All eyes will be on Miami Beach this weekend, as performers, music artists and admirers of salsa music come together for the 2013 Miami Salsa Congress.
The five-day music and dance extravaganza will feature Latin dance workshops, nightly showcase performances from local and international salsa duos as well as groups, and daily concerts featuring some of the genre’s most influential artists.
“Our congress brings together a wide range of salsa acts, from teen student performers, to the big names in the industry. They are all here to showcase their talent,” said Mario de Leon co-producer and Artistic Director of the Miami Salsa Congress.
This salsa conference not only celebrates Latin music rhythms, but it also aims at spreading the colorful and exhilarant enthusiasm of the Latin culture to a worldwide audience.
“It’s a great feeling when our music brings together people from all over the world, “ de Leon said. “We have people coming from all over the U.S, Latin America all the way to Japan”
Each year, the Miami Salsa Conference features rising salsa acts and seasoned veterans who have made significant contributions in the tropical music industry. The festivities started Wednesday night with Miami’s own rising salsa group S2Son, performing live at The Hoxton in Brickell.
The official kick-off party will be on Thursday July 25 at Avenue D Jazz & Blues Lounge in Downtown Miami, with Grammy Award nominated percussionist Edwin Bonilla, who has worked with some of music’s biggest stars such as Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony and even Madonna.
On Friday July 26 the party continues at the Miami Beach Convention Center with a dance party and concert featuring Carlos Guerrero, the former lead singer of Grupo Niche who is hosting a tribute to Colombian Salsa.
On Saturday July 27 Ray de la Paz sings on stage and Jose Alberto “El Canario” from New York, who has worked with the Salsa Queen herself, Celia Cruz will perform on Sunday July 28.
If salsa dancing is not your forte, don’t worry organizers have rounded up the country’s top choreographers and Latin dance instructors who will have you doing the cha-cha-cha in no time.
“We’ve created a free salsa boot camp which guarantees to teach anyone how to dance salsa under 2-hours,” deLeon said. “Just go to the Miami Resort and Spa and sign up the classes start at 12 .p.m”
On it’s 12th year, the annual Latin music affair is a world-class event that has grown to attract crowds of over 5,000
