La Bodeguita Del Medio heated up this week with the first ever ‘ A Ver Quien Te Toca?’ contest. This is Vallarta’s version of a popular dance contest in the U.S. and England called Jack and Jill in which the basis is you have no idea who you will be paired with to compete, no idea what song and no idea if you will ‘connect’ as a dancing couple.
The contest began on Sunday, May 8th with approximately 20 contestants competing for prize packages ranging from yoga classes, bikinis and dinners from local sponsors: La Bodeguita Del Medio, Pop Diner and Cupocity.com. The contest was open to any level so long as they felt comfortable with the basics of any of the many styles of salsa. The improvisation contest began with a warm-up from the contestants followed by the female participants picking their partners from an oversized margarita glass. Once the partners knew who they would be dancing with, they were asked to go to the center of the dance floor and improvise with their partner to a randomly picked song from the DJ. The result was nothing short of interesting and captivating as the dancers tried to figure out how they were going to meld their individual and sometimes different styles together. Some dancers were very familiar with ‘On 1’ or ‘On 2’ and others enjoy dancing Cuban style or Casino Rueda. The competing couples were judged by public applause that evening and at times became a bit difficult to differentiate who the applause was for. However, the end result was that five couples were picked to go to the finals which took place Wednesday, May 11 and everyone had a blast!
The day of the finals, La Bode which is what we call this famous Cuban joint for short offered an open bar from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. and a 15% discount thereafter to celebrate what they called, ‘La Gran Fiesta Pata Salada’. The place began to fill up fast after 9:30 with dance supporters and VIP guests showing up to take part in the event.
The kickoff for the contest was a performance by Israel Andalon of Shanti Studio’s Casino Rueda, followed by a warm-up for the contest participants, a performance by dancing couple Ana Laura Cabrera and Jaime Monteil. What followed were the finales with the contest finalists once again drawing names and dancing to randomly picked songs and doing their best to connect and move rhythmically. The contest concluded with a captivating, awe-inspiring performance by Edwin Rodriguez Ovalle of the Latin Brothers.
This time the contestants were to be individually judged by a panel of judges. Everyone present was out to have a great time and drink, eat, dance and be merry! The Cupocity staff brought their crew to film and photograph – Alejandro Ponce and Brendan Harris respectively. The final event and all footage and photos will be posted on Cupocity.com’s website and facebook page by this Monday. The entire event was organized by La Bodeguita Del Medio, Luigi Zenni, and Latin Motion PV. Participating schools included the Latin Brothers, Shanti Studio, students from Academia Salsa Class, and many others. Congratulations to the winners: 1st place: Edwin Rodriguez Ovalle and Cecilia De Leon, 2nd place: Israel Andalon and Laura Brown, and 3rd place: Jorge Abraham Meza Cruz and Laura Nayeli Jimenez Meza!
Marcella Castellanos teaches salsa at Yoga Vallarta. You can contact her via Facebook or Twitter at Latin Motion PV or at www.latinmotionpv.com or visit her blog at http://latinmotionpv.blogspot.com/.
The contest began on Sunday, May 8th with approximately 20 contestants competing for prize packages ranging from yoga classes, bikinis and dinners from local sponsors: La Bodeguita Del Medio, Pop Diner and Cupocity.com. The contest was open to any level so long as they felt comfortable with the basics of any of the many styles of salsa. The improvisation contest began with a warm-up from the contestants followed by the female participants picking their partners from an oversized margarita glass. Once the partners knew who they would be dancing with, they were asked to go to the center of the dance floor and improvise with their partner to a randomly picked song from the DJ. The result was nothing short of interesting and captivating as the dancers tried to figure out how they were going to meld their individual and sometimes different styles together. Some dancers were very familiar with ‘On 1’ or ‘On 2’ and others enjoy dancing Cuban style or Casino Rueda. The competing couples were judged by public applause that evening and at times became a bit difficult to differentiate who the applause was for. However, the end result was that five couples were picked to go to the finals which took place Wednesday, May 11 and everyone had a blast!
The day of the finals, La Bode which is what we call this famous Cuban joint for short offered an open bar from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. and a 15% discount thereafter to celebrate what they called, ‘La Gran Fiesta Pata Salada’. The place began to fill up fast after 9:30 with dance supporters and VIP guests showing up to take part in the event.
The kickoff for the contest was a performance by Israel Andalon of Shanti Studio’s Casino Rueda, followed by a warm-up for the contest participants, a performance by dancing couple Ana Laura Cabrera and Jaime Monteil. What followed were the finales with the contest finalists once again drawing names and dancing to randomly picked songs and doing their best to connect and move rhythmically. The contest concluded with a captivating, awe-inspiring performance by Edwin Rodriguez Ovalle of the Latin Brothers.
This time the contestants were to be individually judged by a panel of judges. Everyone present was out to have a great time and drink, eat, dance and be merry! The Cupocity staff brought their crew to film and photograph – Alejandro Ponce and Brendan Harris respectively. The final event and all footage and photos will be posted on Cupocity.com’s website and facebook page by this Monday. The entire event was organized by La Bodeguita Del Medio, Luigi Zenni, and Latin Motion PV. Participating schools included the Latin Brothers, Shanti Studio, students from Academia Salsa Class, and many others. Congratulations to the winners: 1st place: Edwin Rodriguez Ovalle and Cecilia De Leon, 2nd place: Israel Andalon and Laura Brown, and 3rd place: Jorge Abraham Meza Cruz and Laura Nayeli Jimenez Meza!
Marcella Castellanos teaches salsa at Yoga Vallarta. You can contact her via Facebook or Twitter at Latin Motion PV or at www.latinmotionpv.com or visit her blog at http://latinmotionpv.blogspot.com/.
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