Australia Salsa Classics – Event Review | Bachateros

After several months of intense waiting, August saw one of the most anticipated events of the year, the Australian Salsa Classic 2008! It was inspiring to see the high calibre of talent, technique, artistic ability and musicality in each of the Salsa Champions that each state in Australia has produced. It was definitely time to see each of these remarkable competitors together in one of the biggest nights of the year for the Salsa community in Australia. We were undoubtedly prepared to witness a weekend full of performances, shows and plenty of dancing.

The welcoming party was of course held at Port Orient, a venue that is used for many Salsa events and is also a regular Friday night venue for Salseros. The vibe on Friday night was great! As you can imagine, the welcoming party was a time to chill, meet and greet dancers and competitors from all over Australia. The night had some fantastic shows by other dance professionals not competing during the weekend.

The rest of the event was held at Paddington Town Hall, a stunning venue by itself and was even made more spectacular with colourful decorations and the finer details that make an event attractive.

Saturday and Sunday ran smoothly all thanks to the many volunteers that lent a hand throughout the Australian Salsa Classic. Many of them were familiar and recognisable faces in the Sydney Salsa Scene. During the day, you could find the hall transformed into two separate spaces for the many dance workshops by some of the top dancers in Australia. At night, and with another exceptional transformation of chairs, stages, and booths, we were privileged to observe the much anticipated competitions plus the social dancing. Saturday night was a full house and although Sunday night was not as full as the previous night, it was very much enjoyed.

The number of competitors this year increased from last year’s competition. The amateur division had a whooping number of 13 couples! Cabaret division had 1 couple (Go Carlos and Eli for risking your life in mid-air!). The on1 division had 6 couples competing. The on2 division, the strongest and toughest division, had 9 couples. . And the Team division had 6 competing teams.

What was good:

There was such a good vibe during the event. Even though it was a weekend of competitions, all competitors were friendly and helpful.
As mentioned before, the organizers did a great job decorating the venue and the stage.
Organizers were very approachable
Volunteers were always ready to help the attendees. If you had any question, you were sure to have it answered by one of the many volunteers.
The hosts explained the competition rules and grading criteria between each performance.
The event is growing in prestige. In comparison to last year’s event, the ASC 08 stood apart as one of the biggest events in Australia.

What could be improved:

The workshop rooms were too close to each other. Music could be heard from room to room making it difficult for instructors to teach and for students to hear.
Parking was a hassle on Saturday night, but that was due to the Rugby game happening near the venue
The CD player skipped for a good number of performances. If it wasn’t because of the good vibe, accidents like this should not be allowed at an event of this calibre.

We have to give credit to Salsa Sensation juniors and seniors for competing in the amateur division and then on the teams division. At such a young age, the hard work that was shown should be commended. Also, The Modus Vivendi Salsa Productions team proved to be, once again, the best salsa team in Australia, setting the bench mark for team performances.

The event produced the new salsa champions and the Australian representatives for the World Salsa Champions (WSC) to be held in Orlando, USA on December 2008. We are very confident that our Australian dancers will do a great job at the Worlds! Go Aussies!