Final Thoughts on the 12th Annual Resolution Jam

My Professional View:
The 12th Annual Resolution Jam 2016 shifted direction to strike a bold move and go into uncharted waters. Previously, it was always at a venue with one Huge Dance Floor that catered to a Mainly Hardcore Salsa Crowd with Bachata slowly but steadily making its sure presence felt at this Iconic Salsa Party in latter years. But for 2016, The Resolution Jam’s CEO, Go Go Earl Rush, decided that The Resolution had to be BIGGER and BADDER. That naturally meant there would be some significant changes. The first thing that was changed was that The Resolution Jam became a 2 Day Event and then JOINED FORCES with DC’s Ultimate NYE to become the DC Ultimate NYE Festival. This gave more firepower to both events to present a package deal for the ULTIMATE End of The Year Latin Dance Event. 2nd, it was decided that The Resolution Jam needed to cater to more diverse audiences of the Latin Dance Community. This meant MORE Dancefloors to accommodate the SEPARATE Salsa, Bachata, & Now Kizomba Dance Fanatics. To that end, Partners Lee Gringuito Smith and Kat La Gata found a new venue that was not known as a dance space and converted it to a 3 Dancefloor/Room Space. This involved sprucing up the venue with major interior rehab and putting in a new dancefloor in the different Rooms. The result- Salsa Dancers could be satisfied with uninterrupted Salsa/Mambo/ChaChaCha; Bachata Dancers could dance uninterrupted to every sub genre of Bachata; and Kizomba/Zouk Dancers could have a space where they could hear their music without interruption. More people could come to the Resolution Jam and be ASSURED that they could reach their personal Music/Dance Orgasm. The last change to the Resolution Jam was that Mr. Mambo’s was asked to Co-Host This Iconic Salsa Event on the East Coast- ‪#‎WINNING‬.

Personal Takeaways:

1) The Lineup included some Powerhouse Women Dancers/Instructors/Legends in the Making like Jorjet Alcocer, Delia Madera, Arelis Beato. To be able to watch these women up close & personel embody their dance completely at the highest level was nothing short of memorizing, inspiring, & thrilling. As always, it makes me renew my pledge to better my dance and reach the ideal look/technique/sabor that these women ALL posses seemingly effortlessly.

2) The music Friday night was good but the music Saturday night was OUT OF THIS WORLD! The right mood, the right tone, the right tempo, the right selection, the right EVERYTHING was set. No complaints!

3) Delia Madera’s Performance- See the video, its that simple. Seeing is believing. No other words necessary beyond WOWZERS!

4) New DC resident dancer Rykal Pajit captivated me on the dancefloor. This woman is beautiful, a great follow, and a pretty stylist. Well put together in her person AND in her dance and glorious to film. I think I (or my camera) has a new local dancer’s crush. I hope she gets used to my Alien Bright Light…..

5) Shoutout to out of town dancers who pleased me DEEPLY TO MY CORE on the dancefloor- Fuquan Ferrell (Atlanta), ZionChild (NYC), Ronald Rios (NYC), Jeremiah Cooper (NYC), Michael Germain (Atlanta). Because I was working the party in between my Dances, I missed dances with Antonio Doza (who I was stalking more to film), Philly crew, Arelis Beato’s Partner, and a few new faces who had a dance game I was interested in experiencing but couldn’t get to them. Next time!

6) Shoutout to the DC Local Dancers who pleased me DEEPLY TO MY CORE on the dancefloor- Fadi Shmouni, Brandon Carretero, General Yoon, Brandon Bachata, Nelson Ortiz, Jon Trevino, Corey Johnson, & the Man himself, Earl Rush. Because I was working the party in between my Dances, I missed dances with other regulars who thrill me to no end but thankfully, I can get several cracks at them at future Mr. Mambo’s.

7) Arelis Beato was a Beast as a Dancer 8 years ago when I first saw her at some event performing in the DC Area and she is STILL A BEAST as a performer and as a social dancer. Her sharp technique, fast footwork, pinpoint spins, & fierce style is SICK AS FOCK! Sad for her that I took EVERY OPPORTUNITY to film her social dancing- I’m sure it was annoying. I apologize for shining my bright light on her (AND DELIA constantly) potentially causing them both vertigo but I HAD TO CAPTURE their dance- Perfectly Understandable, Right?!

8) The Bachata Room STAYED PACKED from Beginning to End. Apparently, when a song ended, everyone just stayed on the dancefloor and grabbed the next free person who was near them to dance with next. Those people were just in a NON STOP Bachata Swingers Orgy- UNREAL.

9) Very impressed and PROUD of the Bachata Performance by Diana & Jessica from Mexico because I was personally responsible for them being on the lineup. Diana contacted me on facebook over a month ago to get info on an upcoming Mr. Mambo’s. I met her at Mr. Mambo’s and observed her Salsa Dance to be quite good-looking and her form/technique had that certain professional veneer of a performer (in a good way). She later asked me whether she could perform at The Resolution Jam and I asked her could I see a video first. I already knew that Earl didn’t want to clog up his performance lineup with any BULLCRAP. The video convinced me they were definitely up to snuff and Earl said he would take my word for their bonafides and added them to the roster. Needless to say, their performance DID NOT Disappoint- not me nor the crowd. They Freaking SLAYED!

10) The Kizomba Performance by Isabelle & Felicien from Paris, France (feautured in the picture) was absolutely GORGEOUS, SUMPTUOUS, and ALL of my senses tingled with pleasure watching them. Definitely a couple to keep on your radar as Dancers/Performers.

Bottom Line- The proof is in the pudding. Videos coming soon!