Zoul 2 DanZ - One Year Anniversary!

Zoul 2 DanZ had their First Year Anniversary on August 15th. I was not only performing but the choreographer for the children that perform. There was alot of moves being made up, practices, sweat, stress and run-arounds, but it was all worth it. I haven't performed in awhile so I was excited to get back out there on the floor and show 'em what I got. Also, I never really actually made up a (salsa) dance that others would be performing. So there were alot of emotions running through me that night.

So the day right after the social I was moving back up to New York because my fall semester is approaching. But to spend my last night at home (in Connecticut) surrounded my family, friends, students and non-stop salsa dancing, I couldn't spend it any other way.

I Love 'In The Heights'!

In The Heights began as an original musical conceived by Lin-Manuel Miranda (Picture of him and I on the right). Might I add, that Lin is a genius for being the original creator of the storyline, music and lyrics of the musical. The music is a combination of the genres salsa, merengue, bachata, reggeaton and hip hop. There was one scene where there was tons of salsa dancing; made me yell out "wepa!"

Luckily I got to meet Lin and the rest of the cast of In The Heights and all of them were very, very nice. As you can see Lin is being silly, sticking his tongue out..lol :D

This is the ultimate, best Broadway show I have ever seen in my life! The stage set, plot of the story, music and actors are all amazing! Words can NOT describe the feeling that I was experiencing the day I seen the show.

In The Heights is about the culture and people that live in Washington Heights, New York. The musical is a 3 day-period of showing the life of many characters that have their own personality and problems. As I stated in previous posts, I explained that In The Heights is about chasing your dreams {even if it's getting out of the barrio} and finding out where your real home is.

I would recommend this show to anyone and everyone! I am truly infatuated with this show because hearing the music and watching the actors portray this wonderful story, makes me feel at home and feel like the characters are my neighborhood friends.

"Well you must take the A train

Even farther than Harlem

To norther Manhattan and maintain

Get off at 181st and take the escalator"

~ In The Heights

Sunset/Salsa Cruise

The Greater Bridgeport Latino Network (GBLN) hosted a Sunset Cruise last night. Here in Bridgeport, CT we have a Port Jefferson Ferry that takes passengers from CT to Rhode Island, NY. Last night, the GBLN stirred up the Ferry by hiring a DJ and shaking up the Ferry a little bit. I had such a wonderful time last night, with the DJ blasting salsa, merengue and old school freestyle music.

Before the ship docked off, GBLN had platinos, arroz, y empanadias (de carne y pollo) for their passengers to enjoy before getting on the ship. Once the Ferry was in sight, everyone began to become excited because the fun was about to begin.

The floor on the ferry was rubber and hard to dance on, but it hardly stopped the party from going. As you can see, last's post, Mr. M.B. even made his way to the ferry and showed his salsa moves. Even some of my sorority sisters were on the Ferry, so it was a good surprise.

Food, drinks, good music, family, friends, and dancing salsa on a boat was such a blast!! The GBLN did a fantastic job on hosting this Sunset Cruise and nothing can beat the feeling of being surrounded by water, the sunset and dancing salsa.

Sí, se puede

Mr. Michael Boyce has been a summer student at Zoul 2 DanZ this year. He first came to the studio explaining that he is involved with his school's salsa club and would like to keep it up while back at home. At his school, they dance on1, but clearly at Zoul 2 DanZ we dance on2, so he was excited to learn how to Salsa on2. He's been dancing salsa for about 10 months and enjoys it everytime he does it.

Facts About M.B!

* 24 years old

*Attends Georgia Tech in Atlanta, GA

* Going for his Masters in Computers, this upcoming Fall

* Is a brother of Lambda Upsilon Lambda

So, before I came home from school, I heard about Michael from my boss at the studio and I couldn't wait to meet and dance with him. First time I danced with him, we just fed off of eachother and it's been a blast dancing with/teaching him. But maybe we just 'hit it off' cause we're both 'greek' (Lambda Upsilon Lambda & Beta Sigma Alpha)! Anyhow, he's soo eager to learn and has the passion and drive, like I do. By the way, I think he tries to out shine me when we're not doing partner work..lol....Then again, he says that Alex (the boss of Zoul 2 DanZ) and I always shine..lol...hmm..I have no idea what he's talking about..lol. Sadly, he's going back to school in early August and will not be attending nor performing in Zoul 2 DanZ's next social. But there is always next summer!!

I'm going to leave you with some words from M.B.: "Why dance Salsa? I'm Puerto Rican and that's what we do...."

Piragua, $96,000, Paciencia y Fe..Only in, IN THE HEIGHTS

IN THE HEIGHTS

(*To view video, turn music off at bottom of page)

Tony's 2008 Best Musical is blowing UP in the 'Broadway World!'

The New York Times calls it, "A musical about chasing your dreams and finding your true home, with enough energy to light up the George Washington Bridge. A SINGULAR NEW SENSATION!"

In The Heights began as an original musical conceived by Lin-Manuel Miranda during his sophomore year at Wesleyan University. Its Off-Broadway run at 37 Arts, In The Heights quickly became an audience phenomenon and a critical success, capturing people of Latin and non-Latin decent. Over 200 performances, In The Heights planned to move onto Broadway with enhancements of the script and crew. It's move was made on February 14, 2008 and on March 9, 2008, the cast and crew celebrated their Opening Night. The music consists of R&B, Hip Hop, Merengue, Salsa y Bachata. As shown in the video above, you can

see some of the hip hop and salsa moves that are

done in the musical.

So, not only do I love to dance (salsa), but mi encanto singing and acting...yes I am a Broadway Gal!! So when I heard about this musical, awhile back, I figured that it's just a musical that TRIES to portray the life of Latinos. Boy was I wrong!!! When I first saw a clip of this wonderful musical, I was instantly HOOKED! And I am currently obsessed with the show now. Really...I am completly obsessed..lol.

So I did some research on the show, talked to a friend of mine (Primo Danny), and booked tickets to the show. Primo Danny y yo have been counting down the days to go see this wonderful musical. Then, it just so happened that the musical won Best Musical, Original Score (music and/or lyrics), Best Choreography, and Best Orchestrations; Not to shabby for being on Broadway for 3 months, huh!? So 16 more days until I go see this Sassy, Latino Musical & you KNOW I'm going to write an entry on it! Ya Ud. Sabe!!

You Don't Need To Be Latin, To Feel It!!!

BY THE WAY....HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Give Me More, Give Me More!

Whoooo!! They're here!! So about a week ago, I ordered new salsa shoes because over the summer I'm going to be dancing alot more, than I usually do during the year. I was convinced by my mother to get 2 new pairs of shoes. They finally came in last night and boy was I excited. The cute salsa shoe boxes caught my eye and then when I opened the boxes, BAM!! There they were. Each pair of shoes came with it's own bag to hold the dance shoes in, when going out; and now the bag says "Got Dance Shoes?" Which I think is SOO cute! :) Maybe I'm just corny. But yes, I went to http://www.exoticsalsashoes.com/ and got my shoes for a GREAT price. They also don't charge for shipping and handeling and come from CA (rather than China, like my last pair of shoes came from).

I am VERY pleased with my new pair of shoes and wondering if I should break one of them in for tonight's practice...hmmmm...we'll see

:)

Decided to get an all black shoes because I had black shoes, but had a different color added to them, etc.

So here's the classic, black Salsa Shoe, displaying a little 'strappy-strappy' action. Also, like every salsa shoe should have, at the bottom of the shoe, it is suede. One side of the show is plain black, while the other side has black mesh.

Size: 7 1/2 (Although I'm usually a size 8)

Heel: 3 inches (duh!)

Price: $49

Gold!!! So I barely wear any gold jewlery because that's just how I am. But I do wear alot of browns and tans, so my mother suggested that I should buy a pair of gold shoes. So I ran across these shoes (located on the right) and liked them in black. Then I saw them in gold and fell in love with them.

Although they dont have the 'strappy-strappy' like I like, they still have the braided straps in the front and mesh on the sides.

Size: 7.5

Heel: 3 inches (Claro, que si)

Price: $49 (Amazing huh?)

CT Surfrider Foundation: Beach Bash

So how was your weekend!?! I went to the beach in Bridgeport, CT because the Connecticut Surfrider Foundation held their first Beach Bash. My father is involved and is a founding father of this amazing non-profit Foundation. This foundation not only holds members that are surfers, but members that do any water sport and/or want to help the beach enviornment, such as cleaning beaches. My father does all of this, including teaching others to surf (as the picture shows below).


So you're probably thinking, what does surfing have to do with salsa?!?!? WELL...my father also was in charge of entertainment at this event. So he happened to "hire" my uncles and friends, to bust out their instruments and play by the beach!
You could imagine the attention the musicains and Surfrider Foundation were giving. There was a crowd at one point and others who wanted to know a little about what the foundation was all about, as well of salsa dancing!!!

Of course I caught some pictures of the band, people dancing, and caught of picture of me and my "boyfriend" getting down to the salsa sounds by the ocean. All in all, the event was a success and I spent my Saturday day, dancing by the waves!

Fams Dancing

Me and My 4 year-old "Boyfriend"