AUTHOR: SalsaCrazy TITLE: Hong Kong Salsa - A night out at the Clubs DATE: Wednesday, March 16, 2005 ----- BODY:

Hong Kong has a thriving salsa scene and has been the host of Congressos and Festivals for a few years now. I visited during the Hong Kong Salsa Festival, and it was quite busy. There are clubs on almost every night of the week, although Sunday and Monday seem to be a little harder to find something. On most nights, perhaps due to the Salsa Festival, salsa went until quite late, 4-5am or later, each morning.

I was absolutely dead-tired after Hong Kong, which I suppose, is a good thing! Lots of fantastic dancers, although I did dance a bit more with visitors from places like Beijing (super fun, and well represented), Shanghai, Korea (really, really good), Singapore (really, really good), and other Asian countries. Japan was noticeably almost completely absent (due to salsa politics I hear).

Anyway, Hong Kong was certainly a fun place, but the clubs are struggling with the capacity crowds! Dance space, and dance etiquette, was non-existent at most venues, with people crashing into one another at random. I got the feeling it was quite the norm, as no one seemed overly phased by it, but it did dampen some of the dances always having to protect your partner from a flailing (fill in the blank).

Hong Kong is bustling, huge city! I didnt even begin to scratch the surface of it. It would be nice to return for a few days, outside of the salsa festival, to visit the clubs on regular nights, and see what the scene is like. However, the salsa festival was great, totally packed, and quite exciting! As I said before, Alex and Chi, Bay Area performers, were totally fanastic, even if they keep on telling everyone how tired I looked. ;) Five in the morning, five nights in a row? Dancing, drinking, and eating that crazy food, doing heaven knows what, Im happy I survived.

Youll be able to read more in our upcoming in-depth Hong Kong Report. We will detail every club, and every instructor that we ran across, and let you know the ins and outs for your next visit. A special shout out to Sebastien (http://www.salsaseb.com), whom hosted me over there, pointed me in the right direction, and where I danced with his excellent and connected dance team members!

--------