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The
Salseros Of Israel - By Edie The SalsaFreak |
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| The Salseros of
Israel… Salseros Energized with Life, Passion,
and Song...
The airplane trip was very, very long. I could barely sleep
during the flight because of my excitement. I always wanted to see the Middle East in real
life, rather than just on television. I was also VERY curious and anxious to see the Salsa
dancing out there. |
Salsa-Holic Daniel, and
his Famous "Que Vava La Salsa" Tatoo over his right nipple... |
The FREAK riding a
camel in Jerusalem
...just outside the
"old city"
 A New Style: Israeli Style Salsa
That’s right folks, I actually sat
there,
and analyzed the lady’s footwork to figure it out. |
In 1997, Damir,
our Melbourne Australia Cityguides
World Correspondent went on a trip to Tel Aviv, Israel. He wrote telling me that the
dancers of Israel were the most amazing he’d ever seen. When he visited me in Los
Angeles, he couldn’t stop talking about Israeli Salsa Dancers. "The women were
beautiful, and their dancing, exquisite." He even preferred the Israeli Salsa dancing
style over Los Angeles and New York styles. "There is an energy here…
I can’t quite put my finger on it… "
In Israel, there is an energy and passion unlike any other place in the world I've seen...
I likened it to watching the Vazquez brothers in Los Angeles, or dancing
with one of my former partners, Edgar Mendez, and Jeff
Camilo.
Heat
Raw, pure energy
Excitement, a sense of
danger, passion…
… and an unquenchable thirst for the
dance and music we love so much... |
The "gang" at Club
Maxim, one of Tel Aviv’s most popular Salsa Clubs. 
Gal Ben-David experiencing the beauty and energy of the local scene...
Vardit, Edie, and Vardit's mom at Club Maxim
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At World Cityguides Administrator, Paco's place
(Command Central), his "backwards" log-in screen, in Hebrew
(That's Paco's baby in the background...)
Trying to log in
at different Salseros' computers in different countries, with language differences, not
only spoken, BUT IN THE SOFTWARE was tough sometimes!
Reading, "Save As", or
"File" in a different language was strange as well. I basically tried just
"remembering" where the "Save-As" button was positioned in the
pull-down menus....
Here in Israel, Microsoft and Netscape
accommodate people all over the world in almost every written language Seeing a
"Hebrew" screen, was like seeing text backwards from
what I'm normally used to...
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Yanniv and Sharona, and Daniel and Karen, some of Israel's top performers |
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THIS, was what I was dying
to see and experience for myself |
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I went to Israel with my host, Gal Ben-David. Gal is a Salsero who learned how to dance
Salsa at the famous Salsa Lovers Dance Studios in
Miami, Florida. He offered to "tag me along" during a trip to see his family in
Tel Aviv. When we arrived at the Ben-Gurion airport terminal in Tel Aviv, Israel, Paco,
Salsaweb’s World Cityguides Chief Administrator, was at the gate, waiting for us. "OH my God Paco I’ve missed you so much!" …were
the first words out of my mouth when I saw him. Like the new "trend" of the
nineties, I met Paco almost a year ago over the Internet. I’ve met so many nice
people via email it’s almost scary. Paco, who lives in Israel, is a true Salsero from
the bottom of his soul. He’s a man, rich with passion for Salsa, and passion for
life. He visited me in Los Angeles several months ago when he was there on vacation
staying with a mutual friend of ours named Yohay Aaron. Yohay, a Los Angeles Salsero (and
excellent dancer) was one of the first readers of Salsaweb, even before it was called
"Salsaweb". I also met Yohay over the Internet, when he was too shy to ask me to
dance in real life .;) (aaahhh the precious veil of the cyber world…). Paco, I found
out later on, is one of the finest dancers I’ve ever had the pleasure of dancing with
– and one of the best in Israel. He has his own unique style and is a BLAST on that
dance floor. He’s also
a fantastic DJ (in my own biased opinion, THE BEST), a wonderful host, and a very dear
friend. |
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