February 4, 2006
Morning workshops were alright. Afternoon workshops were horrible. Part of the reason for this may have been overcrowding in the afternoon workshops. [Or it might have been due to lack of food - added after dinner]
Workshop 1 – Intro to On-2 for Intermediate dancers on-1 (Michael Pottinger)
I was a little surprised to learn that they started the class by doing follower’s timing. I would have thought that this would make it even more difficult for leaders, but I found one follower saying that they had a more difficult job. I didn’t understand her reasoning behind this.
basic forward and back (followers timing)
1 R foot step slightly forward (overtake on once you get going)
2 L foot forward
3 weight on R foot
5 L foot back (further behind L foot) – there is less of a pause on 4 though
6 R foot back
7 weight on L foot
1 R foot overtake L foot (and repeat)
basic back to back (followers timing)
2 L foot backwards (so for leader starting back-to-back, this move should be initiated with his R foot rather than L foot as is done in on-1)
3 weight on R foot
5 L foot together (again note there being less of a pause on 4)
6 R foot backwards
7 weight on L foot
1 R foot together
Conversely, going back to forward and back, leader should start new move using his R foot.
Side to side basic (followers timing)
2 L foot to side L (leader initiates side-to-side starting with his R foot once again)
3 weight on R foot
5 L foot together
6 R foot to side R
7 weight on L foot
1 R foot together
Pivot turn (followers timing)
2 L foot forward
3 start turning with R foot pointing backwards
5 finish turning and regain balance if needed
6 R foot backward
7 weight on L foot
1 R foot together
Changing directions.
I’m not going to bother with this one because I’m not sure what it is really useful for. I’m also going to skip one other footwork involving inside-to-outside slides.
Pause and go (or something like it… recorded below is a double pause and go version – again follower’s timing)
2 L foot forward
3 weight on R foot
5 L foot back together (slightly overtake)
6 R foot back
7 weight on L foot
1 R foot together (I found it easier to not place weight on this foot)
2 R foot back
3 weight on L foot
5 R foot together (again placing no weight might be good idea here)
6 R foot back
7 weight on L foot
1 R foot together (overtake)
They did not cover leader’s timing until they got into partner work. This resulted in surprisingly few difficulties for the class.
Cross body lead
6 L foot forward
7 R foot in place (could start turning)
8/1 L foot together as leader is positioned into cross body position (equivalent to 3/4 on-1)
1/2 follower is led forward and any turn is initiated after follower gets across leader
5 feet together facing follower
6 L foot forward
There was a pivot turn done immediately after cross body lead too. I won’t bother recording this as I don’t think it needs any more explanation.
It was amusing to see the instructor get confused with his on-2 timing now and then.
Workshop 2 – Shines for Intermediate on-1 (Neeraj Maskara)
I think 70-80% of the class was made up of followers. Strange. Style of shine was slightly different than the ones from SOS, but I thought it was pretty nice.
1,2,3,5,6 basic
7 R foot slide wide to R
1 weight on L foot (initiate hip swing clockwise starting from L)
2 weight on R foot
3 L foot cross over in front of R foot
5 L foot back in position as was in beat 1
6 weight on R foot (swing)
7 weight on L foot (swing)
8 R foot cross over in front of L foot
1 L foot to side L
2 weight on R foot (swing)
3 L foot cross over in front of R foot
5 L foot back in position as was in beat 1
6 weight on R foot
7 L foot cross over in front of R foot while turning 1/2 clockwise
8/1 continue turning 1/2 clockwise into Suzy Q
2 Suzy Q
3 Suzy Q
5 R foot slightly to forward R
6 weight on L foot
7 R foot cross over in front of L foot
1,2,3,5,6 basic (starting with L foot crossing over in front of R foot on 1)
7/8 kick with R foot and L foot on heel in front pointing to R then to L
1 L foot to side L
2 R foot cross over in front of R foot to L
3 L foot cross over behind R foot to L back into normal position
5 weight on R foot
6 kick to R with L foot and back in place
7 R foot cross over in front of L foot
1 basic forward starting with L foot crossing over in front of R foot on 1 – it might be better to start with a full basic to start with
2 R foot cross behind L foot
3 R foot to R into normal position
4 L foot swing motion to help turn 1/2 counterclockwise
5 weight on L foot
6/7 side football kick with R foot to turn 3/4 counterclockwise
8 on heels to turn 1/4 clockwise
1,2,3 all the time forward basic
5/6 R foot cross over behind L foot and initiate 5/8 counterclockwise turn
7 R foot back
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic (starting with L foot crossing over in front of R foot while turning 1/4 clockwise)
No real lunch break was done. Too bad – now I’m really hungry (as of ~5 PM). I hung around with some London crowd after failing to get any of the Cambridge crowd into taking any action.
I considered doing Bachata workshop until seeing that the class was going to be very full. So I turned around and went to another workshop. Big mistake.
Workshop 3 – Turn patterns Intermediate on-1 (Super Mario)
I estimate that of 30 or so followers I met in this class, maybe 3 were capable of learning the routine. After 5-6 followers and two elbows in the face, I was getting leery. This was followed by a stretch of 7 or so followers who couldn’t spin fast enough and couldn’t avoid self-leading when I tried to place a basic in to get back into correct timing. I did get a very welcome but a very short break with a familiar and very capable follower. Unfortunately, another 7 or so completely hopeless followers came next.
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead into open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower into stationary double clockwise turn ending in hammerlock
1,2,3 open break and bring follower around into a wrap (R-L on follower’s front L waist) while leader gets behind follower
5,6,7 bring follower straight back with R-L go around follower letting go L-R from her L with a counterclockwise turn to face her
1,2,3,5,6,7 into cross body position (toss L-R 45 degree away from leader on 2 to turn follower around slightly and make L-L connection on 3) – lead follower into traveling full counterclockwise turn stopping her turn with hand on her R shoulder with R hand
1,2,3 let follower go forward on 1 and back in place (slight clockwise turn towards leader with L-L) on 2,3 while readjusting R hand position on follower’s shoulder
4,5,6,7 using R hand on follower’s shoulder lead follower to turn counterclockwise stationary on 4!!! (I think this was meant to be a double turn with follower ending up facing back towards the new line)
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L hat for leader and get into cross body lead position with normal hold, followed by leading 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn for follower with L-R high
1,2,3,5,6,7 pivot turn (clockwise full) for leader on 1,2,3 with L-R high – have palms facing away at the end of the leader’s pivot turn and lead follower into a stationary full clockwise turn on 5,6,7 ending in neck wrap facing each other and connect R-R at waist level
1,2,3,5,6,7 follower is turned around full counterclockwise stationary on 2 with R-R staying low – let go L-L and use R-R to lead follower forward on 5 and into a 1 1/2 traveling clockwise turn
There was a couple in front of me who were annoying me by not changing partners and creating additional confusion for followers to find me. I told them to move outside the circle but they simply moved away to a different part of the circle. I must have been wearing a very disgusted look by the end of the class because several people made comment to this effect. I also ran into the aforementioned London crowd, who advised to me to take only advanced classes and only with one trusty partner. Not a bad suggestion but not really workable this time around.
Next choice was between a Turn pattern on-2 improver class and Mens Shines and Styling. I think I made the wrong choice again.
Workshop 4 – Mens Shines & Styling (Mushi)
I left this class halfway through. It might have been from exhaustion and lack of food. It didn’t help that the crowd was getting larger (and taller). It was impossible for me to see the footwork from anywhere but the first few rows. I really couldn’t get the timing very well from Mushi’s descriptions, which I found a little murky. Breakdown of footwork and other body movements to timing was either weak or I just couldn’t concentrate anymore. Styling involved a lot of hand/arm movement, shoulder rolling, dipping down slightly, etc.
Some stranger I don’t recall seeing before stopped when we crossed paths to say hi and to tell me that she has to remember to get a dance with me tonight. Whoa! I’m pretty sure I didn’t dance with her last night and quite possibly any other time in the past. What happened? What made her say that? I did run into some more familiar faces (from my one trip to Bar Latina) and more people who claimed to remember me from my one trip to Ealing. I guess I am pretty easy to spot. I also have danced Salsa with at least 500 people by now in last 16 months (I don’t think it’s over 1000 but it might be close to 1000), and I certainly don’t remember faces of all of them.
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