Brit Salsafest 2 – jumble of thoughts

February 3, 2006

The internet connection at the Carlton Hotel was strange. They told me that my room didn’t have wi-fi access but that I could use it in public rooms. However, I found out initially that I could use it in my room but not in the public area later. The hotel management tried to be helpful (they gave me three different accounts) but never found a satisfactory solution for the public area. No big deal for me as I managed to find a way once I returned to my room with some fiddling, but someone without some computer savvy might have struggled.

Registration process at the Brit Salsafest was a bit chaotic. It seemed that people who booked as a large group in advance got the shortest end of the straw; some of them ended up waiting over 30 min to get their wristbands because they seemed to insist upon everyone picking up their wristbands as opposed to group leaders getting the wristband for the entire group. I thought only the group leader needed to be present to pick up the wristband. In my case, I had been told to go to the helpdesk by e-mail on Wednesday whereas I was really supposed to go to the guest/artists line. In either case, picking up of my wristband was relatively straightforward and easy – perhaps too much so (I better not say why though).

Dinner was at a Tex/Mex place just outside the Winter Gardens with Johnny & Serap. Not exactly authentic, but I had pretty much expected this from Blackpool (actually it probably would have been like this everywhere in the UK). Johnny & Serap went back to the hotel after the meal while I decided to stay around in Winter Gardens.

I think I might have been a part of the third couple to get on the dance floor. My dancing was from about 9:40 PM to 2:20 AM. I probably had about 30-40 dances altogether; 4 or 5 by request. Everyone seemed friendly; Maybe 2-3 people said no to a dance presumably because they were total beginners. About 15% of my dances were with beginners, 75% of the dances were with people who ranged from a bit below my level to possibly just above my level, and 10% were with people who impressed the heck out of me. I thought the last 10% seemed friendly and didn’t mind dancing with me at all – one was gracious enough to give me compliments after completing a dance that she told me in advance probably will have to be cut short. In another case, my brain was fried by a maneuver that I never saw coming. Yet another was marred by an unexpected transition to cha cha cha. (Thanks DJ Mario. I didn’t enjoy being surprised tonight. Maybe I would be more receptive next time around AFTER I learn to dance cha cha cha properly on-2 as opposed to CDC ballroom cha cha cha on-1.) One other notable dance was with someone I mistakenly thought was from New York. She claimed to be able to dance on-2 only, so I tried a little to dance on-2 for my very first time with embarrasing results. By the end of the evening, I was a goner - some of the last dances were danced on fumes only. Even though I recall remembering dancing over 40 dances at Club Salsa once in December, I think the energy level of the two were quite different.

The shows were alright although the MCs talked too much. I was left cold by all non-couple performances – it could be about personal preference rather than dancers abilities. I enjoyed all performances done with one man and one woman. However, I might add that I am not all that impressed by good dancing by professional dancers or big-time teachers. I think it’s often more interesting and impressive to see a really good social dancing.

The main dance hall was great. The amount of space, especially before 11 PM, was amazing. Sound was pretty good although there was a major hiccup during the time when SuperMario was DJing.

It’s interesting to note that people I remember from SOS now think of me as being a familiar face here at Blackpool.

I can’t believe how blind I was. Now I know the identity of someone I should have known for a while now. One of the problems was that I misheard the name used for this person once. I’ll have to try to say hello when I get a chance.

I also got to meet another mystery person and friends. The mystery person turned out to be a complete stranger, but I remembered that I actually saw one of the friends several days ago as I was getting ready to leave the dance floor tonight.

If starting a blog that was supposed to be private but became overblown by forces beyond his control leads to excessive obsessive-ness about the subject of the blog, can I think of something else that someone might to that would indicate even a greater obsessive-ness? Let’s just say that I was suitably impressed.