Min Wye » Smooth Latin Groove

Bravo Pre-Congress Performance Photos Part 1

Min Wye — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 06:07:45 +0000

Bravo Latin Events held their anual pre-congress party at the Broncos League Club in preperation for the Sydney Salsa Congress. It is a congregation of all the schools who are performing at the Sydney Salsa Congress to display their performances and pseudo dry-runs.

Ive chosen my favourite photos and split them into 4 posts.

The Salsa Divas from Latin Steps performed first with a ladies styling routine. Here, we have Amanda(a frequent here on my blog) and Caitlin.

Smooth Latin Groove performing a Zouk routine.

Angelo brought his smooth and cool team to perform Samba de Gafieira. Incidentally, last year during the Sydney Salsa Congress, I almost got my face smashed in by Angelo.

I was propped up shooting from the tip of the stage when Angelo performed a move where he slides into the corner(towards me). He noticed me only at the last minute and narrowly missed me while I totally didnt see him. My close face-smashing encounter with Angelo from Groove Brazil.

I will be posting up the rest of the pictures over the next couple of days leading up towards the Sydney Salsa Congress next week.

Side Note: I attended Mafie Zouker’s first workshop of six weeks last night and it was really amazing. The content is amazing and his style is just unbelievable.

October Salsa Fest Friday Performances

Min Wye — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:00:48 +0000

I took the chance last week to attend the October Salsa Fest which was held at the Smooth Latin Groove studio on Friday. It was a great location to whole a latin dance party with heaps of space to dance and was the music top notch. Hats off to Khosro and Carlos for the great music that kept dancers on the floor and pulling out not only fancy but also smooth moves. The main highlight of the night was definitely the performances that were lined up, fantastic choice for the welcoming night.

Josh and Mandy from Latin Steps

Josh and Mandy from Latin Steps started off the night with a salsa routine. Let me tell you this, Josh and Mandy have only been dancing for less than 6 months, 2 months before the Sydney Salsa Classic. It is definitely not an easy task to be able to perform as a solo couple but with the help of Carlos and Elli, they are definitely a force to be reckoned with.

Alan and Little Liz from LDA Sydney

Followed by Alan and Lil Liz from LDA Sydney performing an impromptu Zouk performance. I covered their performance during the LDA Ball 2008 and their performances are not something I tire of easily. Its simply amazing how to see the connection between them. You just gotta see it for yourself (probably can find something on youtube) in person.

Fernando and Becky from Salsa Suave performing a Cha Cha

If there is one thing I admire, it is definitely Becky’s never ending legs(not because I want a pair of legs like hers). This is the third time I have covered a performance by Fernando and Becky, the first being my first ever paid gig(and boy, did i screw that up, lucky i was backup). They are totally (Salsa) Suave!(smooth in english) with Becky’s never ending legs and style mixed with Fernando’s smoothness, this is the kind of couple you look forward to at every shoot!

Seriously, how hot is that?

Future Salsa Champions?

By the way, you can view the rest of the performance pictures that I took on Friday and Sunday performance nights on my Flickr.

Apparently, Im a beautiful boy…

Min Wye — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:37:07 +0000

I had the weirdest encounter today, after Tim and I went out to town to do some dancing at Smooth Latin Groove studio for the October Salsa Fest, we decided to meet up with Ben and his workmates at the Normanby bar since it was on the way back to Tims place.

Im not that fond of bars when im sober(Designated Driver) cause thats when you notice the sticky floors, shoving around, really really corny jokes plus watching all the people around you make a fool of themselves. 10 minutes into the bar adventure, a slightly older man, probably about 50s if I would give a guess joined Ben, Tobey McGuire(a look-alike) and I in a conversation.

He was basically totally ignored so I decided to take the liberty to make extra small talk with him. I noticed he was acting weird, but nothing could have prepared me for the next 20 minutes. Here are a few snippets of the conversation.

Conversation 1(after some menial small talk)

Old Guy: So, do you have a girlfriend?

Me: No

Old Guy: Are you looking for a girlfriend?

Me: Not at the moment

Old Guy: Oh, why not?

Me: …..(didnt answer)….

Conversation 2(as he was leaving to get another drink)

Old Guy: I would like to see you again, what do you think?

Me: maybe

Old Guy: Maybe? what can I do to make that a yes?

Now that I look back at the exact words he said, its so blatantly obvious where he was going with this but its really not the same in person(plus im pretty slow and was tired)

Me: urm…..(wtf? in my head), yeah, you go get your drink and ill see you back here….

At this point, I was telling Tobey Mcguire about my encounter but he assured me that it was nothing…

Conversation 3(after he gets his drink, walks back and stands next to me *sigh*)

Old Guy: I would really like to see you again..

Me: Maybe in some other circumstances….(as you can see, Im way too nice to tell him off -_-)

Old Guy: How about over coffee? Can I have your number?

Me: urhh….no….Youre making me uncomfortable…

Old Guy: alright…

Me: Im going to make a move now, its getting late and I have an early morning appointment(I wasnt lying)

Old Guy: ok, youre a beautiful boy

Me: *stunned* (wtf?)

I then proceed to evacuate Normanby Hotel dragging Ben and Tim out with me to tell them about what just happened….yeah, they couldnt stop laughing…its definitely one of the weirdest things to ever happen to me. What a way to start off my 24th year huh =/

Seriously...

Im totally speachless..so, apparently, Im a beautiful boy?…