The first of a three part series discussing the evolution of Salsa in San Diego.

Hot Tub Time Machine: Salsa Style

Hollywood has had a lot of success with time-travel movies. “Blast from the Past,” starring Brandon Fraser (The Mummy, School Ties) features a teen who grows up in a nuclear shelter, coming up top after an absence of more than 10 years - and everything has changed including music, fashion, and technology. Imagine doing the reverse, going back in time, like in the recent comedy “Hot Tube Time Machine.” What would you do without texting, Facebook and the Internet? What would you do without LA Style On-1, New York On-2, or Bachata?

Believe it or not, Salsa has been in San Diego for some time now, before the teams, the performances, the club circuit and the socials existed. Things were different, but the people, the teachers and clubs provided the foundation on which Salsa thrives today. As salseros and bachateros, we are lucky to live in San Diego, arguably one of the best dance scenes on the West Coast. Local dancer Sergio Jasso shares, “The scene here has grown dramatically. When I started there were only three dance companies, now there are 15. We had the best influence in Salsa - the New York style, and people started to compete which made everyone get better.” Sergio and his wife Gaby are the directors of Alma Latina Dance Company which has teams in Tijuana, San Diego and Los Angeles (www.almalatinadancecompany.com).

Why San Diego?

Not many places on the mainland US are further from the birthplace of Salsa than San Diego. New York (2432 miles) and Miami (2269 miles) can be driven by car, while Puerto Rico and Cuba take multiple flights and some tricky passport games. Before even mentioning people and venues, a primary factor why San Diego provided a fertile landscape for salsa is good ‘Ol Uncle Sam. San Diego’s military bases have offered a consistent flow of Puerto Rican, Dominican, Haitian, and Cuban dance enthusiasts whose culture meshed well with the Latino community prevalent in America’s Finest City. Serena Cuevas, director of Deseo Dance Company explains, “American service members stationed all over the world express interest in dancing, especially Salsa. There are small teams formed on bases in Okinawa, San Diego, Iraq, and Guantanamo Bay to name a few! We can’t seem to take the dancer out of us even as we serve our country!” As one of San Diego’s star performers and instructors, Serena grew up in New York and now proudly serves in the Army Reserve. Several other leaders in San Diego Salsa, such as Juan Hernandez of Majesty in Motion and Angel Rivera of A Time To Dance, came to San Diego via the Marine Corps and Navy, respectably. So replace that “Hepa!” with “Ooh Rah!”

I Want My MTV?

The sweet rhythms of Salsa, Cha-Cha and Merengue offered an alternative to the region’s native Cubmia, Cabradita and Banda music. As there were no salsa radio stations, no Salsa MTV, Pandora or YouTube, the music came from what people brought with them, raided from their parents’ vinyl record collection, or hunted for at specialty stores like Ritmo Latino. Pepe Alvarez, then part of the Alvarez Brothers Dance team tells, “we’d hunt through the shelves and take a stack of CDs to the counter, asking them to demo one CD at a time. When we found a good song, usually only one per CD, we bought it” Legend has it that the popular DJs, DJ Robbie and DJ Frank, would travel to New York and Miami to get new music. This passion for Salsa music was strengthened by the Casa De Puerto Rico, a community nonprofit organization that hosted events like Dia De San Juan to promote and celebrate the Salsa culture and music.

Salsa Romantica from artists like Groupo Niche, Jerry Rivera and Marc Anthony prevailed. Fania and the other Latin Jazz favorites, recorded in the 50s, 60s and 70s, and so popular today were not en vogue. Bachata was unheard of in clubs, so when a couple wanted to get close, they danced to Merengue. And when the party got jumping, it was Merengue Hip-Hop, not Reggatone. Even as the music was different from today’s preferred play lists, it was high energy and embraced by the dancers.

It wasn’t On-1 vs. On-2. In fact, very few danced linear or even “mambo” salsa in the clubs except for Cha-Cha, which was played more often than today. The floor clashed at times between street and ballroom dancers, and the prevailing style was circular, or “Cuban” style salsa, similar to the swing style of Cumbia due to the rotation around your partner. There were still the “show” spots on the floor, the tricks and the all-star dancers, many of whom are no longer in the scene, having moved away, persued their career, or (gasp) stopped dancing. Lauren Reynolds, a morning anchorwoman at 10 News, was a Cafe Sevilla regular who’s good looks and raw styling were show stopping. Lauren often danced with “Papa” Sergio Nuñez and Miguel Velazquez, putting on a show before anyone even considered “performance” salsa in San Diego. Sergio and a few old-guard salseros have weathered the changes and remain zealous about Salsa. “Salsa is in my blood, and has made me a better person. As a salsero, you understand you need to be charming to everybody.” Other “Sevilla Stars,” such as Jose Luis Gutierrez, Stephan Gallardo, Zulmara Torres and Espie Hernandez took the salsa the they developed in San Diego to other cites. Reflecting, Jose shared, “those were some of the best days of my life, dancing seven days a week, teaching during the day and clubs at night. San Diego is a beautiful city with awesome people.” Now in Miami, Jose’s passion for salsa continues. Even with a beautiful wife and growing family of four, he runs a successful dance company, Salsa Karibe (www.salsakaribe.com) and still finds time to host the Orlando Salsa Congress each July.

 Respect the Past, It Gave Us the Present

“Back in the day,” we’ve all heard it and all stake claim to a time period in the past. The truth is, each of us, even today’s dance superstars and promoters are a small part of a continuous evolution of San Diego Salsa that was built on the shoulders of those whose passion and dedication preceded us. Be thankful for the history that Salsa has in San Diego. If the people, the music and the venues weren’t there, you’d be doing something completely different now, just as if you crossed the time continuum in “Back to the Future” and learned that your Mom married Biff the town bully. You would start to vanish into thin air because this version of “you” doesn’t exist. Luckily for all of us, that isn’t the case - Que Viva La Salsa en San Diego!

Coming next - Salsa-lution San Diego Part II

Team Salsa: The transition from social pastime to team sport