Summer, warm weather, boat cruise and salsa! What more could a body ask.

Those elements converged Sunday 22 June when The University of Toronto Dance Club ran its "La Caliente" Cruise on the "River Gambler”.

The party started even before the boat untied from the dock. DJ Explosivo 's salsa tunes echoed across the entire Toronto harbour while the salsaholics started a movin' to that infectious Latin beat.

Salseros and Salseras were dressed to impress as the late afternoon sun sparkled off smiles, sunglasses and necklaces. A wide variety of ages and abilities enjoyed the late afternoon and early evening. It is really neat to see how far theToronto scene has progressed. Regardless of the experience level, people were moving with the music and on one song half the dancers spontaneously dipped or paused their partners on the same beat.

Albert Gomez , that legend from La Classique, kept the capacity crowd on its toes with an energetic merengue show with his nephew Alberto. Later in the evening, his tango routine kept people breathless as they wordlessly flirted, chased, loved, fought and made up through tango's limitless language.

Albert convinced people to enter the on-board salsa competition. I was passing by with a delightful lady named Milenka when Albert grabbed us and commanded, "You're in the contest, couple number three!" A staggering seven couples competed to a lively tune and Milenka did very well, considering I had not set eyes on her before the cruise, let alone danced even one song" . But isn't that the fun of a sunny summer Sunday?

Shannon Stewart titillated the crowd with an alluring belly dance - complete with delicate expressive hands, hips moving in a million sensual directions at once and an enigmatic smile. And samba performace took our breath away!

The much awaited bikini contest was very tastefully done. Five brave and beautiful women bared most of themselves to the entire crowd which was the judge. A Peruvian beauty, Adrianna won the crowd's applause and the trip to Miami , with her unforced confidence and natural charm. The runners up took home dinner, t-shirts and the applause of the crowd.

Some of the rowdy salseras were wondering, "Where's the beef?" Perhaps next year?

In true salsa fashion, DJ Explosivo kept the very best salsa music until the very end as most of the crowd was still spinning, turning and dipping - right until the boat tied up. I have not seen so many happy people in one place in a very long time.