It is probably safe to assume that all Salseros in Sydney have attended at least one ‘Salsa Palladium’. The Palladium event is held every 3 months and each time it just gets better and better. On this occasion, Palladium organisers worked in conjunction with the Australian Salsa Classics staff to host the ‘NSW State Titles’.
With the doors open at 7pm and a 2am close, this certainly was an unforgettable night! The venue was the Factory Theatre in Enmore which has previously been used for other Salsa-filled and performance packed Palladium nights. Although the event started at 7:50pm this wasn’t a concern due to the fantastic atmosphere of the night that kept us thoroughly entertained.
The ‘Salsa Palladium’ was full-on entertainment. Opening the night was the greatly anticipated ‘NSW State Titles Competitions’. It was felt that this part of the event ran very smoothly as the host/MC didn’t over embellish announcing the couples or other messages, making the event punctual and run on time which was nice to see.
The winners of the night were:
AMATEUR: Ronnie Pinillos and Nieves Calvo
On1 Professional : Paul Branson and Alexis Cresswell
On2 Professional: Csaba Szirmai and Vali Damaskou
After the competitions, the venue staff removed the chairs very quickly so the Palladium party could start straight away.
What was good:
- The event was well organized with efficient entry processes, the seating arrangements and the very helpful volunteers.
- Good venue decoration, stage, curtains, chairs, lighting and sound system for the NSW State Titles.
- Fair judging criteria
- Performances during the Golden Palladium were entertaining
What could be improved:
- The DJs would benefit more from playing new music and taking a chance on trying new Singers and Bands. During the event, they all played general songs that have all been heard before. Although this was probably because of the battle of the DJs, they might have wanted to play safe and not take a chance by playing new music.
The one thing that was noticeable during the night is that even though on1 is very popular in NSW, the level of on2 was stronger than on1. It is amazing to see how far on2 has grown when only a few years ago hardly anyone danced the on2 style.
In general, it was a great event. The Palladium guys (Clement and Graeme) are quickly becoming excellent organizers. It was also great to see a large number of Brisbane Salseros at the ‘Salsa Palladium’. It’s high time the Sydney Salseros make more effort to travel interstate to events as well.
We are definitely looking forward to the upcoming ‘Australian Salsa Classic’ and the next ‘Salsa Palladium!
Australian Salsa Classic Website
Palladium Website (Mambo Jumbo)