Coming up is the Taiwan Salsa Carnival in Taipei on the weekend of Nov 22-24.
LINEUP
There is a great lineup of artists who together with social dancers and workshop participants will make exciting memories over this weekend. There are so many to mention...
Along with DJs Tienyu, James, and Ellen (and more), there are performers/instructors Alien Ramirez, Frankie Martinez, Eric Rodriguez, Ari, Arieh Alexander, Darling Saeko, Patty Lin, Hide & Peko, Johnathan & Busra, Ozlem & Diego, Romantic Babulu, and more. Not to be missed! Get your tickets here.
THEMES
This year's event has daily dress code themes to enliven the fun: "Stylish Glasses" on Friday, "Luxury" on Saturday, and "Elegant" on Sunday. Let's go!
Venue & Workshops
The venue building, Nu Zone Exhibition Center, is a beautiful setting chosen by the event organizer Calvin Wang as the meeting point for social dancers, performers, DJs, and dance instructors from around the world. It has separate dance halls for salsa and bachata. The packed workshop schedules on both days will be followed by dancing late into the night.
DJing, PRESENTing at Taiwan Salsa Carnival 2024
I will be selecting tunes in the Salsa Room on Friday and Saturday night. It will be my fifth time joining this great event in Taipei. I have not been there since the pandemic, so there will be some great reunions!
In addition to deejaying I will deliver a presentation on Sunday titled "Salsa in Context". My aim is to provide insight for non-Spanish speakers who may not know the meaning of the lyrics while dancing or listening to salsa songs.
UNDERSTANDING Salsa LYRICS
In Japan it has always struck me as a fascinating dynamic that social dancers can pair up and display great technique when dancing to the musicality of songs without understanding the lyrics, as they are in Spanish.
But this observation is non-judgmental. Clearly, salsa is for everyone. Dance is an international language crossing all borders. It unites people as a medium for peace, understanding, and building joyful moments on the dance floor -- and beyond. Not understanding the words of a song is, of course, not a problem.
However, I believe that being able to understand salsa lyrics can take dancers to a higher level. While some songs are trivial and simple in meaning, others have great depth showing social, historical, and cultural context. You might say that cultivating knowledge about your chosen artistic expression is just as important as developing the techniques for expression within it.
CONNECTING with Salsa
Besides, there is a background story to everything. No matter the field of study or art form, discovering context, history, connections, and relevance promotes intellectual growth, artistic expression, and further connection to your driving passion. The premise is that dancers can find appreciation and a deeper connection with songs they understand, offering greater potential for their interpretational experience — both physical and mental — when engaging their body movement to a song.
This led me to researching and curating songs for a project titled “Salsa in Context”. I recently wrote about context in Cheo Feliciano’s anthem, ‘Anacaona’ (composed by Tite Curet Alonso), and this served as the impetus for my presentation at the Taiwan Salsa Carnival, where I will detail several songs and even look at salsa as a whole when it comes to context as a template.
I am looking forward to giving this talk -- not only in my role as a salsa DJ but also as an academic at a Japanese university, and I strive for a certain standard. However; authoring a presentation on salsa at an academic standard has its challenges, as salsa musicology contains pitfalls, sources may sometimes conflict, and oral history -- although valuable -- may not be entirely reliable.
I wish all attendees to be satisfied, including veteran dancers and knowledgeable instructors in attendance...
SCHEDULE
Encanto Tropical 45
On a related note is the next episode of Encanto Tropical, which will feature songs prepared for both DJing and presenting at the Taiwan Salsa Carnival 2024. Episode 45 “In the bag for Taipei” broadcasts on Nov. 21st on World Salsa Radio (see bottom for broadcast info).
See you in Taipei soon!
