last night’s grand opening of a friday night in cambridge was… grand.
i got there around 9:45 and a class by johnny and felicita was still in progress. they on the stage leading some footwork and scores of people on the dance floor following diligently. the ballroom of the greek american political club were this is held is large with an all wood floor. the bottle of baby powder i had proved popular as most but not all the floor felt sticky.
there were a couple of dance performances starting at around 11:30 pm. the first was by salsa y control’s training group. hadn’t seen them before and there are some talented young dancers in the group. the second performance was by two couples from jam’nastics’ salsa encendida group. i had missed their performance in LA so it was good to see it here.
about a 1/3 of the people there were new faces to me. maybe i’m not going out enough, but more likely the event is drawing new people.
cambridge is turning into quite the center of salsa activity in the boston area. the friday night is the latest addition to the mondays at the green street grill, the thursdays at ryles, the kilombo mambo fridays and saturdays also at the green street grill, and the alternating wepa sundays also at ryles. somewhat fitting given that cambridge is where boston’s current salsa scene largely began with temporarda latina at ryles which incidentally is celebrating its 8th anniversay this thursday 6/24.
congratulations to jeff and his crew for launching a great night on friday. the space is one of the best to host a dance night, the location is central in terms of subway, bus and auto parking convenience, and the sound system is excellent. it’s off to a good start and the onus is on us to make it a keeper by attending and bringing friends.
“… it’s off to a good start and the onus is on us to make it a keeper by attending and bringing friends.”
From the above entry.
Glad to hear this. I wanted to go, but I had HYM obligations elsewhere.
Now, here’s my 2 cents.
What is disturbing is that I keep hearing that more and more of my friends are not welcome here. How are we supposed to bring friends who are on the do not admit list? And how can you ask for support of some but not all? Let’s keep the salsa community open to all instead of an exclusive members only club.
If things continue in the direction they are headed than you will lose more clients than the ones you want to lose and you will severely limit the chances of success.
Comment by kate — 6/19/2004 @ 7:00 pm
kate, i assume you are referring to havana club friday salsa and not to salsafrenzy.com?
Comment by on123567 — 6/20/2004 @ 5:10 am
Absolutely.
Comment by kate — 6/20/2004 @ 4:23 pm
I haven’t heard of any “not welcome” list for havana club… maybe I’m just ignorant of some issues, but I hope this isn’t the case. My personal experience has been that Havana Club has been trying to be inclusive.
By way of a follow-up to the report on the night above…. The room was really nice, and there’s lot’s more space that can be opened up by moving some tables. I was surprised how many un-familiar faces there were (which is a good thing) as well as a good representation from many of the regulars on the scene. The floor was a little sticky- worse for the women I think, but nothing that a bunch of powder couldn’t cure. Sound system was excellent- it filled the room nicely without being painfully loud and tone was good. D Martinez played a really nice mix all night. It was nice to have the tables along the sides to chill out at. Drinks were mid-range in price… on par with Ryles I think ( I only had beer, but assume it was about the same for mixed drinks). All-in-all, i really liked it and would recommend people check it out.
Rob
Comment by rob — 6/21/2004 @ 12:41 pm
I think that Havana Club has gone out of their way to be one of the most inclusive promotors in Boston from the beginning. I really hope that they can get back on track and continue to grow as an all inclusive movement.
Comment by kate — 6/21/2004 @ 6:34 pm
Look, three people have been banned from Havana Club for violating the club’s code of conduct, which is clearly spelled out in all of my emails and promotional activities on salsaboston and salsafrenzy. I have a zero tolerance policy toward sexual harassment, violence, theft, etc. On Friday night, my man Ben admitted 230 people and turned away one person. That person, who is an outsider, was at Mambo Mondays twice and was wildly drunk, agressive and stomped on many women over the course of two weeks. The first week, I asked him to chill. The second week, after a number of complaints, I asked him to go. He tried to come to the Friday party and he wasn’t admitted. My doorman, Ben, had originally invited this cat, whom he met playing hoops, but Ben understood that the guy wasn’t playing nice in the proverbial sandbox. As for the other two guys who are banned, those are private matters. But it is my club, and if someone picks a fight with me, then they are OUT. Period. End of story. I’m pretty sure I know where this story started (and I will deal with that person, in due course), and I’m pretty sure I know where this story ends- Right here and right now.
Comment by Jeff — 6/22/2004 @ 3:22 am
Thanks for addressing my comments/concerns.
Comment by kate — 6/24/2004 @ 12:06 pm