Some of the finest dance crews across the U.S., Canada, and Australia came to battle for first place at the 2010 World of Dance Tour in Brooklyn, New York this Memorial Day weekend. Australia's Psyde Project took home top honors at the competition, with Boston's Static Noyze and Montreal's The Family taking second and third place respectively.

Below are some of the performances from the America's Best Dance Crew (ABDC) showcase, including Season 5 first and second place winners, California's Poreotix, Montreal's Blueprint Cru dance company, and the Bronx's Rhythm City dance crew.

Rhythm City - ABDC Season 4 4th place winners

Poreotix - ABDC Season 5 1st place winners

Bluprint Cru - ABDC Season 5 2nd place winners

Special thanks to Edwin Rivera for having us at the Dancers Night Out event honoring Abbey Plotkin. Below are some performances from the event.

Junior and Emily

Santo Rico

The devastating earthquake that hit the nation of Haiti on January 12, 2010 has quickly mobilized support from all around the world, including the salsa dance community.

We have listed several fundraising events on our blog, including an event this Friday, January 29, in Union City, NJ hosted by Yesenia Peralta's Dance Factory, and several events in Southern California and Toronto.

For a list of charitable organizations that are seeking donations to help those in Haiti, please visit this page at USA Today.

Did you miss it? Watch this highlights clip with video and stills from the 2009 World Salsa Championships. Snippets include footage from nearly all the top 3 finishers from the on1, on2, cabaret, and team divisions. Watch Cristian Oviedo & Liz Lira, Luis Aguilar & Anya Katsevman, Ritmo y Sabor, Jonathan Landa & Jenny Rodriguez, and many more. Thanks to John Narvaez and Liz Rojas for informing me of the song, "Mambo In Two Parts" by Snowboy and the Latin Section. The cover photo features Puerto Rico's Edwin Nieves & Greysa Baez from the on2 division below.

Special thanks to Jessica Hannah, Mauricio Sandoval, Julie Wagner, Noel Roque, Jose Mendoza (ATP), Victor Perez (HyM), Cristian Oviedo, Liz Lira, Luis Aguilar, Anya Katsevman, Joel Lopez & Erika Bautista (RyS), Dakin & Kayono Ferris, Francisco Vazquez, Albert Torres, Rob Beiner

Youtube 1080p HD | Youtube 720p HD Youtube | Facebook 720p HD

Finals Results from all divisions can be found here.

Nuevotec was on hand for the 3rd annual 2009 Punta Cana Salsa Congress.

Watch this photo slideshow from the event. Special thanks to Ariel Perez of Cultural Explosion, Victor Mayovanex and Danny Ramirez from Karisma Dance Company, Emmanuel Darley from Videosalsa.com, and Dimas Mero.

To close the final Sunday night at the Philadelphia Salsafest, two teams had 15 minutes to prepare a salsa shines/footwork routine to battle one another.

The first team includes James (Jimmy) McIver (A&E Dance Studio/BMB), Cristian Oviedo, Bernardo De La Vega (BMB), Niya Patel (Proyecto Barrio), John Narvaez (Salsamania), Noel Rodriguez (Calle Luna), and Henri Velandia (HotSalsaHot). The second team includes Al Espinoza, Victor Perez and Burju Hurturk Perez (Hacha y Machete), Uriel Garcia (Art in Motion), Eduardo Perez (A&E Dance Studio/BMB), and Allen Thomas (Proyecto Barrio).

Sonya Elmore and La Luna Dance Studio in Bensalem, Pa have announced the first annual Philadelphia Salsafest to be held from Halloween weekend, October 30-November 1, 2009. The invited performers and instructors list is stacked, as Sonya has invited local, national, and international talent including Puerto Rico Open & Mayan champions and World Salsa Championships finalists (Sonya and partner Victor Colon finished 5th at the 2006 World Salsa Championships in the cabaret division, and is a principal subject in our Salsamentary documentary). Local Philadelphia area talent includes Jessica Rodriguez, Calle Luna, Darlin Garcia, Mike Andino, Barbara Capaldi, and Joe Figueroa. Here is an abbrieviated list of scheduled artists -

• Roberto Arenas & Marie-Josee Strazzero (Chilital Dance), Montreal, Quebec, Canada (interview | social | performance)
• John Narvaez & Liz Rojas (Salsamania), Bay Area, CA (interview | social | performance)
• Cristian Oviedo & Liz Lira, Los Angeles, California (interview | social | performance)
• Victor Perez & Burju Hurturk, (Hacha y Machete) Boston, MA (interview | social | performance)
• Al Espinoza, Los Angeles, CA / Florida (interview | social | performance)
• Magna Gopal, NJ (interview | social)
• Mario “B” Gonzales, (Plan B Dancers) Jersey City, NJ (interview | social | performance)
• Griselle Ponce, Passaic, NJ (interview | social | performance)
• Cultural Explosion, Elizabeth, NJ (interview | social | performance)
• Shaka Brown, DC/Florida  (interview | social | performance)

The event will be located at the Ramada Philadelphia airport. Congratulations to Sonya and La Luna for organizing this event.

Jessica Moya Rodriguez talks with Mambodelphia's George Dennis about a special project coming October 23 -- The 2010 Pose for the Cure calendar. The calendar teams the women of several Philadelphia area salsa dance groups Las Estrellas, Art in Motion, Mambodelphia, Ahi-Nama, and Arte Salseros who are working to raise funds for the Susan G. Komen breast cancer foundation, in conjunction with photographer Brandon Pittam.

The calendar will be available at La Luna Dance Studio's Halloween party on Friday, October 23 in Bensalem, Pa.