Talk about obsession

March 10, 2006

Friday evening at Club Salsa. It's packed as usual. There are a lot of familiar faces - yet a lot of faces missing as well. I was told about another party/celebration elsewhere. Some no longer live in Cambridge. Some don't come as often as they used to. The fact that there are many nights of Salsa in Cambridge may be a contributing factor. Changes in style preference may be another factor. When I started learning Salsa in Cambridge about a year and half ago, Club Salsa was open on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays only, and Fridays attracted the most number of people as well as the best dancers. Fridays is still the most packed night of them all, but good dancers generally can count on finding quality dance partners they like as well as more room to dance on many other nights, including Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at Club Salsa. Even Sundays can be pretty good, especially for those who bring their own practice partners.

After just over a year and half, I seem to have become something of an old-timer and a fixture. I think I can count people who coming to Club Salsa in Cambridge at the same time as me (plus or minus 3 months) and is still a regular using just my two hands. I suppose this pattern is probably typical; of people who started learning Salsa in Cambridge in last 6 months, only a handful will stick around after 1-2 years. The absolute number of people who stay could be higher since there are a lot more people who are learning now compared to when I started. Also the standard of Salsa dancing the new people are seeing is arguably higher (by this I merely mean that there are a lot more spins and turn patterns based on CBL being used and not necessarily that people are dancing "better" or having more fun), so this probably will raise new people's expectations of "minimum" or "high" standard. It would not surprise me at all if much larger number of new people will become more proficient and comfortable with leading and following multiple spins, etc. between now and a year from now compared to people who started learning one year ago. After all, the larger size of the Salsa community and higher "normal" standard of London presumably have been the greatest factors in determining how much further and faster Londoners progressed compared to people in smaller communities like Cambridge.

In reality, I'm not an old-timer compared to quite a number of people who are still regulars. There are many people who have been dancing Salsa for 3+ years, 5+ years and even 10+ years in Cambridge. Ivan had mentioned in passing about the current scene being the most vibrant and liveliest since 2001. I have no idea how things were in 2001, but presumably this means many of the real old-timers were around to experience this "golden age". I suppose this may mean that I started learning Salsa in Cambridge during "dark ages", a "bust phase" or an interregnum. Ebb and flow. Who knows? Maybe in two years time, there will be a decline and fall of interest in Salsa in Cambridge. Nothing lasts forever. Another possibility is that the definition of "most vibrant and liveliest" is merely in the eye of the beholder. Some people probably consider the present scene inferior to one or two years ago - this might have more to do with celestial bodies rising and falling in the sky though. In any case, I should try to learn more about the Salsa scene in Cambridge around 2001.

I didn't dance as much as I typically do. This was noticed by at least one person. I'm not sure if this was because of lack of inspiration or desire to socialize more or feeling pensive. I guess all three contributed although they no doubt complete the story.

There was a case of mistaken identity, which had fooled me for about a month or possibly even longer. I was flabbergasted yet found the situation quite hilarious. This situation still needs rectifying.

I arrived fairly late (more work!) while Johnny and Serap left fairly early this evening, but we managed to share a good laugh over what little we managed to converse about.

There was an interesting exchange with Enrique about a song, which he liked a lot and which I found confusing and complicated rhythmically. He thought I might be paying too much attention to piano. Is this a common problem? I'm not sure if this explanation correctly or completely diagnose my confusion - I don't think I lock into a single instrument but rather try to listen to the structure of the song as a whole as Sergio once recommended to me. Sometimes I might pay more attention to one instrument or another depending on the song - I never really thought about the piano consciously. I might be paying attention to individual percussion instruments less than some people - I'm not sure. in any case, it's a very intriguing comment, which I may need to thought about more. If nothing else, I probably will be listening more carefully for the piano now (if I haven't been doing it already without realizing it). There are definitely songs I find easier than others, and songs that makes me a little nervous because of transitions or false expectations of transitions, etc.

[Addendum: I have this song (or at least one version of it) in my collection. "Avisale a Mi Contrario" performed by Tabaco y Ron. It took me couple of days to realize this and few more to confirm it.]

As for my dancing, I think it's getting quite … baroque. Possibly a better word is irregular. Exploratory is probably appropriate, and spontaneous is another possibility. Some might say it's getting a character or personality. It certainly keeps evolving. Some or all of the above may apply. I certainly have been doing a lot of improvising without really being sure that it would work for the follower (and trying the same new things with different dance partners to see if it works with others). Many of my dance partners now trust my leads completely (to the point where they apologize even when my lead felt a little dubious often because of hesitation - I always try to tell them that my lead was a little weird but I don't know if this always gets communicated with loud music and my soft voice) and simply think that I'm just doing something proper that they're not familiar with. In case this is wrongly taken to mean that my dance partners should start consider my leads dubious, I should add that it's almost always best and probably more enjoyable for both if the follower trusts the lead and follow it rather than being doubtful, which could lead to self-leading, etc. I think most of the improvisation must be okay because my partners usually move in the directions I'm leading them and seemingly without struggling. For a long time, I thought my footwork was my strong point while leading with my hands was my weak point. Now I find my hands reliable most of the time but my feet sometimes would feel dodgy, especially when I feel a need to concentrate extra on leading a partner who's not feeling confident for whatever reason while still leading more complicated turn patterns. I also do some funny things with my feet when I'm feeling completely comfortable - it's possible that all those shine works have made me feel that I could play around with normal footwork or that I sometimes do it out of boredom or something about the music inspired me to do it - whether it was appropriate or not. I suppose it's fine for now, but it might come back to bite me if I were to try to go back to the basics in order to put additional layers and refinements. I don't know if I'm right to think this but I sometimes wonder if the easiest solution is to learn to dance on-2, which might force me to go back to basic footwork.

Someone mentioned to me that my descriptions of turn patterns were useful. Wow. All this time, I thought it did not help anyone but me. I also wondered if anyone was able to decipher it. I guess it would help the most the person who took the same class as me.

Possibly because of my mention of owning 50 Latin CDs (as well as frequent mention of song names), I'm now beginning to get questions about songs being played at the moment, etc. Of course, all the DJs in Cambridge (even if they're not professionals) have more Salsa music than I do. At best, one out of ten songs that gets played at Club Salsa is in my collection. It's possible that I have the biggest collection in Cambridge other than DJs and teachers. It's probable that I have purchased more Latin CDs in last quarter year compared to everyone else in Cambridge. I'm guessing that this rate of CD buying is not going to last.

Disclaimer. I think some of what I write is pretty fascinating - at least to me. I guess some others find it interesting too since they take time to read it. Of course, there are many possible motivations for people checking it out - I don't know all the reasons and I might prefer not to know some of the reasons. Personally, I find it more comforting if less people read it because I equate larger audience with more controversy, which I like to avoid. Writing longer entries probably gives me more rope to hang myself (as well as keeping me away from doing other stuff), but sometimes I'm just compelled to go on. One person suggested that I was venting at other people. I like to think that I don't other people maliciously as a habit, but writing certainly can be therapeutic and relieve tension sometimes. Not always - sometimes it's a struggle to write something remotely satisfactory.