SOS in crisis

February 19, 2006

Shine of the day (Level 3 – taught by the tall guy and Miriam)

1 L foot forward with R foot crossed behind L foot (no weight on R foot)
2 R foot back
3 L foot together
5 R foot back
6 L foot in place and R foot cross behind L foot (no weight on R foot)
7&8 R foot back and L foot cross in front of R foot (no weight on L foot)
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic
8 both feet slide backwards (keeping rest of the body staying in place for as long as possible)
1,2,3 basic
5 R foot back (pointing slightly to R?)
6 L foot slide long forward with R foot coming along
7,8 cha cha cha
1 L foot cross over in front of R foot
2 R foot slightly back
3 L foot slightly back and to L of R foot
4 R foot cross over in front of L foot
5 L foot slightly back
6 R foot to normal standing position
7 L foot cross over in front of R foot
1 R foot cross over in front of L foot
3 L foot cross over in front of R foot
5,6,7 R foot cross over in front of L foot while keeping weight on L foot and R foot slide to R and back to L and crossing over in front of L foot (arms can be pointing directions opposite of R foot at the same time)
1 start over (infinite loop)

Arm and body movement during the shine seemed fairly natural to me (aside from the last 5,6,7, which took a small amount of practice).

Partner work

1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead a stationary double clockwise turn for follower with L-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead ending with 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn for follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader’s pivot full clockwise turn followed by double stationary clockwise turn for follower with L-R and with leader turning 1/2 clockwise and switching to R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and R-R goes over follower’s head while making L-L connection in front and lead follower into traveling full clockwise turn with L-L low for a wrap (R hand can be used for this lead with it on follower’s R shoulder) – leader positioned slightly to R of follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and turn follower around 1/2 clockwise with switch to R-L and lead follower to free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn ending with leader’s L hand catching follower’s back reaching from her L side
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower forward and reach for follower’s back with R hand from her R side and lead her into traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn with leader also turning counterclockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 change the line by 180 and cross body lead

The next to last bit was voted over a simpler version. I tweaked my shoulder while trying this. Otherwise, this seemed like nothing more than a simple review of things I’ve seen many times. Maybe I’m also reaching a point of diminishing returns with Level 3 classes at SOS. The shine was piece of cake as well with caveat that just because I could do this in class setting does not mean I could lead the routine or do the shine with ease in social dance setting with fast tempo song.

I arrived at 6:45 PM in part because the organizers said that they plan to start classes at 6:45 PM this week. The classes started at 7 PM with another announcement that they will try to start the classes at 6:45 PM next week. Many of the people, whom I have come to enjoy dancing with at SOS, were absent tonight. While finding dance partners was not a problem still, they were missed. The music tonight was a little weird. They played TWO Bachata tracks as well as TWO Cha Cha Cha tracks. A small number of Salsa tracks were Cuban. After having been to some SOS nights with nothing but Salsa, this was a bit of a surprise and a turn-off for me. Because of Ray Barretto passing away this week, at least 3 Barretto tracks were played. I think I recognized two of the three (one was Indestructible, which is a bit too fast for my taste) – the DJ seemed to have chosen the fastest Barretto songs available. [note added later: Ray Barretto tracks were apparently Swing La Moderna, Indestructible, El Hijo de Obatala, and Que Viva La Musica.] They tried to make a tribute to Ray Barretto couple of times during the night, but it seemed to have caused more confusion than anything else – especially as to whether people were supposed to dance to these tribute songs or not. There were two birthday dances – also announced in a sloppy manner. There were all kinds of technical problems – including something like 20 seconds of total sound system failure. The volume of the music was never very high to begin with and it was further lowered during the last hour – actually make it last 3/4 hour because SOS decided to close 15 minutes early once again – like last week. It would seem that whatever soundproofing work they have done (if any) was not deemed sufficient. I wonder if things like early closure and forced lowering of the music volume caused some people to stay way this week. If the kind of problems that plagued SOS tonight were to continue, I think they’ll be in big trouble. As for me, I’m trying to cut down on my Salsa activities a little. With the problems continuing at SOS and also with M11 road works causing traffic delays, I feel a lot less inclined to return to SOS regularly – certainly not every week.

Despite it all, dancing was pretty good on the whole. However, I’m also beginning to notice a lot of sloppiness too. I guess I’m sloppy too but… As I was leaving, yet another person (someone I danced with for the first time) asked me whether I was going to be at Bar Salsa tomorrow night. Hmmm. I really ought to make time for Bar Salsa one of these days, but I really should try to cut down!

I’m going to be at Club Salsa on Monday and Thursday this week. This is by no means an endorsement or a statement to the effect that these two nights are better than others in Cambridge; I have my own reasons for finding these two nights particularly intriguing at the moment. As for other days of the week, my first priority will be work – meaning unless I will not shortchange or sacrifice work to go Salsa dancing.

Another thought… I wonder if I have been badmouthing various things about Salsa lately in order to help me cut down the amount of time I’m spending on going out dancing? Amusing thought, but probably wrong. My life-long training to be analytical and critical of everything is the real reason - that plus lack of discretion and time and inability to stop myself from flaunting and showboating and generally making a big spectacle of myself. As I said elsewhere, I'm going to take a break from being critical or overly negative for a little while.