El Cafe Latino and the Latin Dance Community in Tokyo (Roppongi)

I find myself walking through the doors of this Latin bar in Roppongi, Tokyo quite often. I'm even planning to tomorrow!

 My image of Roppongi when I first moved to Japan was not the greatest one. I'd only heard crazy stories from friends who often went out clubbing and partying, which isn't really my scene. I remember when I'd started dancing salsa and bachata, I was always hearing about El Cafe Latino in Roppongi as the place to go for latin dance. I'd heard people refer to it often, and measure the level of how crowded a dance spot is as "el cafe on a Friday or Saturday night". It's the place everyone goes to dance, or ends up at after any dance event at another location ends. 

The first dance event I went to in Roppongi was at Pepe (another great dancing spot), when I'd first entered the Tokyo Latin dance community outside of HTDC. Pepe is like a dance studio that also has a bar, but the main purpose people usually go is for dance. Sometimes they have performances, and are a little bit on the pricier side to get in. I suppose it depends on the day and the event, but it usually finishes up at 11:30. El Cafe continues until later, I think until morning on weekends, but I have yet to pull an all-nighter there.

I remember the first time I was wanting to try going to El Cafe was when I was VERY new to salsa and bachata. I hadn't officially started taking HTDC salsa and bachata lessons, but I'd went to their Halloween event, knew a little bit beyond the basics, and had been going regularly to the HTDC Club J social dances. I'd already been bitten by the salsa bug, and the venom was still sinking in. There was a joint lesson and event at Pepe that included a west coast swing dance lesson with the teacher Okacchi who I'd take a few lessons with before. Even though I felt like I couldn't really get the hang of west coast swing, I really liked the teachers and their community, so I thought this would be a great way to get to see and dance with them again, and also kind of get a feel for the Roppongi Latin dance world, along with trying try to dance and learn more bachata out in the wild. But, as I tend to do when I'm excited and going to a new place to try a new thing, I arrived in Roppongi suuuuper early...so I thought I would take a look and see where and what this famous El Cafe Latino place was all about! I found and went to where it was, but I was too scared to go in...it was also really early, and still daylight, but they were open.

 It's so funny reminiscing about this 😆 Now, I walk through the doors of El Cafe on any day of the week confident, greeting, even hugging the bartenders and workers and other regulars offenders, get a drink with my drink ticket, and then grab the nearest person I recognize as a dancer on the upper-floor to dance with me while we wait for whatever lesson is going on downstairs to end 😆

Every time I come to El Cafe, I’m greeted with warm smiles and a hug, and always asked how I am doing 😊 The answer is almost always the same though. No matter how I’m feeling before I walk through that door, I know as soon as I’m there, I’ll see lots of friends, meet many potential new friends, and dance until I can’t dance anymore! 😁💃 So, I always say that I'm great! Or, what I said the last time I came, now that I'm here and going to dance, I'm great!

 If you’d told me when I first came to Tokyo, that I’d be spending most of my nights dancing salsa and bachata in Roppongi, I would not have believed it 😆 But, I am so glad to have found my passion and people who share it here and now in in Japan. It's so crazy to think about the fact that I've never been able to be so into the latin side of my heritage until I came to Japan and Japanese dancers taught me how to move like a Latina XD I love it 💕 Today I danced with a guy from Russia who told me there’s no way I learned how to dance like this in Japan, but, actually, I did, so I told him! Thank you again Hiro and Taku 😆

Second to Last Club J for a While

 Hi guys!

So, Club J is the Hiro Taku twice-a-month Monday night social dance event, and September is gonna be the last of it (for a while, at least) 😭 The yearly Halloween event/performance date and location has been decided! It's gonna be October 29th at a place called Ever in Aoyama, and apparently they made a deal with the place where they are going to be having monthly events there, which is awesome...except for the no more Club J part 😢 

I love the fact that we can now have a monthly big event with performances and maybe live music sometimes, but also, there's something special about Club J. We can practice dancing with people that we know and are comfortable with from our classes and the other HTDC class members at our own pace, we can bring our own food or drinks, and coming to Studio J already feels like home for me, so Club J is like our friendly house party! 

Anyway, about this day! I had an online English lesson with one of my long-term awesome adult students. Then I had to meet the director for the production for this year to find costume stuff. I am the costume designer for the second time ever. This year we are doing Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. We had to go to a warehouse in Machida to find useable costumes, fabric, and props. I got destroyed my mosquitoes 🥲 Then, I went to dance! 

I actually really enjoy the weekly beginner open lessons a lot, even if I'm just helping out as a follow, and I can't practice leading. Taku will sometimes use me to demo what they are learning and what they can learn in the future, and it's really cool to think that I was a student in this beginner lesson not so long ago, and now I'm good enough that I can understand and follow well enough to show newer students what to do. It's really fun to help new people learn salsa, and to see them improve and get it over time ☺️ And, to be honest, I like showing off for the newbies, which Taku sometimes likes to do too 😆 

Actually, this is kind of off-topic, but also related to the topic, so I wanna share it cuz I thought it was cool. I went to Osaka with husband and Motegi Smith Band (this blog post and photos are still being worked on but they will happen). Anyway, I can't sleep well when I'm on vacation, so when I was trying to sleep, I had a weirdly realistic dream that I was at the HTDC Monday open beginner salsa lesson, and Taku was teaching basic turns to the beginners, and decided to demo them with me. Then, to show off, we did a double turn, and THEN he said let's do a triple turn, which I'd only recently been able to do successfully, but only like 50% of the time... I felt the dream-adrenaline strong, of wanting to show off, and also not sure if I could do the triple turn well, and I woke up right before doing the turn, but I had all the emotions, and I had no idea where I was when I woke up because of how real it felt XD But, the weirdest part is that this dream came true! Not this day, but at last week's Monday open lesson. It wasn't exactly like the dream, but after learning the basic turn, Taku was talking about how when you learn the lead and follow well enough and quickly execute it, you can do a triple turn, and then suddenly demonstrated with me, and I NAILED IT👌🏽 

Anyway, after the lesson was social dance! But, not many people came at first. A lot of the new beginner people stayed, so I helped them practice the stuff we did in the lesson, but sometimes I wanted to...like, you know, have a bit more of a challenge! I did get to have some dance challenges with Taku. And then, Mr. Mori, the dance legend, walked in while I was dancing with one of the new salsa dancers, and I was like 😱 "Woaaahhhhh, hi!" and he was like, "is this person that amazing?", and I was like, "Yeah!" and then Hiro noticed and said that I was like "ohhh someone who can dance well has arrived" 🤣 And I took advantage of this rare opportunity, I danced with him like 10 times XD I already have seen how amazing of a salsa dancer he was from when I first met him, but lately he's been learning a lot more bachata which I've also been working on improving, so I wanted to try dancing with him. Plus, like I said in a previous post, I think when you dance with great dancers, you need to dance with them many times to really get a feel for how to follow their lead, and as a follow, I think you can really learn a lot from dancing with good, experienced leads. AND he is a Hirotaku master dancer, which is what I aim to become 😁

Anyway, I think that's all for this post!

Until next time

More Daily Life

 Friday  9/1/23

I had the first big work meeting of the year, and it went alright. Work has been a bit of a sore spot for me lately, but this went well. I was able to kind of figure out where I left off with the stuff I was working on (finally) and realized I'm not as lost as I'd thought I was. We had a bit of a hectic last semester where I had to go substitute the classes of so many other teachers in lots of places, that I couldn't do my own job and...well, this still needs it's own blog post... Anyway, it was an alright day, then I decided I needed to dance the night away, so I went to El Cafe Latino in Roppongi, the place to go if you need a salsa and bachata fix in Tokyo. I have the salsa calendar app (yup, its an actual thing) on my phone to know what events are happening in the area, but when in doubt, el cafe usually has a good salsa/bachata ratio happening on Fridays. The bachata festival thingy was still going on, so I knew the crowd would probably maybe be a lot of salsa people, and then people, like me, who are too poor to go to the big fancy event, or people who don't care and just wanna dance. I got to dance with my favorite dancer who is always there on Fridays, I met some other amazing people in the latin dance community, and I was able to truly have fun and get lost in the music and dance. Then as I was leaving, I ran into awesome dancer Korean guy as he was coming in 😭 AND another good bachata dancer friend near the station...but I had to go catch my train.

Saturday 9/2/23

I had my first day back at my regular Saturday classes, talked to my coworker friend and sorted my thoughts out more work-wise...My Saturday classes are always great, and I finished early, went home, napped, and went to my on 2 Nakano salsa event. They are amazing people, amazing dancers, and I danced until I literally couldn't anymore! 

And now Sunday 9/3/23

I met a famous actress/singer lady and will be on tv with her!! But, it meant I had to wake up super early...It was interesting, but I was soooo awkward, ended up singing enka, and well...maybe you'll see it on tv. And then I was literally shaking because I was so nervous for a while after XD 

And then I went to my number 1 happy place - Hirotaku's salsa class! We finished the choreography for the upcoming Halloween event, and I feel much better about the first part where I'm gonna perform as a lead. Last Sunday when we had class, I was feeling a bit like maybe I can't do the lead well enough. But, today we went though it thoroughly and slowly a few times, and it helped a lot. The second half, where it gets harder, I change to a follow, and I feel good about that part! I think I picked it up really quickly. The highlight for me today though, was me and Alisa practicing the tornado salsa spin! It's the super cool one that Mr. and Mrs. Mori did where you spin really fast from the ground up. We were attempting it during a break time, and then Taku came over and decided to try with me, and I DID IT, like I was able to turn quite a few times while he led, and the students in the class were watching and they clapped, and I just felt pretty awesome 😁 This move is hard! Well actually, to do this turn as a follow, I have to literally do nothing but strongly hold the right position, and that's hard in its own way.

That's all for now!

Dance and work and thoughts

 Hello, long time no post. Ahhhhhh, where to begin! There's a lot on my mind and I need to get it in order. I'm not sure how much of this I will actually post for the world to see, but for now I'll type it all out for my own benefit. 

I guess let's start from today, and work my way back?

8/31/2023

Anyway, today I've just returned home from the first opening social dance of a big bachata workshop event thing in Tokyo. The Bachata Media Japan Sensual Festival Summer 2023. It's 4 days long, I believe, but I'm only attending this portion, because the full pass is expensive, and I have to work. 😭 

It started with an hour-long lesson from this really good dancer guy Masahiro who I have been following on Instagram, and I had been wanting to try dancing with him. He is Japanese but he is living and dancing in Spain.  I saw that this event was happening and was on the fence about actually coming. Usually Thursday's are my regular HTDC dance class, but they didn't happen this week, and Alisa asked me about coming here, so I decided yes! 

I danced with Masahiro, and even though I have no video proof, it was super fun! His lead was great, he smiled brightly and his fun energy was contagious. I would love to have some more dances together to learn his lead more, because I think even if you dance with the best dancer ever, you need to dance a few times to get used to their lead and really know how it is to dance with that person. Dance chemistry, skill level, and natural talent, there's so much that factors in, in my experiences on the dance floor. I danced with some of my favorite dancers I know well in the Tokyo dance scene, and then danced a few new dances with dancers from Korea and Taiwan, and they were SOOOO good, probably my favorite dances of the night!

There was a tiny bit of salsa thrown in occasionally, and the first salsa song that happened, all of my HTDC dance classmates - current, ex, and from before my time - paired up and took over the dance floor 😆 It was fun, totally unplanned, but we all paired up with each other and danced in a group together.

I felt really weirdly nervous at the beginning of this event. I know and have danced with so many of the bachata dancers of Tokyo.  I knew dancers who are amazing, experienced, beginner, and everything in between would probably be here today. 

It was disgustingly hot, sweaty, and crowded! I got to dance with some great dancers, and some that I didn't have as much chemistry with 😅 And even the dancers I knew well, it was so crowded that it was hard to dance well. But, my main problem of the night was that I kept getting into my own head. I've had a lot on my mind work-wise, and it's bleeding over into my happy place of dancing too much lately. I'll go into that more maybe...

Let's go to last night now, 8/30/23

I went to a salsa on 1 dance event in Akihabara. I work in Kinshicho on Wednesdays, and there's a few random dance events in the area that also happen to be on Wednesdays. This one was at a place called Egoland that I think is fairly new. I walked in and didn't know what to expect. It was a really nice cafe on the first floor, and the second floor was the bar and dance floor. The lesson was almost over by the time I came, which I'd expected as I came after work. But also, I don't think I need any more salsa lessons besides Hirotaku's anyway 😆 Sometimes, I like to go to the lessons before socials to see what the other dancers are like and what levels they are at though. But anyway, I jumped right into the dance floor, and got lots of compliments on my dancing right away 😁 The teachers of the lessons' compliments meant a lot to me. The girl teacher said that by the way I walked in, she knew I was a dancer because of the way I moved and my confidence. The guy teacher, after we danced, asked me if I'd done performances before because of the way I danced. Basically, my Leo self was super happy to get this much attention and a reminder that I am a great dancer 😊 I was feeling a bit not-great about my dancing lately. 

And then, I was thinking on the train ride home how thankful I am to Hiro and Taku for making me become such a great dancer! Actually, I think this a lot when I am at social dances and I can do something I couldn't do before, because learned from them. 

But, anyway, I think I'll end this one here

Thoughts on Life and Dance

 I want to write a blog but I don’t know what to say…

I think I’ll just start, and the words will come! I suppose I’ll write a bit of a diary then.

It’s Monday, my day off, and I’m currently riding the Ueno-Tokyo line to some beach. Somewhere between Enoshima and Chigasaki, I’ll decided when I feel like getting off the train. I’m listening to my ridiculously long bachata and salsa playlist I made on Apple Music. I’m currently obsessed with the Japanese salsa music by Chica Boom! It’s so interesting to listen salsa music, but with cute Japanese singing 😁 Plus, I can actually understand singing in Japanese, unlike Spanish. 

This week I felt kind of sad because I haven’t had HTDC salsa lessons. The teachers are on a trip, so lessons were on hiatus this week. It’s not like I didn’t dance at all this week, of course I did! Otherwise I might go insane 😂 I went to a few events, some with my HTDC salsa friends, and at some I met other dance acquaintances that I've been getting to know in the Tokyo Latin dance community. I practiced dancing at home on the days I didn’t go out, and even have been teaching husband how to lead a little bit (and he is actually trying and not completely hating it! 😆) But, after having lessons with and seeing Hiro and Taku 3-4 times a week for almost every week since December, I actually really miss them a lot! Not just their lessons, but I miss them as people. Seeing their faces, and talking, and hanging out, and laughing, and drinking together, everything! 

 I invited the Nakano on 2 salsa people to HTDC's Club J event, and they've been coming almost every week since then! It's kind of cool that I was able to bring my 2 main salsa happy places in Tokyo together, and they have linked history in the salsa community as they've all been dancing for so long! 

Work has been…tiring and a little frustrating lately, I guess. I love my job itself and like 95% of the people I work with, but some things have been getting to me lately, that I won’t and shouldn’t go into detail about here. A lot of little things are and have been piling up into a big thing, basically.

Anyway, tonight I plan to go to a bachata event. I’ve tried a few different bachata things lately because I want to improve my bachata more. I’m pretty confident with salsa on 1 and 2. Especially on 2 because lately it’s been popping up a lot more at socials around Tokyo, so I’ve been able to practice it a lot and finally feel confident that when a lead asks me “on 1 or 2?” I can easily say whichever is fine! But bachata, there are so many different types and it varies a lot depending on the person that you're dancing with, and connecting with your partner is really important especially for sensual bachata, which is what most people are dancing around here lately. Once you’ve got salsa on 1 and 2 up to a good level, you can follow well enough even when new moves get thrown your way. But with sensual bachata, sometimes new moves thrown at you end up...awkward 😆 At least when I am the follow. 

I also want to get better at salsa shines. Shines are when you're dancing but NOT with your partner. Basically your partner separates from you briefly and you can dance freely, but if I don't have a lead, I literally forget how to do anything except for basic steps and turns, and sometimes panicking. (lol, Panic! at the...Salsa Dance? 😂) I don’t like when shine happens during social dance because even if I’m good at doing a shine, I forget literally every single one I know, except for one of the ones we did in one of the Yes!! We Dance routines, and the Charleston swing dancey one we learned in the ex class recently 😆 But, I think that practicing shines will make me an all around better dancer, so I'll try my best!

Oh, that’s another thing! Currently I’m taking all the levels of salsa and bachata lessons with Hiro and Taku (except not the master class…....yet! 😉) The ex class has been mixed with the advanced class, and the advanced class has been leveled up a bit because there aren’t enough experienced leads for ex to be its own thing currently. For the beginner/upper/easier part of the advanced class, I’m learning how to lead, along with my friend Alisa! 😁 We are learning choreography (for what event has not yet been decided, maybe Halloween?) and me and Alisa are going to perform as leads! I really think learning how to lead is great to help improve as a follow, and vice-versa. It’s quite a challenge though! There’s more pressure on the lead when it comes to remembering choreography. It’s really fun though! 

Why Did I Come to Japan?

 Ok, so you know how there's that show where they interview foreigners in Japan in airports and ask them what they came to Japan for? Well, they finally got me after 6 years XD But, it was in Shibuya, not an airport. Anyway, I was wearing a red Hell Bunny 50's style dress on my way to a big swing dance event called Mood for Swing during Golden Week, because I hadn't swing danced since just one time in December 2022, since I'd started dancing salsa, and I wanted to see if I could switch between the 2 dances after getting so used to salsa dancing. Also, maybe I would be better at swing after improving so much with salsa and bachata?  Actually, it was really hard to go back to swing at first, I felt like I had to break ALL the salsa rules, and my body wouldn't leave salsa mode XD But, I was able to eventually get it back. It was fun but, man, salsa still has my heart. Salsa is definitely number one for me now.

So, anyway, they stopped me as I was wandering around in circles trying to figure out which bus I needed to catch from Shibuya to get to the hall. I generally avoid taking busses, and even more so from Shibuya.  They asked me about why I was dressed the way I was, so I explained that I was on my way to swing dance, and I guess they thought that was interesting XD I was speaking Japanglish, and then they wanted me to dance for them, but I was like it's a partner dance so I can't really, (and I suck at solo jazz...), and also I hadn't done swing dance for like half a year. So I told them about salsa and how that's the dance I've been into and am good at now. And then he was like, we really wanna see you dance and what's your favorite move so I was like fine, and I taught the interviewer guy basic swing and salsa steps, and then for favorite move, I just did some solo traveling turns cuz I just like spinning! 

I also mentioned as my reasons to live in Japan as I studied abroad in Nagoya and how I just really love daily life in Japan and how my husband is Japanese and a bit about my job and how I love it.

Anyway, this got me thinking more deeply how I should answer this question. It's not like I really have one specific, or simple, or easy of a reason. But also it is kind of is. I just wanted to live in Japan!

I have found (created?) such a perfect unique happy place for me here. It's so specifically perfect for me. I don't think I could ever have found something like this in America. In America, I never felt that I completely fit in anywhere. Like the song, I was always too weird for the normal, too normal for the weird. Even in my friend groups, I'd sometimes just feel distant, lonely, right outside of some secret bubble that I just didn't get. In Japan, no matter what I do, I am automatically gonna stand out as a foreigner, so strangely, though there is always going to be a difference between me and most people, there is no invisible bubble. I mean, sometimes there is that bubble, but it's not secret. I get it, I see it, it's there, and so do they, so it doesn't matter. Or it isn't there at all, and people are interested in me and want to get to know me, then truly like me for who I am. I like to know for sure, yes, there is that bubble or, no, there isn't, and I can do that here.

Then, I've got the bestest husband ever here! I mean, we met in the US, and he isn't the main reason I came to Japan, but I'm glad he wanted to be here, and he chose me to be here with him. He introduced me to a part of Tokyo I didn't know at first, the part that I might not have been able to find on my own that I'd always wanted to get to know. Well, maybe I would have after time, but not as deeply ingrained into the community as I am. He is in a band, and through that, I got to see and meet and learn a lot about Tokyo's underground music scene. I can call so many talented musicians around Tokyo my friends! I can walk around Koenji and recognize the voices of the singers from Nopella or Tekonogenri on the street, and come up and say hi to them. I wrote my name on the wall of an Italian restaurant called Uscita along with the band members who have played live shows there before.

Then there is my job. I literally grew up singing, dancing, and on stage. My major was in Theatre Costuming. Instead of being just an English teacher which I'd assumed and accepted would be my only option as a job here (which actually I found that I truly do enjoy working with kids and teaching once I'd started doing it), I found a job where I get to do that WITH theatre. How is it even possible to find a more perfectly specific job for me?? And, I get to design costumes now for the big yearly production we have! I get to do the thing I actually went to school for, but had given up ever actually doing?! And then I have met 2 people who have become some of the best friends I've ever had through this job, Chloe and Sky, along with dozens of other interesting, fun, talented, people. I don't dread going to work, and they actually like and appreciate me there, and I feel so comfortable with everyone. I've never been so happy and sure about wanting to stay at a job in my life. I'd be lost if I couldn't work here anymore!

And then there is dance. I did a bit of swing dance on and off, but never really fully felt like I was part of the community, though I met another one of my best friends I've ever had, Mo! And a lot of other nice people too. But then covid happened and dance didn't for a while. And then, you all know by now if you read my blog and follow any of my life online, the story of how I got into salsa. Specifically the Hiro Taku dance community, I love them! They are my everything. Yeah, I know I can dance salsa anywhere, literally, the styles of on 1 and on 2 salsa were born in the US, like me. But, this dance company, these teachers, these students are amazing people, really talented and passionate about dance, hard working, but still so much fun. And they like me, accept me, and truly care about me and accept me as I am. And then I also have another little salsa community in Nakano on Saturdays, who quickly accepted me into their community right after I showed up suddenly after work one day. I really love these people, and couldn't even have imagined before, how much salsa would matter to me, and how it would bring me so much love and happiness in my life in Japan! It's especially funny, because I'm half Dominican and didn't really interact much with that side of my family since I was a little kid.

Japan is not just anime, fashion, food, and culture, although I like all those things. I could write whole blog posts about each of those 4 topics alone. But, my main thing is that I just really love my every day life here. 

The interviewer asked what my goals are for the future in Japan, and my answer was simple: to keeping doing everything I'm doing now!

Dancing and Life Lately

 Now that Yes We Dance is over, our dance lessons have calmed down.

I've moved up from the advanced class into the expert class! 😱 But, I'm also still going to the advanced classes, along with the upper, and bachata classes too. Almost all of the students who performed in the upper class for YWD have moved up into advanced and started bachata too!

Anyway, about the EX class! So far, I feel like it's right at the level where I feel that it's hard, but I'm not in over my head. I'm learning new things, and feel the challenge of it, and have moves I want to improve on. I'm at a similar level to the other students in the class, and super passionate and determined 

We are currently doing on 2 salsa, which at first was the BANE of my existence.  I'm sooooo glad I got used to the basic steps already!  Of course, the EX class is reeeaaaallly quick paced and a lot more difficult and strict, but the fact that I got used to how on 2 works has made it way easier for me. We are learning a lot of new turns, and stepping up from double to triple turns, and more! And, we're learning new shines, which are super hard for me. I like partner dancing more than the shines, but shines are gonna be important for me to learn and become better at if I want to advance even further as an HTDC dancer....which I totally plan to do 😁 

Something really fun we started this week was learning the advanced class Yes We Dance routine, but the on 2 version!! I'm not sure if I'm at an advantage or disadvantage as one of 2 students in this class who already learned the on 1 version of this dance 😆 Yuki also performed in the advanced class routine with me (along with EX) in YWD.  I thought that at first, it would be hard to switch between 1 and 2, but actually, we're both getting it pretty quickly 😁 There were 3 minutes left in the class this past Thursday, and I mentioned that, when everyone was winding down and taking off their shoes. Yuki half-jokingly asked me to dance, and I seriously was like, uh yeah! Let's dance until we all the time is up! So, we did the on 2 version of the first part of the routine 2 more times in the last 3 minutes of class 😆

In the advanced class, the class has so many people now! All of the upper students moved up, plus almost all of my classmates from before are still there. It's been mostly a review of things I pretty much know, but I didn't get to learn them as detailed because when I started HTDC salsa, it was right as we already started learning the YWD routines, so it's been nice to have the breakdown of these moves in a more chill atmosphere. Actually, something really cool that happened on a Sunday after the lesson was that I got to be Taku's dance partner for the video part at the end of the lesson! Usually Hiro and Taku demonstrate what we learned and let us have this video time to record what they taught us to practice at home, but Hiro had to leave quickly, so I got to be part of it! Actually, I got to do that before, also. I was used for an example to show how to do moves a few times for the upper/beginner class, but I didn't think I'd get to for advanced and bachata!

Well, anyway, that's probably all for now. I'm loving dancing and my job, and then I come home to my loving husband, and I am happy 💕 Life is good!