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January 25, 2006

I started talking to people at Club Salsa about the Tony & Claudia Bachata and Salsa workshops again. Logistics for the workshop is difficult but it makes sense in other ways. The fact that Brit Salsafest is held immediately before the Cambridge workshops is both good and bad - perhaps more good than bad.

The fact that so many people in Cambridge are going to the Brit Salsafest means that many people will have an opportunity to participate in the Bachata workshop in Blackpool. The Blackpool workshop should be geared toward beginners and improvers. The Blackpool workshop is also going to be very heavily attended; well over 100 and possibly over 300 people will be crammed into the Pavillion (no wood floor?) - thus there will be little opportunity for personal attention in Blackpool. An intimate small Cambridge workshop immediately thereafter should be a slam dunk in theory. I suspect that people who attended both Bachata workshops last time also could benefit from doing one more workshop - I know I would despite having done both workshops and getting Tony & Claudia's Bachata DVD.

Tony & Claudia's Salsa workshop should be interesting although I'm not sure what to expect from it. People who were at their previous visit were very impressed with Tony's Salsa dancing. I can't say I know much about Tony's Salsa dancing because I was so busy dancing with everyone non-stop that night in order to keep as many people occupied so that they would not leave too early. On the other hand, I danced couple of times with Claudia (both that night and afterwards), and I can vouch that she is by far the most impressive follower I have ever danced with - feather-light touch with amazing balance and responsiveness (some described it as dancing with air). There are people who seem more interested in the Salsa workshop than the Bachata workshop. However, I expect and hope that Bachata workshop will be booked to near limit while the Salsa workshop is half-full. My reasoning for this is a little selfish because it would be nice to have an even smaller Salsa workshop for more personal attention. We shall see how it ends.

In some ways, a bigger stumbling block for the Bachata and especially Salsa workshop is that there are so many people teaching Salsa on Mondays now. I had forgotten about some of the new classes, which sprung up recently, as well as people who are involved in teaching as assistants in other places, including the Long Road Sixth Form College, Soul Tree and the LeL. This led me to make a faux pas in inviting people who are already preoccupied and are in "competing" position. Ooops. Sorry.

I just noted that Sally has a new website design. Very chic. Classy-looking. A very nice update.

Dancing today was uneven - I never quite found my comfort zone although I came close a few times. Maybe I had too long a break. There's always tomorrow. I look forward to tomorrow.

I had a chance to talk to Ivan about the workshops at the Brit Salsafest. Like me, he is of the opinion that too much turn patterns workshop would be counterproductive. Like me, he was annoyed with the way body movement classes were organized. I'll have to think more about how to schedule myself - possibly after consulting another expert.