Below is the e-mail I just received from Tony El Pana about his Friday nights @ Ariake. The reason I'm blogging this is because cliquishness is, I think, an important issue. The fact is that no matter how good a Salsa dancer you are, there are Salsa clubs you can go to where people will shun you simply because they've never seen you or you don't *look* like a good dancer.

I wrote a few months ago about my own run-in with the "clique" mentality at Saffire (http://www.randbsalsa.com/node/142) -- and I'm a trained Ballroom dancer! I recently read with great interest a thread on rec.arts.dance where this guy from Paris, France described a Tango Clique hell. His case is a little extreme, but it still points out an ugly truth: People can be at best indifferent and at worst downright cruel to others based solely upon their perception of their dance ability. I mean, how superficial is that!

There's another interesting article on the subject by Maya of SalsaCrazy: http://www.randbsalsa.com/node/97. She suggests that one of the reasons you find such clique-ishness is because so many people are afraid they won't look good on the dance floor. Wow! Famine, war, world terrorism, violent crime, and not being the best looking chick/guy on the dance floor. What challenges our young generation faces today!

Cliquishness is one of the things that inhibits new dancers, male and female, from fully embracing the dance. And, we'll never know how many people have been discouraged from pursuing the dance simply because people in clubs, by definition places of social activites, act decidedly non-social to everyone except their friends.

Now, I know and like and admire and respect Tony. He's a good guy and an excellend Salsa instructor. But, I have to admit, since I'm blogging, that his first club I frequented, Cafe Future (talk about old school) was decidely "click-ish". The Cubans were on one side of the room, and the Americans on the other. Rarely did the two mix, at least socially. And, when I brought this up to Wil McZeal, one of the other organizers of this spot, he shrugged it off to being just "the way it is". I never forgot that (as you can see, Wil).

It was my feeling then, and now, that if you organize a social event, it is your responsibility to not only set the tone, but make sure people understand what their responsibilities are. It shouldn't be just to come and have a good time. It should also be about being kind and friendly. Or, if that's too much, at least being "not unfriendly".

So, Tony says his club isn't "click-ish". OK. Would someone please go and let me know? We'll publish your comments right here. If Tony is correct, then I think everybody should know about it and support what he's doing.

Not like other salsa venues,where it is so "click-ish", and if no one knows u ,u wont get a dance.Not here, come to a place where everybody is friendly and cool@