Kizomba is...

"An embrace means I don't feel threatened by you, I'm not afraid to be this close, I can relax, feel at home, feel protected and in the presence of someone who understands me. It is said that each time we embrace someone warmly, we gain an extra day of life."

A quote from Paul Coelho (one of my favorite authors) that describes for me what dancing kizomba is like.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Looking Back at 2013

Long overdue, better late than never. Here is a reflection of 2013 from one person's perspective in the midst of all the Kizomba Seattle love. I also tried to keep the bites short with links to other references - enjoy the 2013 Kizomba Seattle year retrospective. Note also that pictures are in facebook, so apologies to those of you that aren't on facebook.

We were a little quiet in January but things started to kick up with a triple header weekend in February starting with our First Friday dance weekend, Ivo Vieira and Shani Mayer's first visit to Seattle (more pictures) and Kenny Davis Ntolla's visit. We were also featured in Seattle Magazine (who-hoo!) what a surprise that was.  The weekends with visiting instructors are always fun because we get to dance three nights in a row - joy! By this time in 2013, we had different venues to dance in; Century Ballroom, Limelight and Salsa Con Todo.

March had a ton of events at home and nearby. Kwenda Lima returned to teach a special class that pushed dancers to another level. He share much about the music and culture that held many of us captive. After his visit, it was off to the Vancouver Salsa Festival: the last one but one that had a strong kizomba presence with Kwenda, Sara and Albir. Dancing was wonderful - for me, I got to dance three of my favorite dances with tons of wonderful dancers and instructors - what's not to like? It was bittersweet since it was the last of the Vancouver Salsa Festival but I am thankful for having been a part of it.

The highlight for March tho, was Seattle Kizomba Semba Camp: my hair brained idea for a total immersion in the dance with some brilliant instructors: Eddy Vents, Oscar BA and Riquita Alta. I have said many thanks and am witness to the continued camaraderie and kizomba activity from the folks that came to this event. You can read my post on facebook just to give a shout out to the folks that were there. There were so many great memories but here are a few that stick out: it was Riquita's first time in Seattle and we were so lucky she could make it. Rick came in from SF to spin. We had a surprise visit from DJ Guelas thanks to Eddy Vents. There were dancers from all over the US: San Francisco, LA, Sedona, Atlanta, Alaska, DC, Houston, San Diego and Tennessee along with Seattle, Vancouver BC and Victoria. I was overwhelmed by my crew who helped to make the event as smooth and welcoming as it could be. I saw the start of some wonderful friendships and family-ties being built. All these folks from all over the US have continue their kizomba journey even now: my facebook feed has ample evidence of this. Many have become teachers in their local communities. Many have traveled to Europe and even to Angola to share their love of kizomba. Some have become DJ's and promoters and all of us continue to dance and expand our kizomba circles: how cool it that?

The weekend was EPIC! More can be said but that would take too long so enjoy the weekend through pictures if you care to relive it one more time.

 In April we welcomed Iris DiBrito and had a blast with her. She opened my eyes more to the possibilities of how a follow could express beyond just following. I remember seeing the video of Iris and Kwenda dancing kizomba and how I thought - I wonder if I will ever meet them? Well, yes, I did and what a pleasure. Here is more of that weekend in pictures.

May brought the return of Mafalda and with her DJ Adon. We were happy to have her back and DJ Adon even played for us on a week night. It was a first to bring someone in during the week and while attendance wasn't the same as a weekend, I got to spend more time with her and this time, she even got to try glassblowing :)

We also had our first ever Kizomba Seattle Flashmob at Westlake - whohooo! That was a blast. A bit hairy in the beginning because a parks and recreations representative tried to shoo us away because we had speakers with us. Upon learning it was a flash mob, he happily gave his approval. We had all levels represented. Here are some other pictures, a video of the actual flash mob and my blog post after it was over. There's also a lot more on the Kizomba Seattle Flashmob group on facebook.

June was a little quiet and there was a surge of Salsa - Bachata - Kizomba nights. More kizomba means good things. Its an interesting mix of music genres with so few of us that actually dance all three dances. I can say that it did increase awareness for kizomba which is always a plus.

July brought us a visit from Gosia and Olek. We had so much fun with her workshops, including a kuduru one which, well, there is no video to show it but it was quite something. Thanks so much to Maurycy and Sheena for making the event possible.

August brought back Albir and Sara for another stellar weekend. Albir even taught us a hip hop class which was a blast. Here are pictures from day one and day two of the weekend. You know what's great about bringing instructors back again? All the love and hugs and new adventures to share with someone you haven't seen in a long time. Promoters privilege: I even got to sit down to home made breakfast and learned about making chai.

Things were a little quiet in September and then in October Jay and I had the privilege of teaching kizomba to the fusion dance community at the Seattle Fusion Festival. We had a such a great time showing other dancers how to dance kizomba and how they could use it in their fusion dancing. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of video or pictures from the weekend. Suffice it to say that kizomba can be fused with almost any dance form to the right music. Its like micro dancing for you fusion dancers our there and its also like tango with more oo-ey, goo-ey-ness. To find out more about Seattle Fusion, check out the web page and the facebook page.

Jay and I were also invited to teach in Nicaragua at their 5th annual Salsa Congress. Now THAT was another milestone that was HUGE in so many ways. So many new things: teaching with an interpreter, teaching to new dancers, and being on stage with world class bachata and salsa performers. YIKES! I felt blessed to be part of this budding dance community, I wrote about it on my personal blog. It was my first time in Nicaragua as well. Thanks to Isaias and Ariel and everyone that was a part of that experience. Here are my pictures from that trip.

Then the final event: November's Kizomba Seattle Exchange with Oscar BA and DJ Guelas with us to spice up the DJ lineup. We also welcome DJ Shiv from San Francisco join in. Seven dances all weekend long with visitors from Vancouver, Victoria, Alaska and San Francisco. We even welcomed some brand new dancers it our fold: they got wind of kizomba and came out to dance with us all weekend long AND are still dancing today. That's the power of kizomba. I don't have a lot of pictures, I was too busy dancing! I did share my thoughts on it tho, so feel free to reminisce with me.

In December I had to leave for home to help with family. For me, my connections were through facebook and email. I had the pleasure of meeting someone in the Philippines who knew about kizomba and sharing a little bit with her and her dance partner. What I did see tho, was how one visitor from another country was able to stir up so much action in our small community. I got inquiries from lots of people wanting to learn and spent a lot of time setting up the opportunities for 2014 that I am looking forward to and have had the pleasure to experience already.

2014 has gotten off to a great start. I'm looking forward to more travel to dance and see my extended kizomba family outside Seattle. It looks like there will be just as many memorable moments in 2014 to share. I'm looking forward to it already.

Happy Dancing!

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Sunday, January 12, 2014

January Classes and Events

Its January and here are all the classe the are coming up along with some socials and things to look forward to in 2014.

CLASSES
Kizomba For Beginners (with Dennis Richards)
Kizomba 2 (with Frances Tee and Jay Senior)
Kizomba Bootcamp (with Frances Tee)
Kizomba and Semba with Mike Evens
  • Jan 18 
  • Saturday 3:30pm to 7:00pm (3 classes)
  • Registration
OPPORTUNITIES TO DANCE: (not including the Monday night practica)
  • Jan 17 at the Century Ballroom with Intro Lesson 9:00pm to 1:00am
  • Jan 18 at Salsa Con Todo from 10:00pm to 1:00a 
  • Feb 7 at the Century Ballroom (First Friday) with Intro Lesson 9:00pm to 1:00am
  • Feb 22 at the Century Ballroom (Late Night Kizomba on Third Saturday) 11:00pm to 1:30 am

COMING UP
  • Frances Tee and Jay Senior will be teaching Kizomba at the LA Bachata Festival (code: LA2014TEE) Feb 13 to 17, 2014
  • Seattle Bachata Kizomba Festival May 9-11 (First time!) at Salsa N Seattle and Frances Tee will be teaching a kizomba bootcamp. 
  • Albir Rojas will be back in Seattle August 1 - 3, 2013 (Save the Date! Details will be coming)
There's more in the works but nothing solid yet, just stay tuned :D
Happy Dancing!
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