Review Club Fiera Bachata Festival Deluxe 2010

The weekend of September 18 and 19, 2010 was an absolute treat for all the die-hard Bachateros and Bachateras attending the “Club Fiera Bachata Festival Deluxe”, which took place at the Latin and Ballroom school 'Marcella van Altena' in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands. At the end, the warm-hearted organizer, her staff, the instructors & all of the participants were more than satisfied and very eager for next year's edition.

The first thing that surprised me on Saturday morning and in the afternoon was the high standard of the Intermediate/Advanced workshops in Dominican Style Bachata. The first workshop given by Jorjet Alcocer from New Orleans & Omar from Puerto Rico was Dominican Footwork. They started with the basic Dominican Box. After that, the instructors gradually pimped it up with a Tap (or click) and they also added several triple syncopated steps to the Box. We also learned and mastered shines with colorful names such as the “Soli”, the “Borinque” and the “Camuy”. The second workshop was a Bachata Turn Pattern which was also given by Jorjet & Omar. The international instructors had a dance move without a name. I suggested “Bachata Cross” and Jorjet decided to use the name. For me, this was quite an honor. It was a difficult turn pattern, but everyone had it at the end.

The Dominican Frank Santos and his Estonian partner Alina Moksvina gave two hours of partnering with lots of Dominican Footwork, and “funky' moves. They taught us cool things such as “Twist & Drop”, the men doing a “Cool Stance” whilst making circles on the floor with their right foot & ladies' sensual “Hip Shakes”, “Sword Fight” and “Sexy Body Rolls” of the men whilst standing in front of the ladies and stroking the ladies right hand across the face and body. Frank & Alina's second partnering was also very entertaining and high-leveled.

The organizers of the 2nd Annual North Brabant Bachata Congress 2010 - the Antillean Jesus Romeo and his partner Chary taught us a Bachata turn pattern which focused mainly on special Advanced partner work. This time, the men were standing behind the women whilst going “Down & Up”. Jesus' humor and the high level of the turn pattern kept us all energized even if we were all very tired.

Hot Saturday Party

The Saturday party was the bomb! It had the same format as the monthly Club Fiera Salsa & Bachata Deluxe Parties. Salsa DJ Willy – who is celebrating his 30th anniversary on Thursday at the Westergas Terrace in Amsterdam – was spinning his best Salsa tunes in the main room and DJ El Che was on fire in the 100% Bachata room. It became literally and figuratively HOT in the place: the sweat turned into streams dripping off us and off the mirrors, the Bachata dancers were 'steamy' & 'smoking hot', but no one wanted to leave the room. People were going out to take a breath and dove right in after cooling of a bit. It just got more crowded and we loved it. The shows were excellent and I had the honor of interviewing the artists right after they had finished performing in order to promote next year's edition.

Sunday

I could not follow the workshops on Sunday because I had to work for OnlineSalsa.com. I was sitting next to the main dance floor behind my laptop and watched the instructors in action with the Beginners/Improvers. What I saw were very patient teachers giving some awesome feedback, and students being kind to each other even if they were not all progressing at the same pace. The artists were tired at the end, but they were kind enough in allowing me to interview them.

Nucita, Holland's Bachata Princess, can be very proud of what she achieved with her Club Fiera Bachata Festival Deluxe. I cannot wait for next year's edition taking place in the third weekend of September, 2011.