The king is back

January 5, 2006

Ivan & Sally Intermediate

1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead with 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn for follower ending in R-R hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to a double clockwise turn leading with R-R but also using L-L for touch and go – end with L-L on top of R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break (dramatic) on 1,2,3 and in place on 5,6,7 while repositioning L-L -have L-L positioned on the right side of leader’s body with palm facing the follower and fingers (or at least the digit closest to palm) pointing to left
1,2,3,5,6,7 give hat for follower with L-L (follower’s L arm should be over her right shoulder while leader’s L arm should be over her left shoulder) on 1,2,3 (plenty of time) and lead follower to turn full clockwise while leader turns full counterclockwise (both in place or stationary)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break into reverse cross body (arms fully extended version) and lead follower to right (thus not in-and-out) and into a free 1 1/2 clockwise turn (2 1/2 if Sally chooses so) and leader does a free clockwise turn also and close in to get R hand on follower’s back shoulder for …
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead end with open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower into double turn ending with hammerlock (L-R high lead)
1,2,3 open break (very small step on 1) and step forward and to left on 2 and L foot cross over on 3 to get around follower and be back-to-back (it really helps to be keep distance very close here)
5,6,7 step back on 5 and lead with L-R to start bringing follower around (my left) and in front of and facing me by 6 while keeping R-R high and lead follower to a single or double turn during 6,7,8
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic
1,2,3,5,6,7 (optional) cross body lead with turning follower around half counterclockwise on 3,4 before finishing cross body lead – of course starting close together R foot goes behind follower on 3 as the turn (as a unit) is initiated

During lunch today, someone told me that Club Salsa is a scary place to dance Salsa. By this I think he meant that there are many good dancers who are at several levels beyond his ability and that he finds this intimidating. It took me quite some time before I started to dance on Fridays at Club Salsa because of the same reason. When I was starting out, beginners like me were able to dance without much better dancers dominating the dance floor on Wednesdays at Club Salsa and Mondays at Po Na Na. With Po Na Na out of equation for Salsa (which my friend at lunch noticed also) and Wednesdays to Fridays heavily frequented by “experts,” I wonder if not-so-good beginners are being squeezed out (or perhaps driven out to suburbs) and if this will lead to lack of infusion of new blood and cause decline in Salsa in Cambridge in the long run. A scarier fact is that the kind of things people do nowadays dancing at Club Salsa is arguably more complex and intricate compared to when I was starting out about 1 1/4 year ago, and standards are still being raised. I’m all for rising standards but I do wonder if it will be difficult to maintain high level of dancing at a tiny venue like Club Salsa if it is to be a place where everyone who dances looks like an expert and if there is no place beginners and improvers to get quality teaching with time and room to practice.

Ivan looks even better on the dance floor than I remembered. Maybe it’s because I know more than before but I think it also is possible that he used his Madagascar trip to improve his dancing even more. Of course he has been doing it four times as long as I have (as he helpfully keeps reminding me). Then again I also think there are people who have been dancing for one-fourth the amount of time I have yet is arguably as good as or is even better than me in many ways. Everyone (or everyone worth watching) is trying to get better always so that they can get ahead or at least not fall behind too much; it is how life works.

One of my predictions for 2006 is already going astray. We’ve had two nights of Salsa dancing at Club Salsa thus far this year, and both nights featured people dancing on-2 (some with ease and some with a bit of struggling). Are these people trying to prove me wrong or something? I also may need to adjust my statement regarding the number of on-2 dancers in Cambridge so that it reads, “The number of people who can lead on-2 in Cambridge can be counted in one hand.” Who knows? Maybe I’m wrong about this too.

I talked to a few people about the Tony & Claudia tonight. I'm still worried about the proposed date being the day after the end of Brit Salsafest. On one hand, many of the biggest Salsa fanatics in Cambridge will be at the Salsafest and thus likely will be too exhausted to do anything the day after. On the other hand, many of the people who will be going did not attend last time. Heck, it is still conceivable that I will go to the Salsafest. There will be more talking Friday.