Ballroom Dancing Gay Festival This Weekend
by Ambrose Aban
EDGE New York City Contributor
Wednesday May 2, 2007
Full swingy skirts, billowy blouses, flowy and chunky headpieces that are flattering (and maybe malfunctioning) will be among the sights amidst the razzle-dazzle, the fire, passion and drama at the first-ever 5-Boro Dance Challenge in the city this weekend.
The action starts at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 6, and runs through Sunday at 3 p.m., at the Park Central Hotel, on Seventh Avenue across from Carnegie Hall. Men and women will accent the beautiful curves in their sexy shirtdresses as they samba, rumba, salsa, mambo and cha-cha their way to the top.
Sensual, captivating, mesmerizing, elegant, sophisticated, sexy ... there simply aren’t enough words to describe the crazy scramble of colors, flavorful sound, spins, turns, and the fashion at events like the Couples Competitions and Pro-Am Competitions (All Divisions). If you like ABC’s "Dancing With The Stars" (DWTS), you’ll be biting your nails. The Cha-Cha, Rumba, Samba and Salsa will be the main highlights.
Each of the dances is sexy, cheeky, lively, flirtatious, and charged with a high-voltage of catch-me-if-you-can atmosphere. Being an intermediate student of Salsa myself, I can talk about this cousin to the Mambo. Both have a pattern of six steps danced over eight counts of music. The dances share many of the same moves. I find the turns have become an important feature, so the overall look and feel are quite different from those of Mambo, which moves generally forward and backward, whereas, Salsa has more of a side to side feel.
According to my former dance instructors, Tiane Frias (www.tianefrias.com) and Juan Carlos of QueerJitterBug in San Francisco, the Salsa varies from site to site. In New York, new instrumentalization and extra percussion were added to some Colombian songs so that New Yorkers, who dance mambo "on the two," can feel comfortable dancing to the rhythm and beat of the song; the original arrangement is not one they easily recognize.
At the 5-Boro Dance Challenge nights, you will get to listen to Cumbia and Guaracha. You will also get to hear some old Merengue, built-in the rhythm of different songs. Infact, you will hear many of the old styles somewhere within the modern beats. Len Goodman, one of the judges on "DWTS," once explained to the viewiers that the Salsa has many roots and many branches, but one trunk that unites it all. According to Goodman, Salsa is played throughout the Hispanic world and has received influences of many places within it. It is of all of them and it is a sample of their flexibility and evolution--so no single place can take the credit for the existence of Salsa.
If you think that one style of dance is better, imagine that the best dancer of a style, without his partner, goes to dance with whomever he can find, in a club where a different style predominates. He/she wouldn’t look as good as the locals. Each dancer is accustomed to dance his/her own style. None is better, only different.
The Salsa fans and the judges at the 5-Boro Dance Challenge will definitely be watching like hawks -- looking for lightness, the posture, the lines, the characteristics, the intricate details, degree of difficulties, original choreography in the Salsa. And, of course, mistakes. The flair with which they execute both the basics and the variations in each dance style will bring their dancing to life and make it more exciting to watch as well as perform. As their footwork shifts to high gear and becomes more automatic, you’ll see them express the characteristic of each dance style very smoothly.
The 5-Boro Dance Challenge offers a same-sex dance competition for dancers from all over the world.According to Frias and Carlos, there are two ways the contestants can add more excitement and styling to their performances. One is to vary the timing or speed of execution of certain variations, as appropriate to the selected dance style. The other would reflect the appropriate images for each dance style selected.
For the Foxtrot and the Swing, look for a smooth, gliding and regal movement. For Waltz, what matter is a stately posture, wavelike rise-and-fall motions, and an accent on the downbeat. The Tango will display dramatic moves, slow catlike walks and staccato foot movements.
Last year, America had the pleasure to watch Joey Lawrence and his professional partner, Edyta Slivinska, fall in love with the dance floor and performed arguably the most beautiful Jive ever performed on TV. And in the second season of "DWTS," Lachey and his partner, Burke, captivated the fans with the hottest freestyle on the final night. The gay viewers were mesmerized and hooked. It’s no secret that "DWTS" has a lot of gay fans who are voting for Burke and her current partner, Broadway star and "Beverly Hills 90210" star Steve Sanders ("Ian Ziering") this season.
Sponsored by Edge Publications New York (www.edgenewyork.com), Snow, Verizon Wireless, Dance Times Square, Big Apple Ranch, OutDancing (Stepping Out Studios), Design to Shine, and here!TV, the goal of the 5-Boro Dance Challenge is to offer a same-sex dance competition that is accessible to dancers all over the world who compete in all different styles of same-sex partner dance. The organizer and sponsors hope to make this an event geared towards the enjoyment and advancement of the art form and sport. They also hope to promote other aspects of gay and lesbian culture that can easily be related to same-sex partner dancing, such as music, dancing, theatricality, athletics and committed partnerships.
"Dancing with a partner in harmony with good music will help you develop a more open, understanding, responsive, and supportive relationship with your partner and with others. Your outlook on life will become more positive, says Frias. "Dancing has its value, there will be several completely memorable dances in one’s life. A time when the partner, the music, the movement all come together in a sense of achievement and pleasure that stays in memory," says Frias, adding a good dancer is a definite plus to social occasions.
"A good dancer does not need to be handsome to be popular," he notes. Similarly, "A lady who is a good dancer radiates grace and charm, regardless of whether she is a physical beauty." Mentally, dancing serves as a wonderful stress relief.
For me personally, a busy day of pressure melts into the background when evening brings dancing in the arms of another man. Like a good sex, sleep after a good dance session is always sound for me -- Ambrose Aban
MORE INFORMATION:
Park Central Hotel
870 Seventh Avenue at 56th Street
New York, NY 10019-4038
800.346.1359
212.247.8000
Tickets/Info: www.5borodancechallenge.com
N,R,W,Q, B,D,E, 1,9,A,C,F trains.
Caught between the moon and New York City which he calls home since 2000, Ambrose Aban wrote for Malaysia, Singapore and Bangkok Tatler, reviewed restaurants and wrote special ad supplement, "Christopher Street", for HX Magazine New York, contributed to leading English dailies in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore. Ambrose loves giving up the secrets of everything from where to find the most delicious Orange Glazed Peking Duck to how to prepare extravagant chic soirees in the city.
*******************************************************
We love you Elizabeth!
Not that this is a national gay issue to argue about or worry about but should John Edwards forget about the White House and spend quality time - every second - with his loved ones?
A lot of gay people disagreed with some of the things being written about the Edwards' decision to pursue the White House lately. Others, had reactions similar to those writers. I've also thought a lot about it. What do you think?
Do you think Elizabeth should just spend more time with her children and
I know what it is like living with cancer. I have lost my most precious one to the big C. So no, I don't think that Elizabeth Edwards should go hide in a room and wait to die.
We all know that it is tough to fight cancer especially after a short remission. Elizabeth should live her life to the fullest now. Just keep on doing what she has been doing before cancer, keep on fighting for her loved ones, keep on going, and don't quit living. And not let cancer gets in the way.
I know what cancer is capable of doing to the human spirit. It weakens us, it weakens even the strongest ones.
For those of you insensitive writers out there, who have no experience living with cancer and caring for your dying loved ones, LISTEN. Put it in your skull. Seeing our loved ones in pains day and night and waiting for answers, waiting for good news and getting only bad news time after time, and not to mention all the blood test, seeing the horrible side effects of chemo drugs kicking in, attending the painful lumbar puncture sessions, waiting at the cold lobby for the pet/cat scan to end, waiting in line for hours (waiting is synonymous with cancer hospitals!) preparing for extrays etc, and seeing them holding on to dear life just for us, is far worse than having the disease and dying of it, in my experience. So please do not judge her decision.
Writers, reporters, bloggetrs, journalists, policians, must stop politicizing their decision and start supporting them today.
Elizabeth Edwards was name one of the TIME 100 and has become a symbol of strength for so many people battling and living with cancer. It's a great choice. She’s a strong, smart, compelling woman. We homos do love her, and her husband. Aren't we?
by Ambrose Aban
EDGE New York City Contributor
Wednesday May 2, 2007
Full swingy skirts, billowy blouses, flowy and chunky headpieces that are flattering (and maybe malfunctioning) will be among the sights amidst the razzle-dazzle, the fire, passion and drama at the first-ever 5-Boro Dance Challenge in the city this weekend.
The action starts at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 6, and runs through Sunday at 3 p.m., at the Park Central Hotel, on Seventh Avenue across from Carnegie Hall. Men and women will accent the beautiful curves in their sexy shirtdresses as they samba, rumba, salsa, mambo and cha-cha their way to the top.
Sensual, captivating, mesmerizing, elegant, sophisticated, sexy ... there simply aren’t enough words to describe the crazy scramble of colors, flavorful sound, spins, turns, and the fashion at events like the Couples Competitions and Pro-Am Competitions (All Divisions). If you like ABC’s "Dancing With The Stars" (DWTS), you’ll be biting your nails. The Cha-Cha, Rumba, Samba and Salsa will be the main highlights.
Each of the dances is sexy, cheeky, lively, flirtatious, and charged with a high-voltage of catch-me-if-you-can atmosphere. Being an intermediate student of Salsa myself, I can talk about this cousin to the Mambo. Both have a pattern of six steps danced over eight counts of music. The dances share many of the same moves. I find the turns have become an important feature, so the overall look and feel are quite different from those of Mambo, which moves generally forward and backward, whereas, Salsa has more of a side to side feel.
According to my former dance instructors, Tiane Frias (www.tianefrias.com) and Juan Carlos of QueerJitterBug in San Francisco, the Salsa varies from site to site. In New York, new instrumentalization and extra percussion were added to some Colombian songs so that New Yorkers, who dance mambo "on the two," can feel comfortable dancing to the rhythm and beat of the song; the original arrangement is not one they easily recognize.
At the 5-Boro Dance Challenge nights, you will get to listen to Cumbia and Guaracha. You will also get to hear some old Merengue, built-in the rhythm of different songs. Infact, you will hear many of the old styles somewhere within the modern beats. Len Goodman, one of the judges on "DWTS," once explained to the viewiers that the Salsa has many roots and many branches, but one trunk that unites it all. According to Goodman, Salsa is played throughout the Hispanic world and has received influences of many places within it. It is of all of them and it is a sample of their flexibility and evolution--so no single place can take the credit for the existence of Salsa.
If you think that one style of dance is better, imagine that the best dancer of a style, without his partner, goes to dance with whomever he can find, in a club where a different style predominates. He/she wouldn’t look as good as the locals. Each dancer is accustomed to dance his/her own style. None is better, only different.
The Salsa fans and the judges at the 5-Boro Dance Challenge will definitely be watching like hawks -- looking for lightness, the posture, the lines, the characteristics, the intricate details, degree of difficulties, original choreography in the Salsa. And, of course, mistakes. The flair with which they execute both the basics and the variations in each dance style will bring their dancing to life and make it more exciting to watch as well as perform. As their footwork shifts to high gear and becomes more automatic, you’ll see them express the characteristic of each dance style very smoothly.
The 5-Boro Dance Challenge offers a same-sex dance competition for dancers from all over the world.According to Frias and Carlos, there are two ways the contestants can add more excitement and styling to their performances. One is to vary the timing or speed of execution of certain variations, as appropriate to the selected dance style. The other would reflect the appropriate images for each dance style selected.
For the Foxtrot and the Swing, look for a smooth, gliding and regal movement. For Waltz, what matter is a stately posture, wavelike rise-and-fall motions, and an accent on the downbeat. The Tango will display dramatic moves, slow catlike walks and staccato foot movements.
Last year, America had the pleasure to watch Joey Lawrence and his professional partner, Edyta Slivinska, fall in love with the dance floor and performed arguably the most beautiful Jive ever performed on TV. And in the second season of "DWTS," Lachey and his partner, Burke, captivated the fans with the hottest freestyle on the final night. The gay viewers were mesmerized and hooked. It’s no secret that "DWTS" has a lot of gay fans who are voting for Burke and her current partner, Broadway star and "Beverly Hills 90210" star Steve Sanders ("Ian Ziering") this season.
Sponsored by Edge Publications New York (www.edgenewyork.com), Snow, Verizon Wireless, Dance Times Square, Big Apple Ranch, OutDancing (Stepping Out Studios), Design to Shine, and here!TV, the goal of the 5-Boro Dance Challenge is to offer a same-sex dance competition that is accessible to dancers all over the world who compete in all different styles of same-sex partner dance. The organizer and sponsors hope to make this an event geared towards the enjoyment and advancement of the art form and sport. They also hope to promote other aspects of gay and lesbian culture that can easily be related to same-sex partner dancing, such as music, dancing, theatricality, athletics and committed partnerships.
"Dancing with a partner in harmony with good music will help you develop a more open, understanding, responsive, and supportive relationship with your partner and with others. Your outlook on life will become more positive, says Frias. "Dancing has its value, there will be several completely memorable dances in one’s life. A time when the partner, the music, the movement all come together in a sense of achievement and pleasure that stays in memory," says Frias, adding a good dancer is a definite plus to social occasions.
"A good dancer does not need to be handsome to be popular," he notes. Similarly, "A lady who is a good dancer radiates grace and charm, regardless of whether she is a physical beauty." Mentally, dancing serves as a wonderful stress relief.
For me personally, a busy day of pressure melts into the background when evening brings dancing in the arms of another man. Like a good sex, sleep after a good dance session is always sound for me -- Ambrose Aban
MORE INFORMATION:
Park Central Hotel
870 Seventh Avenue at 56th Street
New York, NY 10019-4038
800.346.1359
212.247.8000
Tickets/Info: www.5borodancechallenge.com
N,R,W,Q, B,D,E, 1,9,A,C,F trains.
Caught between the moon and New York City which he calls home since 2000, Ambrose Aban wrote for Malaysia, Singapore and Bangkok Tatler, reviewed restaurants and wrote special ad supplement, "Christopher Street", for HX Magazine New York, contributed to leading English dailies in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore. Ambrose loves giving up the secrets of everything from where to find the most delicious Orange Glazed Peking Duck to how to prepare extravagant chic soirees in the city.
*******************************************************
We love you Elizabeth!
Not that this is a national gay issue to argue about or worry about but should John Edwards forget about the White House and spend quality time - every second - with his loved ones?
A lot of gay people disagreed with some of the things being written about the Edwards' decision to pursue the White House lately. Others, had reactions similar to those writers. I've also thought a lot about it. What do you think?
Do you think Elizabeth should just spend more time with her children and
I know what it is like living with cancer. I have lost my most precious one to the big C. So no, I don't think that Elizabeth Edwards should go hide in a room and wait to die.
We all know that it is tough to fight cancer especially after a short remission. Elizabeth should live her life to the fullest now. Just keep on doing what she has been doing before cancer, keep on fighting for her loved ones, keep on going, and don't quit living. And not let cancer gets in the way.
I know what cancer is capable of doing to the human spirit. It weakens us, it weakens even the strongest ones.
For those of you insensitive writers out there, who have no experience living with cancer and caring for your dying loved ones, LISTEN. Put it in your skull. Seeing our loved ones in pains day and night and waiting for answers, waiting for good news and getting only bad news time after time, and not to mention all the blood test, seeing the horrible side effects of chemo drugs kicking in, attending the painful lumbar puncture sessions, waiting at the cold lobby for the pet/cat scan to end, waiting in line for hours (waiting is synonymous with cancer hospitals!) preparing for extrays etc, and seeing them holding on to dear life just for us, is far worse than having the disease and dying of it, in my experience. So please do not judge her decision.
Writers, reporters, bloggetrs, journalists, policians, must stop politicizing their decision and start supporting them today.
Elizabeth Edwards was name one of the TIME 100 and has become a symbol of strength for so many people battling and living with cancer. It's a great choice. She’s a strong, smart, compelling woman. We homos do love her, and her husband. Aren't we?