I have to confess that when it comes to traveling, I’m not very good at planning; somehow I enjoy being spontaneous. And more than once I’ve been saved on my trips by a powerful networking tool: Salsa.
On one of my last trips to Berlin I had no place to stay so I went directly to the salsa club “Havana”, left my luggage in the coat check, and started dancing. That night, I was lucky enough to meet Javier Villavicencio, who kindly offered me and my brother to stay at his house, a nice dinner after few hours of dancing, and a deliciously cooked homemade breakfast the next day. He also gave us a tour around the city.
This is not the first time I experienced this phenomenon of people acting so kindly like your best friends even though they just met you. It probably has to do with the culture of salsa or maybe sharing that same passion that makes you feel close to those who think and feel like you. In fact, my first experience with traveling and salsa was in Mexico. I was living in Puebla and I went on a short visit to Cuernavaca with Armando, a friend from salsa. We asked for the best salsa place in the City and as soon as we got there we started dancing and meeting new people.
“Where are you from?”
“Where did you learn to dance?”
“What’s the best salsa place around here?”
“What’s your favorite salsa style?”
“What’s your favorite dancer/song?”
After chatting on all possible salsa topics, we ended up hanging out with great dancers in a house party. There, we exchanged music, videos, and even some moves.
Since then I talk to that group every time I visit Cuernavaca. My brother is now living in Berlin and hanging out with Javier Villavicencio. And I have a long list of salseros from other places in the world that either visit me when they’re in New York or I visit when I travel. I’m so impressed with how many people from so many different countries are getting into the salsa world!
If you are interested in using salsa as a networking tool, my advice is this:
1) Start taking salsa classes and you’ll make friends in the class
2) Start going out dancing and you’ll meet nice people on the dance floor
Although, the secret of getting into salsa is to fall in love with it! (I promise you… it’s not too hard). As Merce Cunningham once said:
“You have to love dancing to stick to it. It gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that single fleeting moment when you feel alive. It is not for unsteady souls.”
This is a list of my favorite salsa spots in NYC for those interested in getting to know this wonderful world.
Good luck!
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right on…salsa IS great. although i am horrible when i think too much about the foot steps. usually i just act like i know what i’m doing and have fun–which i guess is a good way to meet ppl