Tentative yet wild

March 23, 2006

Sally Intermediate

1,2,3,5,6,7 Basic Mambo
1,2,3,5,6,7 Cross body lead (CBL) with follower’s neck flick styling
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward and exchange places (somewhat like Enchufe but linear) with L-R going over follower’s head briefly – keep tension to bring follower back (similar to around the world like footwork for follower maybe?) to CBL position on 7/8
1,2,3,5,6,7 pivot turn (~3/4) for leader to get into open cross body position and switch to R-R (follower behind and to right of leader) – lead follower forward on 5 and into a traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn with R-R ending low
1,2,3,5,6,7 make L-L connection and pivot turn for leader (1/2 clockwise) on 1,2,3 – lead follower to a full stationary clockwise turn led with R-R high with leader turning at the end to face the follower (end with crossed hold with L-L on top)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward (reverse CBL) with her turned around half counterclockwise by 3/4 (L-L going over follower’s head and R-R kept low throughout) and continue to lead follower into a traveling counterclockwise turn (with leader traveling along with the follower) with L-L ending in a neck wrap for follower and R-R wrapped around follower’s waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare (using R-R slightly towards leader) and lead follower forward and into traveling 1 1/2 clockwise turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 tricky bit here (not sure if I needed more practice, followers who could turn faster or better ability to multitask or something else) – open break and lead follower forward like reverse CBL but with L-L going over leader’s head (relax shoulders here) as follower overtakes on 3/4 – follower is turned around 1 1/2 clockwise (lead might be L-L lowered and R-R high to turn follower as leader turns full counterclockwise to end in reverse Titanic (if leader turns too early, it’ll be painful for the follower – if leader waits too long to do a safe turn, next sequence gets very messy)
1,2,3,5,6,7 release L-L open break and turn follower full clockwise on 2,3 and hook turn for leader
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R hat for follower and end with CBL

It was somewhat of an off night for me once again although there still were several enjoyable dances. Consistency was hard to come by, and I think I might have been a little out of control at times too. There was even a collision with one of my partner’s elbow that left my nose bloodied. By the time I got around to try to practice tonight’s lessons much later in the evening, I had forgotten most of it. Progress is so incremental. I suppose it’s better to have an off night tonight and have a good night on Saturday instead.

Sally noted and helped to correct a posture issue while doing around the world type move during the second hour - it might have been the beyond beginner's class.

Ivan confirmed to me that Guildhall event this Saturday will be held in the big hall. There are no tickets being sold in advance in Cambridge; we’re not sure about London. The level of anticipation (as well as anxiety) seems pretty high.

Ivan and I are still talking about writing something about tension. It feels like everyone’s talking about tension all of sudden – although I suppose it could be that my ears have been sensitized and now perk up whenever the topic comes up. It’s a struggle to write about in part because I want it to be fairly comprehensive and perhaps even authoritative, but I don’t feel all that confident about having or perhaps even knowing the right level of tension needed. Another way of saying this might be that I have an opinion on it, but I’m not sure if it’s correct and I’m not sure if there is a universally correct opinion. It’s also not good at all that I suspect that vast majority of people including those who have been dancing Salsa for quite a while do not have right level of tension. Moreover, even after a fairly extensive talk about tension in the class, few people establish what seem to me reasonable level of tension and (almost) everyone forget about it within 10-20 minutes. So what's needed here? I suppose large quantity of practice is always a good prescription (as Edie suggested, it's quantity that matters not quality?). Keeping a clear and consistent message and repeating it until it sticks for good might be good too. Who knows for sure?

I am invited to guest DJ tomorrow (Friday) night at Club Salsa. I have Salsa and Bachata in my music collection but not Merengue. Vishal will have to supply Merengue if he wants it played.