LOS ANGELES SALSA DANCING — The Los Angeles salsa scene prepares for the 13th Annual Salsa Congress to be held on May 26 - 30. The event will kick-off on Thursday the 26th with a pre-party dance night at the Mayan Nightclub in Los Angeles with Dimelo! Records's #1 agroupation, "Chino Espinoza". We at SalsaHook.com like the approach! It's better to keep things within means than to be too extravagant in a business (niche: salsa) that does not offer much to be gathered. 

And if there was any questions as to how influential Bachata has been to the Los Angeles Latin dancing scene, a scene formerly heavily dominated by Salsa music and dancing all by itself, the Salsa Congress is being promoed, in hopes to attract a wider range of attendees, with a bachata concert on Sunday by Xtreme and qualifier competitions for some type of  'World Bachata Dance…

HOLLYWOOD, CA — If there is a Latin spot that is a magnet for Hollywood celebs, it is El Floridita Cuban Restaurant! Celebs come out of their hiding places and show up at El Floridita for an intimate and truly authentic Cuban/Latin experience. The food, the atmosphere, the music, the delicious drinks, and the sexy dancing; El Floridita truly has it all and celebs continue to make appearances! 

Most recently, El Floridita was showcased in the popular television show: "Dancing with the Stars," when Romeo Miller and his partner Chelsie Hightower visited the location to get their Salsa moves on! Then, after their hot Salsa performance on the show, Kirstie Alley and her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy dragged a few of the DWTS crews to come dance at El Floridita! They had a blast!

El Floridita has been known to attract celebrities of all sorts, such as: Matthew Mcconaughey, Ali…

NEW YORK — Music industry giants are attempting to change the musical diversity to which America is exposed to. The might of Latin Jazz music in the creation and shaping of complete Latin American cultures is something that you simply cannot dismiss in an attempt to focus only on what, in your opinion, is more worth your time. This is the type of treatment that Hip Hop was given long ago, when such genre was believed simply to be a "black" music style and completely irrelevant to the American mainstream and culture. Let us not forget that America has, throughout its history, been inherintly racist and this is no different. 

Bobby Sanabria and Eddie Palmieri, two massive legends of Latin Jazz, have been the most oustpoken against the decision to ditch major portions of the Latin community in America. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the awards…

LOS ANGELES, CA (back in 2004) — It was said that out of the more than 100 salsa congresses that Albert Torres Productions put together around the globe at that time, the West Coast Salsa Congress that took place in Los Angeles, CA, was the biggest in the world! In 2004, and with the slogan of "Creating Unity Through Salsa," ATP set out to organize what seemed to be a world salsa convention and seemed grander than life for Salsa lovers. It truly was a production bigger than most events you can think of, even outside of Salsa, and of the likes of "Fiesta Broadway" in Los Angeles, CA or "Calle 8" in Miami, FL. 

Let me reiterate that again...the event was seriously massive (I mean it). I got to personally witness the work and long hours of preparation that went into it by legions of professional service workers, as…

LOS ANGELES, CA — On Sunday, March 28th, 2010, Los Angeles came together at Stevens Steak & Seafood House for an explosive night of Live music and fluid dancing where two bands and two dancing scenes went head to head to defend and represent two different Latin styles of music and dancing: Salsa and Bachata. For a while now, in a city where Salsa has been king (or queen) for decades and its style of dancing, L.A. Style On1, has bee popularized globally throughout the years, Bachata has abruptly stepped in to seemingly take over a big portion of the appreciation and love that dancers, musicians, and djs have to give to the Latin scene. The rivalry between Salsa and Bachata could be felt and the visionary mind of Jim Philipan, owner of Stevens Steak House, conceived the idea that a duel should be arranged to finally prove which scene…

The Floor Improv Night is a live jam session with musicians and dancers of all genres. Carolina Cerisola and Sascha Escandon have successfully created an event night that, as their goal was in creating it, fills a void in Los Angeles, CA. 

Sportsmen's lodge may of had a face lift but the sound system (person) is pathetic. There is no excuse for having a half hour sound check @ 10:30pm (with 500+ people waiting to dance) when it could have easily been done 2 hours prior. The band was great but the sound was horrible. That being said....

Septeto Nacional opened with Echale Salsita, the Pineiro tune that's sometimes credited with giving salsa its name, and barreled on from there. Son is usually a suave thing, but this ensemble, the fourth generation of musicians for this band founded in 1927, played with exceptional precision and drive. This wasn't the turbo-charged overdrive of timba, but it was relentless enough: tres, guitar, stand-up bass, bongos (and cowbell), maracas, trumpet, and singer all beautifully locked in, the arrangements precisely calibrated, the rhythm section as regular as a drum machine. Danced my ass off!

Can't blame the…