The Latin Dance Festival was amazing!
Dance festivals are tailor-made for dancing around the world. They're easy to schedule because they're usually held over a long weekend and they’re really a great value. Imagine 25 hours of dance lessons, nightly performances by world-class dancers and social dancing 24 hours a day - all for only $90 to $200! Considering that most dance lessons are $15 an hour, this is a phenomenal deal! Festivalsero.com is the website I use to find them.
World Champions Abel Pena and Zulmara Torres (originally from Mexico) performing at a previous Salsa Congress.
Abel and Zulmara were my favorite workshop dance instructors. At one lesson, I got to dance with Abel. What a treat! He’s so muscular, it’s like touching warm marble!
He made me realize how important having a strong core body strength is to dancing. Whenever he tried to spin me I'd lose my balance. When I asked him why that was happening, he said, "Eet's becos chu are loosing chor core."
Most Dance Festivals are held in hotels
This festival was at the New York Hilton Midtown - a gorgeous hotel within walking distance of Times Square. Manhattan hotels are really expensive - $200 to $400 a night on average. Even with my festival participant discounted rate, I spent weeks on the "ramen noodle diet" to pay for it. It actually turned out to be worth it though because I could dance until I couldn't anymore, then go up to my room for a quick Epsom salt bath, protein snack and maybe a nap, and then I'd start all over again.
New York, New York!
"Traffic signals in New York are just rough guidelines" - David Letterman
Driving in New York is not for the meek but my niece's husband Tom Heins skillfully got us where we needed to be, including the Broadway show, "Newsies", a show based on the real-life story of the 1899 strike against newspaper barons Joseph Pullitzer and William Randolph Hearst. The show was especially interesting to me because I'd just seen the Hearst Castle on my Pacific Coast Highway trip. After seeing the castle, I had to read Hearst's biography "The Chief".
My niece Stephanie Heins, Tommy and her husband Tom lived in New Jersey when I was in NYC, and they graciously showed me the city.
Of all the attractions I saw, the 9/11 Memorial was the most moving. It beautifully honors those who died on September 11, 2001. In the footprint of each World Trade Center Tower, there's a nearly acre-sized reflecting pool with a large man-made waterfall. On the ledges surrounding each are engraved the names of all the people we lost on 9/11.
Money-saving tips
Transportation (a taxi from the airport costs about $50-$60). Try these instead:
$15-$40 "SuperShuttle" after discount on retailmenot.com. (One downside is that I've always had to wait 10-90 minutes for rides.)
Uber (You'll get $22 toward your first ride). Manhattan rides during commuter hours are $5.
Lyft - (Use this link and get up to $50 off your first ride.)
Uber and Lyft have "surge" prices based on the number of drivers available and the demand for rides - up to 200% of the quoted estimate. Compare Uber and Lyft because one may have a surge charge while the other doesn't.
See the Statue of Liberty free on the Staten Island Ferry. You'll get a good view of Lady Liberty and the Manhattan skyline.
13 ways to save on Broadway Shows - by "NYC Single Mom".
One more tip: Try not to book a Broadway play on the night you arrive in NYC, especially during winter. Several passengers missed their play when our flight was canceled due to weather.
Salsa dance
After a 45-minute private lesson from Dipendra at Cinema Ballroom Dance Studio, St. Paul, MN, we made my very first dance video.
It seemed pretty easy so after a while, I'm thinkin' . . .
"Whoa! Check it out!
Lookin' Good!"
After I viewed the finished video, I thought . . . hmmmmm . . . "not so much". Maybe I should have watched this instructional video before my debut.
By the way, my entire outfit was purchased at Second Debut Consignment in St. Louis Park, MN
Top $8; Jeans $18; Shoes $10.