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Salsa vacation

Get grooving Belly dancers at the Festival

Dance salsa barefoot on the beach. Splash through the samba in the swimming pool. Or get jiggy with it on a bar counter in a rocking nightclub.

Where would you get the chance to do all three? Welcome to the salsa vacation. Though it turned out to be more of a drink-dine-dance vacation.

The recent Goa Salsa Festival 2009, based at the idyllic Sun City Resort set in hippy-chic Baga and organised by the Lourd Vijay’s Dance Studio and Salsa India Productions, brought together more than 200 people. Laidback, uber-cool, ultra hip Goa was the ideal venue. An eclectic mix of salsa enthusiasts, Goa addicts and pure party animals descended on Baga and proceeded to run riot through the weekend.

The concept of a salsa vacation, while new in India, has been around for a while. Lourd Vijay, who travels the world to attend salsa Congresses and festivals, is pegging this as one of the most affordable festivals in the world.

When I finally track down Kaytee Namgyal (co-organiser, Mumbai-based salsa teacher, founder of Salsa India Productions), who’s working on his tan beside Sun City swimming pool, he shows me a glossy leaflet advertising the next salsa vacation, ‘Salsa Cruise Asia’ on a luxurious ship. Clearly, dancers know how to live life to the lees.

Goa is not necessarily more low-key. As the 200 participants from mainly Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore filter in, brandishing designer sun glasses, occasional tattoos and bouncy high spirits, the resort begins to buzz with energy, Latino rhythms and excited squeals. The salsa crowd is distinctive. They’re flamboyantly fashionable in flaming bikinis, swingy skirts and unapologetically loud T-shirts.

They’re fit, feisty and up for anything. And, of course, they love to dance.

The music begins with the inaugural party on Friday, where the poolside pulsates with glimmering lights, spinning bodies and raucous laugher. But it’s really on Saturday that everyone gets into the groove, with a dance workshop at the quirky Bottle Bay shack, overlooking the baking golden beach and deliciously cool blue waves.

With its thatched roof, sandy floors and brilliantly blue, red and green cabanas, it screams ‘beach party’. Especially once the DJ begins to spin, and the endearingly wobbly wooden dance floor fills up.

Kaytee says salsa comes with a unique cultural background. “It brings people together.” Making it ideal for a group vacation, and a great way to meet new people and explore new destinations. Lourd talks of how tourism boards across the world have started marketing dance festivals and congresses, promoting their locations as ‘vacation destinations’. “Right from a Hong Kong and Singapore to places like Korea, Japan and Mexico,” he says, hollering from the dance fest he’s currently at, in rocking Brazil.

At Bottle Bay, it’s not long before everyone’s in the sea, bobbing about on the exhilaratingly unsteady banana boats, paragliding over the crashing waves or just playing a competitive, high-octane hilarious game of beach volleyball.

The central idea is, of course, to permeate everything with the flavour of Latin dancing. Which is why Sunday morning begins with the sound of sensuous Bachata, as the DJ gets started by the swimming pool.

It develops into a full blown pool party, with chaotic competitions, plenty of underwater moves and hooligan splashing competitions. Of course, many people choose to simply soak up the sun, aided by cutesy pool floats and icy beers.

Of course, it’s not all salsa, salsa, salsa. The Sun City Resort, a rambling, tranquil property, has plenty going on inside. Owner Deepak Luthria walks me through its four-and-a-half acres, featuring everything from a mini golf course to a serene spa to explain why they are beginning to attract die-hard regulars.

However, clearly, its biggest advantage is location.

Just a short ramble away, you can pick up intricate silver jewellery, striking Jimmy Choo rip-off bags and hip Goa music with charming titles such as ‘Stoned Asia’ and ‘Infected Mushroom.’

There are motor bikes for hire for Rs. 150 a day. And, of course, there are the bars. Electric Cats. No Escape. Lounge Fly. Trendy Titos. Lively Café Mambo with it’s fiery mechanical bull, delectable bannofee pies and sizzling bar dancers.

Then, there was the night at clubbing at Paradiso, set on a hill with a bizaare approach consisting of lantern-illuminated omelette sellers and a goofy calf with a fondness for sniffing people’s elbows.

Inside, the cave-like club’s a fascinating maze of whitewashed walls, luring you deeper into dark spaces throbbing with music, till you suddenly find yourself on a cliff overlooking the moonlit sea. Clearly anything goes here.

People dance. People chill. People pass out. Hang out in a big group. Do your own thing. Very Goa. Very dance vacation. Very addictive.

(The Sun City Resort is at Saunta Vaddo, Canlagute-Baga Road, Baga, North Goa. Call 08322281530/31/32/33 for details or check suncityhotels.com)

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