A Salsa Congress will introduce you to the fun and passion of Salsa.

A long weekend normally starting on a Friday evening where salseros from all over the world get together to celebrate their love of Salsa.

There is something here for everyone. There are workshops at different levels from beginners to the super advanced levels. There are instructions in different styles of Salsa e.g. Salsa on "The One" and "The Two", LA Style, New York Style, Cuban Style and even other forms of Latin dance e.g. bachata, reggaeton etc.

There is a Salsa Congress now yearly in most of the main cities in the world and each year as the popularity of these events increases more cities are including a Salsa Congress in their yearly itinerary.

Fantastic! This is one of the best ways to be introduced to Salsa. You may be thinking that you have to take lessons, learn all the steps and then have to practice them to improve.

You may even have tried it and gave up because you just could not be bothered.

Anyway going to a Congress will change all that.

As I said above there are classes for beginners so you do not have to have done Salsa before to attend.

These events are either held in major cities across the globe or it may be at a seaside resort with a warm climate such as Spain, a Caribbean island etc. There are even Salsa Cruises.

I was speaking to a few friends recently as I had just come back from the newest and most recent addition to the Salsa Congresses, the Brit Salsafest in Blackpool, UK. I asked them if they had been to an event like this before and they said they could only stand a few hours of Salsa and that's it.

Lots!

You can lie on the beach or the ship's sundeck with a cocktail, swim, explore the city (especially if it is somewhere you have never been before) or just simply hang out.

As I explained to my friends above, you do not have to Salsa all the time. You can go to just the classes or just the dancing in the evening, normally finishing until up to 5:00 am in the morning. You can do some of the classes only. In fact you can tailor the congress to suit yourself. It is all under your control.

Well. What a fantastic opportunity to meet people.

These congresses are normally attended by people from other countries apart from the country it is being held in, and the people that attend are very enthusiastic about Salsa. I attended the New York Salsa Congress in 2004 and there were many people from Japan and Europe there (including myself), travelling 1,000's of miles to attend the event.

Did you say you do not know anyone? You soon will. Attend the classes for a style of dance you are interested in. Then attend the dances and parties in the evening. A lot of the people there may be from a different country and speak a different language to you, but on these occasions there is only one language. The language of salsa dancing.

It is all the same language no matter what language you speak in. So do not worry. Doing this will make you a lot of friends and you will find that many of these dancers may speak your language anyway.

Go on. Give it a go.

So there you have it. That is a Salsa Congress in a nutshell.

As I said before there are many Salsa Congresses in most of the main cities in the world and soon I will be giving you information about these on this site. But to start you off here are some promoters and the congresses that they organise.

• Paul Young . UK Salsa Congress

• Robert and Jean White . 5* Congress

• Emma Moore . Brit Salsafest .

• Albert Torres . West Coast Congress .

• David Melendez. NY Salsa Congress.

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