August 31, 2005
I think I was in alright form tonight, although I didn't manage to incorporate SOS routines from few days ago. Speaking of SOS, Sean seemed to be reinvigorated and in good form probably in part thanks to our Sunday outing. He also accidentally took the level 2 class tonight and was utterly bored (although he said he learned or was reminded of one thing). My new shoes gave me no problems at all - a good sign because this was my only second time wearing them.
SOS - yes, Scala - no, tonight in general – somewhat underwhelming
August 28, 2005
closed hold (see version 2 below)
basic followed by basic cross body lead
1,2,3 start of cross body lead
5,6,7 lead follower to a full counterclockwise traveling turn with L-R ending low to end in a wrap (counterclockwise turn was referred to as an inside turn by the instructor) – end with both facing same direction and probably good to aim to be slightly to right of follower
1,2,3 bring follower behind and to right – R-L is let go and L-R ends behind my R waist and move my R hand to follower’s R shoulder via over my head in a counterclockwise motion
5,6,7 lead follower forward and into a free 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn [note: I think this routine may have a better chance of working if R hand on follower’s R shoulder is used to lead follower forward on 5 and then lead her to a counterclockwise turn starting on 6 while keeping the hand on shoulder to start with and ending on the back - yet another possibility might be is to do a counterclockwise turn at the same time, which might leave more room for the follower to go forward on her line assuming she doesn't travel too far] – R hand ends up landing on follower’s back on 7/8
1,2,3,5,6,7 standard cross body lead
1,2,3 open break on 1 and get behind follower on 3/4/5 as both hands land on follower’s waist to stop her forward movement
5,6,7 lead follower backwards while moving away to her left to leave a path for follower and do a full counterclockwise turn and offer R hand from the R side in order to make R-L connection
1,2,3 open break on 1 and lead follower forward
5,6,7 for a 1 1/2 clockwise turn for follower leaving follower’s L hand behind her back and reconnect with R [note: I wasn’t doing this but leader was supposed to do a 3/4 clockwise turn before reconnecting with R-L – I was keeping it simpler for myself by doing a 1/4 counterclockwise turn instead and not losing the R-L connection whole time] – final position on 8 is leader in front of follower on her right while facing away from her line – also try to connect L-R above my R shoulder
1,2,3 this was a trouble spot – I don’t remember an open break on 1 being called here although this might be useful (it’s possible that it could be harmful too because there might not be a good reason for follower to step backwards on 1 – I’m not really sure) – by 3 follower is behind me on her way forward while L-R goes in front of my head and behind my L shoulder
5,6,7 block maneuver is made followed by a pair of hand tosses and a catch resulting in an R-R connection – by 8 an open position is achieved
1,2,3 switch to L-R connection as a full pivot turn (clockwise) is done with L-R ending behind my R waist
5,6,7 duck underneath L-R as back basic is done and break L-R connection with my L shoulder as I stand up and reconnect L-R at waist level
Sean came along; I had invited him during the lessons on Friday. Not surprisingly it was fairly sparse tonight because of Scala Latina happening later tonight. Unlike in May, I was aware that many people would skip SOS tonight and go to the Scala instead. I had decided not to go to the Scala in part because I wasn’t sure if I could handle the hours but also because I didn’t want to get into position of twisting Sean’s arms to go also. Possibly because of scarcity of followers (good or bad), I found this trip to SOS the least inspiring ever. It was still better than a typical Cambridge salsa night but there was no revelatory moment unlike last few times I attended SOS. My mind also might be reeling a little from some very nice dances (including a breakthrough dip) I had on Friday. Also unlike last couple of times, I thought that most of the people I danced with were either at my level or somewhat below it. I was even given a compliment from one of my last dance partners - my first in London. I ran into Sergio and a friend of his at SOS also; they too were less than impressed with tonight’s SOS and were planning to go to the Scala afterwards. By contrast Sean said that he had a great time. Interestingly, the other time Sean came to SOS with me in early May, there was another Salsa at the Scala event, which caused SOS to be somewhat poorly attended back then. So this means Sean hasn’t seen SOS in its full glory. By the way, I think our instructor was favorably impressed with Sean today. My dancing shoes made its debut; my feet were hurting a little by the end of the lessons but I managed to keep them on until closing. Afterwards, I found the soles of the shoes had turned white.
Sergio talked about getting a studio for his on-2 salsa class, which he hopes to start soon. He said the place may be available only on Thursdays or Fridays - possibly only Fridays.
SOS routine re-interpreted on December 13, 2005
closed hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead ending in open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead with full traveling counterclockwise turn with L-R kept low throughout and R-L high momentarily - this could be called two-handed lasso
1,2,3 bring follower around to leader's right side into open cross body position (with follower moving behind leader then to right while leader move forward and to left in counterclockwise motion) while letting go R-L and L-R intact - L-R ends up behind leader's back R waist by 4 and place now-free R hand (which had gone over my head) on follower's R shoulder
5,6,7 lead follower to traveling free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn - try to end R hand on follower's back on 8 [my idea for an option here is a full counterclockwise turn for the leader here]
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead
1,2,3 open break on 1 and get behind follower from her right side on 3/4/5 as both hands land on follower’s waist to stop her forward movement
5,6,7 lead follower backwards while moving away to her left to leave a path for follower and do a full counterclockwise turn and offer R hand from the R side in order to make R-L connection
1,2,3 open break on 1 and get into open cross body lead position
5,6,7 lead follower forward and into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn with R-L high initially and then moved to waist level so that R-L ends behind her back --
[couple of options here… option 1 - leader turns 1/4 counterclockwise to get into face-away from follower's line position while keeping R-L intact… or option 2 - leader turns 3/4 clockwise while letting go R-L and reconnect R-L after completing the turn]
8 reconnect L-R high (at my R shoulder level) in front of my head
1,2,3 open break on 1 (minimal or no movement for leader) and bring follower forward along her line while L-R goes over my head and behind my L shoulder
5,6,7 block maneuver on 5 (!!) so that follower goes backwards on 5,6,7 and toss both hands (towards my back so follower's arms are circling counterclockwise) - leader turns 3/4 counterclockwise to get to open position and make R-R connection
1,2,3 switch to L-R connection as a full pivot turn (clockwise) is done with L-R ending behind my R waist
5,6,7 duck underneath L-R as back basic is done and break L-R connection with my L shoulder as I stand up and reconnect L-R at waist level
closed hold (see version 2 below)
basic followed by basic cross body lead
1,2,3 start of cross body lead
5,6,7 lead follower to a full counterclockwise traveling turn with L-R ending low to end in a wrap (counterclockwise turn was referred to as an inside turn by the instructor) – end with both facing same direction and probably good to aim to be slightly to right of follower
1,2,3 bring follower behind and to right – R-L is let go and L-R ends behind my R waist and move my R hand to follower’s R shoulder via over my head in a counterclockwise motion
5,6,7 lead follower forward and into a free 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn [note: I think this routine may have a better chance of working if R hand on follower’s R shoulder is used to lead follower forward on 5 and then lead her to a counterclockwise turn starting on 6 while keeping the hand on shoulder to start with and ending on the back - yet another possibility might be is to do a counterclockwise turn at the same time, which might leave more room for the follower to go forward on her line assuming she doesn't travel too far] – R hand ends up landing on follower’s back on 7/8
1,2,3,5,6,7 standard cross body lead
1,2,3 open break on 1 and get behind follower on 3/4/5 as both hands land on follower’s waist to stop her forward movement
5,6,7 lead follower backwards while moving away to her left to leave a path for follower and do a full counterclockwise turn and offer R hand from the R side in order to make R-L connection
1,2,3 open break on 1 and lead follower forward
5,6,7 for a 1 1/2 clockwise turn for follower leaving follower’s L hand behind her back and reconnect with R [note: I wasn’t doing this but leader was supposed to do a 3/4 clockwise turn before reconnecting with R-L – I was keeping it simpler for myself by doing a 1/4 counterclockwise turn instead and not losing the R-L connection whole time] – final position on 8 is leader in front of follower on her right while facing away from her line – also try to connect L-R above my R shoulder
1,2,3 this was a trouble spot – I don’t remember an open break on 1 being called here although this might be useful (it’s possible that it could be harmful too because there might not be a good reason for follower to step backwards on 1 – I’m not really sure) – by 3 follower is behind me on her way forward while L-R goes in front of my head and behind my L shoulder
5,6,7 block maneuver is made followed by a pair of hand tosses and a catch resulting in an R-R connection – by 8 an open position is achieved
1,2,3 switch to L-R connection as a full pivot turn (clockwise) is done with L-R ending behind my R waist
5,6,7 duck underneath L-R as back basic is done and break L-R connection with my L shoulder as I stand up and reconnect L-R at waist level
Sean came along; I had invited him during the lessons on Friday. Not surprisingly it was fairly sparse tonight because of Scala Latina happening later tonight. Unlike in May, I was aware that many people would skip SOS tonight and go to the Scala instead. I had decided not to go to the Scala in part because I wasn’t sure if I could handle the hours but also because I didn’t want to get into position of twisting Sean’s arms to go also. Possibly because of scarcity of followers (good or bad), I found this trip to SOS the least inspiring ever. It was still better than a typical Cambridge salsa night but there was no revelatory moment unlike last few times I attended SOS. My mind also might be reeling a little from some very nice dances (including a breakthrough dip) I had on Friday. Also unlike last couple of times, I thought that most of the people I danced with were either at my level or somewhat below it. I was even given a compliment from one of my last dance partners - my first in London. I ran into Sergio and a friend of his at SOS also; they too were less than impressed with tonight’s SOS and were planning to go to the Scala afterwards. By contrast Sean said that he had a great time. Interestingly, the other time Sean came to SOS with me in early May, there was another Salsa at the Scala event, which caused SOS to be somewhat poorly attended back then. So this means Sean hasn’t seen SOS in its full glory. By the way, I think our instructor was favorably impressed with Sean today. My dancing shoes made its debut; my feet were hurting a little by the end of the lessons but I managed to keep them on until closing. Afterwards, I found the soles of the shoes had turned white.
Sergio talked about getting a studio for his on-2 salsa class, which he hopes to start soon. He said the place may be available only on Thursdays or Fridays - possibly only Fridays.
SOS routine re-interpreted on December 13, 2005
closed hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead ending in open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead with full traveling counterclockwise turn with L-R kept low throughout and R-L high momentarily - this could be called two-handed lasso
1,2,3 bring follower around to leader's right side into open cross body position (with follower moving behind leader then to right while leader move forward and to left in counterclockwise motion) while letting go R-L and L-R intact - L-R ends up behind leader's back R waist by 4 and place now-free R hand (which had gone over my head) on follower's R shoulder
5,6,7 lead follower to traveling free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn - try to end R hand on follower's back on 8 [my idea for an option here is a full counterclockwise turn for the leader here]
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead
1,2,3 open break on 1 and get behind follower from her right side on 3/4/5 as both hands land on follower’s waist to stop her forward movement
5,6,7 lead follower backwards while moving away to her left to leave a path for follower and do a full counterclockwise turn and offer R hand from the R side in order to make R-L connection
1,2,3 open break on 1 and get into open cross body lead position
5,6,7 lead follower forward and into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn with R-L high initially and then moved to waist level so that R-L ends behind her back --
[couple of options here… option 1 - leader turns 1/4 counterclockwise to get into face-away from follower's line position while keeping R-L intact… or option 2 - leader turns 3/4 clockwise while letting go R-L and reconnect R-L after completing the turn]
8 reconnect L-R high (at my R shoulder level) in front of my head
1,2,3 open break on 1 (minimal or no movement for leader) and bring follower forward along her line while L-R goes over my head and behind my L shoulder
5,6,7 block maneuver on 5 (!!) so that follower goes backwards on 5,6,7 and toss both hands (towards my back so follower's arms are circling counterclockwise) - leader turns 3/4 counterclockwise to get to open position and make R-R connection
1,2,3 switch to L-R connection as a full pivot turn (clockwise) is done with L-R ending behind my R waist
5,6,7 duck underneath L-R as back basic is done and break L-R connection with my L shoulder as I stand up and reconnect L-R at waist level
Shoes and other bits
August 27, 2005
I had been thinking about getting a proper dance shoes for some time now and finally made the plunge. I had done some readings on this including humorous Steve 'SalsaDoc' Wasserman, and other informative sites in New York, Boston, Vancouver (the Vancouver site deals primarily with Tango and recommends same shoes for Tango and Salsa, which I don't completely trust) as well as creative sites for cheap dance shoes (mirror site here). Freed of London, which does not sell directly to individual buyers, is a well-recommended brand and plethora of stores in London exist. However all of these stores seemed far away and tricky to get to during their opening hours for me. After some deliberation, I decided to try a ballroom dance shoes company called Supadance, which seemed to have seal of approval from a salsa-dedicated website. With this company, I could buy a replacement shoes using internet (once I settled on my shoe size) and their headquarters (in Epping, IG9 5BA, UK - use map by google) was comparatively easier to get to by car.
It is recommended that you get a fairly tight fitting (not uncomfortable though) shoes. It made me realize a few things including - I've been wearing a very loose pair of shoes (Ecco European size 42, which is roughly equivalent to USA size 9 (I usually wear 8 1/2 USA, but I had found a 41 Ecco dress shoes I bought a while ago to be too uncomfortable) and UK size 8 according to Supadance size converter. I ended up buying a UK size 6 1/2 mens standard ballroom shoes (style 9000 or Europa), which fit quite snuggly. By the way, this was a rare instance where buying in UK was cheaper than buying the same item in USA. I avoided patent leather shoes for too-glossy look and potential safety issues and went with rounded-toes rather than pointed toes, which seem to squeeze my toes a little. Anyhow, just finding the right size alone made today's drive completely worthwhile. It's clear that making turns will be smoother with these shoes.
Of course, now I'm going to have to worry about having more than one pair of shoes about me when going dancing, not getting these shoes wet, etc. These shoes are also tiny!! I'm going to lose at least one centimeter of height, and I many need to worry about my pants hitting the ground when wearing these ballroom shoes. I guess you win some and lose some.
I had been thinking about getting a proper dance shoes for some time now and finally made the plunge. I had done some readings on this including humorous Steve 'SalsaDoc' Wasserman, and other informative sites in New York, Boston, Vancouver (the Vancouver site deals primarily with Tango and recommends same shoes for Tango and Salsa, which I don't completely trust) as well as creative sites for cheap dance shoes (mirror site here). Freed of London, which does not sell directly to individual buyers, is a well-recommended brand and plethora of stores in London exist. However all of these stores seemed far away and tricky to get to during their opening hours for me. After some deliberation, I decided to try a ballroom dance shoes company called Supadance, which seemed to have seal of approval from a salsa-dedicated website. With this company, I could buy a replacement shoes using internet (once I settled on my shoe size) and their headquarters (in Epping, IG9 5BA, UK - use map by google) was comparatively easier to get to by car.
It is recommended that you get a fairly tight fitting (not uncomfortable though) shoes. It made me realize a few things including - I've been wearing a very loose pair of shoes (Ecco European size 42, which is roughly equivalent to USA size 9 (I usually wear 8 1/2 USA, but I had found a 41 Ecco dress shoes I bought a while ago to be too uncomfortable) and UK size 8 according to Supadance size converter. I ended up buying a UK size 6 1/2 mens standard ballroom shoes (style 9000 or Europa), which fit quite snuggly. By the way, this was a rare instance where buying in UK was cheaper than buying the same item in USA. I avoided patent leather shoes for too-glossy look and potential safety issues and went with rounded-toes rather than pointed toes, which seem to squeeze my toes a little. Anyhow, just finding the right size alone made today's drive completely worthwhile. It's clear that making turns will be smoother with these shoes.
Of course, now I'm going to have to worry about having more than one pair of shoes about me when going dancing, not getting these shoes wet, etc. These shoes are also tiny!! I'm going to lose at least one centimeter of height, and I many need to worry about my pants hitting the ground when wearing these ballroom shoes. I guess you win some and lose some.
A routine worthy of being labeled my new 'killa' move - Johnny & Serap Advanced
August 26, 2005
open hold (or L-R only)
1,2,3 open break or prepare follower for a turn
5,6,7 lead follower to a full clockwise turn with L-R high and as follower completes the turn, do a half hook turn (clockwise) and switch to R-R
1,2,3 open break on 1 again, connect L-L close to R waist by 3/4 as R-R is used to bring follower forward (and kept to R of L-L)
5,6,7 lead follower to a traveling full counterclockwise turn with R-R kept high (L-L ends up wrapping follower at waist level)
1,2,3 continue twisting follower on 1 (R-R can move across follower’s face to her L) on 1 and return to original position on 3 (optional footwork styling – L foot slide behind R foot on 1 and get back to original position)
5,6,7 lead follower to a double clockwise turn with R-R high and L-L low – L-L makes another wrap of follower at waist level (optional footwork styling – R foot slide behind L foot on 5 and get back to original position)
1,2,3 R-R goes over follower’s head and let go with my R ending on follower’s R shoulder/back on 1 and get into cross body lead position
5,6,7 lead follower to a traveling counterclockwise 1 1/2 turn with L-L kept low and as follower completes her turn, do a half counterclockwise turn with L-L ending above my L shoulder
1,2,3 do 3/4 counterclockwise turn to get back into cross body lead position and switch to R-L (possibly getting follower’s wrist)
5,6,7 lead follower a free traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn and aim to get my R foot very close to the follower or even behind the follower and also get R hand on follower’s back – this is somewhat like ending in cross body lead position on 8 instead of 4
1,2,3 using R hand on follower’s back and pivoting on R foot, move self and follower as a single unit into a half counterclockwise turn ending in cross body lead position – be careful as some followers in Cambridge might take this as a signal for a dip
5,6,7 with L hand on follower’s L shoulder and R hand on follower’s back, lead follower to a free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn and aim to get R hand back on follower’s back on 8
1,2,3,5,6,7 normal cross body lead will suffice (or could go for repeat)
Serap was under the weather and did not mix with the class. It was fairly quiet night early on, but I liked it a lot.
There was a stretch of four breathtaking dances with two excellent followers. These dances did wonders to wash away bad taste left from Wednesday. One of the four dances ended with a dip that was a bit of an eye-opener; it set a completely new standard for me as far as how well a dip can be done.
Possibly because of some very good dances recently (like ones mentioned above), I’m now forming an opinion along lines of “it’s really not fun to dance with someone who is not a superb follower (better definition might be someone at my level) for more than 2 dances on a given night - more than 3 becomes like a torture”. My trouble is that some of these okay but not-great dance partners want 3 or more dance with me. Too many of these multiple repeat dances means I don’t get to dance with other people who came to the lessons or others who I would have liked to dance at least once with. I think I’m being nice compared to other elite male dancers (including most but not all teachers) in Cambridge, who do not bother to dance even once with anyone who is not very good unless the follower in question is attractive. Perhaps what I should do is to not dance to two songs in a row with them but to space two songs in one to two hour span.
I talked to Sean about going to SOS this weekend. Someone suggested to me that perhaps I should go to Scala, which is organized by Latin Collective; it sounded like it might be a trip with a sizeable Cambridge elite contingent. I’m not sure I can handle dancing from 10 PM to 6 AM this weekend, however. Maybe next time.
open hold (or L-R only)
1,2,3 open break or prepare follower for a turn
5,6,7 lead follower to a full clockwise turn with L-R high and as follower completes the turn, do a half hook turn (clockwise) and switch to R-R
1,2,3 open break on 1 again, connect L-L close to R waist by 3/4 as R-R is used to bring follower forward (and kept to R of L-L)
5,6,7 lead follower to a traveling full counterclockwise turn with R-R kept high (L-L ends up wrapping follower at waist level)
1,2,3 continue twisting follower on 1 (R-R can move across follower’s face to her L) on 1 and return to original position on 3 (optional footwork styling – L foot slide behind R foot on 1 and get back to original position)
5,6,7 lead follower to a double clockwise turn with R-R high and L-L low – L-L makes another wrap of follower at waist level (optional footwork styling – R foot slide behind L foot on 5 and get back to original position)
1,2,3 R-R goes over follower’s head and let go with my R ending on follower’s R shoulder/back on 1 and get into cross body lead position
5,6,7 lead follower to a traveling counterclockwise 1 1/2 turn with L-L kept low and as follower completes her turn, do a half counterclockwise turn with L-L ending above my L shoulder
1,2,3 do 3/4 counterclockwise turn to get back into cross body lead position and switch to R-L (possibly getting follower’s wrist)
5,6,7 lead follower a free traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn and aim to get my R foot very close to the follower or even behind the follower and also get R hand on follower’s back – this is somewhat like ending in cross body lead position on 8 instead of 4
1,2,3 using R hand on follower’s back and pivoting on R foot, move self and follower as a single unit into a half counterclockwise turn ending in cross body lead position – be careful as some followers in Cambridge might take this as a signal for a dip
5,6,7 with L hand on follower’s L shoulder and R hand on follower’s back, lead follower to a free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn and aim to get R hand back on follower’s back on 8
1,2,3,5,6,7 normal cross body lead will suffice (or could go for repeat)
Serap was under the weather and did not mix with the class. It was fairly quiet night early on, but I liked it a lot.
There was a stretch of four breathtaking dances with two excellent followers. These dances did wonders to wash away bad taste left from Wednesday. One of the four dances ended with a dip that was a bit of an eye-opener; it set a completely new standard for me as far as how well a dip can be done.
Possibly because of some very good dances recently (like ones mentioned above), I’m now forming an opinion along lines of “it’s really not fun to dance with someone who is not a superb follower (better definition might be someone at my level) for more than 2 dances on a given night - more than 3 becomes like a torture”. My trouble is that some of these okay but not-great dance partners want 3 or more dance with me. Too many of these multiple repeat dances means I don’t get to dance with other people who came to the lessons or others who I would have liked to dance at least once with. I think I’m being nice compared to other elite male dancers (including most but not all teachers) in Cambridge, who do not bother to dance even once with anyone who is not very good unless the follower in question is attractive. Perhaps what I should do is to not dance to two songs in a row with them but to space two songs in one to two hour span.
I talked to Sean about going to SOS this weekend. Someone suggested to me that perhaps I should go to Scala, which is organized by Latin Collective; it sounded like it might be a trip with a sizeable Cambridge elite contingent. I’m not sure I can handle dancing from 10 PM to 6 AM this weekend, however. Maybe next time.
Levels of good & bad dances
August 25, 2005
So, how good are my dances in Cambridge right now? I could make 8 categories from top to bottom by fun factor. The way I would have categorized good/bad dances has evolved over time and will no doubt change in the future.
A. Dance with someone who follows all of my leads effortlessly with style and grace
- This usually means that the follower is a better dancer than me. Very often when I dance with someone much better than me, I get nervous and screw up a little. However, when I keep things clean, these are superb.
B. Dance with someone who follows most of my leads effortlessly while enjoying it
- This means I am dancing with someone at about my level. People capable of this is rare in Cambridge, so some nights pass without this type of dance. By contrast in London last two times (SOS), these were the most common type of dances.
C. Dance with someone who follows most of my leads but sometimes with difficulty and possibly with other minor problems; this person likes to dance with me
- This is becoming increasingly common. These dances are fine for one or two dance per person per night. I seem to have become (or is well on my way to becoming) the best dance partner for the followers in this category in Cambridge. This is not because I'm the best dancer but because I'm the only one willing and available to dance with people at this level. Often, people at this level fail to learn to correct their response to when they make a mistake so that the problems continue rot indefinitely. Other problems include: not always in time with the music, a bit wild in making turns, unaware of nearby dancers, stiff arm or other mechanical problems that makes me work harder to get a routine done correctly, not well matched in size, failure to engage or relax, barely keeping up with more complex routines with some routines being out of question. Having said all that, I'm sure I'm also making plenty of mistakes, which I'm failing to correct either because I'm unaware of it or because I still find it difficult.
D. Dance with a receptive, attentive beginner with surprisingly good form (usually only for the first time)
- This is unusual so it's quite pleasant and sometimes more fun than Category C dances. It's also very uncommon to see this type of person again on another night.
E. Dance with attentive person with limited abilities and poor form
- This happens now and then. It's a nice challenge and often fun.
F. Dance with someone who follows almost of my leads well but without interest
- This is okay but not ideal. The followers in this category are technically as good as or better than category C.
G. Dance with someone who follows most of my leads but with boredom or sneer
- This is horrible. I would not ask the person again ever.
H. Dance with wild crazy impossible person who makes no effort whatsoever
- It happened. It's ugly.
So, how good are my dances in Cambridge right now? I could make 8 categories from top to bottom by fun factor. The way I would have categorized good/bad dances has evolved over time and will no doubt change in the future.
A. Dance with someone who follows all of my leads effortlessly with style and grace
- This usually means that the follower is a better dancer than me. Very often when I dance with someone much better than me, I get nervous and screw up a little. However, when I keep things clean, these are superb.
B. Dance with someone who follows most of my leads effortlessly while enjoying it
- This means I am dancing with someone at about my level. People capable of this is rare in Cambridge, so some nights pass without this type of dance. By contrast in London last two times (SOS), these were the most common type of dances.
C. Dance with someone who follows most of my leads but sometimes with difficulty and possibly with other minor problems; this person likes to dance with me
- This is becoming increasingly common. These dances are fine for one or two dance per person per night. I seem to have become (or is well on my way to becoming) the best dance partner for the followers in this category in Cambridge. This is not because I'm the best dancer but because I'm the only one willing and available to dance with people at this level. Often, people at this level fail to learn to correct their response to when they make a mistake so that the problems continue rot indefinitely. Other problems include: not always in time with the music, a bit wild in making turns, unaware of nearby dancers, stiff arm or other mechanical problems that makes me work harder to get a routine done correctly, not well matched in size, failure to engage or relax, barely keeping up with more complex routines with some routines being out of question. Having said all that, I'm sure I'm also making plenty of mistakes, which I'm failing to correct either because I'm unaware of it or because I still find it difficult.
D. Dance with a receptive, attentive beginner with surprisingly good form (usually only for the first time)
- This is unusual so it's quite pleasant and sometimes more fun than Category C dances. It's also very uncommon to see this type of person again on another night.
E. Dance with attentive person with limited abilities and poor form
- This happens now and then. It's a nice challenge and often fun.
F. Dance with someone who follows almost of my leads well but without interest
- This is okay but not ideal. The followers in this category are technically as good as or better than category C.
G. Dance with someone who follows most of my leads but with boredom or sneer
- This is horrible. I would not ask the person again ever.
H. Dance with wild crazy impossible person who makes no effort whatsoever
- It happened. It's ugly.
Forgettable Wednesday
August 24, 2005
Cristian, Dee and co are still drawing a large crowd to their classes - well at least their second class; I'm not sure how well their intermediate class is attended. However, it too must be doing well enough because I think a lot of them stay and help out with the less advanced classes. My opinion is that their beginner/improver classes are really well-organized (almost to the point of being regimental). They also do a good job of having many different levels of classes (4 different ones, I think, with the three classes divided amongst the three instructors during the second hour). It would be interesting to see how well Cristian dance but I rarely see him dance Salsa; tonight was an exception. Dee rarely dances also. The third instructor (Jay) is the most likely to dance with multiple partners after their classes end.
As for me, there was not a single highly satisfying dance yet again - this would have been a good day to have skipped (except I couldn't stay way). Somewhat alarming was that I got an impression that couple of followers have either formed an opinion (or is forming an opinion) that I am not good enough to dance with them. All week this week, I've been regretting not going to SOS last weekend to get a nice stretch of fun dances. I think I'll go this weekend unless something compelling happened on Friday as I feel as if I'm hitting a glass ceiling in Cambridge. Meanwhile, I'm feeling uninspired enough to want to skip Rueda tomorrow. I was so uninspired tonight that I didn't even bother some people I usually like to dance with. In about a month, I will have been taking salsa lessons for a whole year and if it's always like tonight, I think I might just want to quit salsa or at least take a long break.
Someone mentioned that Cristian, Dee and co may start teaching on Mondays at Po Na Na. If so, I hope they don't DJ as well because their music selection is limited in many ways and they have a annoying habit of fusing songs so that a proper ending is made difficult.
Cristian, Dee and co are still drawing a large crowd to their classes - well at least their second class; I'm not sure how well their intermediate class is attended. However, it too must be doing well enough because I think a lot of them stay and help out with the less advanced classes. My opinion is that their beginner/improver classes are really well-organized (almost to the point of being regimental). They also do a good job of having many different levels of classes (4 different ones, I think, with the three classes divided amongst the three instructors during the second hour). It would be interesting to see how well Cristian dance but I rarely see him dance Salsa; tonight was an exception. Dee rarely dances also. The third instructor (Jay) is the most likely to dance with multiple partners after their classes end.
As for me, there was not a single highly satisfying dance yet again - this would have been a good day to have skipped (except I couldn't stay way). Somewhat alarming was that I got an impression that couple of followers have either formed an opinion (or is forming an opinion) that I am not good enough to dance with them. All week this week, I've been regretting not going to SOS last weekend to get a nice stretch of fun dances. I think I'll go this weekend unless something compelling happened on Friday as I feel as if I'm hitting a glass ceiling in Cambridge. Meanwhile, I'm feeling uninspired enough to want to skip Rueda tomorrow. I was so uninspired tonight that I didn't even bother some people I usually like to dance with. In about a month, I will have been taking salsa lessons for a whole year and if it's always like tonight, I think I might just want to quit salsa or at least take a long break.
Someone mentioned that Cristian, Dee and co may start teaching on Mondays at Po Na Na. If so, I hope they don't DJ as well because their music selection is limited in many ways and they have a annoying habit of fusing songs so that a proper ending is made difficult.
Carnival at the Soul Tree
August 22, 2005
Last Friday at Club Salsa, Nanek was handing out fliers promoting a new club/new event called Carnival at Soul Tree, which promised salsa and meregue on the Penthouse dance floor. A quick search on their website indicated there were four dance floors and at least two DJ booths, so I figured that the chances were pretty good that there will be plenty of salsa and merengue for at least one of the dance floor. After all, the idea here seemed to be to offer multiple choices of music for people to dance to. I walked in around 10 PM with a voucher for one pound entry (normal price is two pounds between 9:30 and 10:30 PM, four pounds between 10:30 PM and 11 PM (or perhaps 11:30 PM - their website was unclear about this), and five pounds thereafter to 2 AM). A peek at Salsa in Cambridge website indicated that Vishal was the DJ for one of the dance floor (main floor that is, not salsa/merengue), which led me to wonder who was going to be the main DJ for the salsa/merengue floor; I was right.
Now this is not the first time Vishal tried to go head-to-head against Po Na Na. Few months ago, Club Salsa had some instructors teach beginner's class on Mondays followed by a club. This lasted about a month or two before it was abandoned. A similar venture was tried with Ashrafi and Charlie offering beginner's salsa lessons on Tuesday; this lasted a little longer. I don't know how other people thought about these classes, but I was not interested in either of these classes because I knew the ceiling for learning Salsa was "low" as all classes were apparently geared toward beginners and improvers. No offense meant but Ashrafi is essentially Mauricio with less grace, style, command and charisma. Vishal also tried to get Helen and Rhona to move their Rueda classes to Mondays and set up a club afterwards as well; this apparently didn't work out. My big question now was, "How will this new venture work out?"
First how many salsa dancers did this event attract today? There were five leaders I recognized including two guys sharing DJ duties, few girls who didn't seem to be dancing on time and whom I didn't recall noticing before and one woman I recall seeing in couple of classes (by far the best follower tonight although that's not really saying much). The most amusing moment was after my last dance with this woman from class, a Brazilian guy came over "to congratulate me for being able to dance beautifully" - interesting choice of words but I guess English may not be his first language - also this last dance was to a song that was not-quite-salsa, which made staying in time tricky for my partner (and me to some degree as well) and I was running out of routines because it was my fourth dance (of which, only two were danced to a proper salsa song) with her. There were many young people who were not salsa dancers but were there just for the kicks (or as an alternative to the electronic music being played downstairs). For now, this event is bring your own partner (BYOP) type of event if you want to dance early and often.
How was the music? I thought the sound system was better than at Po Na Na although it became a little too loud at the end. A latecomer speculated that the DJ turned up the music in desperation to get people to stay and dance but that this backfired. I think that the salsa people would have left fairly early with this being a weekday and all. Even the Club Salsa Wednesday, which has become enormously popular, thins out quite a bit after midnight. As the night went on, DJ was playing more and more non-salsa and non-merengue. I'm not sure if this was a good idea considering that this was an alternative dance floor. Perhaps for non-salsa dancers, this floor would work better as a place to watch other people dance or talk to other people, in which case keeping the volume somewhat lower and staying with real Latin dance music (keeping things "exotic") may be the way to go. This of course assumes that real dancers start coming to this thing. I don't know if this will work in a sustainable manner or even once. In any case, it'll be interesting to see how this latest Vishal enterprise works out.
Last Friday at Club Salsa, Nanek was handing out fliers promoting a new club/new event called Carnival at Soul Tree, which promised salsa and meregue on the Penthouse dance floor. A quick search on their website indicated there were four dance floors and at least two DJ booths, so I figured that the chances were pretty good that there will be plenty of salsa and merengue for at least one of the dance floor. After all, the idea here seemed to be to offer multiple choices of music for people to dance to. I walked in around 10 PM with a voucher for one pound entry (normal price is two pounds between 9:30 and 10:30 PM, four pounds between 10:30 PM and 11 PM (or perhaps 11:30 PM - their website was unclear about this), and five pounds thereafter to 2 AM). A peek at Salsa in Cambridge website indicated that Vishal was the DJ for one of the dance floor (main floor that is, not salsa/merengue), which led me to wonder who was going to be the main DJ for the salsa/merengue floor; I was right.
Now this is not the first time Vishal tried to go head-to-head against Po Na Na. Few months ago, Club Salsa had some instructors teach beginner's class on Mondays followed by a club. This lasted about a month or two before it was abandoned. A similar venture was tried with Ashrafi and Charlie offering beginner's salsa lessons on Tuesday; this lasted a little longer. I don't know how other people thought about these classes, but I was not interested in either of these classes because I knew the ceiling for learning Salsa was "low" as all classes were apparently geared toward beginners and improvers. No offense meant but Ashrafi is essentially Mauricio with less grace, style, command and charisma. Vishal also tried to get Helen and Rhona to move their Rueda classes to Mondays and set up a club afterwards as well; this apparently didn't work out. My big question now was, "How will this new venture work out?"
First how many salsa dancers did this event attract today? There were five leaders I recognized including two guys sharing DJ duties, few girls who didn't seem to be dancing on time and whom I didn't recall noticing before and one woman I recall seeing in couple of classes (by far the best follower tonight although that's not really saying much). The most amusing moment was after my last dance with this woman from class, a Brazilian guy came over "to congratulate me for being able to dance beautifully" - interesting choice of words but I guess English may not be his first language - also this last dance was to a song that was not-quite-salsa, which made staying in time tricky for my partner (and me to some degree as well) and I was running out of routines because it was my fourth dance (of which, only two were danced to a proper salsa song) with her. There were many young people who were not salsa dancers but were there just for the kicks (or as an alternative to the electronic music being played downstairs). For now, this event is bring your own partner (BYOP) type of event if you want to dance early and often.
How was the music? I thought the sound system was better than at Po Na Na although it became a little too loud at the end. A latecomer speculated that the DJ turned up the music in desperation to get people to stay and dance but that this backfired. I think that the salsa people would have left fairly early with this being a weekday and all. Even the Club Salsa Wednesday, which has become enormously popular, thins out quite a bit after midnight. As the night went on, DJ was playing more and more non-salsa and non-merengue. I'm not sure if this was a good idea considering that this was an alternative dance floor. Perhaps for non-salsa dancers, this floor would work better as a place to watch other people dance or talk to other people, in which case keeping the volume somewhat lower and staying with real Latin dance music (keeping things "exotic") may be the way to go. This of course assumes that real dancers start coming to this thing. I don't know if this will work in a sustainable manner or even once. In any case, it'll be interesting to see how this latest Vishal enterprise works out.
Another stylized cross body lead and others - Johnny & Serap Adavnced
August 19, 2005
Another stylized cross body lead
on 7 get to angled position for normal cross body lead start with R-L hold
1,2,3 L foot slide behind R foot on 1 and slide to L on 3
5,6,7 lead follower to complete cross body lead and get into angled position again on 7 keeping weight on R foot
1,2,3 L foot slide behind R foot on 1 and slide to L on 3 – ready L hand at shoulder level on 3/4
5,6,7 lead follower to 1 1/2 traveling turn (counterclockwise) with L hand starting on follower’s R shoulder on 5 and ending around her back on 7/8 – go past follower’s path
1,2,3 R hand on follower’s stomach on 1 as stepping towards 1 or 2 o’clock and pivot turn (half clockwise)
5,6,7 keeping R hand on follower’s stomach and get back into open position
R-R hold
1,2,3 start cross body lead
5,6,7 lead follower to a full counterclockwise turn and halt (decelerate might be better) further turn with R-R on follower’s R shoulder
1,2,3 lead follower to turn around clockwise to get into another cross body start position (more of an open position with both facing forward towards the line)
5,6,7 lead follower forward on 5 and into a 1 1/2 clockwise turn to get back to open position
1,2,3 open break on 1 and overtake on 2,3 with R-R extended (maybe about 10 o’clock)
5,6,7 move a little forward and to right on 5 (to give room for follower to turn) as R-R does a wide swinging clockwise motion to lead follower to a 1 1/2 (?) clockwise turn and do a hook turn (half counterclockwise) at the end to get back to open
1,2,3 R-R is used to give follower a hat while getting into cross body lead position and making L-L connection
5,6,7 lead follower to a full counterclockwise turn ending with R hand on follower’s R shoulder – both facing same direction with follower in front on 8
1,2,3 open break on 1 and overtake on 2,3
5,6,7 hook turn and switch hands from L-L to R-L
1,2,3 start pivot turn on 1 as R-L is switched back to L-L then switch back to R-L on 3 as pivot turn (about 5/4 turn and getting over follower’s line) is completed
5,6,7 R-L is extended along follower’s line on 5 and tossed backwards on 6 to lead follower to a free counterclockwise (traveling) turn – meanwhile complete a full counterclockwise turn of my own to get back into open position
Space was not a big issue during the club hours. Vishal played well over dozen salsa songs to begin the night, so the start of the night was brilliant; it was almost like being at SOS. Things sort of petered out after midnight however; in fact most of post-midnight dances were at beginner level or worse. Best dances were with Serap and a woman from the Salsa team. I was asked by another person about my blog; this is the fifth person ever I gave my blog information - 1) original guy who inspired me to launch this blog, 2) Sean, 3) Peter, 4) Johnny, 5) this person. Later in the evening, an unknown tall lanky woman asked me for a dance, which became a bit of a fiasco because she was making little effort to follow. Another good leader also had similar trouble with the same person, and we shared a chuckle about it. I was overhearing some comments along the lines of "professional" possibly referring to me from some bystanders - this and other things (like some more experienced leaders indicating that I find Johnny & Serap's lessons easier than he does - of course, I've been taking classes with them for much longer) means I probably can categorize myself as advanced level (probably beginning advanced) salsa dancer (at least by Cambridge standard).
Another stylized cross body lead
on 7 get to angled position for normal cross body lead start with R-L hold
1,2,3 L foot slide behind R foot on 1 and slide to L on 3
5,6,7 lead follower to complete cross body lead and get into angled position again on 7 keeping weight on R foot
1,2,3 L foot slide behind R foot on 1 and slide to L on 3 – ready L hand at shoulder level on 3/4
5,6,7 lead follower to 1 1/2 traveling turn (counterclockwise) with L hand starting on follower’s R shoulder on 5 and ending around her back on 7/8 – go past follower’s path
1,2,3 R hand on follower’s stomach on 1 as stepping towards 1 or 2 o’clock and pivot turn (half clockwise)
5,6,7 keeping R hand on follower’s stomach and get back into open position
R-R hold
1,2,3 start cross body lead
5,6,7 lead follower to a full counterclockwise turn and halt (decelerate might be better) further turn with R-R on follower’s R shoulder
1,2,3 lead follower to turn around clockwise to get into another cross body start position (more of an open position with both facing forward towards the line)
5,6,7 lead follower forward on 5 and into a 1 1/2 clockwise turn to get back to open position
1,2,3 open break on 1 and overtake on 2,3 with R-R extended (maybe about 10 o’clock)
5,6,7 move a little forward and to right on 5 (to give room for follower to turn) as R-R does a wide swinging clockwise motion to lead follower to a 1 1/2 (?) clockwise turn and do a hook turn (half counterclockwise) at the end to get back to open
1,2,3 R-R is used to give follower a hat while getting into cross body lead position and making L-L connection
5,6,7 lead follower to a full counterclockwise turn ending with R hand on follower’s R shoulder – both facing same direction with follower in front on 8
1,2,3 open break on 1 and overtake on 2,3
5,6,7 hook turn and switch hands from L-L to R-L
1,2,3 start pivot turn on 1 as R-L is switched back to L-L then switch back to R-L on 3 as pivot turn (about 5/4 turn and getting over follower’s line) is completed
5,6,7 R-L is extended along follower’s line on 5 and tossed backwards on 6 to lead follower to a free counterclockwise (traveling) turn – meanwhile complete a full counterclockwise turn of my own to get back into open position
Space was not a big issue during the club hours. Vishal played well over dozen salsa songs to begin the night, so the start of the night was brilliant; it was almost like being at SOS. Things sort of petered out after midnight however; in fact most of post-midnight dances were at beginner level or worse. Best dances were with Serap and a woman from the Salsa team. I was asked by another person about my blog; this is the fifth person ever I gave my blog information - 1) original guy who inspired me to launch this blog, 2) Sean, 3) Peter, 4) Johnny, 5) this person. Later in the evening, an unknown tall lanky woman asked me for a dance, which became a bit of a fiasco because she was making little effort to follow. Another good leader also had similar trouble with the same person, and we shared a chuckle about it. I was overhearing some comments along the lines of "professional" possibly referring to me from some bystanders - this and other things (like some more experienced leaders indicating that I find Johnny & Serap's lessons easier than he does - of course, I've been taking classes with them for much longer) means I probably can categorize myself as advanced level (probably beginning advanced) salsa dancer (at least by Cambridge standard).
Casino Rueda with Helen & Rhona - New Standards
August 18, 2005
Back from a Rueda congress, new Rueda standards are being installed.
Prima = same as old Adios
a small modification involves open break to start the move (which I have been doing in my partner dancing already)
Prima hermana
same as old Adios con la hermana except with change of partner at the end (after Enchufe on the second bar - thus now making things like Adios con la hermana sentada non-existent?)
Prima tia
same as Prima hermana except an arm-in-arm (R-R) (casate-like) clockwise walkaround is done after the Enchufe on the second bar - apparently there's another change of partner at the end
Prima tia something (tres, cinco, siete, etc)
same as Prima tia except switch to next set of partners (3, 5, or 7 while counting the original partner as 1) - thus arm-in-arm is L-L with the second and other even numbered partners and R-R with the odd numbered partners - I think there must be a change of partner at the end but we didn't do this correctly today
Prima tia something arriba
This involves going back to the original partner using the same arm-in-arm sequence
Patine mujeres
Same as old Patine mujeres except after the initial enchufe, switch to R-R as positions are switched with R-R kept low on 5,6,7 and use L hand on follower's L shoulder to launch follower into the center
Rueda crueda (cross?)
Odd numbered couples start on beat 1, even numbered couples start on beat 5. Odd numbered couples dance only with other odd numbered couples, etc. Dancing on-5 may take some practice - I couldn't do it today.
Unknown name - similar to Dereto except without changing of partners - somewhat like Saluda mujeres as well
1,2,3 move to your arriba follower like Dereto but keep L-R connection with original partner (R hand goes over original partner's head)
5,6,7 complete Guapea with arriba follower and get back to original position (and back with original partner)
Sacala something? - new way of changing partners
1,2,3 Connect R-L with your next partner (optional: follower's have palms up) and walk into the circle and back and raise R-L (exactly like sacala)
5,6,7 lead follower to sacala - end with a hat for the leader
1,2,3,5,6,7 Dile que no
Back from a Rueda congress, new Rueda standards are being installed.
Prima = same as old Adios
a small modification involves open break to start the move (which I have been doing in my partner dancing already)
Prima hermana
same as old Adios con la hermana except with change of partner at the end (after Enchufe on the second bar - thus now making things like Adios con la hermana sentada non-existent?)
Prima tia
same as Prima hermana except an arm-in-arm (R-R) (casate-like) clockwise walkaround is done after the Enchufe on the second bar - apparently there's another change of partner at the end
Prima tia something (tres, cinco, siete, etc)
same as Prima tia except switch to next set of partners (3, 5, or 7 while counting the original partner as 1) - thus arm-in-arm is L-L with the second and other even numbered partners and R-R with the odd numbered partners - I think there must be a change of partner at the end but we didn't do this correctly today
Prima tia something arriba
This involves going back to the original partner using the same arm-in-arm sequence
Patine mujeres
Same as old Patine mujeres except after the initial enchufe, switch to R-R as positions are switched with R-R kept low on 5,6,7 and use L hand on follower's L shoulder to launch follower into the center
Rueda crueda (cross?)
Odd numbered couples start on beat 1, even numbered couples start on beat 5. Odd numbered couples dance only with other odd numbered couples, etc. Dancing on-5 may take some practice - I couldn't do it today.
Unknown name - similar to Dereto except without changing of partners - somewhat like Saluda mujeres as well
1,2,3 move to your arriba follower like Dereto but keep L-R connection with original partner (R hand goes over original partner's head)
5,6,7 complete Guapea with arriba follower and get back to original position (and back with original partner)
Sacala something? - new way of changing partners
1,2,3 Connect R-L with your next partner (optional: follower's have palms up) and walk into the circle and back and raise R-L (exactly like sacala)
5,6,7 lead follower to sacala - end with a hat for the leader
1,2,3,5,6,7 Dile que no
Wednesday mission
August 17, 2005
I have been on a bit of a mission lately to transform and generally improve the standard of salsa dancing (at least LA style) in Cambridge. To effect this change, I have been dancing with as many people as possible and not just with "good" followers but pretty much anyone who stays around in the club after the classes. At the same time I'm introducing everyone to the most difficult routines I judge that they can handle without getting uncomfortable (which is over 95% of routines I use). This is fairly easy now that I have become pretty competent in leading and to be able to do this with just about anyone - well, anyone who can follow cross body lead comfortably. Today, a new variable I added was leading double and triple turns. Last week, I tried my hand in leading triple with Serap with great success. I had also tried this with one other good follower but she stumbled either because I wasn't precise enough or because she was too surprised. My original thought after this was, "hmm…I should try doing doubles and triples with other more experienced followers," which was later transformed into "hey, let's see if I could do this with pretty much everyone!" as to further test and challenge my idea of categorizing beginner, improver, intermediate, advanced leaders. Anyhow, leading doubles and triples worked pretty much with everyone (without anyone stumbling and with everyone seemingly enjoying it) including people who thought they couldn't do it. My impression is that there are other competent LA style leaders in Cambridge but that they are seemingly reluctant to dance with anyone who they think are not at their level or place any effort in trying to bring up others to their level when they have the opportunity. I'm not sure if I can change people's attitudes or exclusiveness but I don't think I'm losing any popularity with salseras in Cambridge with what I have been doing lately.
I have been on a bit of a mission lately to transform and generally improve the standard of salsa dancing (at least LA style) in Cambridge. To effect this change, I have been dancing with as many people as possible and not just with "good" followers but pretty much anyone who stays around in the club after the classes. At the same time I'm introducing everyone to the most difficult routines I judge that they can handle without getting uncomfortable (which is over 95% of routines I use). This is fairly easy now that I have become pretty competent in leading and to be able to do this with just about anyone - well, anyone who can follow cross body lead comfortably. Today, a new variable I added was leading double and triple turns. Last week, I tried my hand in leading triple with Serap with great success. I had also tried this with one other good follower but she stumbled either because I wasn't precise enough or because she was too surprised. My original thought after this was, "hmm…I should try doing doubles and triples with other more experienced followers," which was later transformed into "hey, let's see if I could do this with pretty much everyone!" as to further test and challenge my idea of categorizing beginner, improver, intermediate, advanced leaders. Anyhow, leading doubles and triples worked pretty much with everyone (without anyone stumbling and with everyone seemingly enjoying it) including people who thought they couldn't do it. My impression is that there are other competent LA style leaders in Cambridge but that they are seemingly reluctant to dance with anyone who they think are not at their level or place any effort in trying to bring up others to their level when they have the opportunity. I'm not sure if I can change people's attitudes or exclusiveness but I don't think I'm losing any popularity with salseras in Cambridge with what I have been doing lately.
Graceful and unusual with many hand switches – Johnny & Serap Advanced
August 12, 2005
Unfortunately, this lesson came few weeks too soon. I didn't get much chance to play with this routine after the class.
R-L hold
1,2,3 open up as if doing an exaggerated back-to-back basic on 1 and hold position – Johnny suggests using straight R leg towards the follower and bent L leg and tilting backwards (to L leg)
5,6,7 lead follower as if finishing cross body lead and connect L-R while releasing R-L (footwork works better if doing an unusual crossover step with L foot on 5, then to right with R foot on 6, and moving L feet together or slightly behind without putting any weight on it on 7)
1,2,3 L foot does backwards basic on 1 and return on 2,3 while free R hand swings low outwards on 1 and back up to make R-L connection by 3
5,6,7 lead follower to a clockwise turn (full or double, starting on 4 for double spin)
1,2,3 open up again or maybe start with normal cross body start with R-L hold only
5,6,7 lead follower to a full counterclockwise turn and switch to L-L for a body wrap
1,2,3 turn partner around clockwise for half turn to unwrap and switch back to R-L extended forward and palms facing outwards while getting intocross body lead position (open stance) reverse cross body position at right angle
5,6,7 lead follower to a 1 1/2 clockwise(!) traveling turn (or half if not ready for 1 1/2)
1,2,3 get into cross body lead position with R-L hold
5,6,7 lead follower to a full counterclockwise traveling turn and place R-L on follower’s R shoulder with my forearm on her neck
1,2,3 turn follower around counterclockwise for half turn using forearm to lead (tricky! as this is new for me)
5,6,7 launch follower forward using forearm to 2 o’clock on 5 and continue leading follower for a clockwise traveling turn or two
1,2,3 repeat from the very beginning
I talked to Sergio about possibly meeting up for a SOS trip next week after hearing his suggestion that I should try going to London more for Salsa - this is a very nice compliment. I had a spectacularly good dance with Serap; she was favorably impressed with my success in leading her to a triple turn almost effortlessly. One other excellent follower was extremely kind enough to let me know that I was progressing very rapidly. My dances with her has been getting better all the time and I think she must enjoy dancing with me nowadays. Vishal implored me to dance Merengue with people from a hen night; earlier Vishal annoyed Serap by disrupting the advanced lesson by running a simultaneous Merengue lesson with this hen night party. I recall seeing in certain websites comments along the lines that LA style Salsa (as opposed to Cuban?) is soulless – it's such a strange belief; shouldn't it be about how you dance as opposed to which style you dance? I've noting that at least this week I have been getting some really inspired dances as I got really tired towards the end of the evening.
Unfortunately, this lesson came few weeks too soon. I didn't get much chance to play with this routine after the class.
R-L hold
1,2,3 open up as if doing an exaggerated back-to-back basic on 1 and hold position – Johnny suggests using straight R leg towards the follower and bent L leg and tilting backwards (to L leg)
5,6,7 lead follower as if finishing cross body lead and connect L-R while releasing R-L (footwork works better if doing an unusual crossover step with L foot on 5, then to right with R foot on 6, and moving L feet together or slightly behind without putting any weight on it on 7)
1,2,3 L foot does backwards basic on 1 and return on 2,3 while free R hand swings low outwards on 1 and back up to make R-L connection by 3
5,6,7 lead follower to a clockwise turn (full or double, starting on 4 for double spin)
1,2,3 open up again or maybe start with normal cross body start with R-L hold only
5,6,7 lead follower to a full counterclockwise turn and switch to L-L for a body wrap
1,2,3 turn partner around clockwise for half turn to unwrap and switch back to R-L extended forward and palms facing outwards while getting into
5,6,7 lead follower to a 1 1/2 clockwise(!) traveling turn (or half if not ready for 1 1/2)
1,2,3 get into cross body lead position with R-L hold
5,6,7 lead follower to a full counterclockwise traveling turn and place R-L on follower’s R shoulder with my forearm on her neck
1,2,3 turn follower around counterclockwise for half turn using forearm to lead (tricky! as this is new for me)
5,6,7 launch follower forward using forearm to 2 o’clock on 5 and continue leading follower for a clockwise traveling turn or two
1,2,3 repeat from the very beginning
I talked to Sergio about possibly meeting up for a SOS trip next week after hearing his suggestion that I should try going to London more for Salsa - this is a very nice compliment. I had a spectacularly good dance with Serap; she was favorably impressed with my success in leading her to a triple turn almost effortlessly. One other excellent follower was extremely kind enough to let me know that I was progressing very rapidly. My dances with her has been getting better all the time and I think she must enjoy dancing with me nowadays. Vishal implored me to dance Merengue with people from a hen night; earlier Vishal annoyed Serap by disrupting the advanced lesson by running a simultaneous Merengue lesson with this hen night party. I recall seeing in certain websites comments along the lines that LA style Salsa (as opposed to Cuban?) is soulless – it's such a strange belief; shouldn't it be about how you dance as opposed to which style you dance? I've noting that at least this week I have been getting some really inspired dances as I got really tired towards the end of the evening.
Casino Rueda with Helen & Rhona - week 15
August 11, 2005
Setenta complicado
open hold
1,2,3 Pimienta-like away step and bring follower to nearly overtake
5,6,7 lead follower to traveling clockwise turn – on 8, R-L goes over follower’s head
1,2,3 slide back-to-back to exchange places with follower – on 4, L-R goes over to in front of follower’s head
5,6,7 hook turn (Ronde) keeping L-R behind my head
1,2,3 two-handed enchufe
5,6,7 hands over follower’s head to shoulder and let go
1,2,3,5,6,7 Dile que no
Setenta y nueve (courtesy of Peter)
open hold
1,2,3 Pimienta-like away step and bring follower to nearly overtake
5,6,7 lead follower to traveling clockwise turn and get into normal setenta position
1,2,3 walk together clockwise and unwrap – on 4, raise R-L and get it over my head
5,6,7 hook turn (Ronde) – on 8, R-L goes over follower’s head
1,2,3 slide back-to-back to exchange places with follower – on 4, L-R goes over to in front of follower’s head
5,6,7 hook turn (Ronde) keeping L-R behind my head
1,2,3 two-handed enchufe
5,6,7 hands over follower’s head to shoulder and let go
1,2,3,5,6,7 Dile que no
Three way stop
tap on 8
1,2,3 lead follower to turn 1/2 clockwise to face outside the Rueda circle and move over to be behind her facing the same direction with hands on her shoulders by 3,4
5,6,7 on 5, lead follower to turn 1/2 counterclockwise using hands on her shoulder
1,2,3 on 1, lead follower to turn 1/2 clockwise using hands on her shoulder
5,6,7 on 5, lead follower to turn 1/2 counterclockwise using hands on her shoulder and perform a full clockwise turn (Helen referred to this as Coca cola) – if anything aim to end on her left side
1,2,3 start of Dile que no with L hand ending on follower’s shoulder for another Coca cola turn
5,6,7 lead follower to a full counterclockwise turn like Coca cola but instead of follower her, do a traveling counterclockwise turn to get to next follower on right
1,2,3,5,6,7 Dile que no with new partner
Sombrero doble
crossed hold R-R on top
1,2,3 Pimienta-like away step and bring follower to nearly overtake
5,6,7 lead follower to traveling 1 1/2 clockwise turn R-R going first – get into Sombrero position on 7/8 and take it out by 8/1
1,2,3 Dile que no start keeping same hold
5,6,7 finish Dile que no and get into another Sombrero position on 7/8 with follower on left this time and take it out by 8/1 – let go L-L?
1,2,3 Pimienta-like start except with R-R hold
5,6,7 lead follower to 1 1/2 clockwise turn ending with giving follower a hat
1,2,3,5,6,7 Dile que no
I saw Peter and Cinzia for the first time in over a month (July 4). I think they had one (maybe two) more class afterwards before getting unceremoniously dismissed by Patricio. I’ve heard as much last week from Sean, who said Patricio’s teaching was “crap.” It’s not hard to conceptualize Patricio being in the Nelson school of good dancer/poor teacher although I have not seen him in action in neither role. Vishal allowed Rueda people stay around longer; I’m not sure if this was a one time thing or if he’s trying to get another club night going. By the way, bunch of Rueda people, including Helen, Rhona, Peter and Cinzia, are going to Norway for a Rueda congress for the weekend tomorrow. I’ve heard about an upcoming wedding where the bride is a salsa dancer and the groom is not. Bunch of women friends who are salsa dancers from London are apparently invited to the wedding and a salsa band (or a band that plays salsa and probably some other music) has been hired. None of the male salsa dancer friends of the bride was invited to the wedding at the groom’s insistence, so the bride is apparently worried about lack of men who can dance salsa with bride’s women friends and may be looking for male dancers no one in the wedding knows. It’s a bizarre story to hear about at many level and difficult to understand.
Setenta complicado
open hold
1,2,3 Pimienta-like away step and bring follower to nearly overtake
5,6,7 lead follower to traveling clockwise turn – on 8, R-L goes over follower’s head
1,2,3 slide back-to-back to exchange places with follower – on 4, L-R goes over to in front of follower’s head
5,6,7 hook turn (Ronde) keeping L-R behind my head
1,2,3 two-handed enchufe
5,6,7 hands over follower’s head to shoulder and let go
1,2,3,5,6,7 Dile que no
Setenta y nueve (courtesy of Peter)
open hold
1,2,3 Pimienta-like away step and bring follower to nearly overtake
5,6,7 lead follower to traveling clockwise turn and get into normal setenta position
1,2,3 walk together clockwise and unwrap – on 4, raise R-L and get it over my head
5,6,7 hook turn (Ronde) – on 8, R-L goes over follower’s head
1,2,3 slide back-to-back to exchange places with follower – on 4, L-R goes over to in front of follower’s head
5,6,7 hook turn (Ronde) keeping L-R behind my head
1,2,3 two-handed enchufe
5,6,7 hands over follower’s head to shoulder and let go
1,2,3,5,6,7 Dile que no
Three way stop
tap on 8
1,2,3 lead follower to turn 1/2 clockwise to face outside the Rueda circle and move over to be behind her facing the same direction with hands on her shoulders by 3,4
5,6,7 on 5, lead follower to turn 1/2 counterclockwise using hands on her shoulder
1,2,3 on 1, lead follower to turn 1/2 clockwise using hands on her shoulder
5,6,7 on 5, lead follower to turn 1/2 counterclockwise using hands on her shoulder and perform a full clockwise turn (Helen referred to this as Coca cola) – if anything aim to end on her left side
1,2,3 start of Dile que no with L hand ending on follower’s shoulder for another Coca cola turn
5,6,7 lead follower to a full counterclockwise turn like Coca cola but instead of follower her, do a traveling counterclockwise turn to get to next follower on right
1,2,3,5,6,7 Dile que no with new partner
Sombrero doble
crossed hold R-R on top
1,2,3 Pimienta-like away step and bring follower to nearly overtake
5,6,7 lead follower to traveling 1 1/2 clockwise turn R-R going first – get into Sombrero position on 7/8 and take it out by 8/1
1,2,3 Dile que no start keeping same hold
5,6,7 finish Dile que no and get into another Sombrero position on 7/8 with follower on left this time and take it out by 8/1 – let go L-L?
1,2,3 Pimienta-like start except with R-R hold
5,6,7 lead follower to 1 1/2 clockwise turn ending with giving follower a hat
1,2,3,5,6,7 Dile que no
I saw Peter and Cinzia for the first time in over a month (July 4). I think they had one (maybe two) more class afterwards before getting unceremoniously dismissed by Patricio. I’ve heard as much last week from Sean, who said Patricio’s teaching was “crap.” It’s not hard to conceptualize Patricio being in the Nelson school of good dancer/poor teacher although I have not seen him in action in neither role. Vishal allowed Rueda people stay around longer; I’m not sure if this was a one time thing or if he’s trying to get another club night going. By the way, bunch of Rueda people, including Helen, Rhona, Peter and Cinzia, are going to Norway for a Rueda congress for the weekend tomorrow. I’ve heard about an upcoming wedding where the bride is a salsa dancer and the groom is not. Bunch of women friends who are salsa dancers from London are apparently invited to the wedding and a salsa band (or a band that plays salsa and probably some other music) has been hired. None of the male salsa dancer friends of the bride was invited to the wedding at the groom’s insistence, so the bride is apparently worried about lack of men who can dance salsa with bride’s women friends and may be looking for male dancers no one in the wedding knows. It’s a bizarre story to hear about at many level and difficult to understand.
Everything's hunkydory on Wednesday
August 10, 2005
From the first to the last dance, there were no bad dances (except I kept screwing up a routine I had been using for 2+ months). Last week, I was telling Piers that my dances in Cambridge had been uneven. Today everything was either good, very good, or very very good. It was a good day despite (or perhaps because of) being rather tired from moving fish and frogs all day; I'm sure it won't all be good days. Also, I think I must have been pretty lucky with my haphazard choice of dance partners. Dancing in a middle of a crowd is getting pretty easy now. It really didn't matter how good my followers were (although I did stay away from at least one "impossible case"; I knew that certain routines would only work with followers with relaxed arms while I could get everything else to work well even with people I didn't expect it to work well (and if it didn't work, I made a quick recovery). Thus I wasn't bothered by not dancing with some of the better dancers as I no longer feel like there was anything to prove and did not have many routines, for which I needed an experienced partner. If anything, I think I should try to push the boundaries with more random and/or lesser partners. Of course, there are a number of (segments of) routines that I saw in classes that I haven't managed to do yet, but I'm not worried and I'll get back to those in good time.
From the first to the last dance, there were no bad dances (except I kept screwing up a routine I had been using for 2+ months). Last week, I was telling Piers that my dances in Cambridge had been uneven. Today everything was either good, very good, or very very good. It was a good day despite (or perhaps because of) being rather tired from moving fish and frogs all day; I'm sure it won't all be good days. Also, I think I must have been pretty lucky with my haphazard choice of dance partners. Dancing in a middle of a crowd is getting pretty easy now. It really didn't matter how good my followers were (although I did stay away from at least one "impossible case"; I knew that certain routines would only work with followers with relaxed arms while I could get everything else to work well even with people I didn't expect it to work well (and if it didn't work, I made a quick recovery). Thus I wasn't bothered by not dancing with some of the better dancers as I no longer feel like there was anything to prove and did not have many routines, for which I needed an experienced partner. If anything, I think I should try to push the boundaries with more random and/or lesser partners. Of course, there are a number of (segments of) routines that I saw in classes that I haven't managed to do yet, but I'm not worried and I'll get back to those in good time.
Pretty easy … too easy? – Johnny & Serap Advanced
August 5, 2005
Parts of it still takes a knowledgeable follower, so too easy may not be right. Anyhow, on to the routine...
closed hold
1,2,3 basic and raise L-R on 4
5,6,7 lead follower to a pivot clockwise turn, keeping R hand on follower’s waist – let go L-R on 8
1,2,3 open break on 1 using R hand on follower’s waist (palm on front waist and fingers on back waist), overtake on 2,3 with R hand shifting (palm on side and fingers on front waist) with the follower turning not quite half turn (but more than quarter turn) counterclockwise
5,6,7 lead follower to a double clockwise free turn with a waist lead and do a hook turn myself
L-R hold
1,2,3 open break or prepare follower
5,6,7 lead follower to clockwise turn with L-R high initially and letting go as 1/2 hook turn is performed and R-R connection is made (on 8 both facing same direction with leaders in front)
1,2,3 open break and R-R goes over followers head as L-L connection is made and is extended forward so that both hands are outstretched on 4
5,6,7 on 5 is like a block, hold position as followers sway
1,2,3 L-L goes over in front of follower’s head and back to get back into extended arms position
5,6,7 lead follower to 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn to my R side while letting go L-L (question – does clockwise turn work also? I’m not completely sure if counterclockwise turn or clockwise turn was led here)
crossed hold R-R on top
optional basic
1,2,3 full pivot clockwise turn with R-R raised and L-L ending behind my waist
5,6,7 use my R-R elbow to disconnect L-L and end with crossed hold with L-L on top
1,2,3 start of cross body lead
5,6,7 lead follower to full counterclockwise turn keeping both hands level around top of follower’s head
1,2,3 continue turning follower counterclockwise for 1/2 turn keeping R-R high and L-L low and turn 3/4 clockwise while getting out of the way to open up a lane on the right side like cross body lead postion - L-L ends behind my waist – let go L-L
5,6,7 lead follower forward on 5 and lead follower for a 1/2 clockwise turn (inside turn)
Very crowded. I’m getting a pretty good practice of dancing in tight spots. I had fair number of good followers to dance with, and improvements in my ability to dance in tight spots came in pretty handy. I sort of panicked and couldn’t remember a lot of things to do with Sally (of Ivan & Sally) but had a pretty good dance with her otherwise. I actually had another pleasant dance with Serap also (my second one ever! supposedly she didn’t stop me at any point because I was doing a good job of keeping in time). I also had several other competently done dances (especially considering lack of space). Maybe I’m mistaken but I got the impression that Sally enjoyed dancing with me more than some others who I thought may only tolerate dancing with me. Perhaps this depends in part on how much break one gets? Maybe this is because people find Sally too intimidating (as often is the case when someone who is less experienced worries about asking someone they consider to be much better than them - I was a little nervous too when I first asked her for a dance)? [added Oct 1, 2005 - Another possibility is that Sally is so much better that she is relaxed enough to display pleasure even when she's having only a just an average dance.] Still, there were so many good dances (many of which got encores although not with the best followers) that occasional bad ones were a bit more jarring and surprising than it had been last several times. I somehow even received a peck in the cheek from a Spanish girl presumably for giving her a nice although simple dance; my reciprocation resulted in my nose landing on her cheek however (I had never seen her before tonight). There were several possible factors for this happening: (1) she’s from another country, (2) the actual dance was preceded by two very short but friendly exchange earlier, (3) in the middle of the dance, I brushed some hair off her eyes spontaneously when it landed all over her face after a turn. I wonder if I’m getting too reckless in asking anyone and everyone to dance with me in my quest to get better at leading many different types of followers of different level of skills. How would this work out when and if I were to try to settle on a regular dance partner?
I asked Vishal about Thursdays and Rueda and found out that Rueda will stay on Thursdays except not 2 weeks from now (due to another private party). I asked Johnny whether he was going to the UK Salsa congress and the answer was probably no (he would want days off on Friday and Monday to fully enjoy the congress). Sean made a return appearance after a prolonged absence and seemed to have difficulty getting back into the groove.
Parts of it still takes a knowledgeable follower, so too easy may not be right. Anyhow, on to the routine...
closed hold
1,2,3 basic and raise L-R on 4
5,6,7 lead follower to a pivot clockwise turn, keeping R hand on follower’s waist – let go L-R on 8
1,2,3 open break on 1 using R hand on follower’s waist (palm on front waist and fingers on back waist), overtake on 2,3 with R hand shifting (palm on side and fingers on front waist) with the follower turning not quite half turn (but more than quarter turn) counterclockwise
5,6,7 lead follower to a double clockwise free turn with a waist lead and do a hook turn myself
L-R hold
1,2,3 open break or prepare follower
5,6,7 lead follower to clockwise turn with L-R high initially and letting go as 1/2 hook turn is performed and R-R connection is made (on 8 both facing same direction with leaders in front)
1,2,3 open break and R-R goes over followers head as L-L connection is made and is extended forward so that both hands are outstretched on 4
5,6,7 on 5 is like a block, hold position as followers sway
1,2,3 L-L goes over in front of follower’s head and back to get back into extended arms position
5,6,7 lead follower to 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn to my R side while letting go L-L (question – does clockwise turn work also? I’m not completely sure if counterclockwise turn or clockwise turn was led here)
crossed hold R-R on top
optional basic
1,2,3 full pivot clockwise turn with R-R raised and L-L ending behind my waist
5,6,7 use my R-R elbow to disconnect L-L and end with crossed hold with L-L on top
1,2,3 start of cross body lead
5,6,7 lead follower to full counterclockwise turn keeping both hands level around top of follower’s head
1,2,3 continue turning follower counterclockwise for 1/2 turn keeping R-R high and L-L low and turn 3/4 clockwise while getting out of the way to open up a lane on the right side like cross body lead postion - L-L ends behind my waist – let go L-L
5,6,7 lead follower forward on 5 and lead follower for a 1/2 clockwise turn (inside turn)
Very crowded. I’m getting a pretty good practice of dancing in tight spots. I had fair number of good followers to dance with, and improvements in my ability to dance in tight spots came in pretty handy. I sort of panicked and couldn’t remember a lot of things to do with Sally (of Ivan & Sally) but had a pretty good dance with her otherwise. I actually had another pleasant dance with Serap also (my second one ever! supposedly she didn’t stop me at any point because I was doing a good job of keeping in time). I also had several other competently done dances (especially considering lack of space). Maybe I’m mistaken but I got the impression that Sally enjoyed dancing with me more than some others who I thought may only tolerate dancing with me. Perhaps this depends in part on how much break one gets? Maybe this is because people find Sally too intimidating (as often is the case when someone who is less experienced worries about asking someone they consider to be much better than them - I was a little nervous too when I first asked her for a dance)? [added Oct 1, 2005 - Another possibility is that Sally is so much better that she is relaxed enough to display pleasure even when she's having only a just an average dance.] Still, there were so many good dances (many of which got encores although not with the best followers) that occasional bad ones were a bit more jarring and surprising than it had been last several times. I somehow even received a peck in the cheek from a Spanish girl presumably for giving her a nice although simple dance; my reciprocation resulted in my nose landing on her cheek however (I had never seen her before tonight). There were several possible factors for this happening: (1) she’s from another country, (2) the actual dance was preceded by two very short but friendly exchange earlier, (3) in the middle of the dance, I brushed some hair off her eyes spontaneously when it landed all over her face after a turn. I wonder if I’m getting too reckless in asking anyone and everyone to dance with me in my quest to get better at leading many different types of followers of different level of skills. How would this work out when and if I were to try to settle on a regular dance partner?
I asked Vishal about Thursdays and Rueda and found out that Rueda will stay on Thursdays except not 2 weeks from now (due to another private party). I asked Johnny whether he was going to the UK Salsa congress and the answer was probably no (he would want days off on Friday and Monday to fully enjoy the congress). Sean made a return appearance after a prolonged absence and seemed to have difficulty getting back into the groove.
How to define beginner, improver, intermediate, advanced, etc.
August 4, 2005
I thought I would have some fun with thoughts of the Salsa Mafia website.
Salsa Mafia says, "Beginners can only lead other beginners."
I agree and the reasons for this seem pretty obvious (see below if not so obvious).
Salsa Mafia says, "Improvers can only lead other improvers."
I think this (based upon my experience) is because they are too intimidated by those of higher level and are not good enough to lead beginners to dance to their level effectively.
Salsa Mafia says, "Intermediates enjoy dancing with everyone."
I think this may need elaboration. New enthusiastic intermediates enjoy dancing with everyone. I think that there also are old crusty jaded (more experienced than new enthusiastic types but not really good enough to be considered advanced) intermediates who no longer enjoy dancing with beginners/improvers (unless they are attractive) because novelty has rubbed off. These now mostly dance with other intermediates. More on this below.
Salsa Mafia says, "Advanceds only enjoy leading advanced followers. Even intermediates are no good because they have no ‘soul.’"
This could be true. I can’t say I know for sure because I don’t know if I’m really at this level yet. One question I have is, “Where do teachers belong in this categorization?” They are mostly A-level to Mafia level (although this isn’t/wasn’t always true in Cambridge), but they also are more likely to dance with people with lesser skills compared to others of similar dancing abilities. They can also be a bit of pain to dance with for lesser dancers (especially leaders) because they often are still in teaching-mode and may correct you in the middle of a dance.
I would ask "How do you define beginner, improver, intermediate, advanced, etc. leader?"; the answer is simpler for followers seems simple. I thought one possible solution is to ask how well a particular leader can lead followers of different level. See tables below. Different rows indicate skill level for leaders while different columns indicate skill levels for followers. Different tables represent difficulty of routines/moves being led.
Mafia = Gods and goddesses of the dance floor
A or B level = follower loves or enjoys the routine as it was led
D or E level = follower is uncomfortable or dislikes the routine as it was led
I would argue that if someone who claims to be "Advanced" leader cannot lead "Intermediate" level routine for an "Improver" gracefully (so that the "Improver" enjoys it), he is deluding himself about how good he is.
I thought I would have some fun with thoughts of the Salsa Mafia website.
Salsa Mafia says, "Beginners can only lead other beginners."
I agree and the reasons for this seem pretty obvious (see below if not so obvious).
Salsa Mafia says, "Improvers can only lead other improvers."
I think this (based upon my experience) is because they are too intimidated by those of higher level and are not good enough to lead beginners to dance to their level effectively.
Salsa Mafia says, "Intermediates enjoy dancing with everyone."
I think this may need elaboration. New enthusiastic intermediates enjoy dancing with everyone. I think that there also are old crusty jaded (more experienced than new enthusiastic types but not really good enough to be considered advanced) intermediates who no longer enjoy dancing with beginners/improvers (unless they are attractive) because novelty has rubbed off. These now mostly dance with other intermediates. More on this below.
Salsa Mafia says, "Advanceds only enjoy leading advanced followers. Even intermediates are no good because they have no ‘soul.’"
This could be true. I can’t say I know for sure because I don’t know if I’m really at this level yet. One question I have is, “Where do teachers belong in this categorization?” They are mostly A-level to Mafia level (although this isn’t/wasn’t always true in Cambridge), but they also are more likely to dance with people with lesser skills compared to others of similar dancing abilities. They can also be a bit of pain to dance with for lesser dancers (especially leaders) because they often are still in teaching-mode and may correct you in the middle of a dance.
I would ask "How do you define beginner, improver, intermediate, advanced, etc. leader?"; the answer is simpler for followers seems simple. I thought one possible solution is to ask how well a particular leader can lead followers of different level. See tables below. Different rows indicate skill level for leaders while different columns indicate skill levels for followers. Different tables represent difficulty of routines/moves being led.
Mafia = Gods and goddesses of the dance floor
A or B level = follower loves or enjoys the routine as it was led
D or E level = follower is uncomfortable or dislikes the routine as it was led
I would argue that if someone who claims to be "Advanced" leader cannot lead "Intermediate" level routine for an "Improver" gracefully (so that the "Improver" enjoys it), he is deluding himself about how good he is.
Qualities of beginner (and non-) salsa dancers
August 4, 2005
Beginners come in many flavors. Some are seemingly naturals while others seem hopeless. Sometimes the really good beginners can accumulate bad habits while seemingly hopeless could improve and become really good.
Some of the features of beginners are shown in the figure shown below.
Even before starting in partner work, people with very poor ears or feet really stick out. I have seen one person who was incapable of taking basic steps with the rest of the class as the teacher was yelling, "1, 2, 3 & 5, 6, 7." I think the same person came to one or two more class but was always out of sync. This is the only example of "deaf" student I have seen thus far. Most people can hear spoken numbers and do basic steps fairly quickly. More tricky is to be able to hear and distinguish the beats in any salsa song - "1" is the easiest. It took me about 3 weeks (and 5-6 lessons).
Of course, being able to hear the beats when concentrating on listening only is not the same as hearing the beats consistently as you are dancing. Because beginners are often unsure with any type of changes to basic steps, they often resort to "shuffling" their feet. Some people seem to hop rather than walk even though they are perfectly capable of walking. Most people eventually become comfortable enough to become walkers.
With arms and hands, people oscillate between one bad extreme to another bad extreme. So even people who seem to have perfect hands and arms in the beginning can develop bad habits because of poor dance partners. Arms should be relaxed, not too stiff or too flabby. Hands should be hooked to make it easy to keep connection between the leader and the follower. Use of thumbs (severe form is referred to by some as the Vulvan Death Grip) is strongly recommended against.
There are other body parts important to dancing of course. For example, eyes are very important. Many beginners have tendencies to focus on their feet. I never had this problem (or got out of the habit very easily) so I don't know why this happens (perhaps to make sure that they are stepping correctly??? because they can't tell between their left and right feet without looking at it??? maybe they're looking at their partner's feet except many people are looking down even when practicing without a partner). In my opinion, the best place to look is to look at and engage your dance partner's eyes (although I realize that ballroom dancers do not do this).
Beginners come in many flavors. Some are seemingly naturals while others seem hopeless. Sometimes the really good beginners can accumulate bad habits while seemingly hopeless could improve and become really good.
Some of the features of beginners are shown in the figure shown below.
Even before starting in partner work, people with very poor ears or feet really stick out. I have seen one person who was incapable of taking basic steps with the rest of the class as the teacher was yelling, "1, 2, 3 & 5, 6, 7." I think the same person came to one or two more class but was always out of sync. This is the only example of "deaf" student I have seen thus far. Most people can hear spoken numbers and do basic steps fairly quickly. More tricky is to be able to hear and distinguish the beats in any salsa song - "1" is the easiest. It took me about 3 weeks (and 5-6 lessons).
Of course, being able to hear the beats when concentrating on listening only is not the same as hearing the beats consistently as you are dancing. Because beginners are often unsure with any type of changes to basic steps, they often resort to "shuffling" their feet. Some people seem to hop rather than walk even though they are perfectly capable of walking. Most people eventually become comfortable enough to become walkers.
With arms and hands, people oscillate between one bad extreme to another bad extreme. So even people who seem to have perfect hands and arms in the beginning can develop bad habits because of poor dance partners. Arms should be relaxed, not too stiff or too flabby. Hands should be hooked to make it easy to keep connection between the leader and the follower. Use of thumbs (severe form is referred to by some as the Vulvan Death Grip) is strongly recommended against.
There are other body parts important to dancing of course. For example, eyes are very important. Many beginners have tendencies to focus on their feet. I never had this problem (or got out of the habit very easily) so I don't know why this happens (perhaps to make sure that they are stepping correctly??? because they can't tell between their left and right feet without looking at it??? maybe they're looking at their partner's feet except many people are looking down even when practicing without a partner). In my opinion, the best place to look is to look at and engage your dance partner's eyes (although I realize that ballroom dancers do not do this).
A less crowded Wednesday - mistaken for a Salsa instructor
August 3, 2005
The club was considerably less crowded than it has been for last several times. I was hoping to practice routines I learned from Johnny and Serap but never quite mastered today and did this only to a marginally satisfactory level. Certainly, there were no spectacular dances tonight.
Around midnight, I decided to ask for one last dance with a stranger, who instead of dancing asked me to teach her and her partner. So I worked with them for about half an hour teaching some basics (basic forward and back, back-to-back, cross body lead, enchufe, pivot turn, hook turn) and let them know about other proper lessons on Weds and Fri. I'm not quite sure what they based their thinking upon but they thought I was a Salsa instructor (probably just flattery). In any case, it was novel and amusing.
On a different note, Rhona told me there will not be a Rueda class tomorrow. I guess they must be either moving to Mondays or searching for a different venue to keep the classes on Thursdays.
The club was considerably less crowded than it has been for last several times. I was hoping to practice routines I learned from Johnny and Serap but never quite mastered today and did this only to a marginally satisfactory level. Certainly, there were no spectacular dances tonight.
Around midnight, I decided to ask for one last dance with a stranger, who instead of dancing asked me to teach her and her partner. So I worked with them for about half an hour teaching some basics (basic forward and back, back-to-back, cross body lead, enchufe, pivot turn, hook turn) and let them know about other proper lessons on Weds and Fri. I'm not quite sure what they based their thinking upon but they thought I was a Salsa instructor (probably just flattery). In any case, it was novel and amusing.
On a different note, Rhona told me there will not be a Rueda class tomorrow. I guess they must be either moving to Mondays or searching for a different venue to keep the classes on Thursdays.
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