About the Secret Salsera

12 Salsa Events in 12 Months: The True Stories of the Secret Salsera - The Making of a Salsa Dance Superhero

My Salsa Story

Every salsero has a ‘Salsa Story’… the story of how he or she became addicted to salsa [Salsero: a salsa dancer (feminine is Salsera)].  Mine started at the very end of 2006.  I was recently divorced, living with my parents here in the San Francisco Bay Area and unemployed… bored and lonely as my social life somehow seemed to disappear with my ex-husband.  I had recently received my doctorate degree and a fancy professional license, but finding a fancy job to go along with the fancy license was no easy task.  That’s when I was given a bit of advice that would soon change my life forever.  I was told that if I wanted to find the kind of job I was looking for, and of course I’d settle for nothing less than the best, I either needed to be “a person of color” (impossible!), to be a male, as there are so few in my field (not necessarily impossible, but ummm, also not gonna’ happen), or to speak Spanish (jackpot!).  I had studied Spanish in middle and high school and, although I had forgotten most of what I learned, I was confident it would all come back with a little refresher.  So that settled it.  Learning Spanish would be the next step to fulfilling my dreams.

I quickly enrolled in a 6-week immersion program in Cuernavaca, Mexico and then did just that, I immersed myself, with the most important part of my “immersion” being the waiter I picked up in a bar the day after I arrived who became my first post-divorce romance over the next 6 weeks.   When we said our goodbyes, I was leaving Mexico with a good command of the Spanish language and an ideal job that I had arranged by phone interview from Mexico!

The new job was scheduled to begin 3 months later due to a lengthy hiring process.  Three more months of unemployment… but this time with the promise of a decent income in the near future… a lethal combination!  The only concern I had in the world was keeping up my Spanish.  Then my birthday came, the big 3-0, and I planned a trip down to San Diego to celebrate with a friend.  During the visit I decided to check out what I heard was the local Wednesday night salsa hot-spot, Café Sevilla in Downtown, thinking salsa would be a good way to keep up my Spanish and would also provide me some sort of social life.  And that was it… I’ve never looked back.  Five to seven nights of dancing every week for the past 2 years, hours and hours of training, and 7 congresses later… the plan was born: 12 major salsa events in 12 months. 

I have committed to attend at least one major salsa event per month in 2009.  I kicked my year off at the Palm Springs Salsa Mambo New Year’s Festival.  In February I will attend the Salt Lake City Salsa Congress; in March, the Arizona Congress; and in April, Flava Invasion in Atlanta.  I also plan to attend at least one event in Europe, Mexico, and South America.  As a bonus I will be going to the First Annual San Francisco Bachata Festival in July.

The good news is… I’m bringing you along.  You will hear the ins and outs of these events.  ‘The Scene’ (as we call it) and behind the scenes.  After touring you down the ‘red carpet’ (that is, around the dance floor), we will sneak a peek ‘backstage’ (that is, in the private hotel rooms and stairwells).  But not to worry, if you find yourself becoming part of one of my stories… which, if you stick around ‘The Scene’ long enough, you likely will… you can rest assured that all identities will be hidden, as these are the stories that bring people to say “what happens at congress… stays at congress!”