Salsa People always make a Plan!

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Chilly

2 weeks ago, I organised drinks after work with a bunch of friends. Unfortunately, the night began with a misunderstanding about the actual venue – Was it the Grand Daddy Hotel or Daddy Long Legs? We eventually found ourselves at the Roof Top Bar of the Grand Daddy Hotel.


As we sat on this roof top bar, listening to the punk rock band & surrounded by all the caravans (this place happens to have rooms which are actual caravans on their roof-top. Pretty cool, don’t you think?)

We got to talking about what people liked doing on their Friday evenings. Teddy (one of my friends) said he usually liked to Salsa on Friday evenings. This brought up talk of how the closing of Fiesta put an end to regular Friday salsa socials (Fiesta was a local Salsa spot in Cape Town that closed down a while back). After a moment of silence for Fiesta, Teddy suggested we have an impromptu Salsa party at his place. The idea bounced around for a little bit and then eventually the game plan came into effect:
Everyone was given a task – buy food, alcohol and a few accessories and get to Teddy’s ASAP!

An hour later (food and alcohol in tow) we got to Teddy’s and after everyone had something to eat and had downed a shot of tequila or two, the music came on and every one was dancing away on the balcony under the stars on this cool, Friday evening.

After about an hour from when the dancing began, we got a call asking us to end the party at 11pm. At 11pm as the crowd was not ready for the night to end, the dining table was pushed into a corner and the party was moved inside.

As the music came on in the dining room, I just thought:
You never know exactly what will happen on a night out with Salsa People, but if there is one thing you can rest assured, Salsa People always make a plan!

As I was busy writing this post, I just got an invite informing me that the Grand Daddy Hotel will now be hosting Salsa on Fridays effective tomorrow. Now is that coincidence or what? 😉

Till next Thursday, Que Viva La Salsa Y Bachata!

P.S. You can check out a social dance video from the night by clicking the picture below.

Social dancing on a Friday

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A really proud Zambian Moment!!!!

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Chilly

If you are a Zambian, you can’t help but feel proud of your country on this 12/13th of February 2012.

The history surrounding how Zambia won their first ever Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is surrounded by such a rich history that it almost seems like a fairytale.

It all started In 1993, when 18 players and 12 officials and air crew died off the coast of Libreville, Gabon. This saw the birth of new Chipolopolo (Copper Bullet) to enter into the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations led by veteran Kalusha Bwalya.

Chipolopolo surprised everyone in the 1994 Africa cup of Nations (which was held in Tunisia) by making their way to the Finals against Nigeria. I clearly remember watching the match in our home in Nairobi, Kenya. Unfortunately we lost, 2-1 against Nigeria and we were denied from lifting the cup that year.  However, the message was sent loud and clear – Chipolopolo was still a team to reckon with.

Enter AFCON 1996, and everyone thought Zambia would lift the cup for sure especially considering Nigeria was not in the cup. This however did not come to pass as Tunisia beat us 4-2 in the semi-finals in Durban,SA and we only came out in 3rd place at this Nations cup.

The following 8 years were not much to talk about as Zambia failed to make it back to the finals of any other AFCON cup and I think people had even lost hope that we would ever win the cup.

Then enter 2012, and the Africa Cup of Nations Final is being played in Libreville, Gabon, only a few KM’s away from where the unfortunate plane crash happened. Zambia returns to the city where it lost its National Team and is up against Ivory Coast. Ivory Coast much like the Nigerians in 1994, were bigger, faster, stronger and much more experienced. Zambia faced an uphill battle and no one gave them a chance against Africa’s No.1 team led by Africa’s most recognisable player – Didier Drogba.

With Kenneth Kaunda (our 1st president) and Kalusha Bwalya (Zambia’s Captain in 1994 and the head of Football Association of Zambia) sitting in the stands, and Herve Renard (Zambian Coach) wearing his lucky white shirt (which he wore at every single game)the stage was complete for the epic game to begin.

In an unexpected turn, the first 69 minutes saw Zambia led by Captain Christopher Katongo totally leave Ivory Coast on the back foot as they played with a fury that had never been seen in Zambian football for ages. We should have scored a number of times, but you gotta hand it to Ivorian goalkeeper Boubacar Barry who pulled off some extraordinary saves maintaining his record of not conceding a single goal in an entire African Cup of Nations.

In the 70th minute, Gervinho was brought down by midfielder Isaac Chansa just inside the penalty box. Our hearts stopped for a full minute until Didier Drogba missed a penalty when he kicked the ball straight over the cross-bar. (At this point, I really felt like I was watching a Hollywood movie. I tell you, this story has to be made into a film one day.)

The last 20 minutes of the game were tense, you could see the Zambian side tiring out, but there was such a determination and strength in all of them that they held off the Ivorians and kept pushing forward. The game ended with a 0-0 draw and went into extra time. The pressure continued and for the first time, the Ivorians were able to put some real pressure on us. That being said, Kennedy Mweene was in top form and kept the Ivorians at bay with a number of exceptional saves.

Extra time ended 0-0 and it was time for Penalty Shoot out. After what was without a doubt the longest and most intense Penalty Shoot out in Zambian history(with a bunch of Heart Stopping moments), Stoppila Sunzu scored the winning goal for Zambia. We won 8-7 on penalty shoot outs and it was a very proud moment for Zambians’ everywhere & the cries went out … CHIPOLOPOLO!!!!!

Zambia lifts the Cup for the 1st time!

So after almost 2 decades, Zambia returned to the location of its footballs darkest moment to face the No.1 team in Africa, and we won the AFCON Cup for the first time EVER, in our nation’s history! If that is not a fairytale story, I don’t know what is!!!!!

Wa Zambia …. Chipolopolo!

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Team SA to make History at the Hamburg Salsa Congress in 2012!

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Chilly

Have you ever wanted to experience what Salsa is like overseas? Or do you maybe just take an overdue holiday with some Amazing people? If you want to  learn & dance Salsa with all the Pro’s that you see on those you-tube videos and get to do some amazing sightseeing in the process, then this is the holiday of a lifetime for you!

Join the Team SA Salsa Congresses group on Facebook. Here you can inquire about any congress, add your suggestions for the next congress, find a partner in crime to attend a congress with, etc. So hurry up and join already! It all happens here @ Salsa Congresses 2012 – Team SA.

The Hamburg Salsa Congress 2012  & Team SA
The Hamburg Salsa Congress is one of the top congresses in Europe and it will be celebrating  its 10th Anniversary from 12-16 July, 2012 in Hamburg, Germany.

We (Team SA) wanna make history at this congress by having the largest representation of South African Salseros y Salseras at any one international salsa congress in our entire history. To my knowledge (which is generally pretty accurate) the most South Africans to ever attend any one congress  is sitting at Fifteen (the Joburg salsa crew went to Cyprus in 2010)

Now we want you to come along! After all, the more the merrier. With the spirit of Go big or go home, we actually wanna have 30 People hit the Hamburg Salsa Congress going Big all the way. (Double the most number of South Africans who have ever attended any single salsa congress.)

We are already sitting at 14 Salseros y Salseras (almost making this the largest contingent ever), and now we just have 16 more to go. So what are you waiting for?
In case you are wondering: ‘How much do I need to be part of Salsa History?’, well, with only R13,500 you can be part of one of the most epic Salsa congresses in the world and party it up with a host of amazing people.

What can you look forward to at the Hamburg Salsa Congress? Well, the food in Germany is pretty amazing, as is the alcohol.  However, on a Salsa note:

1. World class Performances. Take a look at the links below to see some of the performances that the people who attended the congress last year were privileged to see LIVE:
John and Yudi 
Jorge & Tanja

2. Amazing Workshops. You can expect to learn from and have access to some of the most amazing Teachers and Salsa Legends like the Mambo King himself,  Eddie Torres

3. The Greatest Salsa Bands. Expect to have the World Famous New Swing Sextet performing live which is one of the Greatest Salsa Bands out there & ( yet to be confirmed) Gilberto Santa Rosa (one of my top 5 favorite Salsa Singers. )

4. Last & Most importantly (for me anyway) – You get to dance with hundreds of dancers and watch thousands of other dancers hit the dance floor. Watch this video for a sneak peak of a small section of the dance floor at the congress last year:
Hamburg Social Dance Floor 2011

So, if you wanna make history with us, join the facebook group and write on the wall:
‘I wanna make history – TEAM SA 2012 in Hamburg‘
Teddy or I will get in touch with you & give you all the details.

This is where I pen off. However before I sign out:

1. I gotta ask, what would you like to see should our very own South African Salsa Congress return in 2012?

2. For the enthusiast, here is a bit of  Salsa trivia and history:
The first salsa congress in the world took place in Puerto Rico in 1997. The term ‘Salsa Congress’ was used for the first time to describe a salsa festival that met some of the characteristics of a professional congress. The promoter was Eli Irizarri, there were  375 dancers from 19 different countries.

In 1999, only two years after the first salsa congress in the world, Albert Torres and the Bacardí team of the Congreso mundial de la salsa  created The West Coast Salsa Congress which went on to become one of the most successful Salsa congresses in the World.

Albert Torres has become synonymous with Salsa Congresses around the world and is in my opinion the most well know Latin Promoter there is out there. If you want to find out more about him and how he makes the events he is involved in so successful, read an Interview done by Edie the Salsa Freak here.

Now go join the facebook group already and lets make our own piece of Salsa History in July 2012. 😉

Que Viva La Salsa y Bachata!

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4 Things to remember for Summer Salsa Dancing

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Chilly

Over a year ago, I wrote an article called Always know where your towel is….

In this article, I suggested a few things that every Salsero and even some Salseras should do when hitting the salsa scene.

It being summer and all, I think its time I put these pointers out there again.

So here we go:
1. Always carry a towel! Nuff said.

Always have your towel2. Have an extra t-shirt or 2 in the back of your car. How will you know when its time to change? Well, when the t-shirt you are wearing looks and feels like you just jumped out of a swimming pool, it just might be the time.
3. Always have some deodorant handy (its definitely a good idea to always keep a bottle in the back of your car). While sweat is acceptable, bad body odour is NOT!
4. If for some reason you do not have a towel or extra t-shirt handy, take a break after every couple of songs. (Allow your body to cool down naturally while your clothes dry off.)

Remember, Salsa is supposed to be hot & sexy, so a certain amount of sweat is good. However, just like anything else in life: There is a limit! So come prepared 😉

Happy Dancing, People!

P.S. If you wanna read the full article that I wrote, you can check it out here: Always know where your towel is

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Inspired by addicted2salsa.com

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Chilly

Today I have decided to talk about one of the great sources of inspiration on my Salsa Journey.

Enter Anthony Persaud – founder of the world famous website addicted2salsa.com   (Anthony is actually a Senior Computer Engineer in San Diego & many people are surprised to learn that Salsa is not his full time occupation)

Anthony grew up in Puerto Rico and taught himself how to salsa during his college days at Iowa State University.  He and his good friends brought Salsa to Iowa State with weekly lessons, social dancing, and choreographed routines.

Realising how many people around the world have limited access to salsa instruction, Anthony started addicted2salsa.com to make salsa dancing accessible to all who wished to learn.
The website is mainly known for its free instructional dance lesson podcast which caters for beginners straight through to advanced dancers. It also has audio episodes dedicated to explaining salsa music as well as salsa articles and dance forums.

Anthony and his friends provide close to 100 video podcasts of all their Addicted2Salsa dance videos FREE OF CHARGE for anyone, anywhere in the world.
If you are wondering how they pay for it all, well here is another big reason why he inspires me – apart from their own personal time, Anthony and his friends incur all expenses for production (running the website,  renting a studio to film the podcasts, video equipment…e.t.c.) from their own pockets!

So how can you and I support them? Well, if you like their website and what you see, you definitely need to go and get their Pocket Salsa App. I already have it on my Iphone and it’s amazing (For you open source lovers,they also have an android version available). Its only gonna cost you $2.99 and you will have instant (on the move) access to all their videos & additional features at your finger tips.

Alternatively, you can also make a monetary contribution or donation . All donations go directly to their costs, and helps them grow the website to offer new and engaging content. Think of it is as though you were buying them a cup of coffee or a beer! Click here to find out more!

I know you will find this website as useful and inspiring as I have.

Thanks Anthony for the inspiration, & allowing me to share your amazing website.

Live, Love & Salsa!

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Cape Town Salsa

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Chilly

Are you in Cape Town & do you like to Salsa?

If the answer to that question is YES! Then:

  • Imagine knowing when every single salsa social event was taking place?
  • Imagine knowing if a venue is closed, has moved to a new location or if a new salsa shindig has just opened up?
  • Imagine always knowing the costume theme for all the parties and exactly what time the party starts?
  • Imagine not wondering whether there is a cover fee on the night or if entrance is free?
  • Imagine knowing whether there is a live band playing or exactly which DJ is on the decks?
  • Imagine knowing all this and more!

Well you don’t have to imagine anymore, because the answer is here!

The Cape Town Salsa Collective is a Facebook Group where all of Cape Town’s Salsa Social events are posted for the entire community to see. Whether you are visiting Cape Town for the first time, are a beginner looking for a place to practice your moves or are a seasoned dancer who is always on the dance floor, this group is definitely for you.

The group was created with the idea that anyone organsing a salsa social event anywhere in Cape Town is free to post the details of that event on the group wall to keep all you lovely Salsa Dancers informed. While all the major schools and salsa promoters already post their events on this wall, it also gives an opportunity for the smaller schools and social events around Cape Town to get their details out there. Remember – Salsa is all about inclusion  and there is no better way to do this, than at the socials.

So don’t waste any more time. If you are not a member of this group, click the link (http://www.facebook.com/groups/259036627462103/) or alternatively search for the group in Facebook – Once there, simply ask to Join and Presto – instantly become a member of the collective, and gain access to all the Salsa info you need!

Live, Love & Salsa!

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What to expect on Chillys Blog

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Chilly

I have been thinking about a number of things recently & I came up with a couple of decisions. As some of these decisions will affect you (my dear readers), I decided to share them with you:

1/ I have decided that going forward, every Thursday will be Salsa Blog Post day.

All other posts that I write regarding Life, Relationships and other Random s**t will continue to happen as & when I choose. However, every Thursday (for the foreseeable future at least), I will definitely post about a salsa topic of my choosing.

2/ You can start looking forward to seeing a number of videos from the Cape Town Salsa scene. Effective immediately, I will start uploading various Salsa Videos as I continue on my Salsa Journey. You will be able to watch all these videos on my YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/chilly984/videos

3/ “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals.”

Expect to start seeing a whole lot of interesting / motivational or funny queets (quote tweets) on my twitter account daily. To follow me, my twitter handle is @chilchanda

That is all I wanted to share with you this hot Monday morning. I guess I’ll see you all on Thursday.

REMEMBER –

Live, Love & Salsa!

P.S. By the way, if you wanna subscribe to my AWESOME Blog, feel free to follow me by entering your name and email on the right hand side of my blog to get all my posts straight into your inbox or alternatively enter https://chillysblog.com/feed/ into your RSS Feed Reader. PEACE!

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The Secrets of Adulthood

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Chilly

I recently came upon a website called secretsofadulthood.com.
The creator of the site shares a few insights & life learnt lessons.

So to kick off my 1st blog post in 2012, I thought I would take a moment to share some of the insights I personally found interesting:

– What’s fun for other people may not be fun for you – and Vice Versa. (This explains why not everyone loves Salsa)

– The days are long, but the years are short. (This is why some days just seem to drag on and on while the years just fly by)

– You can choose what you do, you can’t choose what you like to do. (Don’t waste your time doing things you don’t enjoy. Realise what you really like and stick with it)

– You don’t have to be good at everything. (Nuff said)

– Most decisions don’t require extensive research. (Just like Occam’s Razor implies – the simplest answer is usually the right one)

– You know as much as most people. (Don’t let people intimidate you)

– What you do everyday matters more than what you do once in a while. (If you really want to be good at something or achieve Greatness, you have to put in the work)

I would advise you to go onto the website and see it for yourself .

The creator – Gretchen Rubin is the author of The Happiness Project (a New York Times Best Seller) which is an account of the years she spent test-driving every principle on her path to happiness, from Aristotle to Ben Franklin to Oprah to Martin Seligman.
On her popular blog, The Happiness Project, she posts about her daily adventures in her pursuit of happiness.

Definitely worth a read.

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Highlights of 2011

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Chilly

2011 has been a long and interesting year, yet it has flown by so quickly.

This year marked:

  • The death of a Dictator – Moammar Gadhafi & Extremist – Osama Bin Laden.
  • There were uprisings in Egypt followed closesly by  Libya, Tunisia & Yemen.
  • Prince William married Kate Middleton.
  • Natural disasters rocked the earth. Tsunamis and Earthquakes on the coast of Japan killed over 15,000 people while over 4,000 people were declared missing and then there was the ensuing Nuclear reactor crisis at Fukushima.
  • Outrageous atrocities continued, like when a young man attacked a youth camp on the Norwegian island of Utoya and killed over 80 people.
  • Amzing moments when the Worlds first artifical organ transplant  of a windpipe was achieved.
  • Then the US declared the end to the Iraq war.

As is also to be expected, there were some very noticeable deaths this year:
Elizabeth Taylor, Amy Winehouse, Steve Jobs, Joe Fraizer, Heavy D, Macho Man Randy Savage, Gill Scott Heron, Nate Dogg & for Zambians (Fredrick Chiluba).

With all this going on in the world, there is some stuff happened only to me. So I decided to write my own highlights for 2011 (certain moments or things that happened that I will never forget).

Disclaimer: You may not understand some of these highlights because if I had to explain the story in detail, it would require a blog post on its own. Where this is the case, I apologise. However, most of them are  rather straightforward.

So here we go, Chilly’s Highlights of 2011 (In no particular order):

Dancing with:
Anita Santos Rubin (Adrian Y Anita)
Tanja La Alemana (Island Touch)
Nina KollBurner (From Sweden)
Karel Flores (Yamulee)
A Salsera in a Ninja outfit
Alice & Ambra (Dominican Power)

Trying to get my permit from Home Affairs. Never dealt with so much beaurcarcy in my life. Then having a Friend of mine step in and solve in 3 weeks what I could not get done in 3 months.

The death of someone close to me.

Not being able to go to Canada to visit my Best Friend.

Reading Steve Jobs speech to Stanford Graduates & the ensuing focus that helped me come up with my new 3 year life plan

Starting the Association

Deciding to become the First Cape Town Bachatero

Being part of Team SA 2011 both Part 1 (All Start Salsa Cruise) & Part 2 (Hot Salsa Weekend)

Team SA Part 1 & Mr. Torres and others

The next 2 installments of ‘The Adventures of Beard & Mohawk’:
Beard & Mohawk go to Europe (and dont sleep)
Beard & Mohawk land in Sweden

Beard and Mohawk arrive in London

Discovering Salsa DVD’s

Meeting a certain German and going to Berlin. Without a doubt, one of my fondest memories in this year.

Partying on a Cruise ship with Team Mexico & dancing with the Swedes and the Turks.

Going to 7 different countries and 8 different cities

Trying out both the Black-Berry and the Iphone

Chilled out lunches with a Friend of mine and Random conversations

Partying on the Beach in Split. A day I will never forget 🙂

On the beach in Split....

DJ’ing at the Salsa Suit Up Party. I played what was probably one of my best sets to date and it was equally a great Party.

Performing Que De Nada with the Que Pasa Salsa Dancers. We rocked the house.

Countless moments and nights with my Salsa Family.

1 night in Paris: Seeing the eiffel tower, eating escargo and crepes, dancing on the train, dancing salsa in the smallest underground club I have ever come across. All PRICELESS!

Getting a new dance partner who is as Amazing a Dancer as she is a person. Talented, Hardworking and Beautiful! What more could I ask for?

Doing Workshops with phenemenoal instructors from all over the world. The likes of Hacha y machete, Super Mario, Jhesus Aponte, Jorge  & Tanja from Island Touch.

The 2 Yamulee footwork workshops and the lesson they taught me – Never stop learning and always stay humble.

Talking and learning from phenemoneal dancers from all over the world.

Turning 10,000 days old.

Blogging galore. Being able to blog and have people read and sometimes learn something from my ramblings. An even more humbling experience.

Our end of year staff function – Rheta wiping down a pole – (Priceless if you know the story).

Passing all my subjects at varsity and being 1 step closer to getting my degree.

As an appreciater of music, I got say Top Songs for me in 2011:
LFMAO – Party Anthem
Pitbull & Neyo – Give me everything
Johnny Colon – Merecumbe
Don Omar – Danza Kuduro
Jean Luis Guerra – Bachata En Fukuoka

The Best music Video – sexy and I know it by LMFAO! That video is hilliarious.

Concerts I went to:
Daughtry
Janet Jackson
Akon and David Guetta

Last and the most noticeable highlight – Meeting new people and Making amazing New Friends : These are too many to mention, but you know who you are 😉

so yeah, these are my highlights for 2011. I don’t do resolutions (click here to find out why) but I am looking forward to 2012.

Till then, Chilly signing out for the last time in 2011. See you all next year.

LIVE, LOVE & SALSA!

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?Should Dj’s Cross Fade songs at Salsa Socials?

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Chilly

In the world of commercial music, the ability for a DJ to seamlessly cross-fade from 1 track to another is without a doubt one of the top 3 signs of their skill. The more seamless the changeover (no noticeable change in beat or tempo) the more skilled the DJ.

DJ Chilli - Hot on the Decks

In the Salsa Scene however, cross-fading as a measure of a DJ’s skill  has been met with much more debate. There are in-fact 2 separate camps;
1. Those for it &
2. Those against it.

Those Against It:
These are usually the dancers that have a deep appreciation for musicality and dance within the music. They like to hit the breaks and groove to the beat.
As we all know, the end of a song usually has the most noticeable break & so these dancers want to hit it and hit it HARD! If a DJ Cross-fades from one song into another, the final break will never be hit and these dancers will feel cheated.

As for the 2nd main reason, well the end of the song means the end of a dance. Once a song ends, everyone says thank-you and moves on to ask other people at the party to dance. When a song cross-fades, the less musically attuned dancers wont know a song has ended which results in them walking on & off the dance-floor at random times during songs rather than simultaneously at the end of a song.

Those for it:
These are usually the more social bees who believe Musical Dead-Space at a social event is a big NO-NO! They have much less qualms about getting on the dance-floor 1/2 way through one song and walking off 1/2 way through the other and much more concerned about there being a constant vibe of music just like at a commercial social event.

So, on my quest to become one of South Africa’s best Salsa DJ’s, I would like to hear what you (yes you reading this blog right now) think. So please give me your opinion:

Do you think Salsa DJ’s should cross-fade songs? (& leave a reason why!)

Till next time, remember to Live, Laugh, Love & Salsa (with some Bachata)…

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