The Southern Sacred Steel Conference kicks off this Thursday (3/17) with a free front porch concert at UNC's Center for the Study of the American South. The Allen Boys perform between 5-7 pm. The free, public concert includes an audience conversation moderated by folklorist Robert Stone.
Ticketed events get going on Friday (3/18) the Artscenter, which is hosting the conference exploring steel-guitar-based Black gospel music, with strongholds in Florida and Western NC. Folklorist Stone, who has documented the genre in photographs currently on exhibition at the Artscenter, will give several lectures. On Saturday, headlining artists will give steel guitar master classes. The conference ends Sunday morning with a worship service.
Night 2...I was seated in the back row, literally making for a crap shoot, yet I made out with a few souvenir photos that will give you an idea of how the second night of dance performances went.
Quick review of the dance showcase:
1) Serena Cuevas From: San Diego, Deseo Dance Company (director) Danced to: Rodrigo & Gabriela, "Diablo Rojo"
Commments: Truly a beautiful dancer, with a real body she knows how to move. I liked Cuevas' costume for the solo piece, as well as her choice of music--the very hip, young guitar duo Rodrigo and Gabriela. I'm psyched to see a woman leading her own company and dancing her way into the zeitgeist--Cuevas appears in that Gatorade commercial, "Is It In You?"
2) Jose Maldonado, Lucy Lu + one pair [TBA] From: Atlanta, Paso Fino Dance Company Danced to: TBA [modern salsa, with some fast pumping saxes]
Comments: I'm stealing from MC Eric Baez when I say, simply, this was a high energy routine with nice tricks. Definitely true; Lu and Maldonaldo seemed to have switched partners for the double act, with another couple whose names are TBA.
3) Natalia Weedy and Pedro Paz From: Raleigh, Cobo Brothers Dance Company Danced to: Tito Puente & La Lupe, "Oriente"
Comments: Solo debut for this bold, sexy pair, with big lifts and dynamic chemistry. Great musical choice with this La Lupe/Tito Puente pairing; this version of the Cuban guajira starts slow and morphs into an uptempo coro, perfect for showcasing different moods/moves. 4) Victor & Burju Perez From: Boston, Hacha y Machete Dance Company Danced to: Bobby Rodriguez, "After Midnight"
Comments: Very Broadway, with wild costumes and pumped attitude. This couple favors fast Latin jazz instrumentals, which makes sense to me as a musical choice for what they do.
5) Tito y Tamara From: Puerto Rico Danced to: Ortos Gutierrez y De Menor A Mayor, featuring Gilberto Santa Rosa, "Swing Boricua"
Comments: Music written exclusively for them by Tito's musician father; Gilberto Santa Rosa recorded the featured vocal as a favor on this non-commercially released recording. I mean, dayamn! The tune also features a break with a couple of coros from Bobby Valentin's "Soy Boricua," so it don't get any more boricua than that. High professionalism and style, mil-kilowatt smiles, and cool dance breaks where they showed off their individual shines.
6) Erell Niane and Mike Very From: Nice, France, U-Tribe Dance Company Danced to: Alicia Keyes intro, and Celia Cruz & Ray Barretto, "Bambarakatunga"
Comments: I got a bit of a Zap Mama vibe from the opening, with an Alicia Keyes sample and costumes kinda like tribal lingerie. Very has a belly button piercing--unusual for a man? But definitely something he carries off. Unpretentious dancers with a lot of reach, Very told me this couple dances ALL regional styles of US salsa (mambo, L.A., etc.), plus Cuban rumba, hip hop, and African dance vocabularies like soukous and dombolo. "I dance the way I feel it, I don't think about it, it just comes out that way," says Very about integrating elements.
7) Milton Cobo + Erin Leger, James Cobo + Isabel Freiberger From: Raleigh, Cobo Brothers Dance Company Danced to: [Artist TBA] "Dulcerito"
Erin Leger and Milton Cobo
Comments: Festival hosts the Cobo Brothers flaunted their distinctive mambo style in double pair format. Cocky and playful, always a big "wow" factor, even with the home court advantage. 8) Oliver Pineda From: Sydney, Australia Danced to: Michel Camilo, "Caribe"
Comments: A Chilean born in Australia, Pineda's muscle control is prodigious. Similar influences as Friday's solo performance.
"It's time to show what the rest of the world can do," said Milton Cobo as he brought Pineda and U-Tribe on stage at the end of the show.
COMING SOON: Reportage of the "Battle of the Bands," as Tropic Orchestra and Orquesta Gardel faced off on Friday and Saturday.
Old friends: Erell Niande of U-Tribe and Burju Perez of Hacha y Machete
Doesn't this look like an Impressionist painting?
Isabel Freiberger at the afterparty with Tropic Orchestra.
Clockwise from top left: William Villalba, Ricardo James, Frank Vila and Rick Radian
Tropic's new Venezuelan rhythm section: Andres Leon and Rey Riera
A showcase of international dance performances at the NC Salsa Festival last night exceeded my expectations for their diversity, from the classic Nuyorican mambo and competition ballroom moves, to dancers who tapped directly in to the African and Brazilian roots.
It was followed by dance party starring Orquesta GarDel in Part One of the "Battle of the Salsa Bands" (Tropic Orchestra will take the stage tonight.) GarDel gave a heavy performance that earned respect from the dance artists, some of whom joined them onstage for the encore. Giorgio Restaurant in Cary was an elegant setting for the dance party; I enjoyed an unusual champagne cocktail at the bar. To make room for the performer showcase, a second stage was set up outside in a tent, which was brilliant because it allowed the band to set up inside at the same time.
Oliver Pineda and Mike Very with sonero Jaime Roman
Here's a quick review of the dance showcase; I'm told these same dancers will perform whole different routines to different music tonight.
1) Tito & Tamara From: Puerto Rico Danced to: Jose Lugo Orchestra, "Mambo Valentin"
Comments: Pure Puerto Rico. Classic beautiful moves and poses from a top pro team. They danced in "El Cantante" and other movies, and with top industry salsa stars like Gilberto Santa Rosa.
2) Isabel Freiberger From: Cobo Brothers Dance Company (local) Danced to: Charlie Palmieri, "Either You Have It Or You Don't," and Michael Buble, "Feeling Good"
Comments: Freiberger's music titles say it all about her performance: She definitely "has it," a natural solo performer with tremendous charisma, a unique look (kind of an Ann Margret fire), acrobatic style, and not a hint of nerves. Like poised dynamite.
3) Cobo Student Dance Team From: Cobo Brothers Dance Company (local) Danced to: Ray Barretto, "Adelante Siempre Voy"
Adam Phillips and Alexis Silver
Yin Song and Amber Cadwell
Comments: Classic Cobo style, sassy torso moves and lots of airborne lifts. Good synchronicity by two well-matched pairs, even when the sound dropped out, and they completed their choreography without music. It was the last performance of Alexis Silver and Milton Cobo delivered a tribute.
4) Lucy Lu and Jose Maldonado From: Atlanta, Paso Fino Dance Company Danced to: "La Guarachera" by Celia Cruz & Tito Puente
Comments: Put me in mind of Junior & Emily's performance at the festival last year, favoring multiple spins and constant motion over held elements and airborne moves. "That's coming tomorrow!" Maldonado told me after the show, saying this was their competition routine emphasizing ballroom elements.
5) Melanie Riveira & Serena Cuevas From: San Diego, Deseo Dance Company Danced to: A samba batucada (Brazilian drum music), and Rebeca Mauleon, "Serenata Ritmica"
Melanie Riveira
Serena Cuevas
Comments: The samba surprise: unexpected fusion of samba and capoeira with salsa and mambo. Nice to see a pair of female dancers with a unique style, introducing carnavalesque Brazilian sex and power to the "same old" salsa equation.
6) Mike Very & Erell Niane From: Nice, France. Urban Tribe aka U-Tribe Dance Company Danced to: Los Van Van, "Somos Cubanos"
Comments: Knock me over with a feather: Timba, at a mambo conference! To be more precise, a vital, fresh Afro fusion reflecting many influences from Cuban rumba, to Very's native Kenya and Niane's Senegalese roots. This was a standout with me and others I informally polled: eye-opening, gorgeously physical, and highlighting deep cultural connections.
7) Oliver Pineda From: Sydney, Australia Danced to:A bulerias by Joachin Cortez.
Comments: Flamenco, modern, and rumba inform the very physical, smooth solo routine of a 5-time World Salsa Champion. Kind of classically blended, although Pineda's costume suggests tribal assocations. Also a musician, Pineda sat in for GarDel's encore and played a killer timbales solo (see above video).
8) Victor & Burju Perez From: Boston, Hacha y Machete Dance Company Danced to: Alfredo De La Fe, "Hacha y Machete"
Comments: Introduced by MC Eric Baez as a "classic," this married pair represents the New York mambo style with all its formality and elegance. Cool music choice, an instrumental cover of their signature tune ("Hacha y Machete," a Hector Lavoe original) by violinist Alfredo De La Fe. It doesn't get more classic salsa than that. Burju's got her own line of dance shoes.
More Orquesta GarDel videos to follow soon.
Tropic Orchestra has been woodshedding all week, with some new personnel; judging by last night, they better bring their A-game! "Battle of the Salsa Bands, Part Two" tonight, starts at 11 pm (9:30 dance showcase).
Erell Niane (right) relaxing at the afterparty with Orquesta GarDel
There is a high-powered academic conference coming up this weekend on US-Cuba relations. From the press release:
The United States and Cuba: Rethinking Reengagement Conference September 26-27 Sonja Haynes Stone Center 150 South Road, Chapel Hill http://isa.unc.edu/cuba/cuba.asp
Lawrence B. Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, will deliver the keynote address on September 26, 2008 at 7:00pm in the auditorium of the Sonja Haynes Stone Center.
Attendance to all conference events is free and open to the public.
Ob. musical tie-in: In an eerie pact of synchronicity, Jackson Browne is on Colbert Report just now, singing a song about breaking the embargo and "going down to Cuba...where the rhythm never ends." Perhaps he's running on empty...?
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