatalkan, semua boleh bersurai sekarang, terima kasih," we sorta kinda figured that out ourselves.

For an hour or so after the music died, everybody just lepaked around in groups of friends, chatting and lingering before dispersing. Haiya, buat apa tunggu lagi, tak boleh buat apa-apa, balik rumah saja lah. Oh well. At least we got to see the performances and enjoy lepaking at the beach at night. But kesian those who came late or bought tickets at the door.

Fortunately, those who bought tickets specifically for the beach party were compensated by free entry to the Sunday night party. At least I was fortunate enough to be notified, but seems that not everyone got the message.

Verdict: Was wokay but could have been better. Communication, communication, communication!

Salsa In The City 市内沙沙 Salsa Di Bandaraya ஊரில் ஸல்ஸ

One fine evening I went to this event, which was touted to be some kinda grand salsa event in a club environment. Or so it seems. So I went to Quattro for their so-called "Salsa" event yesterday. Free flow of beer before 10pm sure drew quite a lot of people.

The main events happened at the Autumn Room which was super crowded with a number of dance people and an overwhelming majority of non-dancers. Wasn't as "dance-friendly" as many of the dance people expected. Limited floor space and the type of music played didn't make things better, although there were some salsas and bachatas interspersed with samba and chachaton before 11pm. After that the music became neither salsa nor latin. (Hint to dancers: Time to chow.)

Granted, they had a live Latino band performing but they were at the Spring Room, a different section not directly connected to the Autumn Room. As for special stuff, there were a few performances - Jaxen & Mavis (salsa), Norman & Evelyn (bachata), Jaxen & Cecilia (zouk) and also some Tequila Pop drinking competitions.

In my opinion, dance kaki wouldn't feel drawn to go there again based on yesterday's experience. In fact some left early to go to Club 9 and the Six Lounge where they could dance salsa on a Tuesday night.

Multilingual Malaysian Salsa

Malaysia World Salsa Congress
Kongres Salsa Malaysia Sedunia
马来西亚世界沙沙大会 (Mandarin: malaixiya shasha dahui, Cantonese: maloisaia sasa daaiwui)
மலேசியா உலகம் ஸல்ஸ காங்கிரஸ் (maleesiyaa ulagam SalSa kaanggiraS)

Malaysian Salsa Festival
Pesta Salsa Malaysia
马来西亚沙沙节 (Mandarin: malaixiya shasha jie, Cantonese: maloisaia sasa jit)
மலேசியா ஸல்ஸ விழா (maleesiyaa SalSa viḻaa)