Bermudians and visitors alike will dance it up at the third annual Salsa Congress to be held in March at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess.

“The third annual Salsa Congress has been dubbed the ‘premier Latin Event of the year’,” said dance organiser Kim Paynter. “That is because of all the prospects that it brings to the Island.”

The congress will include workshops, celebrity performances and the opportunity to dance the night away to the sound of the ten-piece salsa band, Orquesta Salsa Caliente.

Mr. Paynter was excited to be bringing in a band like Salsa Caliente for the first time.

“Salsa bands are not small and this is a ten piece, four horn section, with all the percussion, timbales and congas there,” he said. “Alberto Gonzalez and the Orquesta Salsa Caliente from Los Angeles, California have some great recognition and could just about play everything.

“They have been on television, and have played in a scene with Dancing with the Stars. They also shot an international Diet Coke commercial and have played all over the world.”

The band will play for all three nights of the salsa congress. Mr. Paynter fully expected that some people would dance until 3 a.m.

“The band feeds off the crowd,” said Mr. Paynter. “As long as the crowd keeps getting into it, they keep playing.”

The congress will be offering all kinds of dance classes from cha-cha to meringue, to styling, men’s, ladies’ and afro-Cuban, among others. “We will cover a wide variety of different dance classes,” Mr. Paynter said. “The classes are also open to students in the last year of middle school and high-school students.”

Mr. Paynter said it is called a ‘congress’, because everything is in-house at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess. He said interest in Salsa dancing has been growing steadily, and he expects 300 to 400 people will participate in the event, including dancers from overseas.

“It has definitely grown in popularity in Bermuda,” Mr. Paynter said. “I would think everyone listens to Salsa at some point in time. Everyone has seen a performance somewhere at sometime.”

He was first introduced to Salsa by a friend who took him to the old Azure nightclub at Southside in St. David’s.

“He said, ‘do you want to come and try this?’” said Mr. Paynter. “I put it off for at least three months. Finally, I said, ‘yeah, I’m coming over there’. We use to train together. When I finally got over there and took my first class I liked it. You kind of look around and say, ‘yeah, I can do this’.

“It was a whole different set of people. It was really nice. I liked it. It is a good way to meet people, and I have made many good friends through salsa dancing. So it all worked out great.”

Mr. Paynter said there are eight new instructors this year, which will each add their own unique flavour to the event. Instructors will include Maritza Valentin, Jose Maldonado, Belle Useche, Darlin Garcia and Rona LeBlanc from Art in Motion, and Jorjet Alcocer and Troy Anthony of Latin Motions, among others.”

Mr. Paynter said he is appealing to a variety of tastes with this year’s salsa congress line-up. People are welcome to just come and listen to the band and watch the dancers.

Tickets are available at Music World in the Bermudiana Arcade and Internet Link on Reid Street next to Trends.

“There are all kinds of categories,” he said. “You can go for one night or all three nights. The more you get, the better the price. The full congress is the way to go for $200. You get all three nights, all the performances, workshops and social events. Not everyone can have the time or the finances, for that though. There is a three-night package for the evenings, or just the workshops or you can split them up.”

The Third Annual Salsa Congress will be held from March 23 to 25. For more information email Mr. Paynter at kimpaynter[AT]yahoo.com or visit his website at www.salsacongressbermuda.com . Mr. Paynter’s telephone number is 799-5203, but he would prefer emails, if possible.