Brit Salsafest 8 - Final thoughts

February 8, 2006

I finally had a restful sleep Tuesday night - possibly the first one in almost 2 weeks. I can't say everything is back to normal - is it ever? But the level of excitement, anxiety, expectations and apprehension is no longer extreme. Sense of fatigue is being replaced slowly by calm, which allows me to reflect back upon Brit Salsafest from a distance.

This was my first Salsa congress so I have no idea how it compares to other Salsa congresses. It was unlike any other kind of vacation I have experienced. I suppose this isn't saying very much (even to or at least to myself) because I don't use vacations very much either. Even with free tickets in hand, I wasn't always completely sure that I would go to this congress - I wasn't sure if I was going to have fun. In the end, I went with some prodding from others telling me to go and try to enjoy the experience. And I did have great deal of fun - possibly more than anyone else who was there. Certainly there were times when I felt annoyed or bored or feeling less than my best, but I imagine that everyone else had a little bit of the same - if not, congratulations to those who had even more fun than I did. Other people who have been to other Salsa congresses may have better perspective or perhaps more jaded view. For me, memories of the first Brit Salsafest will have a special place in my heart.

I think I had about 100 dances altogether (range = 85-115). I had perhaps 3 dances with people from Cambridge, 1 dance with someone I met in my Bar Latina trip, 1 dance with someone I apparently met in my Ealing trip, and several dances with people I met at SOS. I danced more than once with same person probably less than 10 times. This means I probably danced with approximately 75 completely new dance partners. Is dancing with small number of people (or even one person) many times better than dancing with many people small number of times? I don't know - maybe I will be able to give an opinion if I ever get a desire and an opportunity to try the other way. I enjoyed vast majority of my dances, and I daresay vast majority of people I danced with gave me an impression that they enjoyed dancing with me.

I can't say I did much socializing outside of dancing. It's impossible for me to make others have fun and enjoy themselves although I could hope that people I interacted with felt better for having interacted with me rather than worse (either through dancing or interacting in other ways).
Aside from three dinners, I think I only had conversations that lasted more than 30 seconds cumulative with maybe dozen people - less than half with people from Cambridge. I guess this is … typical.

Of all Salsa celebrities present at the Britfest, the only one who made an impression on me for social dancing was Edie the Salsafreak. Until now, I have seen a number of British Salsa celebrities (e.g. Leon Rose, Laith Sami, Susana Montero and other teachers at SOS) dance socially, which left me no impression other than that they can do complex moves with precision and style; they’re all very good but I never felt that I wanted to dance like them. Now I don’t want to dance like Edie the Salsafreak either, but she most certainly brought something extra to the table. I’m not quite sure how to define it – maybe an attitude or perhaps better yet an exquisite style and elegance in expressing or acting out upon some attitudes. I was quite amazed to see her “kill” her dance partners simply by giving him a certain look or posing without any movement. I was too absorbed in my own dances to look at teachers or performers social dancing, but when I noticed a guy breaking out in hysterics every 10 seconds while dancing with Edie, I stopped and watched for good two or three minutes. It didn’t exactly inspire me to ask her for a dance (I’m pretty sure she would have danced with me, but what would have been the point? I don’t think I would have danced with her any differently with her as I would have with any other competent followers, and I probably have a better chance of giving a memorable or special dance with a normal person rather than a celebrity.), but it certainly made me think, “Whatever it is that she is doing, it sure is very impressive.”

[note added later: Serap recollected attending a class taught by Edie, at which Edie apparently told the class to smile when leader is doing something simple but not to smile when leader is asking for something difficult. It somehow fits.]

Photographs of some Cambridge people dancing at Brit Salsafest are now displayed at londonsalsa.co.uk. I seemed to have managed to make myself scarce from the londonsalsa.co.uk photographer - probably by dancing in the middle of the dance floor most of the time rather than in the periphery. I recognize other people as well - both teachers and social dancers based in London, including my mystery guest. I got a free bottle of water, a dance and perhaps some goodwill and/or karma out of my spare ticket.

Workshops - Quick summary

Michael Pottinger - Intro to on-2. Generally well done intro. 8/10

Neeraj Maskara - Shines intermediate on-1. Fairly easy but still interesting. 7/10

Super Mario - Turn patterns intermediate on-1. Well taught but only 10% of followers could follow. 4/10 (teaching gets 8/10 but the most of the rest of the class gets 1/10 for being way over their head). I should have done Bachata instead.

Mushi - Men's shine and styling on-1. His style of teaching did not work for me. I might have been too tired and hungry, and I walked out on this one. I should have done on-2 with Lee & Shelley instead (see below). 3/10 (benefit of doubt given because of my poor conditions)

Lee & Shelley - Turn patterns improver on-2. Nice and clean. Just what the doctor ordered. 8/10

Nicky & Gormack - Shines advanced on-1. I was really looking forward to Tony Lara (Oh well - I did get an opportunity the next night). Decent replacement and gave me some challenges. 7/10

Susana Montero - Shines and body movement improver on-1. Body movement section was alright. Shine without the body movement was simple. She gave very detailed instructions. 7/10

Mushi - Turn patterns improver on-2. This guy is insufferable; he tells too many jokes and does not do enough teaching. He loves basking in the spotlight and showboating. I felt like walking out once again but stuck it out. I'd never take a class with him again. 2/10

Sacuye - Turn patterns advanced on-1. This probably was the best workshop of the weekend. The level of difficulty was not an order higher than Super Mario Intermediate. I loved the sound effect made by the woman instructor in lieu of counting. Most of the followers were okay. 9/10

[modified February 9, 2006]