I planned to go to S-B-K at Spinnaker Tower 2018 and arrived at 8:50pm to be turned away by a fellow called Mike who runs Salsa Touch I believe – the co-host to Salsa Katanga for the evening. He turned me away because it was a black tie event and my Ghanaian Kente shirt didn’t count despite it being worn by royalty in Ghana on special occasions. He just said: “We’re not in Ghana!” without any sympathy whatsoever. I understand that others came all the way from the Isle of Wight to be turned away also. Katanga would never have done anything like that and did not know that Mike was doing it. I therefore hope that his reputation does not suffer through the actions of this outrageous bully who thinks dressing up like a stuffed penguin makes him look smart!
As it was only 9pm at this time I resolved to go to El Bembe’ “Salsa & Bachata Party in the city” which is where I would normally have gone. I only went to the event at Spinnaker because I see it as my duty to support local events if I can so it was beyond comprehension that having done so on this occasion I would be treated in such a manner! I arrived at El Bembe at 11pm and had 3 hours of the best salsa dancing ever. See the facebook reports below.
I have to say that the idea of wearing black tie for a salsa event is an anathma to me because I would not be able to move properly and would sweat like a pig in such a heavy restricted uniform. You can be sure that I would never intentionally go to such an event but in this case I didn’t notice the black tie specification. Had I seen it I would never have gone because nobody is going to tell me what to wear when I go salsa dancing – e v e r ! As far as I’m concerned it’s the same as running a fancy dress party for which wearing fancy dress is optional!
Salsateca London and Ola Latina run a regular event called El Bembe’ on every 2nd & 4th Saturday of each month at The Bottlescrue, 33 Foster Lane, London EC2V 6HD. There is parking in the streets nearby from 7pm onwards. Salsateca London and Ola Latina host the event and the venue offers plenty of space for dancing in the main salsa room formed by 3 rectangular areas surrounding the dining tables down the middle of the venue. Social dancing is from 9:15pm to 2am and there is a small room reserved for bachata which they call The Bachata Box and believe me it usually contains many sensual delights!
El Bembe at The Bottlescrue Monthly – plenty of parking after 7pm in nearby roads!
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