Mondays still not happening

September 12, 2005

"Perhaps it will get better once classes start again" was a suggestion I heard few weeks ago. Trouble with this is that most of the good salsa dancers in Cambridge are not bound to attending classes. After all there were plenty of people at Soul Tree except no one was partner dancing. People claim that there are many more women salsa dancers compared to men. Cambridge must be a rare exception, especially if you don't pick good nights to go out.

Even though I went out with low expectations, those expectations were not met. First off, I was at Soul Tree for about half an hour (from ~10:20 to 10:50). Around 100 people were present and presumably more came afterwards (a fair expectation since it closes at 2 AM). Of those ~100, I recognized three other people whom I have observed dancing salsa previously and two were DJs. I am convinced that my last time here marked the zenith of salsa dancing in the short history of Soul Tree. My verdict at the end was more or less identical to the last time: this place may be okay for some practices if you bring your own dance partner and maybe even your own collection of CDs.

I made it to the last hour of Po Na Na, which was even more deserted (although there were a few couples dancing, mostly Cuban style). No signs of Mauricio. Even the old DJ was missing; Patricio apparently having taken over DJ duty as well. One of my conversation went like this - Me: "This place is really quiet, no?" Reply: "You should have been here 10-20 minutes ago." The highlight (or lowlight) was an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction (a skirt that was strangely rolled up to reveal her buttocks which wasn't discovered for 2-3 minutes). I considered not dancing at all, but ended up with two (I really should have stopped after the first one). I suspect I'll take another long break before venturing out for salsa in Cambridge on another Monday.