Salsa Dancing in Seoul, Korea

Obersations and Personal Experiences while visiting Seoul, Korea to attend the SalsaCon 1 Festival Oct 7- Oct 14, 2013.

1) Air Conditioning is a National Priority in the Seoul Salsa Scene. Every venue I went to had floor to ceiling Industrial Strength Air Conditioning Units- SEVERAL in fact- set all around the room to ENSURE your dance night would be comfortable no matter how hard you danced. The concept of bringing several t-shirts to a club to change into when you sweated out one has to be a foreign unknownable concept in Seoul. Sure, you still sweat but it is more like light sweat that can dry pretty quickly and not pile up into a huge moat in the center of your back, spread like a ocean between your legs, or just sit and gather between the cups of your brassieres. Color me MUY IMPRESSED!

2) They have several DEDICATED SALSA NIGHT CLUBS and DEDICATED SALSA BARS where they go and dance every night of the week. I’m not sure how many Dance Studio Socials they may have but all of the venues that I heard talked about incessantly were actual Salsa Night Clubs which are plenty and are catered to ONLY Salsa. And yes, these clubs are supported by drinkers which is not a problem in Seoul because drinking is a national pasttime there. When you purchase your entry ticket to the club, you get one free drink ticket. And many of the clubs will occasionally hand out a tray of free shots to get things lubricated, so to speak. Side note, these clubs are generally run by Salseros and/or Salsa Teachers. So in Seoul, Hard core Salsa DANCING and hard core DRINKING go hand in hand, unlike almost ANY other salsa club anywhere else where the inverse is most likely the norm. For non-drinkers they provided Free water dispensers with cups so you don’t fall out from dehydration. Additionally, every Salsa Club had shoe lockers and storage shelves, nice wood floors, & individually wrapped tooth brushes in the bathrooms?! (Last line grabbed verbatim from a comment Mike Jeon made on Facebook about the wonders of Seoul’s Salsa Clubs)

3) The Salsa Dance Scene is HUGE! Sat Night, Oct 12, there were 6 other parties going on along side SalsaCon1 and my intel tells me that every party that night was packed?!And this was just in SOUTHERN SEOUL!!! Northern Seoul has a totally separate Salsa scene, so I’m told, that is equally large. These people dance salsa every night of the week!!! You go out on different nights and/or to different venues and you would constantly meet new people you hadn’t met previously. I’m going to go out on a limb and say their scene is as large as New York’s (wouldn’t be surprised if it was larger) which leads me to #4…..

4) Apparently, the Seoul scene dances 95% Salsa ON2 (Mambo). I would have to say that their scene would be second to only New York’s in terms of saturation and total immersion of Mambo/ON2 and a close 2nd, at that. The vast majority of the dancers are some variation of Intermediate- from beginner Intermediate to Advanced Intermediate. Next largest group are the beginners. Not sure how large the Advanced group is but I suspect it is quite sizable. I only saw fleeting glimpses of the Advanced Dancer set before they quickly rolled to the next club/venue on their roster that night.

5) Alot of their Salsa Dance Scene is loosely supported by Salsa Societies ie Salsa Social Clubs. Budding Dancers and dancers of every level/stripe join a Salsa Social Society like El Paso. These societies vote for a president to lead them based on popularity, attendance, and ability to lead. And those Presidents organize everything for their members like classes, performances, group picnic, etc. Of course, the Pres can pick people to support him/her in their responsibilities. The classes they provide to their members include beginner level, intermediate, level, advanced level and they make sure to invite some good instructors to each each class. Within the group, those members who have already distinguished themselves developing their own salsa skillsets are also utilized for teaching classes. The societies are also really big about socializing together at Salsa Events and after Salsa events. Members of the same Salsa Society arrange to meet up as a group for drinks to meet senior/junior dancers, build relationships, etc before club-hopping to other venues for dancing until exhausted on most nights. Advanced Dancers make it their business to make sure they go to the Salsa venue where their particular Salsa Club is meeting so that they can dance with all of the beginners and intermediates of their salsa club to keep them encouraged about the dance. This practice obviously works as they have grown their Salsa scene tremendously and provides a great support system to developing dancers. We would do well to incorporate some version of this practice in America to save our various dance scenes and dispense with the entrenched Mambo snobbery- Real Talk! (Special Thanks to Yoony Park for the specific info on how the Salsa Societies work!)

6) My 1st Night in a Seoul Salsa Club started at 2:30am Tuesday Morning after Scott and I got hopelessly lost walking around the wrong side of Seoul for almost 2 hours searching for the club. Even at our late arrival, the club was packed out! I spotted Korean Salsa Pro/Teacher/Performer Beko. This guy had a long line of girls waiting to dance with him at NY’s Salsa Dura Festival this summer and he had a lengthy queue of girls waiting to dance with him at NY Salsa Congress in September. I stalked him both places from afar, never saying a word to him and was way too intimidated to dance with him. This did not stop me from snatching video of his dancing whenever I could while salivating. But here in Korea in a Nightclub at 2:30 in the morning, he spots me from his perch behind the bar and apparently recognizes his benign American Stalker/Peeping Tom (ME) and waves at me?!!! Then he comes over to speak and hugs me- I AM SHELL SHOCKED WITH JOY! After we chat briefly, he asks me to dance. OF COURSE THE DANCE WAS THE BOMB! This made my night!

7) The stereotype I’ve often heard of Asian Male dancers in the past is that they perfect the technical aspects regarding technique, timing, and turn patterns but they don’t develop a unique style, musicality or incorporate body-movement. Basically they are judged to not have any Sabor- Jimmy Yoon excepted from this. Mind you, I never heard this about Asian women- they usually perfect styling or die on the dance floor trying! I found this theory about the men blasted to bits in Korea. Many of the even Intermediate Level dancers were already trying on the concept of body movement and were well on the path to developing some level of musicality. In addition, many of the guys were very playful and non-threatening flirtatious in their dance which seamlessly mitigated the language barrier issue to a non-issue. Normally, you don’t see much body movement or even good lines in dancers until they are advanced. But many of the Intermediate guys were already trying to integrate these concepts into their dance. Sure, there were some some Turn Pattern Daredevils out there but not as many as I see back home here on the East Coast. It goes without saying that the advanced dancers definitely had the body movement, musicality, and Sabor DOWN- no faceless Crazy Turn Pattern Robots with them! I have to say that the Salsa teachers in Seoul are doing a great job from all of the evidence I have seen.

8) During the dance, I was told more than a few times that my “tension” felt good. Even guys who couldn’t speak English well or at all got their friends to tell me this after they danced with me. This was explained to me as me feeling very light to lead but still maintaining connection. I was pleasantly surprised because in DC, I’ve been told my arms strengthen up too much, that I feel like a pound of cement bricks, that I’m too heavy, that they have to drag me around at times, blah blah blah. I was also told by a few Korean dancers, unprompted of course, that they found me to be a really good follow. Some of the Korean guys would drag me to dance with their friends and their teachers. I was intensely appreciative of their efforts to make sure I got good dances. I guess my good karma in pairing people off to dance with out of town folks at Mr. Mambo’s in DC paid off for me BIG TIME in Korea! I admit I was blushing and secretly thrilled by the compliments.

9) Bachata is growing in popularity in Korea. I only saw Bachata Moderna style danced and it was danced very closely, body to body. I expect that by the time I return next year, Dominican Style Bachata will have been introduced, taught, and integrated into their Bachata dance arsenal. Kizomba, on the other hand, got CRICKETS CHIRPING when the ONE Kizomba song was played.

10) Alot of Guaguanocs and Salsa Dura in general was unleashed en force on Seoul via the Salsa Con1 Festival. While I was in an Aural Induced Salsa Heaven, I was curious to find out what the locals thought so I asked my Korean friends and asked them to ask their friends- especially the ones that didn’t speak english. The findings were mixed. While many absolutely enjoyed the music played at Salsa Con1, quite a few said they found the constant changes in the music (the timing switches) to be rather challenging. One guy who had me dance with his teacher, who happened to be a former Korean Salsa Champion, told me his teacher was a bit ashamed of the dance we shared because he was frustrated by the many changes in the music. Mind you, from my perspective, the dance with his teacher was absolutely wonderful and felt good to me. While there may have been a hiccup or two in the dance, I judged it to be totally my fault in anticipating/back-leading because I already knew where the music was going- again, MY FAULT! I found him to be a really smooth, experienced lead and great dancer. I suspect by next year at Salsa Con2, many will be better acclimated to the music now that they have been exposed and Salsa Dura won’t be as much of a challenge. Their Salsa Dura Cherry has been popped.

11) The music played in their local venues was pretty pedestrian fare– classic salsa hits mixed with happy salsa sounding songs. I guess I expected more Latin Jazz or sophisticated salsa hybrids. Many of the songs I heard bordered on the commercial or well-known/well traveled variety. The songs I didn’t recognize were an eclectic lot featuring a lot of happy go lucky chimes instead of groovy vibes. If I had to coin a description for the feel of the music played locally, it was salsa con island carnival CIRCUS music, if that makes any sense.

12) The One Salsa Music Oasis in Seoul outside of Salsa Con1 was this Small Magical Sliver of Heaven called HABANA!!!!! Words can not express the goodness that the Host and DJ, Dr. Salsa, played. I’m very disappointed I only got there one night but once was enough to sell me on having to go back there again and again! Habana is a lovely small venue with great wood floors, wonderful decor, a huge back wall drop behind the Bar of over 2000 CDs that Dr. Salsa curates his sets from each night. His set was majority Salsa with some Bachata but may occasionally break into an old school Hip Hop song, a jumping House song, or even possibly a reggae song. His selections set you adrift to guaranteed Musical and Dance Nirvana (provided you bought your friends with you). Not to mention that he and his wife are expert Salsa Dancers in their own right- retired Salsa Champions, in fact! Hands down, this is one of the best kept secrets in the Salsa Universe and EVERYONE should put this spot on their Salsa Bucket list!

13) There were Five (5) Korean Based Dancers I came across who were Top Flight Social Dancers (two whom I was already aware of from seeing them in the U.S.) who could make their dance presence felt anywhere on any dance floor they landed around the world. There are probably a butt load more guys to single out in Korea but I missed them on this trip. Sol de Corea is one of the most versatile dancers around. The back story on him is as follows: he spent 6 months in Egypt to learn Belly Dancing so he could master Body Movement better, he spent 1+ years in Thailand studying Tai chi just so he could better understand Body Isolations, he’s a pro level hip hop dancer, AND he’s a expert dancer in the Modern style. The list goes on and on with his diverse dance accomplishments. G-ya trained in New York under Frankie Martinez for years and is now a beloved teacher and Social Dancer based in Korea. Beko, who I’ve already gushed about earlier, is a Pro Level Instructor/Performer and marvelous Social Dancer with a unique style. Oz is a wonderful Pro Mambo and Pro-Swing Dancer/Instructor/Performer who’s fluid lead and playful yet challenging dance can get someone like me to seamlessly do tricks and still enjoy the dance. Sam Mardini Sabor-Aplenti is originally from Toronto but now based in Korea. I don’t know his dance background but it is obvious he most likely was a performer in the past. All I do know from dancing with him and watching him dance is that he is a wonderful social dancer with a great lead and sexy sabor who would make for a desirable dance partner anywhere he danced.

14) One ritual that remained steadfast no matter the time the dancing was finished involved going out to eat, drink, and commune with your fellow dancers. This stood even if it was 4am on a weeknight and they apparently had to be at work in a few hours. I don’t know how they do it but these majority slim people EAT!!! They obviously don’t require much sleep either. Too much for the kid.

Written October 21, 2014