Dance for Hope @ Ba Ba Lúu

Arriving at an early 7:00pm for Wednesday night's Dance for Hope fundraiser at Ba Ba Lúu, the atmosphere was like a house party.

CEO and producer of Latin Vibes Entertainment, Gisel Della Chiara, Wednesday night's catalyst was going over last minute arrangements as performers trickled in. Comfortably full but not jammed, patrons donated $25.00 to World Vision Canada, the Canadian Red Cross, or UNICEF. And, tax receipts will be mailed.

Hor d'ouevres started circulating around 9:30pm before the leisurely 10:15pm start. The early evening was a great opportunity to network with people from the entertainment industry, web designers, the Hispanic Women Network and the publishing industry. DJ Carlitos spun the tunes and kept people moving before and after the show.

Gisel opened the evening by welcoming everyone and thanking them for their generous donations of money and time. She quickly turned the stage over to the comedians Strawberry Luv & Caliente - the MCs for the night. A very ambitious evening, at least 16 performers or artists had their turn on the stage with two to six minute performances or routines. Keeping this crowd of performers on track and on time was a challenge that Strawberry Luv & Caliente's English and Spanish banter met - with panache and humour.

Everyone was applauding and shouting for Tropicaliente's Belly Dancer Mayada whose energetic performance launched the night. The crowd barely caught its breath when Emese Dosa and Christina Lee, one day late for Carnivale, fuelled the fire with hot samba.

Latin Vibe's Production Coordinator, Shantall Young caught everyone with bluesy versions of Been Told and Juega y Juega. A strong performer in her own right, Shantall sang back-up vocals at the Lula Lounge July 2003 New Cuban Generation with Fito Blanco. Newcomer Tyanna sang Summer Time.

A Mexican-Russian beauty currently living in Toronto, Rosita Stone took the stage. Her music crosses all genres of folk, Mexican, Middle Eastern and rock. Rosita's debut EP is named The Real Deal. Remarkably restrained Wednesday night, Rosita sang "I'm Ready Now." Introducing her second song, a new composition she said there was no title yet, "I just wrote it." Continuing, "Shelby's coming up. We wrote it together."

While one act was leaving and the next act was quickly setting up. Strawberry Luv & Caliente kept things light with Spanish and English jokes and comments.

Soul2Sole's Evelyn and Julius Azarcon, brother and sister who share the same birthday but not the same year, re-lit the dance floor with some great salsa. Clad in pinstripes and black fedoras, their routine got everyone cheering and clapping.

Montevideo, Uruguayan born John Acosta followed, singing Mamasita, and joining with Toya Alexis, sang Finger Prints. He was very active on the music scene in the early 1990s with James Russell. Now solo, John Acosta is well known as a song writer with Pavlo, Sugar Jones, Velvet Empire, Sky, Canadian Idol Ryan Malcolm. Modestly, Acosta acknowledged Latin Vibes, "Thanks to Latin Vibes for supporting my career."

Toya Alexis, Top Ten 2003 Canadian Idol, came to Ba Ba Lúu fresh from a 4 Feb. 2005 performance at Hart House with Toronto Jazz AllStars and T. dot R nb singer Peter Smith, Toya sang two songs. She soloed Infidelity and sang Finger Prints with John Acosta. Toya performed at the Toronto Urban Music Festival 2004, and released the single “Am I Loving?”

An absolutely devastating wit, Toya gave Strawberry Luv a run for his money and drove Caliente crazy, surprising everybody with a strong Spanish reply to his come on. "Didn't think I could speak Spanish eh?!" Toya cracked with a smile.

Introducing Infidelity, Toya said, "Finally wrote a song, not for a brother but for..."

"... Now girlfriend, you chose a battle and won hands down!..."

Roland & Gorete's salsa interpretation of Christina Aguilera's "Infatuation" brought simmering eternal love - anger - love emotions to life on the floor. Five and a half months into her pregnancy, Gorete's performance was very special and brought a whole new dimension to dance and passion for life.

Dancing continued for the whole crowd when Alex Bello. Alex got people up and dancing Bachata at just the right speed. Former Banda Bella member and songwriter/singer, Alex Bello sang "Amor Míó" and Perdoname, which will see a 18 Feb. 2005 release. His debut bachata album, "Abreme tu Corazón" comes out in April 2005. And, Alex Bello sang in Jan. 2005 at Orale Lounge's tsunami fundraiser Jornada de Recaudación.

Juan Gabriel Cordero 2004 Latin Idol Competition winner closed the evening's performances with some Reggaeton with MC Puppet. DJ Carlitos took over and people danced the night away to salsa, merengue, bachata and a little reggaeton.

This ambitious evening was a collaboration among many people. Corporate sponsors were Ba Ba Lúu, Neil Cesario - Site Canada, Noisiv Designs, the Columbian Government Trade Consulate, Trade-Link Web Technology, Debitac Int. Inc., Latin Vibes Productions.

Dance Schools and performers were Steps Dance Studio, Soul2Sole Jocelyn Azarcon, Julius Azarcon, United Salseros, Dance to Live, Tropicaliente and Mayada, Emese Dosa, Christina Lee, Roland Semprie & Gorete Almedia.

And, finally, organizers Neil Cesario - Site Canada, Gisel Della Chiara - Latin Vibes, and Jocelyn Azarcon - Soul2Sole brought Dance for Hope to life.