Check out some of our stills from the very successful 4th annual Washington DC Salsa Congress. Special thanks to Shaka Brown from the DC Salsa Congress and ClaveKazi and Jareau Almeyda from iMambo.tv for having Nuevotec at the event. Thanks also to Karla Espinoza, Jonte, Noemie Millon, Ismael Otero, and Christina Zavala for conducting the interviews.

In late July, Yesenia Peralta and staff celebrated the grand opening of their studio, Yesenia's Dance Factory in Union City, NJ. Performances included such artists as ClaveKazi, Jose Aguilar and Mariana Salinas, Sekou McMiller and Grizel (Chachi) Del Valle, Shani's Girls, and Sangre Nueva.

Griselle Ponce held her Jersey's Finest Experience Social at the House of Dance studio in Passaic, NJ in late July. Griselle helped organize the NY/NJ Salsa Open to find competitors for the Puerto Rico World Open Championships, and invited winners Luis Aguilar and Anya Katsevman to perform, along with Edwin and Paula of Grupo Melao, and Young Ambition.

Imagine a band that started in 1965, disbanded in 1979, and awoke from their retirement in the late 90s/early 2000s to achieve even more popularity, and you have the New York based group, the legendary New Swing Sextet. Nearly 37 years after their last studio album (1971's Revolucionando), they have released their newest work, Back on the Streets, A Taste of Spanish Harlem, vol. 2. Nuevotec was on hand for the CD release party in late June in New York City.

Below is a paraphrased excerpt of our video interview with the New Swing Sextet

Dimas Mero: You guys are world renowned for being part of the one and only, New Swing Sextet. Can you give us a brief history of the band?

George Rodriguez: Wow, how about Jurassic Park (joking). We started in 1965. I was 18 at that time, and it was a wonderful time to be playing. We grew up playing with Tito Puente, Willie Colon, Hector Lavoe, Joe Cuba, Ray Baretto, all the great bands, Eddie Palmieri. So that's how we grew up, and at that time, we said, these guys all kick ass. Little did we know that they would become the world's famous bands that they are now. So it was a great education for us.

We recorded our first four albums from 1967 to 1971. At that time there was something going on called the Vietnam war, and a couple of the guys in the band got drafted. One of the guys (members) mom got sick, he had to go to Puerto Rico. So all of a sudden we didn't have a band. And that's when Angel (Justiano), his brother Harry, we brought in the other guys. They never got to record with the original band, but they have been with the band since 1972, so it's like forever.

We stopped playing in 1979. We thought that, you know, let the young guys come in and do their thing. We (then) started playing a few years ago, as weekend warriors, and play once in a while. Then Henry Knowles, the great DJ, found us playing at the South Street Seaport. He said, "you know what guys, people are asking me for your music from all over the world". My (George) first thought was, get the f*** out of here. I couldn't believe that, but he convinced us. Over the last years, it has exploded. We've gone to places that we never knew existed.

Angel Justiniano: I think the first show he (Henry Knowles) did, we were celebrating our 40th anniversary, in 2005. The band name was being celebrated for 40 years in the business.

Dimas Mero: You guys are seasoned, yet vibrant and young. When you guys are out there playing, its as if I'm looking at a pair of 15, 20 year olds out there (playing). You can see the love of the music pour out through the ways that you play. Tell us a little bit about the new album.

George Rodriguez: The title (of the new album) is "Back on the Streets", A Taste of Spanish Harlem, vol 2. We started working on this about two years ago, at the point when Henry convinced us that the music was relevant. Not just the music we play, but the style of music we played because we really thought, especially in New York I'm sad to say, where we grew up, (with the all the legendary bands I talked about), there are so few places to play live music. We figured latin music is dead. We loved to play it, but weren't interested in recording a project, because now you have to foot the bill for this type of project, we have to put up a lot of time for something that no one cares about except us.

We are pleased to announce our first documentary, Salsamentary. The documentary is available through:

1. Subscribe to the Salsamentary Podcast via iTunes - the best way of watching the documentary -

2. Video gallery on our website - click here

Brief instructions to subscribe to the podcast are below.

Since 2005, salsa dancers from around the globe have competed for first place (on1, on2, cabaret, and team divisions) at the World Salsa Championships.

In 2006, we followed two couples from Philadelphia, and one from the Netherlands in their attempt to be the world's best from their respective divisions. The couples are:

Darlin Garcia (on1 division) Dominican Republic	Taiti Walter (on2 division) Curacao and the Netherlands	Victor Colon (cabaret division) Puerto Rico & Philadelphia, Pa
In his early twenties, Darlin is one of Philadelphia's most talented and accomplished dancers. He's competed in several competitions and as a cofounder of Art in Motion, been a veteran of national and international salsa congresses.	With salsa experience gained from the Netherlands based team Matanza, Taiti and partner Cristel have traveled Europe, Asia, North America, and South America. They are in demand for their salsa and zouk workshops.	A graduate of Penn State University with a degree in engineering, Victor has quickly built a name for himself in Philadelphia and South Jersey. Having teamed up with Sonya Elmore, the dance couple have competed both regionally and in Puerto Rico.
Kathleen Eccleston (on1 division) Cherry Hill, NJ	Cristel Beijkirch (on2 division) The Hague, Netherlands	Sonya Elmore (cabaret division) Russia & Bensalem, Pa
A former gymnast, Kathleen started dancing salsa with Masacote's Ana Massicot and the Atrium's Barbara Capaldi. She soon gained experience with New Jersey's Salseros Unidos, then joined Art in Motion.	A physical therapy graduate and a former gymnast, Cristel has roots from both Holland and Suriname. Along with partner Taiti, she was one of the first couples from Matanza. Her love of salsa has called her to countries such as China, India, Bulgaria, and the United States.	As a longtime competitor in ballroom dance world, Sonya was bit by the salsa bug in her travels to Los Angeles. Sonya owns La Luna Dance Studio, one of the largest dance schools in the Philadelphia area. Her pro team is Luna Negra dancers.

Salsamentary takes a look at the journey of six dancers as they step on salsa's largest stage through its highest level of competitive dancing. Each dancer has their own reason for competing. Some enjoy the challenge of competing against the world's best dancers. Others want to build their salsa dance resume and credentials quickly through the event, which is televised on several ESPN national and international stations, as well as DVDs sold globally. The rewards cannot be expressed just in terms of the prize money awarded to the first, second, and third places.

The documentary features interviews from 2005 on1 champions Abel Pena and Zulmara Torres, 2005 on2 champions Oliver Pineda and Luda Kroitor, 2005 on1 3rd place couple Roberto Arenas and Marie-Josee Strazzero, Salsa Seven Inc. members Albert Torres and Rob Beiner, Griselle Ponce (Taima Dancers), Yesenia Peralta and Ismael Otero (Caribbean Soul Dancers), Burju Hurturk (Hacha y Machete), and Ana and Joel Massicot (Masacote Dancers).

Currently at 13 chapters, with one more planned, the documentary is approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes. The iTunes podcast allows you to download the files locally to your machine to watch at your leisure.

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