August is Dance Month
By Dave Skinner, [email protected], Le Jardin Ombragé, Tallahassee, www.gingersrus.com
Do you like Latin dancing? If so, this is your month. Several of the largest dance festivals in the world take place in August. You don’t even have to leave the USA to find some great Latin dance festivals, and the largest of these will be held this year from August 24th to 28th in Washington, DC. According to their website it has been voted as the number one Latin dance festival in the United States for the past two years. There are series of workshops at different levels to learn the salsa, bachata, kizomba or zouk. Then you can practice what you have learned in one of their seven ballrooms – each with a different style of music, and stay up all night and dance in the 24 hour International Ballroom. There are performances by world class dancers and entertainers for those who want to go as spectators as well as participants. More information can be found at their website at dcbachata.com .
If the tango is more your style, August is the month for the World Tango Festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is a two-week event from August 10th to 23rd that includes free concerts, performances, classes, milongas, and the Mundial de Tango, the world’s most important international tango dance competition. More information about the festival activities can be found at festivales.buenosaires.gob.ar.
With the opening of travel opportunities to Cuba, you could decide to go to the Salsa Festival at Santiago de Cuba (the original home of Bacardi rum) which this year is scheduled for August 22nd to 29th. Here you can dance with Cuban dance partners, take lessons from beginner to master class level, listen to live music by Cuban groups, and attend the many other activities listed on their website. For details go to the festival website at www.salsafestivalsantiagodecuba.com. There are still some travel restrictions for U. S. citizens traveling to Cuba, so you should check with a travel agent to make sure it is permissible.
After learning the salsa in Cuba you might be ready for the World Salsa Festival in Cali, Colombia which will take place this year a month later, from September 28th to October 1st. Cali is known as the World Salsa Capital and takes this dance very seriously. This is only the 12th year that this festival will be held but it gets bigger every year and last year attracted over 5000 dancers from all over the world. Go to their website at mundialdesalsa.com and you will find a countdown clock in days, hours, minutes and seconds until the start.
It seems the whole world is celebrating Salsa and other Latin dancing in August. Here are a few more:
• July 28th to August 6th you can dance to bachata, kizomba, reggaeton, salsa, or salsa cubana at the Afro Latin Village Summer Edition 2017 in Portoroz, Slovenia (that’s right, SLOVENIA!).
• August 9th to 15th we have the Danses Courchevel with bachata, capoeira, kizomba, salsa, salsa cross body / mambo, and salsa cubana in France.
• August 18th to 20th is the Busan Salsa & Bachata Festival in the port city of Busan, South Korea.
