Around the world envy

January 29, 2006

SOS level III – Mauro & Eva

shine of the day (modified version - January 31, 2006)
1,2,3 basic ending with L foot slightly behind R foot
5 R foot slide in front of L foot
6 R foot slide to R side
7 R foot slide behind L foot with weight transfer to R foot (L arm forward and R arm to R side)
8 L foot slide to L side
1,2 Suzy Q steps moving slightly to L
3 L foot in Suzy Q step slightly to L (on heels?)
5 R foot (sudden/sharp movement) to R (slightly moving forward) with body changing directions 1/4 counterclockwise and facing what used to be left
6 transfer weight to L foot
7 R foot cross over in front of L foot
8 L foot cross over in front on R foot
1 R foot cross over L foot (minimize traveling here) and change direction 1/4 counterclockwise (thus facing away from partner) and swing to R
2 L foot slide to L so that the feet are now far apart and swing hips slightly to L
3 weight on R foot with slight swing of hips to R
5 turn 1/2 clockwise as L foot cross over in front of R foot
6 weight on R foot (Suzy Q)
7 weight on L foot (Suzy Q)
8 R foot cross over in front of L foot followed by basic

shine of the day (original note)
1,2,3 basic ending with L foot slightly behind R foot
5 R foot slide in front of L foot
6 R foot slide to R side
7 R foot slide behind L foot with weight transfer to R foot (L arm forward and R arm to R side)
8 L foot slide to L side
1,2 Suzy Q steps moving slightly to L
3 L foot in Suzy Q step slightly to L (on heels?)
5 R foot (jump) to R with body changing directions 1/4 counterclockwise
6 transfer weight to L foot
7 R foot cross over in front of L foot
8 L foot cross over in front on R foot
1 R foot forward and change direction 1/4 counterclockwise (thus facing away from partner) and swing to R (feet apart – hips swinging)
2 swing hips to L
3 swing hips to R
5 turn 1/2 clockwise as L foot cross over in front of R foot
6 weight on L foot (Suzy Q-like motion)
7 weight on R foot (Suzy Q-like motion)
8 R foot cross over in front of L foot followed by basic

I probably want to minimize traveling to L side to make this shine workable in small space.

partner routine
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead ending in L-R hold (open and with some distance between partners)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break, around the world and end with hook turn (full clockwise) for leader with hold switched to R-R
[note: I can’t do this properly in time thus the title. This should be considered a fairly standard Salsa move so it really bugs me that I can’t do it. Footwork shown was to overtake on 2,3 while holding follower properly (R hand under follower’s shoulder blades(?)), turn as a unit 1/2 clockwise on 5 with R foot crossing behind L foot, L foot forward on 6 as follower is led to a further 1/2 clockwise turn, then leader hooks and turn on 7/8. In the beginning of the class, I thought I was managing it somehow – although I’m unsure if my partners would have agreed with this assessment. Then someone I generally trust in this class didn’t seem to like how I was leading this turn – this shattered my confidence about how I was doing. Things went rapidly downhill thereafter as a seed of doubt was sown and I never recovered.]
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic [Note: I didn’t need the basic until I lost confidence.]
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa with R-R hold only – open break and follower is brought forward and turned 1/2 counterclockwise with shoulder stop with L hand – then follower is led to go back while turning 1 1/2 clockwise with help of L hand lead
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L connection made above R-R as leader gets into cross body position – follower is led to a 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn (it was recommended that L-L comes down first, then raised, with R-R raise trailing L-L raise
1,2,3,5,6,7 [note: at the start hold should be crossed with R-R on top] leader turns 1/2 clockwise on 1,2,3 and follower is led to turn full clockwise on 6,7,8 as leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise simultaneously with all connections intact – this should end with hammerlock for follower with L-L behind follower’s R waist [recommended footwork for leader was L foot to front L side as he starts turning on 1 with L-L low and R-R high, transfer weight to R foot on 2 as turn is completed, L foot cross over in front of R foot on 3, R foot cross over behind L foot on 5 as follower’s turn is led with leader also starts turning essentially simultaneously, weight on L foot on 6 as turning motion is continued, and R foot into normal position as turn is completed on 7)
1,2,3,5,6,7 another Copa (open break and L-L is gradually raised from waist level to chest level and all arms outstretched on 3/4) ending with leading follower into traveling counterclockwise full turn with R-R high to end in neck wrap
1,2,3,5,6,7 bring follower out of the wrap (1/2 clockwise) with L-L pointing forward on follower’s new line (leader is positioned in (open?) cross body position by 3 and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn

Mauro & Eva had planned for at least two more bars of routine, which were not used. In fact, the last bar above was shown just once and discarded in favor of something arguably simpler. I entered the original version here because it made no difference to me either way and I was practicing the original “ending” during the class and thereafter. I think the rest of the routine involved turning 180 or 360 to get into cross body followed by allowing follower to do a shine. I liked today's material quite a lot.

Another big Cambridge contingent was present at SOS tonight – ten or eleven altogether including a few first-timers. Either way, it’s a new record. My party contributed 3 of 10 or 11.

SOS is back at the Mary Ward Hall for the first time in couple of months. I think it was more crowded than usual tonight.

There was a couple of performances tonight – both quite enjoyable. One was by Leon Rose & Susana Montero. Another was a Spanish couple (Nico & somebody?) involving a 28 year old and a 72 year old.

Dancing was fine for me tonight. I felt a little nervous in the beginning, and I don’t think I ever quite got into it even when things were going pretty well. Improvisation was working well – at least during the early hours. By all rights, I should have felt better about tonight than I really did considering things like zero refusals for a dance, a few compliments, getting asked for a dance by a total stranger (even if she might have originally thought I was a beginner), etc. Too much thinking probably was responsible for this. There are some penalties for having a too sharp, hyperactive, inquisitive, critical, obsessive and introspective mind.

I had Serap watch one of my dances and give me a critique. Usual expected suspects showed up – not enough room for follower to style, facing away from follower too much, dodgy footwork (weight on wrong foot sometimes), one time looking my feet during a shine, rushing sometimes. There’s the posture issue, but I already was making some progress (or attempting one) on this matter. Probably the best way to see what needs changing is to videotape my dancing – if I could bear to watch such a thing and thus destroy whatever illusions I have about how great (ha ha!) a dancer I am. Kidding aside, I don’t have any grand illusion about how high my ceiling is for dancing – I just want to try to get better continually as long as I keep on doing whatever I am doing.

Other highlights. Teaching Serap leader’s routine for level-3 partner work tonight was one highlight. During the drive back to Cambridge, Serap (or was it Johnny?) recollected Mauro telling his class (level 3) last week in exasperation that 60% of the people in the class did not belong there. In this case, I would have to agree in principle with Mauro based upon what I have observed in level 3 in my last several visits – arguably I too didn’t belong at level 3 when I started taking their level-3 class. One caveat (pointed out by Serap, I think) is that there is a huge gap in level of difficulty between levels 2 and 3, which begs the question, “How does one go from one level to the other without a very rough transition?”

A side note. Tamambo really does have a very squeaky voice when miked up as some Salsa Mafia poster noted some time ago. I didn't really notice it during normal conversations.