Where to dance
Paris’s can’t-miss clubs - Updated !
par feliz, Jack "El Oso"

Looking down at the Barrio. This article was last updated on July 16, 2010 and is complete to the best of our knowledge. However, organisation of salsa parties is a delicate and daunting task and information is subject to change...Please note also that on the rare occasions that the sun decides to come out again, you might be lucky to find salsa dancers spinning away on the Seine banks, by the Institut du Monde Arabe, if you’re lucky... For the most recent information in French, (...)(... lire la suite)




---

Interview : Susan Sparks
An American in Paris
From la Coupole to Le Marais, LA style has an ambassador in Paris
par feliz

Tell me who you are, and where you come from ? My name is Susan Sparks and I come from Los Angeles, California. I’ve been teaching salsa in Paris at my own school since 1992. Why did you leave California ? I left California because I was going to do a dance workshop. That was my first trip to Paris. I fell in love with it at that time and I said, I’m going to try to succeed, I’m going to try to come back, and I did, then I met the man of my dreams, and the rest is (...)(... lire la suite)




---

Maurice of Les Etoiles
Echoes from Parisian salsa’s past
par feliz

Maurice was interviewed on November 5, 2005, on a Saturday afternoon following a busy Friday night salsa party at Les Etoiles, one of the oldest homes of salsa in Paris. Maurice, the man behind Les Etoiles. Please start by telling me your name. It’s not important, I am Maurice of Les Etoiles. How long have you owned Les Etoiles ? Since 1984. Before I worked in clothing. For several generations in my family we’ve worked in clothes and I became the black sheep of my (...)(... lire la suite)




---

Roberto el Cubano
The long arm of Parisian salsa
Getting down to Cuban sounds
par feliz

Roberto el Cubano was interviewed on October 14, 2005 in his apartment in Paris, accompanied by Rikke, his Danish girlfriend, and Carla, their daughter. Over a great lunch and the sounds of Pablo Milanes and an auditory sampling of reggaeton, he talked about his experience of Parisian salsa. Roberto El Cubano. Describe the context in which you grew up ? I was born in Havana. My father was an intellectual who worked as an engineer, and also was a professor at the University, but he (...)(... lire la suite)




---

Cliford and Valérie of Salsabor
Exploring the soul of salsa
Talking with the most-seasoned mamberos in Paris
par feliz

Cliford was interviewed at the première of Le Privé on Saturday, September 3, 2005. It was 2 a.m. on a métro grating, outside the club where he and Valérie and their first students brought ’portorican’ salsa to Paris ten years ago. Valérie was interviewed by phone the next day, and their words are excerpted and intertwined for you, here. Valérie, before going on-stage in the première of Salsamor Fever, June 8, 2005. Cliford leads students at Le Privé, stepping back into (...)(... lire la suite)




---

Portrait of Salseros
The Ball and Chain
by Jack El Oso, translated by feliz
par feliz

Another familiar face in the salsa community. Certain salsero(a)s, for the most part notorious salsaholics, have the particularity of being ’taken,’ which means that they are engaged in a serious relationship with some who does not share, not one iota, their passion. The ball and chain is the name given to this other half of the salsaholic couple. While the other goes out and dances with everyone, the ball and chain sits at the bar, face stretched by ennui and anger so long (...)(... lire la suite)




---

Portraits of Salseros
The Tornado
by Jack El Oso, translated by feliz
par feliz

This creature is very easy to spot at a salsa party due to the fact that regardless of the density of the crowd on the floor, when she dances, as if by magic, a large space flowers around her path. Everyone knows the Tornado. Those who don’t have this pleasure already figure out very quickly, after having received the benediction of her elbow in their nose, two or three piercings by the heel of her shoe, or the rake of her nails across their face, and they quickly migrate to other, (...)(... lire la suite)




---

Paris’s own DJ Gabriel
Papa Gabriel shakes the pistes
Mixing it up with the gods of salsa
par feliz

Gabriel and Willy behind the tables at Les Etoiles, June 17, 2005. It’s Friday night, June 17, 2005 and on the marble floor of Les Etoiles, the level of heat generated by the sparks from DJ Willy’s turntables is making the dancers shine. Gabriel came to the club tonight to hang out with Willy, and spin a few disks to give him some dance time. When he finally sat down to watch the party, I wrote down some notes on the tablecloth, as we talked. And so now, here are a few small (...)(... lire la suite)




---

Orville Small
Razor-sharp and switchblade smooth...
Coming at you live from the Mondial de la Salsa de Paris, 2005
par feliz



Orville Small and his partner Sabrina Buis have been making waves on both sides of the Atlantic for their explosive, original dance style. The Mondial de la Salsa will bring them to Paris in June, 2005 : read on to learn the goods on Orville, the creative force behind the Blade choreography.

(... lire la suite)




---

Portraits of Salseros
The King of the Dance Floor
Written by Jack El Oso, translated by feliz
par feliz

Paradoxically, the King of the dancefloor dances very rarely on the floor itself. The dancefloor is too often encumbered by couples who, if they’re not restricting him in his movements, block the audience of the faithful from watching his oeuvre. The King of the Dancefloor can often be found elsewhere, preferably a spot with very good lighting - for example, next to the bar, where he has all the room he needs to shine in the eyes of the other, enraptured subjects-salseros who are (...)(... lire la suite)




---

Portraits of Salseros
The Invisible Man
Written by Sandrès, translated by feliz
par feliz

He is not an attractive man. He’s the type of person that you don’t even see as he goes by ; some, cruel, would say that he’s insignificant. He is the shadow of his own self in filtered light, vacillating, shuttered. It is difficult to guess his age because nothing in his appearance seems to want to speak : his clothing is not there to stand out, his hairstyle is so absent as to be without qualification… his eyes are more intimate with the ceiling than with (...)(... lire la suite)




---

Portraits of Salseros
The Cheapskate
Written by Copacubana, translated by feliz
par feliz

His guiding principle : no centime shall be spent on salsa. In order to follow his precept to the letter of the law, he begins to learn to dance by testing the free trial classes for each dance school in the area. Once he’s tried them all, he learns by symbiosis : that is, he becomes very good friends with someone who is actually paying for classes, who teaches him all he needs to know in private. He only goes dancing where there is no fee, no vestiaire, and it’s not (...)(... lire la suite)




---

Portraits of Salseros
The Salsaholic
Written by Jack El Oso, translated by feliz
par feliz

The Salsaholic is a very recognizable member of the salsa community. Where others drink, smoke or take drugs, his addiction is Salsa, to an extent that the Salsaholic lives only for salsa. When you talk to him, he only wants to talk about It, and seems to drift off to sleep as soon as the conversation leaves the familiar ground of his passion. His alarm clock beeps in a clave rhythm, he drinks his coffee while listening to Dura, and drives to work with Salsa spilling out of the windows (...)(... lire la suite)




---

Where to learn salsa
Dance and drum like a Parisian latino
par feliz



This is a partial list of some of the top schools and instructors in Paris. In the city of Paris alone there is an instructor for every style, and nuance of style, in salsa and its sister dances… With this caveat in mind, please realize that this list doesn’t contain all of them, but is just a listing for where you might want to start if you would like to take a class or two to dance like we do in the City of Light.

(... lire la suite)




---

Live music, and how to find it
What’s happening Live in the City of Light
par feliz



Paris has several great clubs for listening to music, and in some, there is the additional advantage of danceability. For that reason, it is to be hoped that the Paris salsa concert scene continues to attract an enthusiastic public : do your part, go see a show. Some of our favorite spots to listen/watch/dance to live artists are...

(... lire la suite)




---

How to get there
Addresses
par feliz, Jack "El Oso"



Where to find the schools and clubs to make your Parisian salsa experience complete. The postal code is the key to the arrondissement : the last two characters contain the number of the arrondissement, or section of town.

(... lire la suite)




---

Rubriques:

SalsaFrance in English





---