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Memoirs of a Bachatero (finland Bachata Festival)

But Vesa is a different gentleman, a straight-forward, tell-it-like-it-is Finnish. They don't call him El Amabajador de la Bachata for nothing by the Dominicans, a gentleman who have helped the Dominicans in more ways than one over the years and a man that truly appreciate the culture of the Dominican Republic (DR). Dominican Press gave the name El Embajador de la Bachata (Bachata Ambassador) to Vesa, because he did the great cultural act of heroism by bringing 13 people Bachata band from Dominican Republic to Tampere Finland. Being an ambassador, he has also done diplomatic arrangements by organizing Bachata stars to the European Embassy parties in Santo Domingo. He has been to DR 12 times for a period of 18 years.

So to my surprise, a few months ago, I got several emails from him inviting me to the 1st Finland Bachata Festival in Tampere.

"I would like you to be the leading teacher at the Finland Bachata Festival on October 2008 and June 2009. We're gonna have a Dominican event."

To be invited by a person that knows a thing or two about bachata dancing, culture and music is an honor. I could not say no.

Finland is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It has borders with Sweden to the west, Russia to the east, and Norway to the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland. The capital city is Helsinki.

Tampere is a city in southern Finland located between two lakes, Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi. Tampere is dubbed the "Manchester of Finland" for its industrial past. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of 208,000, and Tampere's metropolitan area has a population of over 340,000.

Vesa's plan was to host a small event at first on October 2008 and to make the June 2009 bigger, if not, the biggest in Finland.

He reserved a medium sized dance studio for workshops and a small club venue for the Dominican party at night. The event created a buzz that an expectation of just 50 attendees grew to a 200 ticket sales. Vesa had no choice but to announce a sold-out event for he couldn't fit anymore people.

Arriving at Helsinki on a Friday morning was like Sweden, people were still sleeping. When I was in Sweden, the sun shines late in the morning and set late at night. I suppose it is safe say that Nordic Countries start up their day late and end their night early morning. Vesa offered two choices; to pick me up at the Helsinki Airport, or for me to take the train to Tampere which is 1.5 hours drive. I personally believe that you don't get the whole essence of experiencing a certain city if you don't take the public transportation, so I took the train, and I'm glad I did.

The train was perhaps the smoothest, fastest, comfortable and punctual ride I have ever been in. I enjoyed the views, the scenery and lakes. Oh man, this is part of my dream...I always wanted to travel throughout Europe with just a backpack on a train. This was as close as it gets. And did I mention that Finland is cold? It's autumn but it's like San Francisco, it has an unpredictable weather.

Vesa met me at Tampere Railway Station and off we went to his castle. Mind you, a house of 14 rooms with different cultural themes on each with a perfect view of the lake.  I am glad I chose stay at his house instead of staying at a hotel. Marcela arrived a few hours later.

After a few hours of napping, Vesa woke me up to rehearse techniques with Sari, my teaching assistant.  Right after, Vesa and his girlfriend Ula, informed me about the Finnish Cleansing ritual, the sauna. The sauna is part of the Finnish identity and a national institution which still blossoms in the 21st century. A comparison of the sauna with the bathing houses and customs of other nations provides a perspective for viewing their traditions and understanding the ways and nature of other cultures. By learning from others, they learn to know themselves better. Sweating in a sauna, a sweat lodge or a furo bath is not primarily a physical act of cleansing, but a ritual that relaxes the body and soothes the mind. Recreation best describes what the refreshed mind experiences after bathing in the steam. Vesa's house is built with a medium sized sauna room.

Finland is the land of the sauna and the Finns are a nation of sauna-enthusiasts. Finland has a population of 5.1 million and 1.7 million saunas, one for every three inhabitants.

"Uhhh, Vesa, I didn't bring a short or even a swimming trunk." I was trying to get out of the sauna factor.

Vesa and Ula smiled and said that we are supposed to be without clothes in the sauna, it's a tradition.

I smiled and nodded but I was thinking to myself, "holy shit!" This reminded me of the Seinfeld episode where George said, "I was just in the pool on cold water!" Of course, sauna makes your, well, you know...

"Does Marcela know about this?"

"Yes, we have informed her and she is fully aware of the ritual," Vesa told me with an evil smile.

So we did the sauna after Vesa handed me a Japanese Kimono and a swimming trunk. I thanked him with a gesture of the Japanese bow.  A sigh of relief...

On Friday night we went to two clubs and promoted. Marcela and I did a short impromptu bachata demo. I met several instructors in Tampere there as well.

Saturday Workshops. There was a reason why Vesa didn't want to sell anymore tickets. There was a good amount of beautiful people, curious and hungry in learning the bachata dance. We even had the promoter of Helsinki Bachata Bootcamp present there.

Vesa taught his Dominican introduction workshops and Marcela taught her merengue tipicos. I taught late in the afternoon with the cornerstone concept; it's basically a foundation of my own style of dancing with tradition in mind.

We went to the downtown area of Tampere. Downtown's main street is built with bricks. This is to preserve tradition as I was told by Vesa later. The venue was turned into a truly Dominican party. You'd instantly notice the Dominican theme in the club with small and big DR flags. Instead of a bracelet that looks like you are an outpatient from a Hospital, we wore a beads bracelet that came from DR. Dominican drinks were offered at the bar; brugal and brahma's dominated. This is as Dominican as it gets in Finland.

It was packed with Dominican music; bachata and merengue with a few salsa and chachacha. The place was packed with people. This is one of the hottest bachata parties I've been to and I mean that literally.

Vesa and Marcela did an improvised skit and invited me to join in. It ended up in a Tipico challenge between Marcela and Vesa. Vesa is a non-assuming bachatero/merenguero, when he started dancing to Anaconda, my mouth dropped.  They asked me to join in as well, I did short version, but I knew that I could not match Vesa's anaconda moves. Marcela and I did our improvised bachata demonstration after.

It was a great night that ended in the morning. Some dancers just didn't want to get out of the club.

"Uno mas! Uno Mas!, Por favor!"

I kept dancing. It was hard to stop because there were many great Finnish dancers! Of course, being hot and sexy (everyone of them) was a plus, I could not resist, not to mention, a certain woman just called me Rodlandia.

After many drinks, one student offered Marcela and I a shot of  Absinthe, a traditionally a distilled, highly alcoholic (75%)  beverage. It is an anise-flavored spirit derived from herbs, including the flowers and leaves of the herb Artemisia absinthium, also called wormwood. Absinthe has a characteristic natural green color but can also be colorless. It is often called "the Green Fairy". Although it is sometimes mistakenly called a liqueur, absinthe is not bottled with added sugar and is therefore classified as a liquor. Absinthe is unusual among spirits in that it is bottled at a high proof but is normally diluted with water when it is drunk. In a word, strong!

We managed to get out of there and took the taxi. Everyone takes the taxi for it is absolutely illegal to drive under the influence of alcohol with severe consequences.

Sunday Workshops was a little sad for me because, well, it was the last day and I always get sad on a last day of any events. Yes, I am a sentimental guy. It is one thing to teach a sold-out workshop, but it's another to see students learning what you taught easily and effectively, I got compliments and lots of "thank yous."

I have met many wonderful people at the festival. Attendees from Sweden and as far as Lithuania were awesome. My commitment to the bachata community in Finland is to teach them bachata in the easiest but effective way as possible.

On Sunday night, Vesa and I spent a few hours dining and drinking, after all, it was a successful weekend and the prelude to the International Bachata Festival in Tampere and Helsinki next year.

We shared my new favorite drink of Brugal Extra Viejo and Añejo. We got to talk about the Dominican Republic culture, history and practices. We bonded. There are a lot of dancers going around nowadays claiming the knowledge of bachata, but Vesa Parkarri is one of the very few people I've met I can discuss and identify Bachata and Dominican culture with pure delight and laughter.

It was Monday morning and it was time to pack my suitcase. Vesa gave me a ride to Helsinki Airport. We got to talk some more and brainstormed ideas for the next event. He was also on his way to the Bachata Bootcamp in Helsinki for the evening.

When we got to the airport I had one hour to kill and I could tell that Vesa will need to park his car in a lot so he could at least say goodbye for a few minutes with me inside the airport. I noticed instantly that we are both not good on goodbyes so I just gave him a strong tap on the shoulder and said, "Vesa, it was pleasure, you don't need to wait here with me and go on about your way, I will be just fine here." He understood and gave me a nod.

When two gentlemen sit and drink together, not to mention, carpool together with certain commonalities, passion and vision grows. What began as a hobby for both of us turned out to be a life changing experience with passion and adventures over the years, thanks to Bachata.

International Tampere/Helsinki Bachata Festival 2009

Many Thanks To: Vesa Parkarri (El Amabajador), Marcela Cardenas (Muah!), Ula, Minna,Giedre, Paula, and many others who made me feel welcomed in Finland. The best is yet to come and leave it to Vesa Parkarri - www.bachata.fi

About the Author

Rodney “Rodchata” Aquino is a Latin Dance instructor, writer and lecturer in the United States. Solely responsible for popularizing bachata dance in San Francisco Bay Area, RODCHATA, as bachateros intimately calls him, has been in the Latin Dance scene for over 15 years and is considered one of the foremost authority in salsa and bachata dance. A certified instructor, his dance background includes Latin International Ballroom, salsa (on1, on2 mambo, and Cuban son, Casino), chachacha, merengue and bachata.

He is the founder of numerous popular dance websites; Salsagang.com, iBachata.com, BachataNews.com, Rodchata.com, iTimba.com and CEO of Rodchata Enterprises, LLC as well as Reno Bachata International Convention and San Francisco Bachata Intl Festival.

Since creating Salsagang, he had the opportunity to teach the Latin Dance at big events all over Asia, Europe, Australia and USA.

He has written numerous dance articles including Bachata Innovation, Bachata Is Not Grinding,Diary of an Ambitious Bachatero, Pseudo Instructors and others. You can search his articles with the exact titles or search under “Rodchata Articles.”

Aside from being a gifted teacher, Rodchata has MA in Psychology and presently pursuing his Phd in Cognition, Brain and Behavior. He is a certified Personal Fitness Trainer and holds 4th Degree Black Belt in the Martial Arts. His experience in the Martial Arts for 20 years and his background in Fitness Training plays a vital role on his effectiveness as a dance teacher.

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