| I’m always a little worried when artists invest more than just time and energy in a risk-taking new venture. That said, with Calgary’s first-ever Salsa Weekend, an event that dancer-organizer Tracy Kawalik has funded to kick things off, it’s easy to buy into the dream.
"It’s a lot of work," admits Kawalik. "But the support that I’ve received from the salsa community in Calgary and across Canada has been phenomenal."
The word "salsa" tends to conjure up the image of either a condiment or a flashy Latino stereotype. Unlike such distinctive Latin dance forms as tango and flamenco, salsa is often misunderstood, sometimes being made to look like the sort of nightclub moves you’d expect J-Lo to muster up by accident.
"A lot of people think of palm trees and men with open shirts and gold chains," says Kawalik, "or Latin girls with moles on their faces and their hair in a bun. But salsa has this beautiful performing and social side to it – think formal tuxedos and jazz clubs."
Calgary’s "salsa community" is, in fact, much bigger than you’d think. Having danced in Calgary for a dozen years, Kawalik trained at Dance With France before heading off to Mexico and Puerto Rico. While her Calgary peers started their own project-based salsa initiatives, Kawalik was studying with the world’s finest in Puerto Rico, including masters Eli and Rene Irizarry, and the duo of Tito & Tamara, who have danced alongside Cheo Feliciano and Ricky Martin and whose work appears in the recent salsa flick Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (which was actually filmed in Puerto Rico).
The Irizarry brothers, who host major salsa "congresses" regularly throughout the world (Rene is one of the four top salsa DJs), inspired Kawalik to launch a similar, if smaller-scale event in Calgary. For the inaugural salsa weekend she’s bringing in Rene Irizarry and Tito & Tamara for performances, competitions and workshops at the Chinese Cultural Centre.
"There are about 150 salsa events that happen all over the world where groups go and perform," says Kawalik. "I wanted to do something smaller than other cities for now, but Calgary is growing fast, and I’m hoping it will have a congress of its own."
Joining the Puerto Rican guests is an assembly of Albertan salsa artists, including Calgary’s Encorps, Salsa Rica and tap group Mad Rhythms, and Edmonton’s Mambo Productions and Salsa Addiction. Along with evening performances and competitions, there will be workshops throughout the weekend, opening- and closing-night parties and an awards ceremony.
Kawalik says the weekend is about more than rounding up artists for a showcase. "Dance is a form of communication that we don’t use enough, and the music and social aspects of salsa never get boring – there’s so much to constantly learn."
She hopes that having events like this will encourage local salsa beginners to stick with it. "We have so much potential to grow."
For more information, go to www.calgarysalsaweekend.com or call 680-0474. |
Copyright ©2005 FFWD. All rights reserved.