Getting Footloose at the Salsa Congress
Two of the greats of Afro-Caribbean music--Cuban bassist Israel “Cachao” Lopez and Puerto Rican percussionist Roberto Roena--will be featured this week during the four-day West Coast Salsa Congress, billed as the world’s largest gathering of salsa dancers.
The third annual event is expected to draw 3,000 footloose aficionados from 35 countries and 240 U.S. cities. Some 65 teams will wow spectators with routines that have become flashier by the year.
“They’re becoming much more exhibitionist,” said producer Albert Torres, 44, the sometime salsa performer who reviewed 300 entry videos. “It’s getting scary. I retired just in time.”
The congress kicks off Thursday with a beach party at the Boathouse in Santa Monica and a welcome party that night at the Mayan nightclub in downtown L.A. It continues through Sunday at the Hollywood Park Casino in Inglewood with workshops, concerts and dancing until 4 a.m. Tickets are available for individual events, or full congress packages for $290.
Cachao, who pioneered the mambo in Cuba in the 1940s, is scheduled to give a workshop at noon Saturday, following a screening of “Como Mi Ritmo No Hay Dos,” a documentary on the Grammy winner directed by actor Andy Garcia. Later that evening, Garcia will present a special tribute to the 83-year-old musician. Roena, the renowned bongocero and former member of the Fania All Stars, will perform Sunday night.
The congress is a showcase, not a competition, says Torres. A special recognition will go to Joby & Luis Vasquez of Salsa Brava, the troupe that helped develop the showy L.A. style. Some teams integrate salsa routines with their own native traditions: The Hawaiians add a little hula and the Japanese start out in kimonos before taking them off mid-act.
Cuba, where salsa was born, has been notoriously absent from the event. Torres, born in Brooklyn and of Puerto Rican heritage, said his former corporate sponsor, Bacardi, had insisted on barring the Cubans for political reasons. He said he decided to go on his own this year because he wanted the congress to include all dancers.
“I don’t agree with the politics in China, but people are coming from [there],” he explained.
While there’s no representation directly from the island, Torres said a Cuban living in Japan will carry the banner, teaching a workshop on Cuban rumba.
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* West Coast Salsa Congress, Friday through Sunday at the Hollywood Park Casino, 3883 W. Century Blvd., Inglewood. Three evening performances, 8:30 p.m. Workshops Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. (310) 450-8770, or https://www.salsaweb.com/albert.