Annual Bachata Masters w/Daniel & Desiree

Recap.   The moment I knew I had messed up BADLY by not getting out of bed to go to the 2nd Annual Bachata Masters Workshops with Former Bachata World Champs Daniel & Desiree by Ferocity Dance Company and Kat Arias June 22, 2014 – When Daniel & Desiree walked through the door at Rendevous Studio for the Bachata Blowout Party last night. The place nearly lit up like sunlight in the dark atmosphere. It was like ROCKSTARS entered the building, NO LIE. This couple were all Big pretty white teeth, Brilliant smiles, Beautiful faces, A+ Level Confidence and Charisma, Stylish Clothes that accentuated nearly perfectly proportioned and ridiculously sexy bodies, and finally, just that elusive undefined X factor that identifies any sure enough Super Star whether they are in the making or have already arrived. I was like, HOT DAMN!

I’m what you would call a casual Bachata Dancer therefore I’m not up on the Bachata world like that and have to rely on my Bachatero friends to clue me in on what is on trend so I can stay up to date. But I do know that when people look this good with confidence bouncing off the Richter scale, I have to imagine they are going to come at you with something special or not come at all. Its like when you see girls at a Salsa Congress not wearing regulation Salsa Dance shoes but instead hoofing it up in 4-5 inch Stiletto Pumps standing on the carpet looking like a million bucks. The expectation is HUGE that those girls in the 4-5 inch Pumps Can ROLL on the dance floor and are SO GOOD that they don’t even need to wear sturdy danceshoes with suede soles like us pedestrian social dancers- they are just going to BRING IT. Sometimes, such girls are a huge disappointment but not usually. Same thing here with this Bachata couple. After conferring with people who actually attended the workshops and viewing the demo of one of the classes Daniel & Desiree taught courtesy of David Hartful Jr., it was now CONFIRMED that I fouled up MAJORLY by missing their class. If given another opportunity to take their workshops, I won’t make that mistake again, TRUST.

The party was getting close to capacity when I walked in the door at 10:45 and had a wonderful, genial energy throughout the place. I was amazed at how many people from out of town and nice-looking unfamiliar faces I saw there. Lots of young, attractive girls ready to get their Bachata on posed hefty competition for those who weren’t aggressive enough to stand on the dancefloor like myself. But I was cool with this, preferring instead to hide out in the cut watching the different sexy styles of bachata and hot footwork on the dancefloor. I did actually dance a few times and got into the spirit of the sexy half dips imposed on me without giving my partner the usual obligatory stink eye so there was progress. The music was energizing and it spanned the subgenres of Bachata from the Moderna, Urbana, English language cover hack jobs, Dominican Guitar Wailing stuff, and some interesting hybrids of what I assume was Arabic influence. My ears were digging what I was hearing, for the most part.

Sidebar- the reticence I displayed during the mostly Bachata Sets took a 180 degree turn when the 2 Salsa Songs came on each hour. I went into aggressive overdrive grabbing the Salseros who I knew could take me to Cloud 9 and tore that dancefloor up. It didn’t matter WHAT Salsa Song they played at that point- It was Game On. As soon as the obligatory 2 Song Salsa set was over, I scurried back to a corner seat to hide out like a mouse once again.

Because I felt slightly out of place in a 90% Bachata environment, I hung in the front part of the room near the door. But I realized I wasn’t where the cool kids were hanging out and after some aborted dry runs, I worked up the nerve to cross the entire Dancefloor to get to the back of the room. And there, I was treated to the REAL scene- Daniel and Desiree were social dancing with all of the more HARDCORE Bachata Peeps. It was awesome to inhale that energy of people who were displaying their craft with abandon, style, creativity, and aggressive sexiness. Of course, I was hypnotized watching Daniel and Desiree social dance with others. They are just…..All That! They made me want to really knuckle down and step up my Bachata Game (Dream on sister). And of course, I was kicking myself AGAIN for missing their workshops.

The Performances were thrilling! Ferocity Dance Company led by Kat Arias DID THAT showing off their sassy moves and urbana style! Alma DC did a good job balancing the moderna style and the Traditional (Dominican) Style with cool choreo. But what captivated my eyes and focused my attention was of course the two performances by World Bachata Champs Daniel y Desiree. Intensely Sexy, Superb, and Super HOT is the only way to describe what I saw. The DMV JUST WASN’T READY for All of this Hotness in a Performance. I saw jaws drop all around me with moist lips with the beginnings of a baby drool and slightly glazed desirous eyeballs of all who were watching this couple do their Thang. I was in awe.

Huge Congratulations to Kat Arias and Ferocity Dance Company for bringing such a High Caliber Event to the DC Area! I Can’t WAIT until Next Year! Needless to say, I won’t miss the workshops next time.