One reason--one person threw candle wax into the costly ballroom, starting
a small fire on one salsa night(according to Dan Llano's message).
I might start a small crusade against the management of the Regent
Ballroom and tell them to reinstate the salsa nights. But I think it won't
work. I have some good leadership in ballroom dancing--not politics, and
the management would respond only with hard-headness. Yet even so, the
Regent ballroom is a very big dance floor--it can accommodate plenty of
the salseros and salseras without virtually any fear of bumping each other
or being crowded like sardines.
I had been salsa dancing for 4 years, and I am going to see Vanessa
Williams do the same dance in "Dance With Me" pretty soon. I dubbed myself
"The Little Lily of Salsa" because salsa enlivens me and I use the skills
I had learned in salsa lessons to take salsa to new horizons. All I need
now is a steady partner who can follow my leads.
But if the "no-salsa-nights" stick, I could use them to my advantage. I
could use that three hours studying on my doctoral dissertation, which I
plan to finish this semester. Then I'll get my degree and everyone will
be proud of me.
The irony in that bad news from the Regent was that Dan Llano was my
friend. He set me up with a few gigs with Miavana in the late spring. (I
played the piano for the band and I was exposed first-hand to the world
of salsa, and being a classically-trained pianist helped me to do it.)
He would sometimes take me home from the Regent Ballroom after its salsa
night was over.
Therefore, I say, "O, Dios, eso duele."(O, boy, that hurts!)
Charles Smith
Salsa and Ballroom Dance Fanatic and Enthusiast