Barosso Bar

23rd June, 2010
Barosso Bar
Hangzhou, China
http://www.salsa-china.com/english.html
Opening Times: 21:30 - 01:30

First impressions with salsa in China, even the jet-lag could not stop me tonight. This is a very small place with a quite disturbing bar in the middle of the room, so it was not meant to be a dancing place, but the floor is wood, and is quite good. I would remove the tables and chairs for the dancing, there were not many people standing, and if they were is because they couldn't dance.

Anyway, I got quite pissed off at the beginning because I HATE crowded places, I get beaten everywhere and I suffer more for the girl, her legs, her feet and the feet where her heels are going to end up. I decided to give it a try and I failed miserably. Beaten everywhere. BUT, it was my fault. Only a little bit later, I realized that they were pretty organized, the lines for dancing are already set. If you go and put a new couple, nobody is going to complain, but everybody is going to suffer it. So....have a look first if you go there, find the places (best ones: corners, close the middle bar and mixer table, because the girl can extend her arms without hitting anybody) and as soon as the song is finished pick a girl and set your place.

The most surprising fact is that almost everybody (I prefer to save my statistics) dance NY. No On1. Why? Because the teacher Kevin, decided to start teaching in Hangzhou NY and that is it. The level is quite good and if you have place to dance is quite funny. Of course the music goes with it, Puerto Rican and fresh NY music.

I have to say that chinese people are very nice, they are open enough to ask you to dance if they feel so, they smile, and they are very thankful, so that makes a difference even in a crowded place.

Another point to note is that they had a kind of "meneito" very funny, and all they knew the steps, but it looked very funny with all the girls dancing what the lyrics exactly said...Now, I am wondering if they could really understand spanish?

Of course, it was getting better as soon as the place started getting empty. The Bar closed at 1:00 and they were so nice to suggest me other places to go for the rest of my stay.

Music:
- NY: 60%
- Cha-cha: 15%
- Bachata: 15%
- Merengue: 5%
- Meneito: 5%

The Best? The people, no doubt.

The Tunnel

May 12th, 2010
The Tunnel
Moscow, Russia
http://www.thetunnel.ru
Opening Time: 20:00 - 00:00

The idea of having a club in a tunnel is very original. You have to go downstairs to get into the place. There are several rooms, but they are mainly used for having a drink with friends, and just one is used for dancing on wednesdays.

This seems to be a very popular place, with high quality dancers in NY and LA style mainly. Music is very good as well, with Dj Zaiz, a woman that Djs mostly on2 music, some times too fast for me. I am more into the slow motion, more to develop the movement from inside. But this way is challenging.

I would say the second best place after Navarros in Moscow. The big disadvantage here is the crowd here. Too many people for such a small place. This is the thing that I hate the most, when you have to spend 70% of your time checking people surrounding you, instead of dancing with your partner. But even though, people are respectful and they don't step on you. That is because they are good dancers.

Music:
- NY: 35%
- LA: 30%
- Bachata: 15%
- Cha-cha: 20%

Don't throw away your entry ticket because you get a hot tea with it. I got mine and let it cool after several songs.

Dance floor is good there, and people tend to leave quickly, so you can start enjoying your dance around 23:00. The good part is that this place seems to be a hub for good dancers in the american styles. And it is always a pleasure to see them dancing or to share a dance with them.

Ритм-и-Блюз Кафе (Rythm and Blues Cafe)

May 9th, 2010
Ритм-и-Блюз Кафе (Rythm and Blues Cafe)
http://www.r-n-b-cafe.ru/
http://www.ritmbluescafe.ru/
Opening Times: 21:00 - 00:30

They have some casino lessons and some bachata lessons before.
The nice thing about this club is that it has two dance floors, but I ended up dancing in only one of them. They were supposed to have different music styles in both, but it seems that the "cuban" one was much more successful.

If you are willing to dance cuban style in Moscow I would say this is one of the places. I didn't go to many cuban places but from the few that I had been to, this was the most crowded with good dancers, fun people, and nice music.

It has a wooden floor and it is wide. The only problem would be the AC, I had to go several times to reach the window because it was getting hot in there, and not just because of the women.

Although it is mainly thought to be a cuban place, you can find different music for LA dancing, not just Timba all the time.

Music:
- Cuban: 50%
- LA: 10%
- Bachata: 10%
- Reaggeton: 30%

This place let me confirm the theory that you SHOULDN'T ask to dance, the girl next to a girl that just told you NO. I expected to be maybe different in Russia, but it confirmed the rule. If you are said NO when you ask, don't go to the next girl, because for some mysterious reason, she is going to say NO. You better switch to the other side of the room.

Тики–бар (read it as Tiki Bar)

May 10th, 2010
Тики–бар (Read it as Tiki Bar)
http://www.tiki-bar.ru
Opening Times: 19:00 to 1:00 (with a couple of lessons of salsa & bachata)
The picture is not from a salsa night, but at least you can have an idea about the place and the dance floor.

Following what seems to me a tradition in Russia, another restaurant turned into a salsa place. It makes sense, that if you are not going to use much a restaurant, at least you can bring people to have some dinner and enjoy your floor. But this one, at least, has a dedicated dance floor.

There were not many people the night I was there, but they were fun dancers. It is mainly cuban and that is the style for most of the music, although they play some LA but people tend to dance it as cuban as well. Bachatas are nice, so in general is a good place to go out, meet some people and have a few dances. Nothing surprising but ok to spend some time and let the addiction rest. I think they played a Kizomba if I remember properly, yes, a Kizomba. :-)

Music:
- Cuban: 40%
- Bachata: 20%
- LA: 30%
- Kizomba: 10% (or less)

Next time I come here, I think I will go for the restaurant first and then the lessons.

Karma Bar

May 14th, 2010
Karma Bar
http://www.karma-bar.ru/
Opening Times: 21:00 - 23:00

This is a very big place, but just one room is dedicated to dance. There are many people learning here. Most of the people dance cuban, but the most surprising thing was with the lessons. Olga was teaching that night, and she was teaching straight on2. And Pachanga steps !! People followed that.

I cannot be very accurate with the ratio of music, because I was there for just 1 hour, and part of it, were some lessons.

Music:
- Bachata 20%
- Cuban: 40%
- LA: 30%
- NY: 10%


It was fun though. The problem is that I had higher expectations of this place. Later I was told that 3 years ago, this place was quite better.

And this has been the first place where somebody told me. "No, I only dance Salsa, no bachata". OOOk. What could I say? Oh, yes, "Maybe I will come back later".
Of course I didn't, there were other nice people to dance with.

Наваррос Бар & Гриль (Navarros Bar & Grill)

May 7th, 2010
Наваррос Бар & Гриль (read it Navarros Bar & Grill)
www.navarros.ru
Opening Times:21:00 - 24:00
Moscow, Russia

This is a restaurant. It seems quite popular to use restaurants for salsa dancing in Moscow. Maybe because you can have dinner before dancing, I am not sure. I heard this was a very good chef that decided to create his own restaurant, and although he could sound Spanish, he is not.

Music:
- NY: 100%

That is it. I found the best dancers in here. I was told that most of them were teachers !! At the beginning of the night it looks a little bit empty and people doesn't arrive till late 22:00. Another option is to go first to Karma Bar and then come here.

BUT, if you dance on2, and you are in Moscow, this is a MUST visit. I loved the music, and the dancers, so you cannot miss it !!!

Here find an example of my friend Anton, dancing there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3z_6lMQzIU&feature=related

It looks that on2 salsa scene has started not a long time ago, but I can tell you that this is going to be the place where it is going to develop. :-)

Cicterna Hall

May 6th, 2010
Cicterna Hall (read it Sisterna Hall)
http://www.cicterna-hall.ru/
Moscow, Russia
Opening Times:20:00 - 24:00

This place seems to be a new one, recently opened as I was told, about 2 months ago, the advantage is to have a huge wooden dance floor with high ceiling. There were not many people the time I was there, but the music was good. The picture is from the place empty, I couldn't take any by myself.

You can find a mixture of different music styles. It is not like other places, where you can find more cuban music at the beginning on the night, then moving afterwards to LA, and later in the night some NY....no. This place plays different music along the night. It is mainly for on2 people, though, but that always depends on the Dj.

Music
- Cuban 30%
- NY 40%
- LA 10%
- Bachata 10%
- Cha-cha 10%

The good part is that here, although not many people, I met a wonderful on2 russian dancer who suggested me other places to go for the rest of my week here.

The Dj, Anton, loves mambo, and he has a very nice selection of music, I will need to steal some from him. :-)

The drinks are affordable, as in the rest of russian pubs. You can dance the whole night and drink and not spend too much.

If you manage to come here, the place is downstairs !