Foray into London - SOS level 3

May 1, 2005

For a change of pace, I took a little trip to SOS (Salsa on Sundays) with Sean tagging along. Great time was had by both of us dancing with many quality dancers. Routine taught is as described below (includes a TRIPLE(!) turn).

They first did a double turn after a cross body lead to make sure that people were ready for this level.

1,2,3,5,6,7 basic closed hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic cross body lead ending with open hold position
1,2,3,5,6,7 standard cross body in open position to 5, let go L-R and turn partner 1 1/2 counterclockwise on 5,6 with R-L high on 6 and lowered on 7 for my own 180 counterclockwise turn with R-L behind my back on 7,8 - on 8, partner is facing me and is located to my left and maybe slightly behind me at the same time and R-L is behind me with my R hand located at left side of my back waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 push partner back on 1 (preferrably I am stepping away from my partner as well on 1), pull partner towards me on 2,3, partner continues to move forward on 5 which I block with my L hand on partner's stomach and lead partner to go backwards on 6,7 as I raise R arm and swing it over partners head and try to do a counterclockwise turn (270 degrees) to face partner on 7,8 ending with R-L hold
1,2,3 cross body lead start with R-L hold only
5,6,7 lead partner forward on 5 and lead partner to a full counterclockwise turn on 6,7 with R hand kept low for a wrap around partner's waist (probably using L hand on partner's should to stop further turn should be fine although perhaps unnecessary) - partner is positioned slightly in front and to left of me on 8
1,2,3 cross over behind on 1, slightly forward on 2, slightly to right on 3 as partner is lead to walk around me (no turns) - postion of partner relative to me is behind and to left of me on 2 and behind and slightly to right of me on 3 with partner and I facing the same direction whole time and right hand goes a little higher (about shoulder level) as early as 3 - the end position at 4 is the same as if I did a pivot turn from basic with R hand up on 1,2,3 in order to get ready for Vacilara-like move or other similar move
5,6,7 lead partner forward on 5 and lead partner to another full counterclockwise turn on 5,6 ending with R-L wrapped around partner's neck and stopping further turn
1,2,3 twist partner further counterclockwise on 1 and back to original position and perhaps turning further to face me on 2,3 (I think it would be nice to try to make this smoother using advice given by Ivan and Sergio.
5,6,7 lead partner to a double turn (clockwise) with R-L high and a further clockwise turn with R-L lowered to end in a waist wrap for partner - TRIPLE TURN!!! and most of the students actually managed this pretty well!!!
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead with a turn (counterclockwise) thus unwrapping partner on 6,7 and ending with open hold on 8