Part 4 of the twenty week plan

March 6, 2006

Latin Collective Intermediate (Joe Davids with Russell)
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead double turn for follower with L-R with leader turning 1/2 clockwise on 7 with swivel turn and changing to R-R (keep R hand behind R waist throughout as it is where it ends up anyway) at leader’s back R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward on leader’s R side with L hand shown to follower very early to make connection by 3 (R-R goes over follower’s head as follower is brought forward and level with leader – it’s better if leader does not move back for leading purposes or look back until follower is level to avoid awkward collision of arm with follower’s face), then lead follower forward (2 o’clock) on 5 with L-L (R-R supposedly should not be used for leading – although I sometimes found myself doing this anyway) and bring follower into a wrap with full counterclockwise turn with L-L low and R-R over follower’s head
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to a stationary 1 1/2 clockwise turn with L-L kept low and R-R high and R-R hat for follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L is let go and R hand goes to top of follower’s vertebrae (not at neck level!) pointing down with full hand connection (as opposed to finger connection) – cross body lead with follower turning under arm 1 1/2 counterclockwise (I think follower’s neck bends towards R on 5 and is brought back to normal position as she turns – I’m not 100% sure)

Improver Class did basic Copa, Cuddle (in my opinion the difference between Copa and Cuddle was quite subtle with Copa being kept more straight in line/slot and with Cuddle involving bringing follower more off line and to R. For me, Cuddle was more difficult possibly because of its supposed Cuban origin. For whatever it’s worth, I think Cuban style is very nice too – I just don’t know how to do it well), and Copa fake.

I enjoyed the class as well as social dancing afterwards. I asked Joe about one of the song he used for the class and learned that the song is by Mongo Santamaria and is called Mongo Mambo – I think I’ve heard of this song title before. A Mongo Santamaria CD had not been particularly high on my list of wanted CD, but maybe I should reconsider.

I’m thinking I’m about 96-97% back health-wise.

Disclaimer. It’s quite possible that steadily improving health (although not quite perfect yet) is having an effect in my enjoyment of dancing etc. Without going into details, I could attest that happenings outside the Salsa Club (related or not) often has fair bit of effect on how much fun I have. However, one of the things I decided very early on when I started this blog was to keep my personal details outside Salsa out of it and to reveal very little about myself – I’m still doing this in some ways but not in other ways. One of the suggestions that were made to me regarding what I write about in this blog was to share my experiences (and impressions?) about what I learned as I learned Salsa while respecting other people's private lives. Because of privacy issues, I often try to be very vague or even misleading with what I write. Of course, if people witness what I write about, then they could sometimes guess who I am talking about even if I don’t name the person, but most of the times I think and hope that what I wrote was perfectly harmless. I know I’m not perfect, but I sincerely believe I that I try most of the time. People acting in "public" capacity were deemed okay to talk about - as long as it's not done maliciously. Finally, I add that my impressions and opinions sometime change or evolve over time - just like the way I dance change over time as I learn more things and experiment. Similarly, I don't think it should be surprising that the way I write and things I write about in this blog change over time - sometimes gradually and sometimes abruptly.

p.s. My copy of La-33 arrived in the mail - I had a little over one round of listening and enjoyed it a great deal. I'm sure Sergio Mejia would be pleased to hear this. I probably should update my collection list - 50 Latin CDs now…

[Addendum: To hear more context behind the Sergio Mejia comment, see here and here.]