What is it?

• 3 nights and 4 days of non-stop partying – sleepless weekend guaranteed!
• Shows and workshops from the world’s most celebrated dance stars
• Participants from over 30 countries around the world
• The best Latin DJs mixing your favourite music from dusk till dawn
• Your only chance to enjoy the true spirit of Latin America in India
• A chance for you to dance your way to the most popular touristic sites in India
• 5 star accommodation at affordable prices – luxury spa and resort setting
• Venue: Sports complex with all facilities and amenities
• You just DON’T want to miss out!

Programme:

April 12th – Thursday

Pre-party in New Delhi

April 13th – Friday
16:00 onwards – Registrations and collection of passes
21:00 – 23:00 – Shows
23:00 – 03:00 – Party

April 14th – Saturday
11:00 – 18:00 – Workshops (5 halls)
18:00 – 20:00 – Dinner
21:00 – 23:00 – Shows
23:00 – 03:00 – Party

April 15th – Sunday
11:00 – 18:00 – Workshops (5 halls)
18:00 – 20:00 – Dinner
21:00 – 23:00 – Shows
23:00 – 03:00 – Party (Special theme night called U-VIP. Details coming soon!!)

April 16th – Monday*
10:00 – Departure to Agra and site seeing tour inc Taj Mahal
20:00 onwards – Farewell Party@Taj (Theme Bollywood/India)
(Check the ‘Party@Taj’ page for more details)

The only true star at the 3rd Goa Salsa Festival 2012 is YOU

A pure fun SALSA vacation for all.
We have tried to include everything that Goa has to offer – sun, sea, good food, some surf, Water sports and added to that “SALSAAAAAAAA along with a dose of Bachata, Zouk, Cha-cha and Merengue”, as the cherry on top of the sundae.

My (self)claim to fame in Salsa is not my poor Salsa dancing skills but the because I used to run a community for Salsa right from 2004-2008 organising Salsa parties across various clubs in Mumbai. I wasnt the only one, I had more than ample help from others (wouldnt get into naming them, they all know) but rain or shine every Sunday i showed up at the place to take care of the guests and newbie Salsa enthusiasts who wanted to learn Salsa and dance. As a part of this group, we managed to host more than 150 Salsa parties in Mumbai.

I call this period the Renaissance period of club Salsa dancing in Mumbai.

There were other people organising Salsa dance parties, but the Mumbai Salsa Meetup Group with me as the Organiser was the only community driven Salsa event happening every week (after week). When I look back I wonder why I did it. I was thinking I would make some money (no I didnt make any). But lady luck shined on me with lady love. I asked her “Why does a beautiful woman like you want to be with me”, She answered, “because you are the organizer, the leader”. Well I guess that was reason enough for me to continue doing what I did as a Organizer of the group.

But like all good things come to end, the energy required to keep the parties going were too much, as club owners bickered to us, Salsa dancing is a loss making proposition for them. They said “no one drinks much”. The final blow came to us when Bohemia shut down as consequence of a raid on a rave party happening there (not us).

I never made very good friends in the group, there was no one in the group I met outside our dancing meetups. But they became more like brothers, where a silent relationship with salsa music and salsa dance connected me to them. I love them without having to say so and they probably know about this. Also there are so many newbie boys and girls whose hands I have held and forcefully (bullied) them into dancing with each other. Seeing newcomers on the dance floor gives me a lot of JOY. I like to see them losing their inhibition and becoming one.

Madan Kumar:A few acheivements

“Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go to Salsa. That’s my best-selling T-shirt for women” laughs Abhishek Tiwari, 26, the founder and CEO of the one-of-a-kind T-shirt venture, Salsa Tees

Abhishek has an answer for everything. “I wanted something to define me as a dancer; to wear my dance attitude, if you will. When I began looking for such T-shirts, I found them to be very expensive – 1500 to 2000 rupees a piece. So I decided to make my own T-Shirts with funny captions. Initially, it was all for me. But when I got on the dance floor, everyone began asking, ‘Dude, where did you get that shirt? I want it too!’ That’s how my little idea became a busin

Not just a business, but a flourishing one at that. Abhishek says what helped him take off is “the big gap between demand and supply. People want such shirts – good designs at affordable prices but no one does them.”

“Tantra is very broad. They do a lot of things but my product is for dancers alone. It’s an outward expression of the art they love. It’s an additional way for us to bond, and a unique way for us to give back to the community.” In that Abhishek feels he doesn’t sell T-Shirts; he gives his clients a piece of themselves – a reflection of their art, a glimpse of their drive, a drop of their passion.”

“My designs!” Abhishek jumps at my question as if he had been waiting when it would come. “We offer the widest range of shirts. One of my most popular designs include, ‘In a relationship with Suzy Q’ – a very tough move to master in Salsa.”

Then there is ‘Salsa Man,’ a T-Shirt that unabashedly sports the Superman ‘S’. ‘Salsaholic’, ‘Salsa – Connecting People’ and ‘Certified Salseras!’ are all a part of Abhishek’s colorful portfolio, including my personal favourite, ‘It’s not a mistake, it’s a variation.’

“It’s hard to choose!” But after a pause, he says, “The Osama one! We had this shirt, ‘I wanna Salsa before the Americans kill me.’ It went out of stock when he was killed. Now we do a variant, ‘He did Salsa the night before he was killed.”

“You can create your own shirt and order online on our Facebook page. We also sell at special dance studios across India – Salsa India in Delhi, Danza de la Liga in Pune, and have other locations coming up.”

Salsa Tees will also have their own stall at the 6^th International Salsa Congress in Bangalore from 12^th-15^th August so look out for them.

It’s not every day you meet a young entrepreneur, who can run a business he’s deeply passionate about alongside a full-time job and its travel commitments. But Abhishek is full of energy and you can tell he and Salsa Tees will go places.

“Any last words?” I ask him.

With 39 swing dance flips in a minute, Salsa guru Lourd Vijay has set a new Guinness record. Indian Salsa guru Lourd Vijay has added one more feather to his cap — a Guinness World Record. The dancer (34) recently set a new record for the most number of swing dance flips in a minute, adding six more to the previous record of 33.

“I had no intention of breaking a record,” says the dancer, “I’m often in Mumbai to judge reality shows; I am also a talent scout. I was approached by the production company of Guinness in March to find someone who could break a record — there are many in dance such as rock and roll flips and hand hops. Surprisingly no one was willing to give it a shot.”

Vijay then decided to do it himself. He chose three of his dancers who would work with him on the record. “I needed girls who weren’t too tall or heavy. The ones I picked were from across the country and, therefore, we couldn’t start practising till everyone reached Mumbai about three days before we went on stage,” he explains.

Having introduced Salsa in 1997, Vijay has also been working to promote Latin culture music and dance in the country.

For this record, he says, mental preparation was important. “I have been doing Pilates for eight months and that helped me. The work-out focusses on core and upper body strength, which was necessary for the flips. On March 18, we reached Mumbai and practised for three days. We first saw how many flips we could do in a minute and then in 10 seconds. We reached 33 on the second day of practice and then became confident.”

And with 39 flips in a minute, the record was broken comfortably on the sets of Guinness World Records ‘Ab India Thodega’. “I didn’t think it was a big achievement till it was aired and people began to call to appreciate me. But now, it feels good to have done something like this,” he says.

Following this, Lourd Vijay is engaging in a host of activities this year — his dance studio’s Summer Festival Final, a tap dance workshop and an International Salsa Congress.

Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/metroplus/article2009147.ece

The examiner for this exam was Miss Jill Bush.

About Miss Jill Bush:

Her love of dance started at the age of eight years when she attended her first Ballroom/Latin American class. By the age of 25 years, she had gained Fellowship Qualifications in Modern Ballroom, Latin American and Sequence and was one of the first candidates to take the newly introduced Disco/Freestyle Fellowship in 1995. However, her main ambition was achieved in 1992 when she was appointed an ISTD examiner in all four Dance Sport Faculties.

Over the past 32 years, Miss Jill Bush has run a busy full-time school in England and has had the opportunity to teach all four styles of dance to a wide range of pupils, both amateur and professional. In addition she has been involved with ‘outside’ tuition in schools, colleges and universities, together with overseas work, lecturing and adjudicating for professional competitions.

In 1987 Miss Jill Bush was elected to the Sequence Faculty Committee and soon afterwards became the South East of England Area Organiser. She then went on to take up the post of ISTD Sequence Faculty Secretary until she was elected as the ISTD Committee Chairman in October of 2005

It was indeed our pleasure and honor to have her as the examiner.

Last year the exam candidates appeared in Rumba, Cha Cha, Jive, Samba, Paso Doble and Waltz.

Going forward, this year the Exams will be conducted in Nov 2011 and along with the 6 dances mentioned before we would also like to bring in the Rhythm Foxtrot and if possible the Tango!

Those who’ve completed the Social Dancing Exam last year would be appearing for the Pre Bronze Exam this year.

With the upcoming exams a good nine months away, this is right time to commence training and working towards gaining an internationally recognized certification!!

Again its not the certification but the training towards it that matters, as its rightly said if the process is correct, results will show!

In our own words..

Strive for Excellence.. Have fun reaching there!!

ISTD Exam Candidates_wid _Conrad_Arpita

So come join us in our journey towards Dance Excellence!!

www.conradcoelho.com