the New York Hustle Congress
The New York Hilton Hotel is where the hungry-for-hustle go on Labor Day Weekend. The 2009 New York Hustle Congress was Lori Brizzi's Fifth.
Brizzi (pronounced BRI-tzi) is a dancer who made a career of her passion for the hustle. She has been holding Millennium Hustle parties in various venues around New York City since 2002 and started the NY Hustle Congress five years ago, at the behest of David Melendez of Starlite Dance Studio in the Bronx.
Brizzi and Melendez, then New York Salsa Congress director, worked together until Melendez died of cancer two years ago. Since then, the Hustle Congress is her baby. She's raising it with the help of many supporters who want to see the dance live on. The idea is to bring the pros in to teach and perform.
Consequently, many of the dancers wear VIP bracelets.
meet 'n greet
Dancers dropped the names Victor and Katia at this year's Hustle Congress. The young co-directors of the Montreal Latin dance company Comomango, Katia Morales and Victor Alexis, participated in the Meet 'n Greet workshop. There is always more to learn. Later that evening they competed, placing first in Professional Open Cabaret and Professional Theater Arts Hustle. The Meet was an opportunity to follow hustle champs like Brian Gallagher, pictured below in front of the Comomango couple, with Danielle Odhner.
After a social warm-up replete with refreshments, International Hustle Dance Association members were invited to join a dance game, not unlike the surrealist painters' 'exquisite corpse' or the literary Japanese rengo. In this case, volunteers enter the circle of dancers to teach and lead a phrase. With one passage set, another willing guide dreams up the next part, and the dance grows.
Ultimately, you could embed the basic dance into your muscle memory and use it on the floor throughout the social weekend. You learn the intent, which helps to perfect the steps.
IHDA is not an exclusive club. Annual fees are $10 and members get emails with news. They send a heads-up for the next sanctioned event, where you can expect to meet 'n greet hustle dance pros.
and more...
Congress snapshots, a shortlist of this month's concerts, a Jeffrey Cyphers Wright poem, photographer Anya Hitzenberger, and check often for the newest reviews.