A whole weekend of bachata? I wasn't sure about this. Wouldn't it get boring? How much is there to this dance besides 1-2-3-tap and a few simple turns? Turns out that there's quite a bit, involving patterns, complex (and difficult) body movement, and different styles. This Festival brought in instructors and performers from all over the world, with many different approaches.

I've been to 4 other salsa congresses, and this one followed the same pattern in the flow of the social dancing. Friday, the first night, is the 'show-off' evening, where the top dancers want to strut their stuff. This can be a little tough for those of us who are neither among the dance elite (or especially hot-looking). It's not that the crowd was unfriendly or that I couldn't find partners, but more a case of being intimidated with so many great leads on the floor, and the perception that most of the women were hoping to dance with them.

Saturday was the big night. People who could only attend part of the Festival came on this evening. I had a great time, really appreciating the chance to bachata with so many woman who are passionate about this dance. In a normal salsa scene, bachata is usually an afterthought like merengue, with few people taking classes or getting the opportunity to dance it enough to become proficient. That was certainly not the case here, and I'm even more enthusiastic now about this dance. Lots of salsa locals also showed up this night. I even got to dance bachata with Liz Rojas of Salsamania.:-) 

For the rare times when we might get bored with solid bachata-dancing, there was an alternate room where salsa was being played. When I approached this room, I was a bit surprised that as the song ended, everyone on the floor headed for the exits. After going in and dancing a couple songs, I realized why: It was HOT in there! Still, the music was good, and it was no surprise that most attendees were also good salsa dancers.

Sunday, as with other festivals and congresses, was the 'chill' night. The more enthusiastic of us were the ones left, and we'd made a few dance-friends during the previous days. This one took place at a nearby salsa club, Glass Kat, and started out with an entertaining Masters Jack-and-Jill contest featuring the instructors and performers. There were also birthday dances for Rodney ('Rodchata'), the organizer of the Festival. There was more musical variety this night, with a salsa song played for each 3-4 bachatas, and one or two cha-cha's. This was my chance to dance with some of the female stars. I even got to dance as a follow with one of the instructors.:-) My two dance-friends Stacey and Marie appeared to also be having a great time; it was hard to leave at 1:30 because guys kept trying to drag them back onto the dance floor.

The workshops were another high point of this festival. I was surprised by the number of international instructors. Not only was there a wide variety of bachata taught, but also salsa, cha-cha, zouk, and even a couple of self-defense classes. (I have to remember not to mess with Cheng now that she's taken one of them.:-)) There were also lap-dancing workshops for both men and women, where attendees of the opposite gender volunteered to be the partners. If you think these weren't for real... well, I'm not saying any more. You'll have to attend a future Bachata Festival and find out for yourself. 

I thought all the instructors were excellent. One thing I appreciated was that they didn't try to push us through too much material, but gave us the chance to practice sufficiently. Some of them were also quite humorous. Finally, in most cases, we were allowed to video the instructors demonstrating what was taught.

The festival took place at the Whitcomb Hotel in San Francisco. This is an historic hotel on Market St., about 2 blocks from Civic Center. The main ballroom, where the social dancing and the larger workshops took place, is 2 stories high with a balcony around the perimeter and a real oak floor, much nicer than the temporary ones required at most salsa congresses I've been too. I also liked the downtown location, where I could walk to a museum, shopping, restaurants, and a farmer's market.

To conclude: This was an awesome event, my most enjoyable yet! Can't wait to go to another one. Maybe Reno next January, but can I wait that long?:-)