Salsa Championships
August 10 - 13
Songlei Hotel 松雷酒店
10 Xiaotieying, Nansanhuan Zhonglu, Fengtai District
丰台区南三环中路小铁营10 号
Tel: 6763-8888
For additional venues and information check: www.chinasalsachampionships.com

Could the next World Salsa Champion be Chinese? We'll have a clue when Beijing hosts China's most important Salsa competition ever. From August 10-13, local and international dancers will descend upon the capital, as parties and workshops culminate in China's qualifying heat for the 2nd World Salsa Championship. The winners will represent China in Las Vegas at the December world final, and compete against over 20 other international champions.  

Albert Torres, the world's top Latin promoter, chose Beijing as host instead of Shanghai or Hong Kong because the capital has the most Latin clubs and teachers. He brings with him top class organization and some of the world's leading dancers to inspire the local talent.

So who will be China's Salsa king and queen? And are they good enough to worry the world's best hip-swivellers?

Beijing girl Lisa Liu and Filipino Fritz Labinghisa are one couple striving for global glory. By day Liu is a mild mannered office manager and Labinghisa works in the less than glamorous world of money transfers. But once they clock out of the office, they are singularly devoted to the dance. Liu and Labinghisa will be performing to the energetic rhythm and strong beats of Richie Ray y Bobby Cruz's Sonido Bestial. Other hot contenders include Beijinger Wang Yi Nan, a dance teacher and DJ, and his partner Xiao Yan. An out-of-town talent to keep an eye on is dance professional Zhou Ning who has a mysterious new Hangzhou partner.  

Can anyone join in the Salsa revolution? If you live in Beijing it's almost impossible to avoid.   

Since the late 1990's when a few foreign friends gathered to play CD's and dance in friendly restaurants, Beijing emerged as China's Salsa capital, with Asia's two largest Latin clubs, Latinos and Salsa Caribe. Each night hundreds of loyal aficionados strut their stuff. These range from casual fun dancers hoping to make friends and maybe lose a little weight to those with global ambitions.   

The driving force behind the upcoming championship event is Beijing's most influential teaching team: "Mambo" Jack Dunn from Arizona, and his local partner Zhen Zhen. They have performed and taught in Hong Kong, Korea, Japan and Sweden. Their global connections with top dancers, DJ's and promoters have brought a new dimension to Salsa in Beijing, making this championship possible.   

As Dunn observes, "China has a strong tradition of body movement through traditional dance, tai chi and kung fu, and a love of romantic partner dancing as seen in many street gatherings. It's perfectly natural, maybe inevitable, that Chinese people will enjoy and find success in their Salsa."   

Catch the Salsa fever at the four-day festival of workshops, shows from top dancers and of course the crowning of China's first Salsa champions! It's history in the making!