Last Casino Rueda at Club Salsa – Moving next week to Parkside Gym

September 29, 2005

It would have helped if I looked at my notes from September 8 before tonight, except for Crusada, which I simply find difficult if I’m in on-5 group. I'll update the command names when list of moves become available later.

Pelota moderna (same description as last time)
1,2,3,5,6,7 enchufe doble finishing with R-R hold and a half clockwise turn for leader
1,2,3 enchufe with R-R
5,6,7 on place on 5 then move to next follower with a clap on 7

Pelota moderna something
same as Pelota but instead of moving to next follower, go into the center and come back with counterclockwise turn

something that sounds like Chevrolet
1,2,3 keep heels in place while moving toes - both feet point away from partner on 1, both feet point towards partner on 2, both feet point away from partner on 3
5,6,7 second half of Guapea

Sacala something
1,2,3 make R-L connection with next follower and do start of sacala, raising R-L on 3/4
5,6,7 lead follower for sacala = lead follower into the circle and back with clockwise turnaroud
1,2,3 give myself a hat while initiating Dile que no
5,6,7 finish Dile que no

command unknown
1,2,3 keep L-R connection intact and move past follower on the outside with R hand high
5,6,7 second half of Guapea with parriba follower – pushing off with a little more force on 5 and return
1,2,3,5,6,7 normal Guapea

Prima crusada??
1,2,3 on 1 is similar to Prima start but on 2,3 both hands go high – this is still different from two-handed Enchufe because follower is made to run clockwise – L-R ends behind leader’s head at neck level
5,6,7 L-R is disconnected and reconnected at back waist level
1,2,3 exchange places with leader passing inside the Rueda circle
,,, I forgot the rest

Prima something tres (or cinco or other odd number)
1,2,3 Adios/Prima start then let go R-L
5,6,7 go underneath L-R arch and turn counterclockwise to face follower
1,2,3 enchufe start
5,6,7 get arm-in-arm with follower (R-R)
1,2,3 go to next follower with L-L arm-in-arm (while leaders pass from outside the Rueda circle)
5,6,7 go to next follower with R-R arm-in-arm
if tres, use next 1,2,3,5,6,7 to circle around each other clockwise followed by 1,2,3,5,6,7 Dile que no
if cinco, repeat above and then use next 1,2,3,5,6,7 to circle around each other clockwise followed by 1,2,3,5,6,7 Dile que no
if siete (presumably), repeat twice and then use next 1,2,3,5,6,7 to circle around each other clockwise followed by 1,2,3,5,6,7 Dile que no

I forgot few things from last time...

Prima = Old Adios

Prima con la hermana = Old Adios con la hermana EXCEPT with change of partner after enchufe

Prima tia = I think this might have been Adios con la hermana until enchufe, followed by arm-in-arm followed by change of partner ... I'm going to need a reminder as we didn't do this one this week

Rueda is moving to Parkside Gym starting next Thursday (see CDC venue map – located to northeast of Parker’s Piece). It looks like my website is the first one in the internet to break this news as the Salsa in Cambridge website) hasn't done so yet. Another outing to the Sauce was apparently made after the class, but I had to leave early to meet with another group of people; as it was I had already missed a Curry outing with this group. Helen asked about my website. Yikes! Hopefully, Peter was her source. Helen also talked about a new website for her Cambridge Rueda group. This website is not ready yet – they’re waiting for the web designer to complete the work.

There was a farewell dance for a woman who has been taking Rueda for a few months, so all the men in the class danced with her for a single song. I had seen this for couple of men (first one happened in one of Rhona & Helen Rueda classes and the other was an instructor/DJ at SOS) before but this was the first time I saw it done for a woman.

Half of the floorboard has been removed last night, which took away the usual space for beginners. Flooding has caused havoc on these floors for second time this year and it must be costing a lot of time and money for Vishal to fix the place up. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes.

I was paying more attention to timing. It was nice to find myself in agreement with beat 1 with the Rueda group – that is until about the halfway point this evening. And then, I found myself off compared to everyone else for one song (no vocals in this one) – not just at the beginning but also throughout the song (it is possible that I was over-thinking and confused myself further by (mistakenly?) thinking that I must be right and others wrong). I don’t know the song name unfortunately, so it won’t be easy to figure out the reason for the discrepancy.

Crusada is still a disaster for me when I’m in on-5 group. I’m so used to breaking on-1 now that using my left foot on-5 is just impossible. I don’t know how others managed to get used it. I know that Peter had a lot of difficulty dancing on-5 also. I wonder if dancing on-2 (New York style - Eddie Torres) might end up being less disruptive compared to dancing on-5 because I would still be using my L foot on-6. Probably no; they’re probably no different in difficulty.

Dancing on Clave on the other hand if I ever decide to tackle the challenge probably will be even more difficult. I have been working on doing a write-up on the subject of timing but haven’t come up with anything satisfactory yet.