Tanya J Smith Washington DC Salsa Mambo Bachata Latin
Recap of Mr. Mambo’s Sat Oct 25, 2014. HISTORY was made at Mr. Mambo’s last night! Not only was it a great dance night with over 200 people there despite the THOUSANDS of Halloween events that were going on last night, it was the FIRST TIME EVER that about 30% of the dancers ACTUALLY CAME DRESSED IN COSTUME- It was a BEAUTIFUL sight to see! Normally, we get a handful of people dressed in costume for our Halloween annual events and everyone else in regular street gear gawks at them making them feel STUPID for dressing up. This time, the dancefloor was nicely sprinkled with creative costumes and it was ALL LOVE! The night was a great mix of creative costumes, smiling faces, dancers, and good vibes- a Fun Night!
All of the workshops were well attended and teaming with excited students of Salsa & Bachata. Shout-out to our AMAZING instructors, Juan Aristy, Psyon D. Scott, General Yoon, & Tommy Smith aka Mr. Mambo! They do a great job of conveying the fundamentals necessary for a student to develop and grow in the dance while keeping them engaged and motivated.
The feel to the music in the Grand Ballroom was a bit different from what one would normally hear at Mr. Mambo’s but I judged that to be a good thing. DJ Tico hit the crowd hard with his usual Good, Groovy Flava as he would normally do. Brandon Bachata from Baltimore debuted for the first time at Mr. Mambo’s. Brandon is an accomplished Bachatero and Mambo Dancer and anyone who has seen him dance KNOWS he prefers a little bit more “High Energy” to his dance. So it would follow that his music would reflect this same preference and IT DID. When I booked him, I already figured this into my calculations for his set and I did caution him prior to the event to mix in his high energy selections with more tempered paced music so as to not wear out the crowd unduly. After hearing Brandon’s 2 sets, my assessment was that some of the songs were faster than what is preferred at Mr. Mambo’s but his song selections and the flava of the songs were more than cool with me for his first time at Mr. Mambo’s. I think some variety is good and 2 DJs spinning guarantees that one isn’t held hostage to just ONE DJ’s STYLE all night. I surveyed SEVERAL people including regulars and/or seasoned veterans AND non-seasoned dancers (beginner types) to get their opinions of the music. The feedback was mixed but the overall consensus was that while the general tenor was too fast for personal preferences, DJ Brandon Bachata did alright. Mr. Mambo’s has a highly discriminating crowd of Salsa/Mambo lovers and they can be a tough sell. In the end, DJ Brandon Bachata’s (seen below) spinning was definitely respectable as his first time at Mr. Mambo’s.
DJ Yulio kept the Bachata BallRoom PACKED OUT playing the best Bachata and Kizomba in the City. Interesting side note- every time I went into the Bachata Room to talk to DJ Yulio, a KIZOMBA song was playing and the dance floor was still reasonably busy. Strong evidence that Kizomba is definitely making an impact in the DC Bachata Scene.
The Costume Contest was a BLAST. We had almost 20 contestants- ANOTHER MILESTONE! Special Thanks to the judges, picked randomly from the crowd based on their status as first timers to Mr. Mambo’s so there would be no perceived biases in the judging. After introducing all of the contestants with Real Name and Costume Character, Five people were selected from the group for the finals round. We allowed the crowd to give their feed back via applause for which costumes they liked best and the judges took that piece of information into the equation to make their final decisions. Congratulations to the winners- Cynthia Benitez and Claudio Roman, Winner and 1st Runner Up respectively, pictured below!
NEXT SAT NOV 1, 2014, Mr. Mambo’s Next Event- Mr. Mambo’s 50/50 Salsa y Bachata Party. Equal amounts of Salsa & Bachata IN THE SAME BALLROOM. The 2nd Ballroom is CLOSED. Time to Share the Love in the Same Ballroom, Y’all! MARK YOUR CALENDAR & LET’S GO!
