THE FIRST ANNUAL SYDNEY SALSA CONGRESS The Sydney Salsa Congress wrapped up last night, and I am DRAINED! 3 nights of incredible performances followed by dancing all night long, plus all-day workshops Saturday and Sunday, all broken up only by a little sleep, many showers, and some quick meals. While this event definitely factored into my planning for this trip, I didn't realize that this was the FIRST salsa congress ever held in Australia! (in 2004 San Francisco had its 3rd and Los Angeles had its 6th) So it was a very special event, though it wasn't quite as "international" as I had expected. During the performance the first night there were probably a thousand people in the audience. The host had people cheer when he called out their home states (Australian states). At the end when he asked, "And any friends from America?", I was the sole voice in the crowd -- quite amusing!! Over the weekend I met a bunch of people from New Zealand, and one girl from Switzerland, but everyone else was local from Australia. I had several strangers approach me and say, "Hey, are you the guy from San Francisco?" :-) I may have been the only American "regular" attendee, but they did manage to get some truly top notch instructors/performers from the U.S., as well as an amazing group from Europe: Al "Liquid Silver" Espinoza and Edie "the Salsa Freak" (L.A.) Alex Lee and Chi Lee (San Francisco) The Cobo Brothers (North Carolina) Tropical Gem (Milan, Italy) I have to say that Al is my new favorite instructor. His "Millenium Style" salsa combines hip-hop with salsa moves and adds incredible sharp accents to the music. When he dances, you don't just hear the music, you SEE the music. And when he teaches, he shows you not just how to dance, but how to PLAY. So much fun!!! The 4 Tropical Gem dancers always blow me away, too. They have somehow gained supersonic control of every individual body part. And their Rumba is like nothing in the ballroom dance world, for sure. Finally, Alex and Chi were probably the biggest crowd pleasers in the evening performances. Alex is a big, beefy guy, and Chi probably weighs 80 pounds. They do the most incredible aerials you can imagine, all seamlessly integrated into their salsa, which is so impressive. I met the two of them at the check-in counter in SFO, taking the same flight to Sydney -- a really friendly pair. The venue was the best I've seen in a salsa congress. It was held in the State Sports Centre, where the Olympic basketball & other games were played. So it was a huge, beautiful wooden floor for dancing with tiered seating for the performances. Wish we could have that in SF! I am SPENT! The final workshop yesterday was aerials with Alex and Chi. After launching Chloe onto my back and shoulders for the Nth time, my joints started saying "Enough, stupid!" I finally had to call it quits around 1:30am last night when my right knee joint started hurting. And don't ask about the blisters on my feet. But I made it through and had a BLAST! Can't wait to dance with you all when I get back! :-) The only negative (and this seems to be true of all Salsa congresses these days) was that they had a strict no photography rule, so I don't have much in the way of pictures to post. But I was able to take a few videos of the workshops (with permission) and can forward them if any of you are interested. Today we left Olympic Park and took a train to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. Today is a rest and recovery day for all of us (my knee is seriously killing me right now, so some serious RICE is on the way: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation). Assuming I can walk tomorrow, we'll be taking a hop-on / hop-off bus tour around the area. The sights sound fantastic, so I'm hoping for good weather and good health!