Linea Salsa’s last social of the season

_MAL3136, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

Way back when in the beginning of December, I went to Linea Salsa’s social—only my second time to go out salsa dancing after moving to Zürich. Since then, I’ve danced at the Polyball, the Zürich Salsa Festival, the Sugar Lounge, and X-tra. But for some reason I had not returned to El Social in Altstetten until last night.

Part of the reason I hadn’t gone to the Linea Salsa socials more often might have been that they are held only once per month—on the first Friday of the month. When I saw that last night’s social would be the last before the summer break, I knew that I had to take the opportunity to do some dancing!

I’m very glad I returned, because I became acquainted with some very nice people last night. Having had the benefit of a second visit, I can say that the atmosphere of Linea Salsa is very similar to that of Happy Feet and SalsaAkademien’s Thursday socials. There are lots of good dancers and most of them are very friendly. It’s possible to buy beverages including beer, wine, and champagne; but most people drink in moderation to save themselves for dancing. For the most part, people who go to Linea Salsa are there to dance. And—importantly for me—the environment is not hazardous to one’s health: the music is played at a reasonable volume, and smoking is not allowed.

I met some of the organizers of the event, including a very friendly chap named Daniel. I also met two more photographers from salsapictures.ch. I think I will learn more about this group; they seem like my kind of crowd—interested in dancing and photography too!

And of course I danced with many charming and talented women—from relative beginners to ladies who were miles beyond me in ability. Lots and lots of fun. I’m a bit sad that I missed all of the Linea Salsa socials in the intervening months since December, and even sadder to know that I must wait until the next one.

Ninety photos from last night are now online.

Lucia 2008 in Stockholm

_MAL4843, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

I just returned from my first trip back to Stockholm since moving to Züruch two months ago. I was in town on business for a couple of days, teaching a TWS course for IBM. I extended my stay to include the weekend and Monday so that I could spend a bit more time in my old home and visit with friends.

Friday night I went the Klättercentret’s fifth anniversary party. The evening began with a bouldering competition. I enjoyed it very much, especially when I surprised myself by completing not one, but 4 black-graded problems—and this after months without any regular climbing to speak of! After the competition, the climbing came to an end and the real party began. Thai food and beer were served, and later in the evening we toasted to KC’s success with Champagne. Around one o’clock in the morning, a bunch of brave men took turns leaping from the central tower to try to grab a trapeze hanging at eye level about two meters out from the platform. I managed to grab the trapeze with one sweaty hand; but did not manage to hold on. The guy after me was the first one to nail it. It’s not easy to jump straight off a platform fifteen meters up in the air, even if one does have a rope to catch one’s fall! A live band consisting of several fellow climbers provided entertainment throughout the evening, and I saw so many of my old friends there. Being back at KC was bittersweet. I really miss the place. In the evening, I caught a ride from Helena back to her place. She was kind enough to let me crash at her apartment for the weekend.

On Saturday, I had dinner with Shahyar and Farzhaneh, the couple who are leasing my apartment in Bergshamra. Farzhaneh is an excellent cook, and prepared seveal tasty Persian specialities. In return, I helped get their internet connection up and running.

Later in the evening I met Lotta on Gamla Stan. We went to the Lucia concert at Storkyrkan. It wasn’t as good this year as in years past, but I still enjoyed the concert very much. This time of year, and Lucia in particular, will always remind me of my first visit to Stockholm in December of 1999. After the concert, Lotta and I had cake and coffee in the cellar of Chokladkoppen, a hip and cozy little café on Järntorget located in a building that must be at least five hundred years old.

Saturday night after the concert, I joined Helena and went to O’Leary’s in Sundbyberg, where Salsaakademien was throwing a Christmas party. I had an absolute blast at the party, dancing with so many of my friends from the Stockholm salsa scene. It felt just like old times, and everyone seemed glad to see me. Some of the best dances of the evening were with the ever-lovely Alexandra. The Sacuye gang delivered some great dance performances too, including one by Ibi and Marina that left me with a bewildered grin on my face for the next ten minutes. Those two have talent!

Sunday morning I met a couple of friends for brunch at Café String, and in the afternoon I went to Karbin for a bit more climbing. There, saw Emma and Bobo, and I made two new friends, Michaela and Alex.

Monday morning before my flight back to Zürich, I met Åsa downtown at the main train station. After a quick coffee, we took a walk in the brillinant morning sunshine. It was cold and windy, but we endured the cold with ease, soaking in the light and warmth of the sun. We walked down to Stadshuset and to the edge of Lake Mälaren.

I’ve lived several months now in Zürich, and I am finally beginning to feel like it is a place I might someday call home. However, Stockholm is stil home, and this trip was reassuring, if a bit bittersweet. It’s nice to know that the city and friends that I know and love are just a few hours away, and ready to welcome me again any time I choose to visit.

Rueda practice

_MAL8396.jpg, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

I've joined a group of folks who meet every Saturday morning to practice dancing rueda di casino, a variation of Cuban style salsa in which several couples dance in a circle, switching partners frequently. It's a lot of fun. It's also a great way to learn new salsa moves. I think part of the reason is that we practice one move at a time, over and over again until we have it down pat. Another reason may be that each move has a name. I think this makes it easier to file the move in the brain, somewhat like an index card in a card catalog helps one locate a book in a library.

I think the move I'm doing with Mikaela in this photo is called the carousel.

Sailsalsa pre-party 2008

_MAL5624.jpg, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

The Sailsalsa 2008 pre-party was this past weekend, and it was a lot of fun. Helena and I met at Bromaplan, where we caught the bus out to Ekerö. At the very end of the bus route we stepped off and walked a few hundred meters to Älghorn, a little piece of land that sticks Northward into Lake Mälaren. It was there at the club house of the Essinge Boating Society that we had the party. Lots of people were there, including Janne, who came all the way up from Copenhagen just for the party (well okay, she had some work to do in Stockholm too).

We played some games outside, including frisbee races around the cabin, and seeing who could stand the longest on a mat of tiny plastic spikes (no big deal!).

Then we grilled our food over a fire down by the lake and ate dinner. After dinner, it was time for dancing. There were a few more women than men this time around so I didn't have much time to rest. We danced until the first light of dawn appeared reflected in the lake outside. We even danced a bit of Lindy hop!

The weather was just lovely, and we spent quite a bit of the time outdoors. When the sun was shining, it was warm enough to sit outside in just a shirt. And even when it wasn’t that warm out, there was always the sauna. Several brave souls warmed up in the sauna and then took a dip in the lake’s cold waters. Refreshing!

When we left to return back to Stockholm on Sunday afternoon, it was with considerable reluctance. After such a lovely weekend, I’m looking forward to Sailsalsa in week 31.

An undeserved reputation

Sometimes life’s little surprises turn out not to be so surprising after all. A case in point was the surprise that came tonight.

I have a reputation.

While chatting tonight with a woman I consider a good friend, I learned that she has recently heard similar things about me from several women. Apparently, some women in the Stockholm salsa dancing scene have gotten the idea that I’m desperate, that I’m too friendly, and that the only reason I go dancing is to hit on girls.

I wrote that the news was not really surprising. Why? Well, my undeserved reputation probably explains the cold reaction I have gotten from some women.

The timing is ironic. This is because I have in the past year made a conscious effort to be more open and more direct with people, on the theory that honesty and forthrightness are their own reward. Be straight with people and they’ll be straight with you. I’ve made many new friends by letting this side of myself shine. In a way, I’ve become reacquainted with the person I was many years ago, before adolescence. This has made me wonder: kids make new friends so easily, so why isn’t it as easy with adults?

The answer, of course, is that adults often have hidden agendas that they conceal deliberately. I’ve written before about friendliness to strangers and making friends; and it’s obviously more complicated among adults than among children. Most adults with any amount of real-world experience have learned to be a bit suspicious of eagerness.

How suspicious people are, and of whom, depends greatly from person to person and culture to culture. The groups of people who dance salsa in Stockholm perfectly illustrate this. In the Swedish salsa dancing scene, there are basically two types: Swedes and Latinos. The Swedish men who dance salsa are usually more or less like Swedish men in the general public: a bit cold, distant, and yet for the most part egalitarian and respectful of women. Swedish men make good friends once you get to know them, but it's often a mystery how they ever work up the nerve to break the ice. Many Swedish relationships start only after months of friendship, and/or owe their start to the consumption of large quantities of alcohol.

The Latino men on the other hand are the exact opposite of their Swedish counterparts. Latino men are totally upfront, expressing their desires as soon as they feel them. Unfortunately, these men don't seem to know the difference between love and lust, and can therefore sometimes overdo it. I have heard many stories of Latino men expressing their undying love for a woman they just met on the dance floor. These guys are definitely not egalitarian, and are seldom interested in being friends with women. They tend to be macho bordering on misogynistic, and quite often don’t turn out to make good boyfriends to the Swedish women who fall for them.

It's fair to say that with my personality, I fit in somewhere between the serious Swedes and the lusty Latinos.

Realizing this, I decided some time ago to apply my friendly forthrightness not just to new acquaintances and friends, but also to women who caught my eye. If I found a woman attractive, I would be open about it: I’d break the ice and see what happened. If the feeling’s mutual, great; if not, then at least I tried. It’s better to express one’s feelings than to hold them inside. Once they’re out in the open, it’s easier to move on. Or at least that was my theory.

When my friend heard the rumors, she tried explaining to the women who related them to her that I was in fact a decent human being, and that they were mistaking my outgoing and friendly nature for desperation. Her attempt to defend my character was met with skepticism and doubt.

I must admit that even though I’m not truly surprised, I am very disappointed.

I had hoped that by being myself I would allow folks to know the real me. Instead, I’ve given the wrong impression to at least a few people.

Not five minutes after learning the news of my playboy reputation, I received a phone call from a new friend. She and I met a few weeks ago at the salsa congress in Göteborg and learned soon after meeting that we were both interested in photography. I think it's fair to say that we also share very similar world-views. We’d chatted on the phone before and I had enjoyed our conversation. After receiving such disappointing news, I was glad to hear a friendly voice. She and I talked for more than an hour and I shared my thoughts with her:

I face a dilemma. I could try to be more like Swedish men, aloof and distant. Or I could try to be even more like the Latino guys, forward and gregarious. Neither path takes me where I want to go, and each requires unacceptable compromises.

I had no epiphany, but I did reach an important conclusion: In striking a balance between these two paths, I seek to preserve the best qualities of both sides of my personality. I will not forfeit friendliness, playfulness, trust, or respect. These qualities make me the person I am.

Also, I cannot be all things to all people. Some people will always get the wrong idea, no matter what I do. I think I know who these people are, and I guess I’ll just have to back off for a while and keep them at arm’s length. There’s no point in continuing to extend the hand of friendship to someone who sees it as a threat. Maybe a little distance will help them to see me for who I am. If not, well, I can’t please everyone.

Speaking of pleasing everyone... the photos from Göteborg will have to wait another day at least. I needed to get this off my chest tonight.

Hej från Göteborg!

I'm in Göteborg for the 2008 Scandinavian Salsa Congress. I attended last year, and had a blast, dancing with lots of fun dancers and taking hundreds of great photos. This year's congress is shaping up to be even better than last year's.

The congress is basically a weekend filled with three sorts of event: workshops, shows, and parties. During the day, salsa instructors visiting from all over the world hold workshops concentrating on one area of dance or another. One instructor might lead a workshop on footwork, while another teaches dips and tricks. There are four different ballrooms in the hotel where the congress is being held, so at any given time during the day, there are four different workshops going on. This means you can chose the workshops that interest you the most. Yesterday I took one on "salsa seduction," basically a bunch of dance moves involving close body contact between partners. It was fun and involved lots of dips, where the man dips his partner down and she leans back gracefully in a smooth sweeping motion. It's very cool when it works, but I'll have to practice before I am able to incorporate these moves seamlessly inyo my repertoire. These are moves that are best done to slow romantic music, and unfortunately most of the music played in social dance settings is quite a bit faster.

After that workshop I took another one on spinning. In the first half of the workshop, men and women practiced single turns individually. Then we worked in couples on a dance routine involving lots of double turns and fancy handwork.

After dinner, there were several shows on the stage in the big ballroom. Dance companies from all over Scandinavia and the world performed carefully choreographed routines in flamboyant outfits. Many of the performers were the same ones who held the workshops during the day. There have been some amazing dance performances the past two evenings, and it's amazing to see what really good dancers can do.

After the shows, the chairs are removed from the ballroom and the party begins. The parties are basically dance socials, but on a large scale. Three different ballrooms offer dancing with slightly different atmospheres. The DJs play different mixes in each place. In one of the rooms, the DJs played a mix of Latin dances including salsa, bachata, meringue, and reggaeton.

A lot of dancers skip the workshops during the day, and simply pay 200 SEK doe admission to an evening's shows and party. That's what I did last year. This year, however, I got a full pass to the congress for free!

Well, okay, it wasn't actually free. I'm working for it. When I arrived Friday night, I spoke with one of the arrangers of the congress, Adriana Mendes. Having seen my photos last year, she agreed to give me a full pass to this year's congress in exchange for letting her use any photos I take this year. Great deal for me, because now I can dance and take photos with her official sanction. I agreed to let Adriana take a look at the photos before I post them, so it'll be a week or so before I post most of them. Expect to see some of my photos on the official home page of the Scandinavian Salsa Congress soon!

I'm staying with friends Liza, Evert, Camilla & Maria in a cramped 5-bed room in a youth hostel a few minutes by streetcar from the hotel where the congress is being held. The hostel, Slottsskogen Vandrarhem, is actually quite comfortable, and has a nice and recently renovated sauna. I finished breakfast and offloaded photos from my memory cards to my laptop. I'll probably try to catch a couple more hours of sleep before heading to the hotel for a couple of the afternoon workshops.

Another fun Thursday night of dancing

_MAL6153.jpg, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

Thursday night I went salsa dancing at Chicago. The place was packed and I danced pretty much non-stop from eight until after eleven. Here we see Alfred dancing with Camilla. She favored me with a dance too, and Ibi was kind enough to pick up my camera and take a photo. There are twenty-three photos in all.

Happy Feet in Sumpan

_MAL5469.jpg, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

Saturday night I spent a few hours dancing at Happy Feet, a salsa social organized by the same folks who put together the outdoor Djungelsalsa socials during the summer. This time Happy Feet returned to the theater in Sundbyberg. I had a lot of fun dancing with Liza, Elin, Lalla, and many more excellent dancers. I'm looking forward to going again next week! Here are all forty photos from the night.

A bit of salsa dancing

_MAL4858.jpg, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

It’s Thursday, and you know what that means: salsa!

I hadn’t been dancing in a while (other than last night’s lessons), so it felt good to move a bit tonight. The place was crowded, but not as much as before. Ibi spun the discs and did a good job selecting music. I tried with limited success to reenact the routine he taught last night. Damn, it’s a tricky one. Sometimes I think I should go back to level 4. Either that or find time to practice more.

I saw lots of familiar faces tonight, including Lina and Evert, pictured above. All thirty-two photos from this evening are now online. Enjoy!

Level 5 @ SalsaAkademien

_MAL4815.jpg, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

Last night I went down to Odenplan for my salsa lessons. I missed a lesson two weeks ago when I was in the U.S., and I still feel like I’m a bit behind the rest of the class. Last night’s lesson was tricky. Ibi taught us a rather difficult routine and I never quite got the hang of it. Perhaps I'll try to practice it a bit at the social tonight. It begins just over an hour from now! Here are a handfull of photos from last evening’s lesson.

Sacuye’s second salsa social simply super

_MAL2448.jpg, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

Last night a bit after eight o’clock, I showed up at Chicago on Hornsgatan for a bit of dancing at Sacuye’s second salsa social of 2008. It was fun an a good workout too — I changed shirts twice during the evening because I was sweating so much. I danced with many charming and talented women, including the ever-lovely Hanna, pictured above. Thanks to Jonas O. for taking the photos of me.

Without further ado, here are thirty-nine photos from last night's social.

Dance lessons at SalsaAkademien

_MAL2336.jpg, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

The dance troupe Sacuye recently chose a new name for its teaching operations: SalsaAkademien (The Salsa Academy). This week they proudly opened their new dance studio near Odenplan, at Odengatan 89. It’s just next-door to Container, the place where ClubSalsa used to arrange socials on Sunday evenings. SalsaAkademien is offering free trial classes for all of this week and next. Wednesday evening I attended several of the classes: level 4 salsa, footwork & body isolation (pictured above), and finally level 5 salsa (renamed from level 4+ to reduce confusion*).

Marina’s body isolation exercises were challenging as always. I swear that woman must have some snake genes in her, the way she can move. The level 5 course was more difficult than I expected, in part because one particular dance move vexed me. I kept messing it up, and couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong. After the class, Ibi showed me what I needed to change, and with a few repetitions, I got it mostly right. It was then that I realized that I had already learned this move years ago, but had only forgotten it, probably due to lack of use. Once I did the move a couple of times, the memory of how to do it suddenly manifested itself again in my conscious mind and merged with the newly-formed memories from practicing the move that evening. Then it suddenly clicked and I could do it without problems. The brain works in mysterious ways.

I brought my camera along and took a few photos during and after the classes. You can see how nice the new studio is! All ten photos from the evening’s lessons are online.

* Marina insists that the so-called level 5 course is not truly what she considers level 5. Apparently, there aren’t yet sufficiently many dancers of that caliber in Stockholm to merit the existence of such a course.

A bit of salsa at a new club

_MAL1889.jpg, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

Saturday night I went down to Club Kaos on Upplandsgatan to check out the scene. There was an event there that night called Guantanamera. It was less than stellar. The music was a mix of salsa, reggaeton, and other Latin dances. I wasn’t too pleased though because there was too much reggaeton and too little salsa. The sound quality in the downstairs area was also very poor. Oh well, I might give the place another chance someday.

Remember Ingrid — the sweet woman who shared a room with me and Stina in Kittelfjäll? Well, by complete coincidence I met her there at the bar. She was out with a girlfriend who’s going to get married in a couple of weeks They were painting the town red, going from one club to another and apparently having a blast.

Here are a few photos from the evening.

Sacuye’s first salsa social of 2008

_MAL1508.jpg, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

Last night was Sacuye’s first salsa social of the year. It was a lot of fun to dance with my friends, many of whom I had not seen since October or earlier, including Katja (above), who favored me with several fun dances.

I took a bunch of photos with my new favorite setup for indoor dancing photos: D300, 14-24mm lens, and SB-800 with diffuser dome, mounted on a Stroboframe. I shoot wide open at f/2.8, in manual mode with a 1/60 s shutter and with the flash biased -2.0 and pointed up at the white ceiling. I'm very pleased with the results. All 33 photos are online.

_MAL1608.jpg, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

My favorite photo of the night was actually a quick one I snapped as Johan, Janaki and I were waiting for the subway.

Christmas dinner with salsa dancing friends

_MAL5242.jpg, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

Christmas Day, I caught a ride back to Stockholm with Lena and Lotta, caught a few hours of sleep, and then went to a dinner with friends. I was invited by fellow salsa dancer Evert, and the dinner was held at the home of another dancer, Robban.

I was pleasantly surprised to see lots of familiar faces there, including Helena, Jose, Leo, and my charming dance instructor Marina.

Robban prepared a delightful meal, afterward we all caught the subway down to Medborgarplatsen for the second annual Christmas salsa party at Debaser Medis. It was a lot of fun, but I had to leave after just a couple of hours because I was too tired. At the time, I was still recovering from the cold I’d caught a few days before.

Here are the best 38 photos from the evening.

Dancing with Anna and Anne Lene at La Isla

_MAL3759.jpg, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

After more than two months of salsa-abstinence, I hit the dance floor at La Isla last night. Anna joined me, and we took the drop-in course together. It was a bit of a weird lesson: at once too easy and a bit awkward. The dance floor was too crowded too. Oh well—I guess it can't be a great lesson every time.

After the lesson I stayed and danced with a bunch of friends I hadn't seen since before my trip to Austin. Around ten o'clock, Anne Lene showed up and we danced a few dances too. Her friend Felix was there too, and I got some nice photos of the two of them dancing. Here are all 13 photos from the evening.

Salsa weekend on Ljusterö

_MAL1608.jpg, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

Last weekend I went out to Inger's summer place on Ljusterö for a couple of days of good food, good drink, good company, and of course, lots of fun salsa dancing. Inger arranges such a salsa weekend around this time every summer. The last time I was able to go was way back in 2004, when my parents were here in Sweden for a visit. We had fun back then and we had fun this time too!

We arrived in the early afternoon on Saturday and had a nice lunch of pasta salad. Johan and Håkan braved the cool water (in a wetsuit of course) for a bit of wind-surfing. Then we went inside and danced for a while. In the evening, we lit a fire in the grill and made our dinner. After dinner, we danced and danced and danced. Despite the cool weather, we did go for a late-night skinny-dip around 4 A.M. It was nice, actually, considering that we were overheated from several hours of non-stop dancing. We crashed shortly after that. I slept soundly!

_MAL2146.jpg, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

A few brave souls also jumped in the water the next morning to wake up. The water was around 16° C, so it definitely woke did the trick! We had breakfast, danced a bit more, tidied up the house, and then went on our respective ways back to Stockholm. It was a really fun weekend, and I'd like to thank Inger for her work arranging it! I created a new photo set for the 162 photos from the weekend. Enjoy!
Ljusterö salsa weekend 2007.

La Isla Wednesday night

_MAL2027.jpg, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

Wednesday night I went dancing for a few hours at La Isla. I had a few nice dances with a nice girl named Catherine whom I hadn't seen in a while. She's a fun dancer and sweet too. Of course I also salsaed with my buddy Alexandra, who just keeps getting better ever time I dance with her. At about half-past-twelve I caught the last subway home. It was an exhausting and fun night!

I have posted 17 photos from the night.

A bit of salsa at Vanadis

_MAL1217.jpg, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

After climbing, I took my bike on the commuter train and got off at Karlberg station. From there, I biked up to Frejgatan and all the way across Vasastan to the interesection with Sveavägen. Vanadisbadet lies up on the hill there. Tired though I was, I couldn't pass up an opportunity for a few hours of salsa dancing. The sun was shining, and there were lots of dancers on the dance floor.

First though, I had to get some food. I hadn't eaten a proper lunch — just a Snickers bar after climbing. So I bought a little ham and cheese sandwich and wolfed it, washing it down with a Mariestads beer. Then I was ready for dancing!

A lot of the folks I normally dance with are either on vacation or at the salsa congress going on this weekend in Hamburg. So the group was a bit different than usual. Even so, the folks I met were friendly and enthusiastic about dancing salsa — two of the most important criteria! My new French friend Mouss was kind enough to take a few photos (including the one above) of me dancing with a new acquaintance named Cecilia. She's fun to dance with!

After Vanadisbadet's last dance at 11, I donned my new Prana sweater, threw the big backpack on my shoulders, and and trudged home on my bike. It's only a few kilometers home from the bath — up Sveavägen to Roslagstull, and then straight on past the University. It's been an action-packed weekend, and I'm positively knackerd. After a quick dinner and shower, I'll go straight to bed.

Next up, an ordinary workday on Monday, followed by a nice evening of rest. Then there's the Stockholm Jazz Fest on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to seeing Steely Dan in concert again. Lotta and Lisa are coming along, and maybe a few other folks too. It'll be fun!

To see more from Vanadisbadet, take a look at all 14 photos.

Hot Salsa Wednesday

_MAL0413.jpg, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

Wow! Last night was fun at La Isla. There were so many good dancers there, and I danced with many of them. Johan was kind enough to take a couple of photos of Alexandra and me dancing. She had been traveling in Costa Rica for a while, and then I was on vacation in Massachusetts, so we actually hadn't danced in a few months. It's always nice to get reacquainted again.

Janaki was there, and we danced a couple of dances. I met her last week at Gröna Lund, and saw her again there on Tuesday. I also danced with Sofie, whom I met a long time ago but hadn't seen in ages. Malin also favored me with a dance or two, and I visited a bit with a French salsa dancer named Mouss. He is in Stockholm for just one week, and is trying to visit all the main venues for salsa dancing during his time here. Helena was also there. She's the photographer who lives on Tenerife. And Mark Anthony, the D.J. and dancer from Tornoto, was showing his stuff — I got a lot of photos of him.

Speaking of that, here are all 40 photos from last night.