SalsaChic Girls in the 2011 Salsa Congress! (Video)

They prepared and worked hard for five months. It was fun, but it wasn’t easy: there were moments of doubt, exhaustion, frustration and anxiety. But, the girls of SalsaChic (our salsa performance group) gave it all and rocked in their presentation in the 2011 Chicago Salsa Congress! Congratulations to Erin, Hannah, Joy, Madeline and Sarah!

They started learning the choreography created by George Alvarez and the Urban Vibe team by mid-October. Having all the previous dance numbers self-choreographed, having a pro creating and teaching the choreography meant raising SalsaChic’s dancing abilities and efforts to a whole new level.

And those were not the only challenges: In the first few weeks, Erin (SalsaChic’s artistic director) had to made the decision to go with a girls-only show, deal with the unpleasant job of turning away applicants, and welcome our new members, many of them with little or no experience in performing... little did they know that they would  have their first sneak peek performance with only two weeks worth of practice!

Later in the quarter, the busy schedule of work and/or study, other obligations, tiredness and sometimes frustration of not going fast enough made our ladies’ lives more difficult.  But their enthusiasm, hope from seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and love of dancing made them persevere.

The first dance part to be mastered was the chacha, the slowest of the three dances of our number. However, slow does not mean easy at all: the slower the dance, the more precise, elegant and coordinated the moves must be. Next was the mambo, where girls need to radiate energy and enthusiasm along with fast-paced movements. Last was the reggaeton (latin hip-hop), where strength and sensuality was required. The result: an elegant, sexy and energetic display of movements by our SalsaChic ladies... in theory. Only with practice and determination would they be able to show all of these qualities of the choreography in a performance.

By the beginning of February things were 90% ready, but anxiety and nerves started to appear. Our girls almost did not have a sneak peek performance, an essential confidence builder before the big event. Luckily they fit one performance in after our Monday lesson, and though it was not perfect, it served its purpose: small modifications were made, and they could shake off their nerves to really focus in communicating with the audience and having a good time.

For the big day, Friday February 18th, they arrived early in the morning, sleep-deprived, anxious,  but ready to dance! Between the long hours between tech rehearsal (where they were one of the favorite groups) and the showcase they had to find time to practice a little bit more, but without getting tired, change into their beautiful costumes, and try to have fun by doing relaxing things such as meeting the other performers, posing for fun pics, scream a little, have a burger, laughing lots and becoming over caffeinated, etc...

Once inside the dressing rooms, they realized that there’s no turning back, the excitement and adrenaline starts growing, time flies and  suddenly it is their turn! After a nice introduction by the MCs, our girls took the stage, and they brought to life all the elegance, sensuality and energy required to make a great show.  One needs to memorize a lot of steps in a show like this, therefore a minute can seem like an eternity. But for all the ladies the time dancing seemed so short! Maybe they felt it was like a dream, coming back to earth after the audience’s applause, multiple hugs and congratulations from the public and fellow BLDA members. It's after this that the many hours of work make sense: the recognition of their effort, the fact that they have grown as dancers, and have gained a deeper understanding on how to communicate emotions and concepts through dance.

What comes after this? First, a good and deserved celebration. Then, enjoy the salsa congress' workshops, performances and parties. And next week, get ready to work again! BLDA is preparing a new choreography to be presented in spring 2011, in the Chicago Latin Street Salsa Congreso, and in multiple venues and events around campus! don't miss it!

And now, enjoy the SalsaChic Girls's performance in the video below. If you have trouble watching, click here to to our BLDA YouTube video. Enjoy and congratulations again to our dancers!