Salsa Romantica at the LeL, St. Ives

February 17, 2006

Sally intermediate

1,2,3,5,6,7 basic closed hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead with 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn with L-R high
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break with L-R and approach follower on the right side with R hand on follower’s L shoulder (or was it just me who used this L hand on shoulder stuff?) and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling clockwise turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 switch to R-L open break? or was it cross body lead? and 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn for follower – bring R-L down so that it ends up behind follower’s R back waist – leader does hook turn ~7 (try to end so that getting into cross body position is easy for the next part) and switch to L-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 connect with R-R – cross body lead and 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn for follower to get back into open position
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead and into 1 1/2 traveling turn with R-L low throughout and L-R high temporarily for a wrap
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to 1 1/2 stationary clockwise turn with R-L on follower’s R shoulder (L-R could be behind leader’s head)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower forward and into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn with L-R going down and up
1,2,3,5,6,7 switch to crossed hold with L-L on top and into cross body lead and into Titanic
1,2,3,5,6,7,1,2,3,5,6,7 follower’s styling (R foot cross over L foot on 1, L over R on 2, R over L on 3, bring leader’s R hand to follower’s stomach, undulate, lead self into 1 1/2 clockwise turn to get back into open position) … as leader, you just let follower do whatever she wants
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader’s hat with L-L and cross body lead (with extra turn if desired)

The routine was fairly long but it felt like more of an improver level class compared to many of the Sally’s intermediate classes at Club Salsa last year. So not only do different teachers have different definition of intermediate, but a same teacher may use a different definition depending on the venue (or students). On second thought, maybe the difficulty of the material is the same and that I simply got better so that this routine feels like a piece of cake now. Now if harder stuff would just get easier to do consistently.

It seemed like most of the Cambridge regulars (and not a regular at LeL) who decided to venture out to LeL tonight might have been men rather than women. I could be wrong. Some people I haven’t seen for a long time are apparently regulars here.

The venue is very large. The dance floor takes up perhaps 1/3 of the floor space or perhaps less. The dance floor alone is essentially the same size as entire danceable surface (and not just the main floor) of Club Salsa. Some obstacles like pillars/beam exist to make the effective danceable area smaller; this is similar to Po Na Na Cambridge. Some parts of the floor were sticky, but it might have due to spilled drink and may not be a permanent problem.

There must have been at least 4 different DJs tonight of varying quality. There was a stretch of 4-8 songs I liked because it reminded me of SOS, but this stretch also included my 3 rejections for a dance in a row. I don’t think anyone else said no to me before or after - so it was just bad timing. Either that or I asked wrong people at wrong time. I didn't expect to hear New Swing Sextet (an oldie from 1969) (Also see links here. It is listed in Mr. Bongo's catalog) and wasn't able to find a dance partner of it. Oh well – a lot of good songs wasted. Even in London, there are people who don't like that song (My Favorite Things), possibly because they had bad experience with it or perhaps because it's overplayed there - I have no idea.

Joe Davids and his friends made an appearance – a mild surprise for me. They certainly made the evening more interesting although I really didn’t feel like I took full advantage of it. By the way, even if Joe’s dancing is nothing to write home about (he did a demonstration/show on-2), he does really well coming off as appearing considerate, caring and well-meaning towards other people. This shows off not just in his dancing but also in his interactions with people when not dancing as well. He certainly impressed heck out of me – it’s no surprise that he’s successful in the Salsa world. Assuming that the way I have seen him act is the way he is most of the time if not all the time (and I’m beginning to suspect that he’s like this most of the time – although I imagine that he must have some ruthless side too in order to be a successful businessman), he should have no problem extracting loyalty from his underlings and his customers. I also liked his friends a lot more than I did the first night – familiarity might have helped. Having said that, I still am not enthused with his music choices from last couple of times at Club Salsa.

Nobody's perfect. Vishal for one I think is amazing for having started and keeping up Club Salsa in a small market like Cambridge. However, when he comes in to substitute as the DJ, my gut reaction is, "Oh well. The music selection is going to get very limited. And he's going to use those annoying tricks like looping and fusing." Also, I'll never claim that I'm perfect.

In any case, maybe I should stop complaining and try not to be seen too critical. After all, having seen some of the other clubs in London other than SOS, I would venture to guess that Club Salsa stacks fairly well compared to many places in London. But hey - it could always get better!

For the most part, dancing tonight felt incomplete for me – parts were just not adding up although there were snippets of nice interesting moments – mostly me showing off. My dances do not have to be perfect – in my case, it never is (I always make some mistakes) – and not many evenings are magical; I just want it to be closer to perfect and more frequently magical. Oh well. I guess I’m being greedy because life is pretty good right now all things considered. Not to say that I live in the best of all possible worlds or that life is happiness indeed, I know of people who are envious of kind of life I have had - at least on paper and without a full context. Whatever. In any case, I might have to give myself another dose of SOS this weekend.