Meeting Antonio Vargas

Sunday night, I had the privilage of meeting the Dance Maestro behind Mission Impossible 2, Strictly Ballroom as well as Tiempos Mejores. That’s none other than Mr. Antonio Vargas himself. Born in Casablanca, Antonio Vargas was attracted to Flamenco at a very early age. His inborn musicality could equally have drawn him to become a concert cellist or a percussionist. However his passion for the art of Flamenco and the full realisation of its potentials have been the driving force behind his long and brilliant career.

The list of Antonio’s works is extensive. From opera to film, from small stage performances to big festivals, from solo performances to productions with the best artists that Spain has to offer at the moment, Antonio has done it all, including a television show with the Beatles (Granada Television, 1964); he played the Fiddler in a London production of Fiddler on the Roof (Her Majesty’s Theatre, 1967); he has created his own Flamenco Dance Theatre works and adapted well know plays and novels to the Flamenco repertoire.

From April to June 1999 Antonio choreographed and staged a flamenco segment for Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible II, directed by John Woo, which was released in May 2000 in the US and World-Wide shortly thereafter, breaking box-office records. He also accepted an invitation to play a cameo role in the same film.

Coming back to last night, Antonio along with some of his students showcase some excellent flamenco dance both steps with him playing the guitar as well as with the audience clapping along. One thing for sure is this is not the type of flamenco dance that we see in movies and music videos but the high energy version. Is it worth to pick up this dance style? I know for sure that it’s not the dance for me. For now, I’ll just stick to Salsa. For some of the photos, click here.

ANTONIO VARGAS @ WhiteRoom Bilique this SUNDAY!!

Taken from Mambochinita…

We have a VERY SPECIAL GUEST in town this weekend and he will be coming to The WhikeRoom Bilique tomorrow night!

Antonio Vargas, one of the grandmasters of SPANISH FLAMENCO will be dropping by to chill at our Sunday social while on holiday in KL. Senor Vargas has an impressive resume that spans a couple of decades. He is also a pioneer in the field of Flamenco dance theatre and has traveled and performed extensively around the world, changing the lives of those who perform with him. Being in high demand, this man has also choreographed for movies like Strictly Ballroom & Mission Impossible (just to name a few). I highly recommend catching him if you can….great people like this are hard to meet in Malaysia!

Now you may say, so HOW IS THIS RELATED TO SALSA? Salsa & Latin America are linked to Spain…..and one of the national dances in Spain is…yep Flamenco! In addition, the posture, poise, grace, expression and level of mastery will surely INSPIRE you to be a better dancer! (whether its socially or as a performer)

Besides, Senor Vargas will be indulging us in a brief intro to Flamenco and an impromptu performance. I was told it will happen around 10:30pm+

Really, you don’t want to MISS this opportunity! To dance is to live!

Dance is the hidden language of the soul. ~Martha Graham

Dancing is the loftiest, the most moving, the most beautiful of the arts, because it is not mere translation or abstraction from life; it is life itself. ~Havelock Ellis

World Latin Salsa Congress 2008

It’s been a week since the World Latin Salsa Congress was over in Penang. To me, it was a huge success as tons of people came to me and say how much they enjoyed the workshops and parties we organized for them.

As for myself, this is one of the most tiring event that I’ve involved in thus far. With a grand total of 6 hours of sleep from Friday to Monday, I was actually running high only on Salsa, from attending the workshops and parties that was held throughout as well as running about making sure all the instructors’ needs are met and all the participants’ complains are dealt with. I didn’t know the word tired until Tuesday itself when I finally relaxed and slept.

One of the most cherished moments from this event is the fact that I’ve made so many new found friends through the congress, from within Malaysia as well as from all over the world, Japan, Australia, Canada as well as Venezuela.

Aside from that, the workshops that was organized throughout the weekend was amazing, things we learn in it, we don’t normally learn in classes or a the clubs. No doubt I didn’t attend much as I’ve been running around but those that I went for, man… they were exciting! How often do you get to throw a woman about and the woman enjoys it?

And then there’s the performances at the dinner parties. Everyone put on their best shows to thrill the crowd, for the first timers, the first reaction was.. GOSH! Can we actually do those things? To the experienced, it was GOSH! They have upped the ante!

And then there’s the highlight of the whole event. The Beach party, the one that everyone talks about even until today. How often do we have a beach party with LIVE Band and dancing in the sand? Name me one other Latin Dance festival in Malaysia that does it? There isn’t other than the Congress! That’s the big highlight of the whole congress!

Then there’s this other thing call late nights. The parties ends at 2am every night but does the people stop partying? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO….. We would gather the musical instruments, find a nice comfortable spot and continue partying away, when the whole hotel turns off the lights to sleep, we are still singing and dancing away near the beach. It was fantastic! To think that impromptu Jamming sessions would be this fun is just amazing.

To end this post, my camera never worked this hard before with over 3,000 photos being taken, of course, we aren’t going to put every single one on the web for all to see right? There’s always the selected ones that is more decent and so forth. You can find them all at the following links.

World Latin Salsa Congress 2008 Collection

* Partying with Gerardo Rosales @ Salsa Havana
* Congress Day 1 Workshop
* Congress Day 1 Welcome Party 1 of 3
* Congress Day 1 Welcome Party 2 of 3
* Congress Day 1 Welcome Party 3 of 3
* Congress Day 2 Workshop 1 of 2
* Congress Day 2 Workshop 2 of 2
* Congress Day 2 Beach Party 1 of 3
* Congress Day 2 Beach Party 2 of 3
* Congress Day 2 Beach Party 3 of 3
* Congress Day 3 Workshop 1 of 2
* Congress Day 3 Workshop 2 of 2
* Congress Day 3 Gala Dinner 1 of 3
* Congress Day 3 Gala Dinner 2 of 3
* Congress Day 3 Gala Dinner 3 of 3
* Partying with Pretty Boys & Girls @ Salsa Havana

Appeared on MHI

I was informed by a friend via Facebook that I was shown on MHI this morning dancing salsa.

Why wasn’t I given prior warning about it so I could have recorded it down!! WHY WHY WHY!!! ARGH!

My 5min of fame and I missed my own show. Sigh.

Gerardo Rosales & Our Latin Groove is here!

Gerardo Rosales & Our Latin Groove has finally arrived in town a day after Bobby Dickerson and what better way to welcome them by having a small get together to drink and dance the night away. Yes, I know it’s a Wednesday night but heck, at some places, it’s known as the Mambo Night too!

Not only do we get to have a taste of what to expect at the Congress by these guys, the lucky few even get to learn some new tricks from Bobby too earlier in the night.

And nothing speaks better about the night other than dancing the night away to the songs by band as well as some favorite songs of my own (after I took over the deejay console from Martin).