April 29, 2006
The phone rang at 11 AM. I got up and fished out the phone from my trouser pocket. As I predicted, it was Sergio calling to confirm. I said I will be ready in an hour.
I checked mail as I was getting ready. There was one international delivery for a CD by a Toronto-based Salsa band. There was just enough time for a quick import into my iPod and quick sampling of some of the songs. As I made my way to meet Sergio, my reaction to a certain special song was, "Mmm. This is more of a change of pace song. It's certainly not a big crowd pleaser and not for intense dancing. When would be appropriate time and situation to play this?" I guess I'm a bit wary of big crowd pleasers right now so not being a crowd-pleaser is not bad by my book. Also how many people are there for intense dancing? Heck, what do I know of intense dancing, and what does it mean anyway? Still, this is going to be a really big challenge for me.
I arrived at 12:05 PM. One of the first things I noticed was the big mirror on the floor. The mirror was bigger than I expected - a bit of overkill for practicing body movement, but I suppose a big mirror is handy for getting more than one person in the frame. Perhaps this was because of minor distortions but I think I ended up trying not to look at the mirror as much as possible and try to move by feel and how it corresponded to verbal descriptions and instructions given.
Approximately one half to two thirds of ~3 hour session (not including 20-30 minute break) was spent on exercises designed to do Mambo basic better. I don't think I should describe them - at least not until I am pretty certain that what I write is accurate. It does involve a lot of pushing against the ground with the balls of feet while avoiding placing weight on the heels. Sergio warned me that my feet will feel pretty sore by the end. I wouldn't say that they are sore now but they certainly were given a workout and I can feel it.
I discovered that I'm horrible at balancing standing on one feet - especially with weight on balls of my feet only (but I was stumbling with all of my feet firmly planted as well). Unfortunately, Sergio couldn't think of any exercise for staying in balance. Sergio commented, "No wonder you have such difficulty with broken left turn." Maybe it was not enough food - I did feel a bit feint walking after having lunch after the end of the session.
[Interlude 1: I stop typing to get up to test this idea. I'm not perfectly steady but am not wobbling as much standing on one foot now.]
[Interlude 2: I remembered that I was doing this with my shoes off earlier. I tried again with my shoes off. It's much more difficult now to stay balanced. Interesting... Maybe it's the extra padding… Yup, balancing is easier with normal shoes or with dancing shoes.]
By the way, Sergio said it's easier to observe what's going on with my feet wearing white socks (as opposed to black ones). Next time…
Some time was spent discussing some partner work - not exactly by design but prompted by me talking about some moves I have been leading or trying to lead recently and have noticed some difficulty with. Recently taught Copa move from this week (and also discussed last night) was the starting point, and this expanded into Copa and Copa fakes in general. Interestingly, Sergio had least amount of objection to the way I was leading this week's Copa. However, he disliked pretty much every other way I was leading Copa and Copa fakes. One particular Copa fake was considered particularly bad - I now wonder if the instruction was okay but if I misinterpreted it poorly (I could see this scenario unfolding in retrospect because of some subtleties tricky to follow in a group class with most people being unclear with proper level of tension). I have been using this Copa fake regularly with most people not complaining, but there were occasional highly surprising misses, which prompted me to bring it up to Sergio. Open break (tension issue) and around-the-world lead was briefly touched upon (not sure what led to the latter).
During the break, music was the main topic (which reminds me that I still need to break down different percussion instruments) - mainly about danceable music. While on the topic I decided to give my new CD a whirl. Sergio had couple of reactions I found funny such as, "It sounded okay until the vocals came on," and "I could picture Ivan dancing to this." Sergio as many people know is a tough critic so this should be taken with grain of salt. In fact, he considers many songs I enjoy either dull or terrible. I might add that it's often better not to know lyrics of many Salsa and Bachata music - it might be just too … special. Incidentally I guess there is something called "Toronto Style Salsa" if liner note is to be believed. I wonder how it compares to "London Style Salsa."
I guess the next time I see guinea pigs numero uno and dos, I'll have some fun things to relate and commiserate with.
Battle of the DJs
April 28, 2006
The regular mixer at the DJ booth was not reinstalled by the time I got there, and the first two CDs I put on did not work properly with the replacement mixer. Combined with lack of time to get acquainted with the replacement mixer, I was feeling tense, nervous and annoyed. I was not exactly pleased about Vishal’s suggestion that two of us take turns alternating as DJs several times over the evening. I guess the idea of alternating was fine in itself, but the last minute change of arrangements rattled me. For a moment or two, I even considered telling Vishal to take over for the whole night because my nerves were frayed. I think it took me over an hour to start relaxing and begin to enjoy things a little.
Playlist Part 1
Soledad – La 33 (1)
Esa Muneca – Willie Rosario
Porque Adore – Markolino Dimond (+5%) (2)
Mama Guela – Poncho Sanchez (3)
Mi Mujer Es Una Bomba – Oscar D’Leon (4)
El Pito – Isidro Infante (5)
Estoy Caliente – Tabaco Y Ron
Rumba Del Barrio – Luisito Rosario
Cielo De Tambores – Grupo Niche (6)
Quinto Sabroso – Joe Cuba Sextet (-5%) (7)
Acabo De Llegar – Tabaco Y Ron (8)
Puerto Rico – Eddie Palmieri
Descarga La Moderna – Ray Barretto (-5%) (9)
Mentiras – Oscar D’Leon (10)
(1) First two tracks used were practice tracks while Vishal and I tried to see two of my CDs to work with the replacement mixer. Thinking about these CDs more without a time pressure, I now have fairly good idea why these two CDs were acting difficult (it has to do with the CD burner I used – pretty esoteric stuff, really).
(2) Too downbeat for most people? It hasn't started well and it's not picking up steam.
(3) Conga solo seemed to throw some people off.
(4) No skipping with new copy of the CD. I guess that's one of silver linings.
(5) My feeling on this track is somewhat mixed. It seemed popular enough with tonight’s crowd though. Maybe that was the trouble.
(6) I’m getting a feeling that many of tonight’s crowd is looking for something along the line of Mexican party music. I’m guessing anything that sounds serious may not get a good reaction.
(7) I think it was about this point where I began to relax a little – still annoyed but no longer feeling fiery or icy.
(8) I had been relying on a prepared list of songs up to now although the order of the songs had been completely scrambled. This was the second song not on my list that I ended up playing tonight.
(9) This song received much better reaction than I expected.
(10) Vishal took over after this song for about 20 minutes.
I guess Vishal’s idea was that I take a break and dance a little. I think I ended up just having one dance during this break. I was not mentally prepared for dance and I was still not in a great mood. I took time to simply walk around and cool off. Chatting helped too.
Playlist Part 2
Pecado – Toque D’ Keda (11)
Es La Musica – Massimo Scalici (12)
Vivo Por Ella – El Rubio Loco
Thinking Of You – Lenny Kravitz (13)
Celia Y Tito – Isidro Infante (14)
Salsa Y Control – Lebron Brothers
Mambo Diablo – Tito Puente (15)
(11) Another unplanned song following a Merengue track by Vishal. Someone who bought the CD recently requested it during my break. It’s a good track, which I had not gotten around to playing until now.
(12) This one packed the floor. I guess people had a really favorable memory of it from last week. This felt good - until later in the evening (see (18) below).
(13) I knew that this was a mistake. I thought about playing something else with about 2 minutes left on the previous song. In the end, I decided to play it anyway and see if it really was a mistake. I don’t think it worked in this context. It was too early, and a change of pace song was not needed here. Now I know for sure.
(14) Back to party music.
(15) At least I had the opportunity to dance to this song for myself. Another Vishal break.
I’m not sure what to think of this alternating DJ idea. It really doesn’t do very much for my dancing. It's neither here nor there. It’s also something of a popularity competition, which I didn't enjoy - at least not wholeheartedly.
Playlist Part 3
Lamento Boliviano – Toque D’ Keda (16)
Baila Andres – Mezcla Latina (Rojos remix) (17)
Todo De Corazon - Alma Latina
Te Quiero – Oliver (18)
#100 – Tito Puente (19)
El Hijo De Obtala – Ray Barretto (-4%) (20)
Tumbando Cabeza – Tabaco Y Ron (21)
(16) Preceding song was a Merengue (same relay format as before).
(17) Another party song, which was followed by another. It might be useful for me know opinion of these songs from more people.
(18) I was getting somewhat annoyed by the fact that the last two songs were so popular even though I was playing both for the very first time on Friday nights. I thought a lot of people were treating this as if it were disco or such. I was thinking that there wasn’t any good follow-up either. Instead of playing another Salsa, I took advantage of Serap’s request for another Bachata before she went home. [note: Serap ended up staying quite a bit longer after saying goodbye after this song.]
(19) This song seem popular later in the evening too.
(20) This song was not as popular, at least not with the crowd that was left over. I’m not quite sure why this is considered a popular song by many people. However, I don't know if a more solid old-school Salsa would have done well, and I'm not sure if I want to go deeply into pandering mode. I guess I need to experiment more.
(21) Last song. I had gone from alarmed, annoyed, frustrated, relaxed, pleased, content, concerned and ended feeling perhaps disinterested or detached.
Other songs I considered but ended up not playing include:
Puerto Rico - Frankie Ruiz
Summertime - Ray Barretto
La Cacharra - Jimmy Bosch
Nada De Ti - Eddie Palmieri
La Quiero - Dominic Marte
Pa Que Afinquen - Cheo Feliciano
Philadelphia Mambo - Cal Tjader
La Vie En Rose - Africando
Bailadores - Joe Cuba Sextet
Once again, there seemed to be fair bit of complaints about lack of Merengue. Vishal was doing his best to promote Saturdays for these people once again. If anything, alternating between Vishal and me resulted in Salsa taking up higher percentage of overall musical selection - I guess that is a good thing. My recollection is that Vishal played maybe 4 Merengue for the night, 1 Bachata and maybe 1 Reggaeton plus whole lot of Salsa from his standard collection (nothing adventurous tonight). There are so many conflicting preferences about music in general as well as type of Salsa music being played. Perhaps it's not a surprise that song selections had become bland and limited. It's like McDonald's - you know that it will not great but you know what you are getting and that it will be reliable (thus keeping complaints minimal or at least predictable).
Thinking about last minute changes more, I guess I only confirmed with Vishal that I would DJ last night (and I probably didn’t sound very enthusiastic) thus I should not complain too much. I was surprised and pleased with Descarga La Moderna getting a nice reception, but I was pleased neither with my performance as a DJ nor with the outcome in general. I suppose it’s a little silly or weird to be displeased with some songs I played being too popular. Kitsch is okay as a change of pace, but for people who are dancing to songs after songs, dancing to same type of song all the time would get dull pretty quickly.
Rest of the evening had fair number of Salsa as well as some Bachata. That much was nice. Also nice was having what might be a budding core group to hang out, chat, dance and practice with until the closing time. Going over some Bachata moves as well as material from this Monday’s class with Rajiv and others was nice (even if the way Rajiv leading the moves I was showing him via Monday class was better received than the way I was leading it). I ended up staying til closing time (with Salsa still dominating the play selection with Vishal at helm) and staying up until much later (or should I say earlier?) - despite looking at possibility of some tutoring with Sergio tomorrow.
The regular mixer at the DJ booth was not reinstalled by the time I got there, and the first two CDs I put on did not work properly with the replacement mixer. Combined with lack of time to get acquainted with the replacement mixer, I was feeling tense, nervous and annoyed. I was not exactly pleased about Vishal’s suggestion that two of us take turns alternating as DJs several times over the evening. I guess the idea of alternating was fine in itself, but the last minute change of arrangements rattled me. For a moment or two, I even considered telling Vishal to take over for the whole night because my nerves were frayed. I think it took me over an hour to start relaxing and begin to enjoy things a little.
Playlist Part 1
Soledad – La 33 (1)
Esa Muneca – Willie Rosario
Porque Adore – Markolino Dimond (+5%) (2)
Mama Guela – Poncho Sanchez (3)
Mi Mujer Es Una Bomba – Oscar D’Leon (4)
El Pito – Isidro Infante (5)
Estoy Caliente – Tabaco Y Ron
Rumba Del Barrio – Luisito Rosario
Cielo De Tambores – Grupo Niche (6)
Quinto Sabroso – Joe Cuba Sextet (-5%) (7)
Acabo De Llegar – Tabaco Y Ron (8)
Puerto Rico – Eddie Palmieri
Descarga La Moderna – Ray Barretto (-5%) (9)
Mentiras – Oscar D’Leon (10)
(1) First two tracks used were practice tracks while Vishal and I tried to see two of my CDs to work with the replacement mixer. Thinking about these CDs more without a time pressure, I now have fairly good idea why these two CDs were acting difficult (it has to do with the CD burner I used – pretty esoteric stuff, really).
(2) Too downbeat for most people? It hasn't started well and it's not picking up steam.
(3) Conga solo seemed to throw some people off.
(4) No skipping with new copy of the CD. I guess that's one of silver linings.
(5) My feeling on this track is somewhat mixed. It seemed popular enough with tonight’s crowd though. Maybe that was the trouble.
(6) I’m getting a feeling that many of tonight’s crowd is looking for something along the line of Mexican party music. I’m guessing anything that sounds serious may not get a good reaction.
(7) I think it was about this point where I began to relax a little – still annoyed but no longer feeling fiery or icy.
(8) I had been relying on a prepared list of songs up to now although the order of the songs had been completely scrambled. This was the second song not on my list that I ended up playing tonight.
(9) This song received much better reaction than I expected.
(10) Vishal took over after this song for about 20 minutes.
I guess Vishal’s idea was that I take a break and dance a little. I think I ended up just having one dance during this break. I was not mentally prepared for dance and I was still not in a great mood. I took time to simply walk around and cool off. Chatting helped too.
Playlist Part 2
Pecado – Toque D’ Keda (11)
Es La Musica – Massimo Scalici (12)
Vivo Por Ella – El Rubio Loco
Thinking Of You – Lenny Kravitz (13)
Celia Y Tito – Isidro Infante (14)
Salsa Y Control – Lebron Brothers
Mambo Diablo – Tito Puente (15)
(11) Another unplanned song following a Merengue track by Vishal. Someone who bought the CD recently requested it during my break. It’s a good track, which I had not gotten around to playing until now.
(12) This one packed the floor. I guess people had a really favorable memory of it from last week. This felt good - until later in the evening (see (18) below).
(13) I knew that this was a mistake. I thought about playing something else with about 2 minutes left on the previous song. In the end, I decided to play it anyway and see if it really was a mistake. I don’t think it worked in this context. It was too early, and a change of pace song was not needed here. Now I know for sure.
(14) Back to party music.
(15) At least I had the opportunity to dance to this song for myself. Another Vishal break.
I’m not sure what to think of this alternating DJ idea. It really doesn’t do very much for my dancing. It's neither here nor there. It’s also something of a popularity competition, which I didn't enjoy - at least not wholeheartedly.
Playlist Part 3
Lamento Boliviano – Toque D’ Keda (16)
Baila Andres – Mezcla Latina (Rojos remix) (17)
Todo De Corazon - Alma Latina
Te Quiero – Oliver (18)
#100 – Tito Puente (19)
El Hijo De Obtala – Ray Barretto (-4%) (20)
Tumbando Cabeza – Tabaco Y Ron (21)
(16) Preceding song was a Merengue (same relay format as before).
(17) Another party song, which was followed by another. It might be useful for me know opinion of these songs from more people.
(18) I was getting somewhat annoyed by the fact that the last two songs were so popular even though I was playing both for the very first time on Friday nights. I thought a lot of people were treating this as if it were disco or such. I was thinking that there wasn’t any good follow-up either. Instead of playing another Salsa, I took advantage of Serap’s request for another Bachata before she went home. [note: Serap ended up staying quite a bit longer after saying goodbye after this song.]
(19) This song seem popular later in the evening too.
(20) This song was not as popular, at least not with the crowd that was left over. I’m not quite sure why this is considered a popular song by many people. However, I don't know if a more solid old-school Salsa would have done well, and I'm not sure if I want to go deeply into pandering mode. I guess I need to experiment more.
(21) Last song. I had gone from alarmed, annoyed, frustrated, relaxed, pleased, content, concerned and ended feeling perhaps disinterested or detached.
Other songs I considered but ended up not playing include:
Puerto Rico - Frankie Ruiz
Summertime - Ray Barretto
La Cacharra - Jimmy Bosch
Nada De Ti - Eddie Palmieri
La Quiero - Dominic Marte
Pa Que Afinquen - Cheo Feliciano
Philadelphia Mambo - Cal Tjader
La Vie En Rose - Africando
Bailadores - Joe Cuba Sextet
Once again, there seemed to be fair bit of complaints about lack of Merengue. Vishal was doing his best to promote Saturdays for these people once again. If anything, alternating between Vishal and me resulted in Salsa taking up higher percentage of overall musical selection - I guess that is a good thing. My recollection is that Vishal played maybe 4 Merengue for the night, 1 Bachata and maybe 1 Reggaeton plus whole lot of Salsa from his standard collection (nothing adventurous tonight). There are so many conflicting preferences about music in general as well as type of Salsa music being played. Perhaps it's not a surprise that song selections had become bland and limited. It's like McDonald's - you know that it will not great but you know what you are getting and that it will be reliable (thus keeping complaints minimal or at least predictable).
Thinking about last minute changes more, I guess I only confirmed with Vishal that I would DJ last night (and I probably didn’t sound very enthusiastic) thus I should not complain too much. I was surprised and pleased with Descarga La Moderna getting a nice reception, but I was pleased neither with my performance as a DJ nor with the outcome in general. I suppose it’s a little silly or weird to be displeased with some songs I played being too popular. Kitsch is okay as a change of pace, but for people who are dancing to songs after songs, dancing to same type of song all the time would get dull pretty quickly.
Rest of the evening had fair number of Salsa as well as some Bachata. That much was nice. Also nice was having what might be a budding core group to hang out, chat, dance and practice with until the closing time. Going over some Bachata moves as well as material from this Monday’s class with Rajiv and others was nice (even if the way Rajiv leading the moves I was showing him via Monday class was better received than the way I was leading it). I ended up staying til closing time (with Salsa still dominating the play selection with Vishal at helm) and staying up until much later (or should I say earlier?) - despite looking at possibility of some tutoring with Sergio tomorrow.
Piled deeper and higher
April 27, 2006
Last week (and weekend) was a very exhausting. Work has been problematic. Salsa was intense and very energy consuming. I was quite tired after Sunday, but somehow ended up spending a lot of energy on Monday too. My blog was worrying me too – a new record for number of page views for a week was set last week. Someone from Guadalupe going through 199 pages in one sitting helped, but even discounting those 199 remaining 401 would have been close to a new record (17 fewer than first week of October last year in the middle of the big initial hoopla and 11 more than that week in February this year during which a lot of comments were made and nerves were frayed). When there were exceptionally many visits to the blog in the past, it signaled that a lot of people are annoyed by something I wrote. However, there were no obvious indications that I wrote something controversial recently.
So what’s going on? I tried not to think about it – tried not to listen to Salsa music again to help keep my mind off everything Salsa. Unfortunately, trying to not think about Salsa didn’t help. I ended up thinking about writing more entries for the blog, for example about the upcoming Salsa Congresses (both at Heathrow and Bognor Regis), but changing my mind every time if nothing else so keep number of visitors down. By the way, the price for Bognor Congress (5th UK international Salsa Congress) goes up by 20 pounds at the end of this month. I am thinking that I should not go. I used to wake up in the morning thinking about my studies when I was still in school. Now I wake up thinking about things related to Salsa while also struggling to think about my work instead. Perhaps I should stop thinking about my work as a hobby – after all, is it possible to have two different serious hobbies or obsessions and do well with both? And I certainly don’t want Salsa to become my work.
By Tuesday, I found myself with very little energy. I went to play basketball for first time in 3 weeks. At the start of the game, I felt as if I only had quarter of tank of gas in me, and I was running on fumes for last 10-15 minutes or so. This is so unusual; normally I would be outrunning everyone near the end of the game. Only by Thursday did I feel somewhat recovered. Even though I am thinking that I need to cut down on Salsa somehow (especially if I end up keep acting as DJ on Fridays as well as working on fundamentals with Sergio), I decided to continue with the Thursday lessons for another week, but Sally wasn’t there tonight. Instead, Ivan and Jane acted as substitute instructors. Warm-up music used was “Get it up,” courtesy of Rajiv.
Intermediate with Ivan with Jane
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL with 2 1/2 clockwise traveling turn for follower with L-R ending in arm-lock (L position for both)
1,2,3,5,6,7 clockwise L-R toss on 1,2,3 – reconnect to lead follower to a full clockwise turn on 5,6,7
1,2,3,5,6,7 step to follower’s R on 1 (into tight closed hold ~CBL-like position), turn as unit 180 or 1/2 counterclockwise into CBL position and finish CBL and switch to R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 into CBL again with R-R straight down and slightly forward along follower’s line (keep arms straight) – 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn for follower (windmill lead) ending with toss – leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise and connect L-R by leader’s L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward – reconnect R-L and lead follower into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn to get back to open
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower into double clockwise turn - pulling the zipper after the first turn to get R-L behind follower’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 connect L-R and exchange position with follower on 1,2,3 (from follower’s left position) with L-R going over follower’s head – need to keep tension and keep follower fairly close – bring follower around to behind leader via leader’s R side (both connections end up above leader’s L shoulder)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower forward on leader’s L side and into 1 1/2 traveling clockwise turn to get back to open
During the second hour of classes, I spied Ivan teaching around-the-world move to the improver class. It seemed like many people were doing pretty well with the move. It’s not long ago when I wrote about having an “around-the-world” envy – maybe January? I ended up working it out for myself after some effort and now lead it with pretty much everyone. Now I suspect everyone will be leading it in no time. I saw that Jane’s beyond beginner class was severely short of leaders, so I decided to help out with this class – hopefully I did more good than harm.
Dancing afterwards was uneven despite there being a lot of good dancersdancers (perhaps due to the Ivan effect). There were many good dances but there were also many dances that were either too much or too little (for lack of better words). Often I couldn’t find the right balance with the way I was leading the dance. I also am finding that some of the New York style material taught by Joe is unfamiliar and too subtle to a lot of people. I think people will adapt to them though, some sooner than others.
Music was adventuresome. I think Ivan was sticking mostly to classics and Salsa Dura and with touch of recent (but before my time) odd hits. Some of the songs he played were songs I considered playing tomorrow – “Nina Y Senora” by Tito Puente was a particularly amusing example for me, and “Quinto Sabroso” by Joe Cuba Sextet (apparently with Jose “Cheo” Feliciano) was another example. At one point, I told Ivan that people would have tried to lynch him if he tried playing some of tonight’s songs about a month ago on a Friday. Ivan commented that he had tried DJing on Fridays in the past and that he found it very tricky because of a very mixed constituency represented on Fridays. Apparently with tonight’s crowd mostly being well known to him, Ivan felt freer playing whatever he liked.
Interestingly, the music became even more adventuresome and possibly questionable at times when Vishal took over for Ivan. I wasn’t even sure if some of the songs would be considered proper Salsa. I would have considered one early song Reggaeton, but what do I know? At one point, I turned to ask Jane whether the song being played at that time would be considered Salsa. Jane thought it sounded more like Samba but she may not have been completely sure about it. In any case, there must have been 6-10 Salsa songs in a row that I did not recognize. I guess Vishal wants more Salsa with R & B feel to it; he has said this on more than one occasion to me. I guess I have been pretty loud in talking about wanting less of the same old same old, so I really should not be complaining of other people playing different sounding songs. Different people have different taste regarding type of music they like to dance Salsa to; I probably would play mostly instrumental tracks with jazzy feel (both complex and mellow) more than half the time if I were playing solely for myself.
Couple of Bachata was thrown by Vishal in later in the evening, which meant that I finally had some opportunity to practice Bachata; I haven’t had much of an opportunity in any manner after the Tony & Claudia workshop. I have been regretting declining an opportunity to dance Bachata with Daniela last week, and this regret was more acute than ever tonight. I certainly don’t think of myself as a natural in partner dancing. Considering how long it took me to get used to Salsa, I must wonder how difficult Bachata would be especially considering that it requires more comfort level (at least at the outset) with one’s partner to dance it well. Knowing the mechanics of the lead for Bachata thus far has not been difficult. Getting the proper mindset or attitude or command or other intangibles is more elusive. To top it off with musicality makes it even more challenging to practice. I wonder how much practice in private you-know-who had if any or if it came naturally very quickly.
Who knows? Maybe I will get in trouble anyway. Maybe I’ll get myself in trouble by some self-fulfilling method. Maybe I did it already. I don’t think I’m going to get much sleep tonight. [Added later: sleep turned out fairly restful – at least I didn’t feel tired or bothered when I woke up.]
Other topics at Club Salsa included another assessment of Bar Salsa on Mondays (pro - it lasts longer; con - alcohol drinkers), further talk of muscles regarding tension, Cache (I’m thinking and hoping that it would have more than one good track – Descarga.com review gives me hope), CDC Salsa night upcoming in Tuesday 9th of May (with Cambiando playing live), volume of music ("Is it getting louder here on Wednesdays and Thursdays?"), and the Bognor Congress (some people will indeed be booking this month - it makes sense if one is sure of going).
Last week (and weekend) was a very exhausting. Work has been problematic. Salsa was intense and very energy consuming. I was quite tired after Sunday, but somehow ended up spending a lot of energy on Monday too. My blog was worrying me too – a new record for number of page views for a week was set last week. Someone from Guadalupe going through 199 pages in one sitting helped, but even discounting those 199 remaining 401 would have been close to a new record (17 fewer than first week of October last year in the middle of the big initial hoopla and 11 more than that week in February this year during which a lot of comments were made and nerves were frayed). When there were exceptionally many visits to the blog in the past, it signaled that a lot of people are annoyed by something I wrote. However, there were no obvious indications that I wrote something controversial recently.
So what’s going on? I tried not to think about it – tried not to listen to Salsa music again to help keep my mind off everything Salsa. Unfortunately, trying to not think about Salsa didn’t help. I ended up thinking about writing more entries for the blog, for example about the upcoming Salsa Congresses (both at Heathrow and Bognor Regis), but changing my mind every time if nothing else so keep number of visitors down. By the way, the price for Bognor Congress (5th UK international Salsa Congress) goes up by 20 pounds at the end of this month. I am thinking that I should not go. I used to wake up in the morning thinking about my studies when I was still in school. Now I wake up thinking about things related to Salsa while also struggling to think about my work instead. Perhaps I should stop thinking about my work as a hobby – after all, is it possible to have two different serious hobbies or obsessions and do well with both? And I certainly don’t want Salsa to become my work.
By Tuesday, I found myself with very little energy. I went to play basketball for first time in 3 weeks. At the start of the game, I felt as if I only had quarter of tank of gas in me, and I was running on fumes for last 10-15 minutes or so. This is so unusual; normally I would be outrunning everyone near the end of the game. Only by Thursday did I feel somewhat recovered. Even though I am thinking that I need to cut down on Salsa somehow (especially if I end up keep acting as DJ on Fridays as well as working on fundamentals with Sergio), I decided to continue with the Thursday lessons for another week, but Sally wasn’t there tonight. Instead, Ivan and Jane acted as substitute instructors. Warm-up music used was “Get it up,” courtesy of Rajiv.
Intermediate with Ivan with Jane
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL with 2 1/2 clockwise traveling turn for follower with L-R ending in arm-lock (L position for both)
1,2,3,5,6,7 clockwise L-R toss on 1,2,3 – reconnect to lead follower to a full clockwise turn on 5,6,7
1,2,3,5,6,7 step to follower’s R on 1 (into tight closed hold ~CBL-like position), turn as unit 180 or 1/2 counterclockwise into CBL position and finish CBL and switch to R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 into CBL again with R-R straight down and slightly forward along follower’s line (keep arms straight) – 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn for follower (windmill lead) ending with toss – leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise and connect L-R by leader’s L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward – reconnect R-L and lead follower into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn to get back to open
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower into double clockwise turn - pulling the zipper after the first turn to get R-L behind follower’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 connect L-R and exchange position with follower on 1,2,3 (from follower’s left position) with L-R going over follower’s head – need to keep tension and keep follower fairly close – bring follower around to behind leader via leader’s R side (both connections end up above leader’s L shoulder)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower forward on leader’s L side and into 1 1/2 traveling clockwise turn to get back to open
During the second hour of classes, I spied Ivan teaching around-the-world move to the improver class. It seemed like many people were doing pretty well with the move. It’s not long ago when I wrote about having an “around-the-world” envy – maybe January? I ended up working it out for myself after some effort and now lead it with pretty much everyone. Now I suspect everyone will be leading it in no time. I saw that Jane’s beyond beginner class was severely short of leaders, so I decided to help out with this class – hopefully I did more good than harm.
Dancing afterwards was uneven despite there being a lot of good dancersdancers (perhaps due to the Ivan effect). There were many good dances but there were also many dances that were either too much or too little (for lack of better words). Often I couldn’t find the right balance with the way I was leading the dance. I also am finding that some of the New York style material taught by Joe is unfamiliar and too subtle to a lot of people. I think people will adapt to them though, some sooner than others.
Music was adventuresome. I think Ivan was sticking mostly to classics and Salsa Dura and with touch of recent (but before my time) odd hits. Some of the songs he played were songs I considered playing tomorrow – “Nina Y Senora” by Tito Puente was a particularly amusing example for me, and “Quinto Sabroso” by Joe Cuba Sextet (apparently with Jose “Cheo” Feliciano) was another example. At one point, I told Ivan that people would have tried to lynch him if he tried playing some of tonight’s songs about a month ago on a Friday. Ivan commented that he had tried DJing on Fridays in the past and that he found it very tricky because of a very mixed constituency represented on Fridays. Apparently with tonight’s crowd mostly being well known to him, Ivan felt freer playing whatever he liked.
Interestingly, the music became even more adventuresome and possibly questionable at times when Vishal took over for Ivan. I wasn’t even sure if some of the songs would be considered proper Salsa. I would have considered one early song Reggaeton, but what do I know? At one point, I turned to ask Jane whether the song being played at that time would be considered Salsa. Jane thought it sounded more like Samba but she may not have been completely sure about it. In any case, there must have been 6-10 Salsa songs in a row that I did not recognize. I guess Vishal wants more Salsa with R & B feel to it; he has said this on more than one occasion to me. I guess I have been pretty loud in talking about wanting less of the same old same old, so I really should not be complaining of other people playing different sounding songs. Different people have different taste regarding type of music they like to dance Salsa to; I probably would play mostly instrumental tracks with jazzy feel (both complex and mellow) more than half the time if I were playing solely for myself.
Couple of Bachata was thrown by Vishal in later in the evening, which meant that I finally had some opportunity to practice Bachata; I haven’t had much of an opportunity in any manner after the Tony & Claudia workshop. I have been regretting declining an opportunity to dance Bachata with Daniela last week, and this regret was more acute than ever tonight. I certainly don’t think of myself as a natural in partner dancing. Considering how long it took me to get used to Salsa, I must wonder how difficult Bachata would be especially considering that it requires more comfort level (at least at the outset) with one’s partner to dance it well. Knowing the mechanics of the lead for Bachata thus far has not been difficult. Getting the proper mindset or attitude or command or other intangibles is more elusive. To top it off with musicality makes it even more challenging to practice. I wonder how much practice in private you-know-who had if any or if it came naturally very quickly.
Who knows? Maybe I will get in trouble anyway. Maybe I’ll get myself in trouble by some self-fulfilling method. Maybe I did it already. I don’t think I’m going to get much sleep tonight. [Added later: sleep turned out fairly restful – at least I didn’t feel tired or bothered when I woke up.]
Other topics at Club Salsa included another assessment of Bar Salsa on Mondays (pro - it lasts longer; con - alcohol drinkers), further talk of muscles regarding tension, Cache (I’m thinking and hoping that it would have more than one good track – Descarga.com review gives me hope), CDC Salsa night upcoming in Tuesday 9th of May (with Cambiando playing live), volume of music ("Is it getting louder here on Wednesdays and Thursdays?"), and the Bognor Congress (some people will indeed be booking this month - it makes sense if one is sure of going).
Is there anyone else who finds these lessons useful?
April 24, 2006
Intermediate - Latin Collective - Joe Davids with Russell
1,2,3,5,6,7 High cross pass ending with R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 crossed hold L-L under R-R, prepare and lead follower to a double turn (not touch-and-go) keeping wrists together – leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise keeping hands high throughout when follower is done with her turn (on 7/8 preferably) – end position is something like reverse CBL open position with crossed hold with L-L on top [note: without leader’s turn R-R should be pointing upwards… not sure what the exit from that position would be…]
1,2,3 bring follower forward immediately on 1 into crucifix position by 3 – leader ideally should be directly behind or even to slightly to left … although this could be fudged with a modified lead next (bringing follower slightly to right)
5,6,7 bring follower straight back (mostly with R-R?) – leader moves to left arm/hand of follower (all connections released) and spin around follower’s L hand counterclockwise into CBL position and getting into R-L wrist hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 in place for CBL, bring follower forward on 4 using R-L on follower’s L wrist – L hand on follower’s L waist (slicing motion was suggested by Russell) to signal free 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn for follower – I think leader does a clockwise turn before getting back to closed hold
Improver - Joe Davids
1,2,3,5,6,7 low cross pass ending with L-R behind leader’s R waist with leader facing away from the line
option 1
1,2,3 open break (look to follower on R), bring follower in and get L hand on follower’s R waist for Copa (look to follower on L)
5,6,7 lead follower back for Copa (free 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn - look to follower on R) – keep R arm straight along follower’s returning line with palm facing away to get back to closed hold (followed by CBL)
option 2
1,2,3 open break, bring follower in (on 2, step to R forward away from follower’s line and turn 1/2 counterclockwise) and get hands on follower’s waist for Copa
5,6,7 lead follower back for free 1 1/2 counterclockwise Copa turn (and get back to closed hold for CBL)
option 3
1,2,3 open break, bring follower in (on 2, step to R forward away from follower’s line and turn 1/2 counterclockwise) and get hands on follower’s waist for Copa
5,6,7 lead follower back for free 1 1/2 counterclockwise Copa turn and leader does a full counterclockwise turn before getting into closed hold (followed by CBL is fine)
The class for the second hour was the largest thus far. Despite the Scala this weekend, the Monday class will not be cancelled next week as Vishal originally guessed. Next two weeks may give a good indication as how Monday classes will shape up. For a few weeks now, Joe has been talking about possibility of bringing 3 teachers to run three 2-hour classes simultaneously. Today he repeated the idea as well as bringing up an idea of a half an hour absolute beginners class starting at 7 PM (free of charge? – I’m not sure about this). I have no idea how or if the financial arrangement would be modified with 3 teachers. I also have no idea how a change in class format would jive with the so-called 20-week plan. Personally, I don't mind the current setup at all because the first hour is something of an exercise, which I don't think I could duplicate on a real dance unless I could find time, etc to practice, whereas the second hour has fair bit of immediately useful material (although I must say that some of these are getting more challenging and possibly foreign to large number of followers). By the way, I think we must have gone through 10 weeks thus far and I’m fairly certain that I am the only lead who has attended all 10 lessons (I don’t think anyone else is even close and perhaps around half dozen other leads have attended more than half of the lessons).
The class ended with a short 5 minute Merengue lesson. I suppose it was a bonus instant gratification material for a large contingent of total beginners who showed up today.
Dance afterwards was pretty fun. I danced with about half a dozen followers. I seemed to be in a pretty bouncy mood for a number of the songs/dances. I probably looked like a total idiot bouncing around, but I couldn't care less about looking silly. Even if I looked silly, I had a blast.
Somewhat like last Thursday, part of the evening was spent reviewing Tony’s workshop material with some friends in an effort to get the moves seen in the Cambridge Salsa scene. Planting the initial seed is going to be the difficult part.
new shine (name?)
1,2,3,5 basic Mambo
6 slide forward with L foot
7 R toe behind L foot
8 R step behind L foot
1 L toe crossed in front of R foot
2 step slightly back with R foot
3 L toe crossed in front of R foot
4 L foot step in place
6 R toe crossed behind L foot
7 step slightly forward with L foot
8 L foot toe (like bunny hop?)
1 basic Mambo
Many of the short shines used at SOS at the end of the class this Sunday was identical to the short shines taught by Joe Davids over last few months. This is not exactly a surprise since these short shines are probably considered fairly standard. SOS people don’t go over what they are doing at the end (or not to my knowledge) for reasons unknown to me – their approach seemed to be, “If you could follow what we’re doing, that’s great. If not, try your best to follow along.”
Also while I don't want to go back to making disclaimers all the time again, the routines and shines described are my interpretations and may not reflect instructor's ideas. The reason why mention this (belatedly) is because Tony Lara saw my interpretation of his shine from February and said that it looked like I completely reinterpreted it and his shine is rather different looking. I'm fairly sure that I do bunny hop differently from Joe Davids.
Intermediate - Latin Collective - Joe Davids with Russell
1,2,3,5,6,7 High cross pass ending with R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 crossed hold L-L under R-R, prepare and lead follower to a double turn (not touch-and-go) keeping wrists together – leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise keeping hands high throughout when follower is done with her turn (on 7/8 preferably) – end position is something like reverse CBL open position with crossed hold with L-L on top [note: without leader’s turn R-R should be pointing upwards… not sure what the exit from that position would be…]
1,2,3 bring follower forward immediately on 1 into crucifix position by 3 – leader ideally should be directly behind or even to slightly to left … although this could be fudged with a modified lead next (bringing follower slightly to right)
5,6,7 bring follower straight back (mostly with R-R?) – leader moves to left arm/hand of follower (all connections released) and spin around follower’s L hand counterclockwise into CBL position and getting into R-L wrist hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 in place for CBL, bring follower forward on 4 using R-L on follower’s L wrist – L hand on follower’s L waist (slicing motion was suggested by Russell) to signal free 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn for follower – I think leader does a clockwise turn before getting back to closed hold
Improver - Joe Davids
1,2,3,5,6,7 low cross pass ending with L-R behind leader’s R waist with leader facing away from the line
option 1
1,2,3 open break (look to follower on R), bring follower in and get L hand on follower’s R waist for Copa (look to follower on L)
5,6,7 lead follower back for Copa (free 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn - look to follower on R) – keep R arm straight along follower’s returning line with palm facing away to get back to closed hold (followed by CBL)
option 2
1,2,3 open break, bring follower in (on 2, step to R forward away from follower’s line and turn 1/2 counterclockwise) and get hands on follower’s waist for Copa
5,6,7 lead follower back for free 1 1/2 counterclockwise Copa turn (and get back to closed hold for CBL)
option 3
1,2,3 open break, bring follower in (on 2, step to R forward away from follower’s line and turn 1/2 counterclockwise) and get hands on follower’s waist for Copa
5,6,7 lead follower back for free 1 1/2 counterclockwise Copa turn and leader does a full counterclockwise turn before getting into closed hold (followed by CBL is fine)
The class for the second hour was the largest thus far. Despite the Scala this weekend, the Monday class will not be cancelled next week as Vishal originally guessed. Next two weeks may give a good indication as how Monday classes will shape up. For a few weeks now, Joe has been talking about possibility of bringing 3 teachers to run three 2-hour classes simultaneously. Today he repeated the idea as well as bringing up an idea of a half an hour absolute beginners class starting at 7 PM (free of charge? – I’m not sure about this). I have no idea how or if the financial arrangement would be modified with 3 teachers. I also have no idea how a change in class format would jive with the so-called 20-week plan. Personally, I don't mind the current setup at all because the first hour is something of an exercise, which I don't think I could duplicate on a real dance unless I could find time, etc to practice, whereas the second hour has fair bit of immediately useful material (although I must say that some of these are getting more challenging and possibly foreign to large number of followers). By the way, I think we must have gone through 10 weeks thus far and I’m fairly certain that I am the only lead who has attended all 10 lessons (I don’t think anyone else is even close and perhaps around half dozen other leads have attended more than half of the lessons).
The class ended with a short 5 minute Merengue lesson. I suppose it was a bonus instant gratification material for a large contingent of total beginners who showed up today.
Dance afterwards was pretty fun. I danced with about half a dozen followers. I seemed to be in a pretty bouncy mood for a number of the songs/dances. I probably looked like a total idiot bouncing around, but I couldn't care less about looking silly. Even if I looked silly, I had a blast.
Somewhat like last Thursday, part of the evening was spent reviewing Tony’s workshop material with some friends in an effort to get the moves seen in the Cambridge Salsa scene. Planting the initial seed is going to be the difficult part.
new shine (name?)
1,2,3,5 basic Mambo
6 slide forward with L foot
7 R toe behind L foot
8 R step behind L foot
1 L toe crossed in front of R foot
2 step slightly back with R foot
3 L toe crossed in front of R foot
4 L foot step in place
6 R toe crossed behind L foot
7 step slightly forward with L foot
8 L foot toe (like bunny hop?)
1 basic Mambo
Many of the short shines used at SOS at the end of the class this Sunday was identical to the short shines taught by Joe Davids over last few months. This is not exactly a surprise since these short shines are probably considered fairly standard. SOS people don’t go over what they are doing at the end (or not to my knowledge) for reasons unknown to me – their approach seemed to be, “If you could follow what we’re doing, that’s great. If not, try your best to follow along.”
Also while I don't want to go back to making disclaimers all the time again, the routines and shines described are my interpretations and may not reflect instructor's ideas. The reason why mention this (belatedly) is because Tony Lara saw my interpretation of his shine from February and said that it looked like I completely reinterpreted it and his shine is rather different looking. I'm fairly sure that I do bunny hop differently from Joe Davids.
It's not an addiction but it might as well be one
April 23, 2006
Johnny wrote, "Hello. Are you going to SOS?"
When I received this short e-mail, my brain started scrambling to accommodate this new and previously unconsidered option. Even though I have been thinking that this Salsa hobby is becoming too much of an obsession, I was thinking that I would probably go to Cristian's Bachata/Merengue class Sunday night. However, it has been over two months since I last visited SOS. Next week is no good because of London Heathrow Salsa Congress AND ScalaLatina - even though I'm guessing that I will go to neither. For the Sunday after that, I have been trying to convince myself to try going to Cristian's Peterborough party - in large part because he has made repeated effort to get me to come and also because it seems like we are now in pretty good terms with each other and also because idea of the dance and the DJ competition at Peterborough seems like a hoot. Going without SOS for three months seems like a long time. Also going to SOS means one less day spent at Club Salsa, which is becoming too much of a regular haunt. Also it has been a while since I hung around with Johnny & Serap except for brief moments on Fridays. Also, I'm finding myself thinking about various people - old and new people, "new" acquaintances as well as people I haven't seen in a while - in Cambridge Salsa scene way too much and could use a break or at least trade them with people in London Salsa scene for a short time. Oh no. There's no escape, no? I initially wrote back to say that I will think about it, but my mind was pretty much made up by then and it didn't take long for me to confirm that I will indeed go to SOS. This trip may do something that the Scala trip failed to do, which was to give me a better idea of where I am by London standards.
As we approached Mary Ward Hall on foot, I asked Johnny whether it would be useful for me to try level 4, in particular the shines class. His thought was that I would probably learn more useful things in level 3 because he considered level 4 to be more of an exercise in extremely difficult to nearly impossible moves. He also added that a nice thing about taking level 4 class was that you get to meet some of the better students. This was not a compelling reason for me because I have danced with many level 4 students, and many of them were perfectly happy to dance with me – some level 4 students are pretty decent while others are no better than some level 3 students. I have also danced with people who are considerably better than anyone taking level 4 classes while keeping them happy and interested. My main reason for trying level 4 would have been to try something much more difficult than I am used to simply to increase my threshold for difficult lessons. Johnny also mentioned that sometimes people crash the class, but sometimes some people would be kicked off the class at the start of the class so it would be a good idea to ask first; I had intended to ask in the first place so this didn’t faze me.
I saw that Tamambo was there today when I entered the hall, saw I decided to approach him and ask whether I could try level 4 class – at least the shines part. For some reason, he looked a little alarmed when I asked my question. He said, “You scared me there for a moment. I thought you were going to ask something a lot more serious.” I have no idea why but he was apparently intimidated by me. Weird. He thought about it for a second or two more and said, “Sure. Feel free.”
Because we arrived fairly early, I had a pretty good look at Mauro and Eva practice a partner routine, which I assumed was for the level 3 class – this routine seemed fairly challenging. I also had a pretty good look at the shine by Mauro, and I thought it looked quite nice. So I was wavering a bit about taking the level 4 class. By the way, I have seen some SOS level 3 class routines and shines, which I found somewhat dull – this was a reason why I thought I might want to try level 4. Having watched Mauro and Eva’s material, I was thinking that I might have chosen a wrong time to try to jump up a class. When I saw Tamambo and Miriam’s routine, I decided that I’ll just try the shines for level 4. Unfortunately, the shine for level 4 also seemed bloody difficult as well (only 2 bars long) so I quickly decided to abandon this as well and jump right back into the safety of level 3 shine. By the way, Tamambo came by later to ask what happened – to which I replied that I didn’t feel ready for today’s class. Tamambo said that they were trying something a bit different today thus he was a little hesitant about saying yes to me earlier. No harm done. Johnny confirmed to me later that today’s level 4 class was especially difficult compared to last several classed he attended.
Shine – SOS Level 3 with Mauro
8 L foot cross behind R foot
1 L foot slightly to L
2,3 kick to L (hand to L and look L as well) and back cross behind R foot
5,6,7 R foot slide wide to R, then cross in front of L foot, then slide wide to R (syncopated?)
8 R foot cross behind L foot
1 L foot side to L
3 L foot back cross in front of R foot
5,6,7 suzy Q
1 L foot forward
2 slide back long landing on R foot
3 L foot in front of R foot
5 R foot cross in front of L foot (syncopated?)
6 L foot cross in front of R foot
7 R foot cross in front of L foot
Partner work – SOS Level 3 with Maura & Eva
open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower in like CBL position with L-R high and R-L low (level in position on 3) – use R-L to turn follower 1/2 clockwise on 5 (R-L is on follower’s R waist/hip momentarily and is let go after 6) and bring her back on 6,7 turning back 1/2 counterclockwise while leader gets back to original position with counterclockwise turn (keep fairly close with arms not extended)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and L-R goes over follower’s head like Copa (keep L arm straight) – lead follower back like Copa (but I’m completely unsure why this would lead to follower simply walking back into open position without a Copa-like turn) – leader does a clockwise turn to get back to open and reconnect R-R (An awkward part is that leader ends up to R of follower and next move involves getting follower to leader’s L side. This is a little weird because follower ends up not staying to her line so the lead for the next bar would have to be different.)
1,2,3,5,6,7 This is somewhat similar to the first bar but not really. Open break and bring follower in slightly on leader’s L side with L hand on follower’s L shoulder – step back on 5 while follower is brought to turn 1/2 clockwise and bring her back on 6,7 turning back 1/2 counterclockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader walks 1/2 clockwise with L-R high to get back to open CBL position – lead follower forward on 5 and start of windmill turn lead to get follower to turn free clockwise 1 1/2 traveling turn – leader does clockwise turn starting on 6 maybe to get back to open position
Mauro was on some people's case (without saying who he was referring to) about not doing simple basic footwork during the routine. I know I often don't do all the steps - it's not automatic for me. I don't know how others were doing because I was concentrating on doing my part. I have seen that some people can get pretty lazy with their feet in the past though.
Dancing afterwards was pretty good and interesting. Three hours of solid social dancing made my feet a little sore by the end. I danced with two people who I felt was somewhat above my level – although in both cases, I don’t think they were in any way displeased about dancing with me. In addition, I danced with two or three people who I thought was very close to my level and was without deficiencies I could find from a single dance. It's possible that I might have considered them better than me had I not known them for quite some time. In most cases though, it felt like my partners were not quite on spot with their pace or timing or technique or had some odd tic, which I found distracting – then again, I’m stumbling all the time too. A few were no better than improvers. My assessment was that I might be considered above average by SOS standard now assuming that this was a typical SOS night.
What does it mean? UK Salsa scene has its superstars, top instructors, good quality instructors and performers, semi-professionals, and social dancers who would be considered on par with some of the professionals. I’m none of those, and I only dance with these types seldom - these dances are really nice as long as I don't get too intimidated and my brain locks up. Dancing with people who follows everything I lead is becoming infrequent so I end up trying to savor the moment more than using them as more practice material. It's a bit of a paradox - trying something difficult with really good followers is more likely to work, but I often would be more hesitant to try leading many difficult moves with them because I don't want to make too many mistakes, which may make them more reluctant to dance with me in the future. In the end, I end up trying about the same number of difficult or experimental moves regardless of my partner's abilities (assuming that they meet certain standards). I suppose this explains partly why I usually don't bother asking "stars" often for a dance.
We gained one more person for the drive back to Cambridge. The Cambridge contingent was fairly light (5 in all) - perhaps in part because of railroad works making travel from and to Cambridge a major hassle. Joe was there (presumably to take a light break between two Scala weekends), but he doesn't really count. Main topic on the way back was music - in part inspired by listening to a new CD containing large number of Salsa and Bachata hits made for our fourth. A big topic going into London was teacher/proprietor business models.
Johnny wrote, "Hello. Are you going to SOS?"
When I received this short e-mail, my brain started scrambling to accommodate this new and previously unconsidered option. Even though I have been thinking that this Salsa hobby is becoming too much of an obsession, I was thinking that I would probably go to Cristian's Bachata/Merengue class Sunday night. However, it has been over two months since I last visited SOS. Next week is no good because of London Heathrow Salsa Congress AND ScalaLatina - even though I'm guessing that I will go to neither. For the Sunday after that, I have been trying to convince myself to try going to Cristian's Peterborough party - in large part because he has made repeated effort to get me to come and also because it seems like we are now in pretty good terms with each other and also because idea of the dance and the DJ competition at Peterborough seems like a hoot. Going without SOS for three months seems like a long time. Also going to SOS means one less day spent at Club Salsa, which is becoming too much of a regular haunt. Also it has been a while since I hung around with Johnny & Serap except for brief moments on Fridays. Also, I'm finding myself thinking about various people - old and new people, "new" acquaintances as well as people I haven't seen in a while - in Cambridge Salsa scene way too much and could use a break or at least trade them with people in London Salsa scene for a short time. Oh no. There's no escape, no? I initially wrote back to say that I will think about it, but my mind was pretty much made up by then and it didn't take long for me to confirm that I will indeed go to SOS. This trip may do something that the Scala trip failed to do, which was to give me a better idea of where I am by London standards.
As we approached Mary Ward Hall on foot, I asked Johnny whether it would be useful for me to try level 4, in particular the shines class. His thought was that I would probably learn more useful things in level 3 because he considered level 4 to be more of an exercise in extremely difficult to nearly impossible moves. He also added that a nice thing about taking level 4 class was that you get to meet some of the better students. This was not a compelling reason for me because I have danced with many level 4 students, and many of them were perfectly happy to dance with me – some level 4 students are pretty decent while others are no better than some level 3 students. I have also danced with people who are considerably better than anyone taking level 4 classes while keeping them happy and interested. My main reason for trying level 4 would have been to try something much more difficult than I am used to simply to increase my threshold for difficult lessons. Johnny also mentioned that sometimes people crash the class, but sometimes some people would be kicked off the class at the start of the class so it would be a good idea to ask first; I had intended to ask in the first place so this didn’t faze me.
I saw that Tamambo was there today when I entered the hall, saw I decided to approach him and ask whether I could try level 4 class – at least the shines part. For some reason, he looked a little alarmed when I asked my question. He said, “You scared me there for a moment. I thought you were going to ask something a lot more serious.” I have no idea why but he was apparently intimidated by me. Weird. He thought about it for a second or two more and said, “Sure. Feel free.”
Because we arrived fairly early, I had a pretty good look at Mauro and Eva practice a partner routine, which I assumed was for the level 3 class – this routine seemed fairly challenging. I also had a pretty good look at the shine by Mauro, and I thought it looked quite nice. So I was wavering a bit about taking the level 4 class. By the way, I have seen some SOS level 3 class routines and shines, which I found somewhat dull – this was a reason why I thought I might want to try level 4. Having watched Mauro and Eva’s material, I was thinking that I might have chosen a wrong time to try to jump up a class. When I saw Tamambo and Miriam’s routine, I decided that I’ll just try the shines for level 4. Unfortunately, the shine for level 4 also seemed bloody difficult as well (only 2 bars long) so I quickly decided to abandon this as well and jump right back into the safety of level 3 shine. By the way, Tamambo came by later to ask what happened – to which I replied that I didn’t feel ready for today’s class. Tamambo said that they were trying something a bit different today thus he was a little hesitant about saying yes to me earlier. No harm done. Johnny confirmed to me later that today’s level 4 class was especially difficult compared to last several classed he attended.
Shine – SOS Level 3 with Mauro
8 L foot cross behind R foot
1 L foot slightly to L
2,3 kick to L (hand to L and look L as well) and back cross behind R foot
5,6,7 R foot slide wide to R, then cross in front of L foot, then slide wide to R (syncopated?)
8 R foot cross behind L foot
1 L foot side to L
3 L foot back cross in front of R foot
5,6,7 suzy Q
1 L foot forward
2 slide back long landing on R foot
3 L foot in front of R foot
5 R foot cross in front of L foot (syncopated?)
6 L foot cross in front of R foot
7 R foot cross in front of L foot
Partner work – SOS Level 3 with Maura & Eva
open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower in like CBL position with L-R high and R-L low (level in position on 3) – use R-L to turn follower 1/2 clockwise on 5 (R-L is on follower’s R waist/hip momentarily and is let go after 6) and bring her back on 6,7 turning back 1/2 counterclockwise while leader gets back to original position with counterclockwise turn (keep fairly close with arms not extended)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and L-R goes over follower’s head like Copa (keep L arm straight) – lead follower back like Copa (but I’m completely unsure why this would lead to follower simply walking back into open position without a Copa-like turn) – leader does a clockwise turn to get back to open and reconnect R-R (An awkward part is that leader ends up to R of follower and next move involves getting follower to leader’s L side. This is a little weird because follower ends up not staying to her line so the lead for the next bar would have to be different.)
1,2,3,5,6,7 This is somewhat similar to the first bar but not really. Open break and bring follower in slightly on leader’s L side with L hand on follower’s L shoulder – step back on 5 while follower is brought to turn 1/2 clockwise and bring her back on 6,7 turning back 1/2 counterclockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader walks 1/2 clockwise with L-R high to get back to open CBL position – lead follower forward on 5 and start of windmill turn lead to get follower to turn free clockwise 1 1/2 traveling turn – leader does clockwise turn starting on 6 maybe to get back to open position
Mauro was on some people's case (without saying who he was referring to) about not doing simple basic footwork during the routine. I know I often don't do all the steps - it's not automatic for me. I don't know how others were doing because I was concentrating on doing my part. I have seen that some people can get pretty lazy with their feet in the past though.
Dancing afterwards was pretty good and interesting. Three hours of solid social dancing made my feet a little sore by the end. I danced with two people who I felt was somewhat above my level – although in both cases, I don’t think they were in any way displeased about dancing with me. In addition, I danced with two or three people who I thought was very close to my level and was without deficiencies I could find from a single dance. It's possible that I might have considered them better than me had I not known them for quite some time. In most cases though, it felt like my partners were not quite on spot with their pace or timing or technique or had some odd tic, which I found distracting – then again, I’m stumbling all the time too. A few were no better than improvers. My assessment was that I might be considered above average by SOS standard now assuming that this was a typical SOS night.
What does it mean? UK Salsa scene has its superstars, top instructors, good quality instructors and performers, semi-professionals, and social dancers who would be considered on par with some of the professionals. I’m none of those, and I only dance with these types seldom - these dances are really nice as long as I don't get too intimidated and my brain locks up. Dancing with people who follows everything I lead is becoming infrequent so I end up trying to savor the moment more than using them as more practice material. It's a bit of a paradox - trying something difficult with really good followers is more likely to work, but I often would be more hesitant to try leading many difficult moves with them because I don't want to make too many mistakes, which may make them more reluctant to dance with me in the future. In the end, I end up trying about the same number of difficult or experimental moves regardless of my partner's abilities (assuming that they meet certain standards). I suppose this explains partly why I usually don't bother asking "stars" often for a dance.
We gained one more person for the drive back to Cambridge. The Cambridge contingent was fairly light (5 in all) - perhaps in part because of railroad works making travel from and to Cambridge a major hassle. Joe was there (presumably to take a light break between two Scala weekends), but he doesn't really count. Main topic on the way back was music - in part inspired by listening to a new CD containing large number of Salsa and Bachata hits made for our fourth. A big topic going into London was teacher/proprietor business models.
Madman running the asylum
April 21, 2006
Enrique is away on a vacation, so I took the opportunity to run the DJ booth once again.
Playlist
Bailando – Frankie Ruiz
El Pito – Joe Cuba Sextet (+7%) (1)
Miye Na We – Africando
Micaela – Sonora Carruseles
Acabo De Llegar – Tabaco Y Ron
Amor De Una Noche – N’Klabe (2)
Anacaona – Cheo Feliciano
Mi Gente – Oscar D’Leon
El # 100 – Tito Puente (3)
1-800-Quiereme – Luisito Rosario
La 33 – La 33
Etnia – Grupo Niche
Indestructible – Ray Barretto (-7%) (4)
I Love Salsa – N’Klabe (-2%) (5)
Ven Tu – Dominic Marte
Merengue Track #1 borrowed from Vishal
Es La Musica – Massimo Scalici (6)
Fragile – Massimo Scalici (7)
Babarabatiri – Tito Puente (8)
Celia Y Tito – Tito Puente with Celia Cruz
Salsa Y Control – Lebron Brothers
Abran Paso – Orchestra Harlow
Vamonos Pa’l Monte – Eddie Palmieri (9)
Te Quiero – Oliver
Merengue Track #3 borrowed from Vishal
Get It Up – Eurocuban Project (10)
Esto Es El Guaguanco – Cheo Feliciano
Otra Oportunidad – Jimmy Bosch
Ran Kan Kan – Tito Puente (11)
Picadillo – Cal Tjader & Eddie Palmieri
Bongo Loco – Lebron Brothers
Tumbando Cabeza – Tabaco Y Ron (-10%?) (12)
Duele Mas – Grupo Niche (13)
Pantera Mambo – La 33 (14)
Paris Mambo – Tito Puente & Eddie Palmieri (-7%)
Lamento Boliviano – Toque D’ Keda (15)
You Will Remember Me – Dominic Marte (16)
(1) This is the second time I played this song. I think it works better speeded up.
(2) This is the second time I played this song as well. A song can be played for the first time only once. It was played at Scala last Sunday as well.
(3) Another second time song. I’m beginning to sound like a broken record. Three other songs up to this point (not counting the two mentioned above) were also played for the second time. In any case, this song seems like a popular choice.
(4) I always thought this song was too fast for dancing. Now that I know how to slow down the song without making it sound very different, I feel safer playing it. This opens up quite a bit of options for playing other fast songs.
(5) I would have considered slowing this song even more, but I knew that I was going to play a non-Salsa song next so I decided to keep it fairly fast paced.
(6) Many people must have thought, “What the heck?” when this track came on. It took about 30-40 seconds for the dance floor to fill up. Thanks to iDJ Tony Lara.
(7) Mellow. They like it. Up to this point, I had been counting the number of people dancing on the main floor. The numbers ranged from 6 couples to 12 couples on the main floor plus two to four couples on side floors. I stopped counting after this because the dance floor was pretty much full rest of the evening despite there being relatively small number of people in the venue.
(8) By the way, yesterday was Tito Puente’s birthday. Someone asked for another Merengue during this song or maybe the next song. I told him that I’ll try in another 20 minutes or so.
(9) This song seemed to speed up towards the end. It’s a long song too. I was going to put another Salsa song but I decided that a break would be a very good idea.
(10) Another big surprise except to those who were at my private party on Tuesday. Shortly before I put on this song, a request for Salsa Romantica or a slower song was made. There was another more specific request which would take couple of weeks to fulfill.
(11) Older version with vibraphone.
(12) I was considering playing Eddie Palmieri’s “Adoracion” a couple of times during the evening. This is a very fast song so I was playing with slowing the song a great deal. I ended up deciding not to play the song, but I accidentally left the slow setting on for this song.
(13) I’m not quite sure what happened. Maybe some people decided to skip this song in part because it was too familiar. Everyone decided to watch the new kid with super energy dance instead.
(14) This choice was in response to no one else dancing during the last song.
(15) I thought this was going to be my last song.
(16) But I played one more Bachata. I had Ray Barretto’s “Cocinando” loaded in case Vishal did not show up. “Cocinando” by the way is a 10+ minute Cha Cha Cha tune.
Total of 37 songs were played – 31 Salsa, 4 Bachata, 2 Merengue. Six Salsa songs probably qualify as typical Club Salsa Friday staple (Bailando, Miye Na We, Micaela, Otra Oportunidad, Duele Mas and maybe Etnia) from the past. A few other songs played were different versions of the usual diet of songs. La 33 is quite popular on Thursday evenings.
I was exhausted by the end; it took me about 10-15 minutes to get enough energy for a dance. It didn’t take me very long to warm up, but over half of good dancers were gone before I had chance to ask them for a dance. Oh well. It’s a penalty for DJing. I don’t think we had a night like this at Club Salsa on Fridays since … ever? I hazard to guess that unique would be a good description for tonight. Most people heard some of the songs I played tonight for the very first time in their life – this is going to happen only once. The impact will not be as great because the surprise factor will be gone next time I play these new songs.
Very large number of excellent CBL dancers was present tonight, and they were enjoying fairly good amount of space on the main floor. I bet I would have had a great time dancing tonight if someone else played the music I played – better than Scala last weekend and better than many SOS nights. As it was, dancing for me was quite good – considerably better than a typical evening at Club Salsa.
I received several compliments for a good job done as a DJ. Same or some other people made the same comment to Vishal. Of course, I know that it would not have been as good if there weren’t all those good dancers out there tonight to take advantage of whatever I played. In fact, I think it’s quite possible that any half decent DJ would have had a similar successful evening given the conditions (large number of good dancers and reasonable amount of space) tonight. If people think tonight’s set was good, they should have been here to listen to Tony Lara’s set on Tuesday.
An interesting, nice yet somewhat funny/strange/awkward comment I received tonight was from a person who told me that she always thought of me as a swan. Whoa! The first thing that came to my mind was the Ugly Duckling story. I’m not sure if this was the story in her mind, but the explanation was that I am like a swan because I’m graceful. Oh my. Oh no. This is too embarrassing – I can imagine getting jeered or made fun of by some of my blog readers. I guess it’s a nice compliment, but I was and am quite flabbergasted and more or less wished that I hadn’t heard it. I guess being graceful is good but … err … it’s not exactly manly unless Mikhail Baryshnikov were to be considered a sex symbol, is it? By the way, this person has known me for more than a year in the Salsa scene or back when I was feeling barely confident enough to start dancing Salsa after classes. I guess I must hide my stumbles fairly well from uncritical eyes.
Enrique is away on a vacation, so I took the opportunity to run the DJ booth once again.
Playlist
Bailando – Frankie Ruiz
El Pito – Joe Cuba Sextet (+7%) (1)
Miye Na We – Africando
Micaela – Sonora Carruseles
Acabo De Llegar – Tabaco Y Ron
Amor De Una Noche – N’Klabe (2)
Anacaona – Cheo Feliciano
Mi Gente – Oscar D’Leon
El # 100 – Tito Puente (3)
1-800-Quiereme – Luisito Rosario
La 33 – La 33
Etnia – Grupo Niche
Indestructible – Ray Barretto (-7%) (4)
I Love Salsa – N’Klabe (-2%) (5)
Ven Tu – Dominic Marte
Merengue Track #1 borrowed from Vishal
Es La Musica – Massimo Scalici (6)
Fragile – Massimo Scalici (7)
Babarabatiri – Tito Puente (8)
Celia Y Tito – Tito Puente with Celia Cruz
Salsa Y Control – Lebron Brothers
Abran Paso – Orchestra Harlow
Vamonos Pa’l Monte – Eddie Palmieri (9)
Te Quiero – Oliver
Merengue Track #3 borrowed from Vishal
Get It Up – Eurocuban Project (10)
Esto Es El Guaguanco – Cheo Feliciano
Otra Oportunidad – Jimmy Bosch
Ran Kan Kan – Tito Puente (11)
Picadillo – Cal Tjader & Eddie Palmieri
Bongo Loco – Lebron Brothers
Tumbando Cabeza – Tabaco Y Ron (-10%?) (12)
Duele Mas – Grupo Niche (13)
Pantera Mambo – La 33 (14)
Paris Mambo – Tito Puente & Eddie Palmieri (-7%)
Lamento Boliviano – Toque D’ Keda (15)
You Will Remember Me – Dominic Marte (16)
(1) This is the second time I played this song. I think it works better speeded up.
(2) This is the second time I played this song as well. A song can be played for the first time only once. It was played at Scala last Sunday as well.
(3) Another second time song. I’m beginning to sound like a broken record. Three other songs up to this point (not counting the two mentioned above) were also played for the second time. In any case, this song seems like a popular choice.
(4) I always thought this song was too fast for dancing. Now that I know how to slow down the song without making it sound very different, I feel safer playing it. This opens up quite a bit of options for playing other fast songs.
(5) I would have considered slowing this song even more, but I knew that I was going to play a non-Salsa song next so I decided to keep it fairly fast paced.
(6) Many people must have thought, “What the heck?” when this track came on. It took about 30-40 seconds for the dance floor to fill up. Thanks to iDJ Tony Lara.
(7) Mellow. They like it. Up to this point, I had been counting the number of people dancing on the main floor. The numbers ranged from 6 couples to 12 couples on the main floor plus two to four couples on side floors. I stopped counting after this because the dance floor was pretty much full rest of the evening despite there being relatively small number of people in the venue.
(8) By the way, yesterday was Tito Puente’s birthday. Someone asked for another Merengue during this song or maybe the next song. I told him that I’ll try in another 20 minutes or so.
(9) This song seemed to speed up towards the end. It’s a long song too. I was going to put another Salsa song but I decided that a break would be a very good idea.
(10) Another big surprise except to those who were at my private party on Tuesday. Shortly before I put on this song, a request for Salsa Romantica or a slower song was made. There was another more specific request which would take couple of weeks to fulfill.
(11) Older version with vibraphone.
(12) I was considering playing Eddie Palmieri’s “Adoracion” a couple of times during the evening. This is a very fast song so I was playing with slowing the song a great deal. I ended up deciding not to play the song, but I accidentally left the slow setting on for this song.
(13) I’m not quite sure what happened. Maybe some people decided to skip this song in part because it was too familiar. Everyone decided to watch the new kid with super energy dance instead.
(14) This choice was in response to no one else dancing during the last song.
(15) I thought this was going to be my last song.
(16) But I played one more Bachata. I had Ray Barretto’s “Cocinando” loaded in case Vishal did not show up. “Cocinando” by the way is a 10+ minute Cha Cha Cha tune.
Total of 37 songs were played – 31 Salsa, 4 Bachata, 2 Merengue. Six Salsa songs probably qualify as typical Club Salsa Friday staple (Bailando, Miye Na We, Micaela, Otra Oportunidad, Duele Mas and maybe Etnia) from the past. A few other songs played were different versions of the usual diet of songs. La 33 is quite popular on Thursday evenings.
I was exhausted by the end; it took me about 10-15 minutes to get enough energy for a dance. It didn’t take me very long to warm up, but over half of good dancers were gone before I had chance to ask them for a dance. Oh well. It’s a penalty for DJing. I don’t think we had a night like this at Club Salsa on Fridays since … ever? I hazard to guess that unique would be a good description for tonight. Most people heard some of the songs I played tonight for the very first time in their life – this is going to happen only once. The impact will not be as great because the surprise factor will be gone next time I play these new songs.
Very large number of excellent CBL dancers was present tonight, and they were enjoying fairly good amount of space on the main floor. I bet I would have had a great time dancing tonight if someone else played the music I played – better than Scala last weekend and better than many SOS nights. As it was, dancing for me was quite good – considerably better than a typical evening at Club Salsa.
I received several compliments for a good job done as a DJ. Same or some other people made the same comment to Vishal. Of course, I know that it would not have been as good if there weren’t all those good dancers out there tonight to take advantage of whatever I played. In fact, I think it’s quite possible that any half decent DJ would have had a similar successful evening given the conditions (large number of good dancers and reasonable amount of space) tonight. If people think tonight’s set was good, they should have been here to listen to Tony Lara’s set on Tuesday.
An interesting, nice yet somewhat funny/strange/awkward comment I received tonight was from a person who told me that she always thought of me as a swan. Whoa! The first thing that came to my mind was the Ugly Duckling story. I’m not sure if this was the story in her mind, but the explanation was that I am like a swan because I’m graceful. Oh my. Oh no. This is too embarrassing – I can imagine getting jeered or made fun of by some of my blog readers. I guess it’s a nice compliment, but I was and am quite flabbergasted and more or less wished that I hadn’t heard it. I guess being graceful is good but … err … it’s not exactly manly unless Mikhail Baryshnikov were to be considered a sex symbol, is it? By the way, this person has known me for more than a year in the Salsa scene or back when I was feeling barely confident enough to start dancing Salsa after classes. I guess I must hide my stumbles fairly well from uncritical eyes.
dance discussion group
April 20, 2006
Pure Salsa Intermediate with Sally and Chris
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL ending with L-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and leader gets behind follower by 3 via left side with L-R staying in front of follower (neutral lead for no turn signal and R hand could be on follower’s stomach) – bring follower back (possibly slightly to her right as well although straight back would be simpler for follower) on 5 and/or 6 while leader gets back in front of follower after having circled around follower and facing follower with L-R on leader’s R shoulder. If possible, try to do a hook turn on 7,8 with something like a drop catch and connect R-R at waist level
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward to overtake on R side again (keep R-R in front of leader’s body – essentially just above leader’s R shoulder on 3) – lead follower into a 1/2 clockwise (walking?) turn behind leader (lead is a fairly wide circular motion clockwise behind leader’s head with R-R ending on leader’s L waist under leader’s L arm
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and reconnect L-L and bring follower forward into something like Titanic or crucifix by 3 – use R-R to lead follower to R on 5 and L-L is raised and used to turn follower around on 6 to get follower behind leader by 7 and leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise on 7,8 to face follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break again and R-R hat for follower (and release) and get into CBL position – lead follower forward on 5 and into full counterclockwise traveling turn with L-L kept relatively low but ending at chest level rather than at waist level
1,2,3,5,6,7 (I didn’t quite get the part here, especially the arm positions) lead follower forward on 1 and turn her around 1/2 counterclockwise while leader turns 1/2 to 3/4 clockwise to get into CBL position again and lead follower into traveling clockwise turn (the aim was for 2 1/2)
Part of the second hour of class was spent in a fairly large circle of people talking about various aspects of learning Salsa. One of the topics of interest was tension and connection. The general consensus was that it is difficult to get many beginners to establish any kind of tension without completely locking up entire arm – the solution to this problem is still quite murky. I had written a draft on this topic, but what I had written was no better than material written about partner dancing on places like wikipedia under the heading of connection, frame, etc. After having talked to multiple sources, writing anything that could be agreed upon by most people felt like too challenging a task. It did inspire me to try to see if I could do anything to get a beginner to establish a proper amount of tension during the club hours – I don’t think it was a great success. Then again, tension is but just one part of the equation – timing and technique including footwork also needs to get to a fairly decent level in order to take advantage of proper level of tension.
An amusing comment was made regarding tension, “It does not feel like the muscles that move the arms are the same as the muscles that prevent it from moving.” I might have misheard the statement. Different muscles control different movement, and a set of muscles rather than a single muscle coordinate to make movement possible. I guess very few people (including myself) consciously and continually think of (location of) muscles that are being used to move various body parts. Muscles that move the fingers are located mostly between the wrist and the elbow. Muscles that move the forearm (e.g. so that L shape of the arm can be made and maintained) are located between the elbow and shoulders (biceps and triceps working in opposing manner). Muscles that control the movement of the arm as a whole are located in the back. Knowing where the muscles are does not necessarily help much in controlling them however.
Other parts of the second hour of classes was spent talking about and practicing some recent routines learned with some give and take, comments and suggestions among a small group. The Salsa.IT compilation CD 2 was another topic of discussion.
I need to work on my balance more. I was trying to show someone a spinning technique, and an onlooker thought I was demonstrating styling (presumably because I was stumbling – and perhaps covering it up with something that might have looked like styling). Ouch. I think I did slightly better showing another person how to lead CBL.
Dancing afterwards was quite enjoyable – even if balance was an issue.
Pure Salsa Intermediate with Sally and Chris
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL ending with L-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and leader gets behind follower by 3 via left side with L-R staying in front of follower (neutral lead for no turn signal and R hand could be on follower’s stomach) – bring follower back (possibly slightly to her right as well although straight back would be simpler for follower) on 5 and/or 6 while leader gets back in front of follower after having circled around follower and facing follower with L-R on leader’s R shoulder. If possible, try to do a hook turn on 7,8 with something like a drop catch and connect R-R at waist level
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward to overtake on R side again (keep R-R in front of leader’s body – essentially just above leader’s R shoulder on 3) – lead follower into a 1/2 clockwise (walking?) turn behind leader (lead is a fairly wide circular motion clockwise behind leader’s head with R-R ending on leader’s L waist under leader’s L arm
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and reconnect L-L and bring follower forward into something like Titanic or crucifix by 3 – use R-R to lead follower to R on 5 and L-L is raised and used to turn follower around on 6 to get follower behind leader by 7 and leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise on 7,8 to face follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break again and R-R hat for follower (and release) and get into CBL position – lead follower forward on 5 and into full counterclockwise traveling turn with L-L kept relatively low but ending at chest level rather than at waist level
1,2,3,5,6,7 (I didn’t quite get the part here, especially the arm positions) lead follower forward on 1 and turn her around 1/2 counterclockwise while leader turns 1/2 to 3/4 clockwise to get into CBL position again and lead follower into traveling clockwise turn (the aim was for 2 1/2)
Part of the second hour of class was spent in a fairly large circle of people talking about various aspects of learning Salsa. One of the topics of interest was tension and connection. The general consensus was that it is difficult to get many beginners to establish any kind of tension without completely locking up entire arm – the solution to this problem is still quite murky. I had written a draft on this topic, but what I had written was no better than material written about partner dancing on places like wikipedia under the heading of connection, frame, etc. After having talked to multiple sources, writing anything that could be agreed upon by most people felt like too challenging a task. It did inspire me to try to see if I could do anything to get a beginner to establish a proper amount of tension during the club hours – I don’t think it was a great success. Then again, tension is but just one part of the equation – timing and technique including footwork also needs to get to a fairly decent level in order to take advantage of proper level of tension.
An amusing comment was made regarding tension, “It does not feel like the muscles that move the arms are the same as the muscles that prevent it from moving.” I might have misheard the statement. Different muscles control different movement, and a set of muscles rather than a single muscle coordinate to make movement possible. I guess very few people (including myself) consciously and continually think of (location of) muscles that are being used to move various body parts. Muscles that move the fingers are located mostly between the wrist and the elbow. Muscles that move the forearm (e.g. so that L shape of the arm can be made and maintained) are located between the elbow and shoulders (biceps and triceps working in opposing manner). Muscles that control the movement of the arm as a whole are located in the back. Knowing where the muscles are does not necessarily help much in controlling them however.
Other parts of the second hour of classes was spent talking about and practicing some recent routines learned with some give and take, comments and suggestions among a small group. The Salsa.IT compilation CD 2 was another topic of discussion.
I need to work on my balance more. I was trying to show someone a spinning technique, and an onlooker thought I was demonstrating styling (presumably because I was stumbling – and perhaps covering it up with something that might have looked like styling). Ouch. I think I did slightly better showing another person how to lead CBL.
Dancing afterwards was quite enjoyable – even if balance was an issue.
Found a flaw and a simple fix
April 19, 2006
I was feeling pretty battered from recent activities so I wasn't going to go, but Vishal twisted my arm a little and I wasn't feeling too inspired with work so I went. Another part of the reason for going was to hear the song selections for tonight and see if there would be any new additions to the Wednesday playlist - there wasn't.
It wasn't the liveliest of the nights, but it was somewhat useful in trying to figure out why certain moves work or do not work with people at various level of abilities. I found a slight flaw in one of my techniques and also found a simple fix - this was helped by reading my dance partners reaction to a flawed leading technique. It seems obvious now, but it is difficult to find these flaws while dancing with people who are experienced followers and it is difficult to know that the technique is sound until these moves are used on followers who have not seen the move before. So considering this and couple other pretty good dances, this evening was not too bad.
Some other amusing bits included watching others dance while paying particular attention to feet (and trying to imagine making it lighter, etc), being watched while dancing (I didn't realize I might be worth watching except by beginners or by someone who is being critical and is thinking of ways to improve it), possible game of one-upmanship, and seeing Vishal play new brand new songs in a row (I provided one of them).
Speaking of new songs, I'm really looking forward to playing some new fun songs this Friday - I already have a pretty good outline of the playlist. I am almost dying with anticipation to see how people react to some of these songs.
I was feeling pretty battered from recent activities so I wasn't going to go, but Vishal twisted my arm a little and I wasn't feeling too inspired with work so I went. Another part of the reason for going was to hear the song selections for tonight and see if there would be any new additions to the Wednesday playlist - there wasn't.
It wasn't the liveliest of the nights, but it was somewhat useful in trying to figure out why certain moves work or do not work with people at various level of abilities. I found a slight flaw in one of my techniques and also found a simple fix - this was helped by reading my dance partners reaction to a flawed leading technique. It seems obvious now, but it is difficult to find these flaws while dancing with people who are experienced followers and it is difficult to know that the technique is sound until these moves are used on followers who have not seen the move before. So considering this and couple other pretty good dances, this evening was not too bad.
Some other amusing bits included watching others dance while paying particular attention to feet (and trying to imagine making it lighter, etc), being watched while dancing (I didn't realize I might be worth watching except by beginners or by someone who is being critical and is thinking of ways to improve it), possible game of one-upmanship, and seeing Vishal play new brand new songs in a row (I provided one of them).
Speaking of new songs, I'm really looking forward to playing some new fun songs this Friday - I already have a pretty good outline of the playlist. I am almost dying with anticipation to see how people react to some of these songs.
A private party at Club Salsa
April 18, 2006
Bachata class with Tony & Daniela
Shoulder body movement (L up, R up, L up, R up quickly followed by L up on 1,2,3,4, etc) and chest body movement (something like a throwing up motion – back and forward) was discussed.
Leader’s extra movement at the end of normal side-to-side turn (turning extra 90 degrees and get back to basic) was also demonstrated.
slide-step
1,2,3,4 side-to-side basic end with R toe cross behind L foot (lean towards R)
5,6,7,8 slide to R on 5,6 and L toe tap twice behind R foot
1,2,3,4 slide to L on 1,2, and R toe tap twice behind L foot
5,6,7,8 side-to-side basic
[this one is more of a choreographed move although it could work okay with a follower who is adept at mirroring.]
four corners
tight closed hold for solid frame and turn around full clockwise as a couple in a single measure
1 L foot “forward” (seemed more like 30 degrees to L than a strict forward – let’s call it 11 o’clock)
2 R foot together and tap and start turning as a unit clockwise (keep weight on L foot and push into the ground to help turning)
3 R foot “back” (5 o’clock)
4 L foot together and tap and start turning
5 L foot “forward” (2 o’clock)
6 R foot together and tap and start turning
7 R foot ‘back” (8 o’clock)
8 L foot together and tap and finish turn to face 12 o’clock (or original position) for 1
[for follower, steps on 1,3,5,7 are more like back, forward, back, forward]
fishing version 1
1,2,3,4 basic side-to-side and L-R is raised (R-L is let go)
5,6,7,8 leader is doing stationary basic while follower is doing side-to-side basic with possibly start of a turn (parading around the leader clockwise)
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 follower walks around leader clockwise – possibly ending with L-R arm lock – leader is doing stationary basic
one option afterwards is to go down and up stationary – side-to-side basic works too
fishing version 2
1,2,3,4 basic side-to-side and L-R is raised (R-L is let go)
5,6,7,8 follower is led into normal traveling side-to-side turn (body lead using R hand with R hand ending behind follower’s back)
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 initiate follower to parade around leader in clockwise direction using R hand on follower’s back to initiate the walk – leader does a forward basic (borrowing Salsa steps) on 1,2,3 and back basic on 5,6,7 – after follower gets around once, L-R could be placed on front of leader’s neck
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 continue follower to parade around leader in clockwise direction – forward basic on 1,2,3 for leader and stationary basic on 5,6,7,8 – on 8, L-R is let go and both L and R hand holds follower on her back
one option afterwards is a dip – other basic options are available too
butterfly
come apart on 5,6,7,8
1,2,3,4 side-to-side basic with R-L going over follower’s head
5,6,7,8 use L-R to lead follower into (traveling side-to-side?) turn (1/2 clockwise? – I’ll have to check this with someone in the class later – I think one of the connections (R-L) end up under follower’s R arm) – leader is behind follower
1,2,3,4 follower is led to R for traveling side-to-side turn with hand switch during the turn and R hand on follower’s R shoulder to stop excessive turn – leader should move with her and switch to L-L
5,6,7,8 leader is doing follower’s steps as follower is led to a side-to-side traveling turn – this time use L hand on follower’s L shoulder for stopping the turn and connect R-R at follower’s waist (follower should keep free hand at waist level)
1,2,3,4 leader is still doing follower’s steps as follower is led to a side-to-side traveling turn again … similar mechanics as before
5,6,7,8 to get back to facing each other, lead a side-to-side traveling turn with extra 1/2 turn thrown in and get R hand on follower back to bring follower in very close
These are quite good. I don’t think it would take much to teach follower what needs to be done so that it can be lead easily.
Since you-know-who wasn’t here, I’m guessing some of these moves may not see the light of day unless I make a stronger effort to use these. However, I might be underestimating some people; someone or two might surprise me.
Salsa class with Tony & Daniela
Shine
I didn’t ask for the hardest shines, but these are not easy. I would consider these more difficult than SOS level 3 shines. I don’t know how they would compare to SOS level 4 shines since I never tried them.
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic end with R foot cross over in front of L foot
1 L foot side heel
2 R foot more or less in place heel
3 L foot cross behind R foot
5 R foot together
6 L foot heel
7 R foot heel
8 L foot normal
1 R foot cross in front of L foot
2 L foot side (somewhat wide) L
3 R foot toe cross behind L foot
4 R foot to R
5 L foot cross behind R foot
6 R foot slightly to R
7 L foot forward (somewhat bigger step)
8,1,2,3 R foot kick (8), swing back (over in front of L knee) (1), kick again (2), back to original position (3)
I’m less sure about the next part because I never quite understood the next part except that it was supposed to be very much like the beginning. Below would make some sense, but I’m not at all sure that there was a pause on 4.
5 L foot side heel
6 R foot more or less in place heel
7 L foot normal
8 R foot cross over in front of L foot maybe and get ready for normal basic
Partner work – I think this might have been called Napoleon. It’s R-R only sequence.
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL end with R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower to a double stationary clockwise turn – leader turns half counterclockwise when follower is done with her turn with R-R going down and up
1,2,3,5,6,7 over leader’s head to his R side and back while turning 1/2 on 1,2,3 – lead follower to a single clockwise turn while leader does a walking clockwise turn of his own to get into CBL position by 8
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break on 1, bring follower forward under R-R arm – traveling turn for follower with windmill motion keeping R-R closer to leader’s side – end with both leader and follower arms pointing upwards but not crossing over
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa (a new variation I haven’t seen before) with R-R going over follower’s head and lead follower to 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn while leader get to CBL position with R-R behind follower’s neck
1,2,3,5,6,7 stylized CBL start (like Mambo Jazz) if there’s time and lead follower forward into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn
We didn’t get to the next bit, but I think it must have been another Copa-like start (switching to L-L going over follower’s head) but ending with leader moving forward and making a 1/2 or 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn around follower’s L arm.
Again, I really like this routine, especially after having written it down. It’s not exactly easy, and I don’t think I would be able to lead it for everyone – at least not in the beginning. This may end up being one of those longer classic sequences (useful in parts and also as a whole) for me; I haven’t had one of those since the class with Tamambo last December.
Was it good value for the money? If I paid 10 pounds for these two classes, I would have considered it money very well spent. I can’t speak for anyone else of course, especially since I had some input in level of difficulty of the material used today. In a sense, it was pretty close to being a private lesson but not quite. Otherwise, I guess I now have friends (or at least very good acquaintances with people) in South Italy if I ever find a time to make it over there – probably better sooner than later if ever.
Music played was of fun party type – somewhat unfamiliar yet quite likable. Vishal would have loved them. A few of the dances tonight were considerably more enjoyable than any of the dances at Scala (mostly because conditions there was so cramped) – and more than half of these fun dances were with people not named Daniela. I think I tired to dance with everyone, but I might have missed one or two who decided to call it a night early on.
One amusing tidbit I learned about Tony over tapas. He’s an Olympian; he represented Great Britain for Barcelona Summer Olympics for Taekwondo. I knew that he did martial arts, but this additional detail about him being an England champion was news to me. Apparently, one of Taekwondo participant at the Barcelona Olympics was an Englishman representing Spain. Pretty neat…
Tony, Daniela and members of their team will be performing a Pink Panther routine at the London Heathrow Congress on Saturday evening. There will be no Bachata performance – Claudia is still dealing with some personal matters. The second Bachata DVD is still in plans for the summer – apparently they did one shooting but did not like the quality of the shoot. It seemed like their next tour will not happen until October, so I would have a long break at the very least.
If I were to do this again in a month or two, I probably would do two Bachata classes and perhaps charge 4 pounds for the beginner class with larger limit for class size and 6 pounds for a smaller intermediate class. As much as I liked their Salsa class, I get a feeling that Cambridge might have reached saturation point with number of Salsa classes.
Bachata class with Tony & Daniela
Shoulder body movement (L up, R up, L up, R up quickly followed by L up on 1,2,3,4, etc) and chest body movement (something like a throwing up motion – back and forward) was discussed.
Leader’s extra movement at the end of normal side-to-side turn (turning extra 90 degrees and get back to basic) was also demonstrated.
slide-step
1,2,3,4 side-to-side basic end with R toe cross behind L foot (lean towards R)
5,6,7,8 slide to R on 5,6 and L toe tap twice behind R foot
1,2,3,4 slide to L on 1,2, and R toe tap twice behind L foot
5,6,7,8 side-to-side basic
[this one is more of a choreographed move although it could work okay with a follower who is adept at mirroring.]
four corners
tight closed hold for solid frame and turn around full clockwise as a couple in a single measure
1 L foot “forward” (seemed more like 30 degrees to L than a strict forward – let’s call it 11 o’clock)
2 R foot together and tap and start turning as a unit clockwise (keep weight on L foot and push into the ground to help turning)
3 R foot “back” (5 o’clock)
4 L foot together and tap and start turning
5 L foot “forward” (2 o’clock)
6 R foot together and tap and start turning
7 R foot ‘back” (8 o’clock)
8 L foot together and tap and finish turn to face 12 o’clock (or original position) for 1
[for follower, steps on 1,3,5,7 are more like back, forward, back, forward]
fishing version 1
1,2,3,4 basic side-to-side and L-R is raised (R-L is let go)
5,6,7,8 leader is doing stationary basic while follower is doing side-to-side basic with possibly start of a turn (parading around the leader clockwise)
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 follower walks around leader clockwise – possibly ending with L-R arm lock – leader is doing stationary basic
one option afterwards is to go down and up stationary – side-to-side basic works too
fishing version 2
1,2,3,4 basic side-to-side and L-R is raised (R-L is let go)
5,6,7,8 follower is led into normal traveling side-to-side turn (body lead using R hand with R hand ending behind follower’s back)
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 initiate follower to parade around leader in clockwise direction using R hand on follower’s back to initiate the walk – leader does a forward basic (borrowing Salsa steps) on 1,2,3 and back basic on 5,6,7 – after follower gets around once, L-R could be placed on front of leader’s neck
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 continue follower to parade around leader in clockwise direction – forward basic on 1,2,3 for leader and stationary basic on 5,6,7,8 – on 8, L-R is let go and both L and R hand holds follower on her back
one option afterwards is a dip – other basic options are available too
butterfly
come apart on 5,6,7,8
1,2,3,4 side-to-side basic with R-L going over follower’s head
5,6,7,8 use L-R to lead follower into (traveling side-to-side?) turn (1/2 clockwise? – I’ll have to check this with someone in the class later – I think one of the connections (R-L) end up under follower’s R arm) – leader is behind follower
1,2,3,4 follower is led to R for traveling side-to-side turn with hand switch during the turn and R hand on follower’s R shoulder to stop excessive turn – leader should move with her and switch to L-L
5,6,7,8 leader is doing follower’s steps as follower is led to a side-to-side traveling turn – this time use L hand on follower’s L shoulder for stopping the turn and connect R-R at follower’s waist (follower should keep free hand at waist level)
1,2,3,4 leader is still doing follower’s steps as follower is led to a side-to-side traveling turn again … similar mechanics as before
5,6,7,8 to get back to facing each other, lead a side-to-side traveling turn with extra 1/2 turn thrown in and get R hand on follower back to bring follower in very close
These are quite good. I don’t think it would take much to teach follower what needs to be done so that it can be lead easily.
Since you-know-who wasn’t here, I’m guessing some of these moves may not see the light of day unless I make a stronger effort to use these. However, I might be underestimating some people; someone or two might surprise me.
Salsa class with Tony & Daniela
Shine
I didn’t ask for the hardest shines, but these are not easy. I would consider these more difficult than SOS level 3 shines. I don’t know how they would compare to SOS level 4 shines since I never tried them.
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic end with R foot cross over in front of L foot
1 L foot side heel
2 R foot more or less in place heel
3 L foot cross behind R foot
5 R foot together
6 L foot heel
7 R foot heel
8 L foot normal
1 R foot cross in front of L foot
2 L foot side (somewhat wide) L
3 R foot toe cross behind L foot
4 R foot to R
5 L foot cross behind R foot
6 R foot slightly to R
7 L foot forward (somewhat bigger step)
8,1,2,3 R foot kick (8), swing back (over in front of L knee) (1), kick again (2), back to original position (3)
I’m less sure about the next part because I never quite understood the next part except that it was supposed to be very much like the beginning. Below would make some sense, but I’m not at all sure that there was a pause on 4.
5 L foot side heel
6 R foot more or less in place heel
7 L foot normal
8 R foot cross over in front of L foot maybe and get ready for normal basic
Partner work – I think this might have been called Napoleon. It’s R-R only sequence.
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL end with R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower to a double stationary clockwise turn – leader turns half counterclockwise when follower is done with her turn with R-R going down and up
1,2,3,5,6,7 over leader’s head to his R side and back while turning 1/2 on 1,2,3 – lead follower to a single clockwise turn while leader does a walking clockwise turn of his own to get into CBL position by 8
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break on 1, bring follower forward under R-R arm – traveling turn for follower with windmill motion keeping R-R closer to leader’s side – end with both leader and follower arms pointing upwards but not crossing over
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa (a new variation I haven’t seen before) with R-R going over follower’s head and lead follower to 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn while leader get to CBL position with R-R behind follower’s neck
1,2,3,5,6,7 stylized CBL start (like Mambo Jazz) if there’s time and lead follower forward into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn
We didn’t get to the next bit, but I think it must have been another Copa-like start (switching to L-L going over follower’s head) but ending with leader moving forward and making a 1/2 or 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn around follower’s L arm.
Again, I really like this routine, especially after having written it down. It’s not exactly easy, and I don’t think I would be able to lead it for everyone – at least not in the beginning. This may end up being one of those longer classic sequences (useful in parts and also as a whole) for me; I haven’t had one of those since the class with Tamambo last December.
Was it good value for the money? If I paid 10 pounds for these two classes, I would have considered it money very well spent. I can’t speak for anyone else of course, especially since I had some input in level of difficulty of the material used today. In a sense, it was pretty close to being a private lesson but not quite. Otherwise, I guess I now have friends (or at least very good acquaintances with people) in South Italy if I ever find a time to make it over there – probably better sooner than later if ever.
Music played was of fun party type – somewhat unfamiliar yet quite likable. Vishal would have loved them. A few of the dances tonight were considerably more enjoyable than any of the dances at Scala (mostly because conditions there was so cramped) – and more than half of these fun dances were with people not named Daniela. I think I tired to dance with everyone, but I might have missed one or two who decided to call it a night early on.
One amusing tidbit I learned about Tony over tapas. He’s an Olympian; he represented Great Britain for Barcelona Summer Olympics for Taekwondo. I knew that he did martial arts, but this additional detail about him being an England champion was news to me. Apparently, one of Taekwondo participant at the Barcelona Olympics was an Englishman representing Spain. Pretty neat…
Tony, Daniela and members of their team will be performing a Pink Panther routine at the London Heathrow Congress on Saturday evening. There will be no Bachata performance – Claudia is still dealing with some personal matters. The second Bachata DVD is still in plans for the summer – apparently they did one shooting but did not like the quality of the shoot. It seemed like their next tour will not happen until October, so I would have a long break at the very least.
If I were to do this again in a month or two, I probably would do two Bachata classes and perhaps charge 4 pounds for the beginner class with larger limit for class size and 6 pounds for a smaller intermediate class. As much as I liked their Salsa class, I get a feeling that Cambridge might have reached saturation point with number of Salsa classes.
For all those checking for updates
April 18, 2006
There isn't anything special to write about. As far as I know, they're on their way and expect to be in Cambridge around 5 PM. I might meet with them before the classes start and have a snack before the class. This might happen at Sauce. If you happen to be nearby, feel free to stop by and say hi. Otherwise, doors are supposed to be open at 7 PM, and classes will start (hopefully on time) at 7:30 PM. As for the turn-out, your guess probably is as good as mine.
There isn't anything special to write about. As far as I know, they're on their way and expect to be in Cambridge around 5 PM. I might meet with them before the classes start and have a snack before the class. This might happen at Sauce. If you happen to be nearby, feel free to stop by and say hi. Otherwise, doors are supposed to be open at 7 PM, and classes will start (hopefully on time) at 7:30 PM. As for the turn-out, your guess probably is as good as mine.
Scala – like Club Salsa but bigger and slightly better
April 16, 2006
Weird night. Incoherent night. Tiring night. These are some of many descriptions I could think of when I think of my Scala outing. There were enjoyable moments too but overall it was a flat and underwhelming night for me in general.
Where to start? Perhaps with a phone call from Sergio shortly after noon, as I was driving to my workplace with Lenny Kravitz on at high volume, to let me know that he decided to come along? Or perhaps getting home to eat dinner and trying to find time to work with Frankie Martinez body movement DVD before picking up Sergio? By the way, there was not enough time to get started with Frankie. Or perhaps I should start with getting lost less than a minute after picking up Sergio? Instead of taking Chesterton Road from High Street to eventually enter M11 from exit 13, I ended up going towards Milton Road, then taking a minor road to turn around, taking a wrong turn on Milton Road and ending up on Arbury Road and finally on some parking lot (or car park as they call it here) before backtracking my way all the way back to High Street via Union Lane. After this initial farce (I probably lost about 5 minutes here), drive to Scala was flawless and I managed to find a space to park right in front of Kings Cross station less than 100 minutes after I left home for a less than 2 minutes walk to Scala.
Maybe 2 seconds after I entered Scala, I spotted two, then three, then four, then five people from Cambridge Salsa scene. Within 5 minutes, the number grew to dozen and eventually to a little over 25 people – I counted 28 people (14 men, 14 women) including me. It was as if I never left Cambridge. According to Joe Davids, this was the best ever attended Scala night on Easter (meaning probably over 1200 people) and Club Salsa regulars contributed over 2% of the total.
Scala. Big yet small. I think there were four rooms; I only managed to find three - the place was something of a maze. The first room I spotted was a Cuban alcove about the size of lower floor at Club Salsa. Three sides of this alcove were surrounded by walls, which made the space look even more constricted than it perhaps was. The fourth side led to a social area / bar / coat check, which took up more than 5 times the area of the Cuban alcove thus dwarfing the alcove. The second room I saw the Main Salsa room (Salsa Max). This room had three areas for dancing – the main floor (about the size of main floor at Clarendon Grill in Arlington/DC), the elevated stage behind the main speakers (slightly smaller than the main floor – when combined with the main floor, the dance space becomes comparable in size to the main downstairs floor at the Rocket), and the corridor behind the DJ booth. There were a lot of corridors, stairs, etc., and many places to watch the dancers were somewhat inaccessible from the dance floor thus finding a new dance partner who wasn’t already on the dance floor was a bit tricky for me. In terms of layout for easy access to dance floor, this room was the worst I have ever seen for a Salsa venue. My initial reaction was something like “They are going to have 1000+ Salsa dancers in this place? This is not going to be fun. I wouldn’t want more than 300-400 people at most.” Cambridge Guildhall main hall has more space than all of Salsa Max room danceable area combined. The third room for Lambada looked pretty nice at a quick glance – pretty spacious with dance floor being accessible to dancers.
Music was generally good and sometimes adventurous. I particularly enjoyed the fact that several songs I either played at Club Salsa or was planning on playing at Club Salsa in some future based solely on my opinion were played tonight by professional DJs. It was also nice to see that some songs I would have considered essentially unplayable at Club Salsa were played tonight as well – it might give me more courage to push boundaries even further if chance presents itself.
There were three showcases. I progressively stood or sat closer to the stage for each successive shows. I think I enjoyed the Lee & Shelley one the most – even though I think I saw this routine three times now.
On Londonsalsa.co.uk forum, one person wrote that there would be over 1000 black belt Salsa dancers at Scala tonight. I don’t know what her opinion of black belt Salsa dancer would be. If I were to place least experienced dancers from Cambridge tonight as the lowest cut-off point for black belt, I would have to say that the number would be well below 1000; I thought a very large number of people were watching other people dance 90+% of the time. My guess is that the median Salsa dancer tonight from Cambridge would place in top quartile of people who were at Scala, and everyone would have been considered average (approximately 50% percentile) at worst. I think one third to half of my dances tonight were with Cambridge people; I would never have predicted it.
Back to space. There wasn’t very much. Vast majority of Cambridge people were dancing on the elevated stage area behind the speakers, which for a short time had more space compared to the main floor. At times, dances were more of a traffic management than anything else. Sergio mentioned observing tempers flaring over with some people using their partners as a battering ram on people who were intruding on their space, etc. I felt like I had to be quite restrained and dance compactly – some of my partners seemed perfectly okay about this while others were probably bored. It seemed like whenever I tried to stretch things and venture beyond a comfort zone, some disaster struck. I never got around to dancing with full energy – which may or may not be a good thing.
I only recognized couple of dozen regulars from SOS, and relatively few random people I asked for a dance were very good. On the whole, about half of 10 or so dances I enjoyed and had absolutely no complaints about were with strangers. Many of the better dancers were better largely because of some underlying context (e.g. better than usual dances with familiar dance partners, dancing with people I haven’t seen in a while – both in Cambridge and in London). None of the dances when taking dancing alone as sole criteria reached spellbinding level though, and I felt pretty flat most of the time.
Unique. I find this adjective somewhat troubling whenever my dance partner to describe my dance style. I must have heard this about three times in last 5 months or so and my best explanation is that my partner simply does not have much experience. It would make sense if this word is used in a pejorative manner, but the tone used has seemed complimentary. Still, it had a negative effect on me tonight – probably because I was already feeling fairly negative. I think I was able to get myself up for one more dance after this comment. I suppose I’m not good at reading people – for example, there are people who I think may not like me very much for some unknown reason but I am very unsure about this assessment. I feel very awkward interacting with them and I would micro-analyze every small gestures and generally be oversensitive – not fun especially since I don’t have a nice gentle subtle ways in me to correct any problems. When translated into dancing, there are people who I can dance with more or less competently but I have poor idea of what she wants from the dance as well as what I want out of the dance. Awkward.
Highlight of the evening. I ran into someone I was hoping to run into tonight – it took long enough – it was 3:20 AM by the time I spotted her – I’ll call her Diane (not her real name); she apparently arrived around 1 AM. It took a long look as well as a returning look of recognition from her as I approached her because she had changed her appearance quite a bit. It’s gratifying to know that she likes dancing with me – supposedly because I enjoy and have fun dancing and have a lot of energy (somewhat surprising because I was feeling very tired by the time I had my dances with her and my shines were sloppy as hell - by the way, a big part of our first dance was an inside joke). I guess I just need to work on everything else. It’s interesting to note that two other people who made a comment like this to me in the past are Serap and Sally. I was already planning on working based upon more dance advice from Sergio, but this provides even more impetus.
Sergio thinks I should work harder on my basics, and I agree with him. My understanding is that he’s looking at my feet mostly. When I started out, my feet were my strong points and my hands were rubbish. Now, it’s the other way around and my feet feel heavy. I don’t know how easy it will be – hopefully the cure will take many weeks of training to take a dramatic effect as opposed to many months or even years. It’s nice to know that people think I’m worth working with – whatever it is that they see.
Drive back was odd – I’m so not used to driving out of London when it’s not dark. Even though I was never lost, I felt lost two or three times and had difficulty figuring out if I was indeed on the correct road. Also driving long distance at 4:30 AM to 6 AM in any condition is not something I am used to. Aside from basics of dancing (and idea of some tutoring), main topic of conversation was music.
I was hoping that Scala would help to gauge my progress over last couple of months but this did not work as well as I hoped. I’m not sure if I am any better and more fun to dance with for other people. I think I have more opinions about abilities of my partners – generally more critical although I no longer know if my judgment is any better; I have changed my opinion so often about my various dance partners in the past so that I no longer know if someone I like dancing with now would be someone I would still enjoy dancing with as much in two or three months time. In case it means anything, as I get more critical of others, I am getting even more critical of myself; I am guessing and hoping that I am dancing better than I was 2, 4 or 6 months ago in an absolute sense, but it usually doesn’t “feel” that way except on occasional superb nights.
I’m feeling pretty nervous about Tuesday night. I meant to speak to Cambridge people about it once again while I was at Scala. I ended up talking about it only with one person and that was because this person decided to drop out with a perfectly understandable reason. A funny or odd thing is that while I became worried, I felt even friendlier and freer with this person when given this news. Whether it turns out a success or disaster, I wonder if I have any more energy left to organize any more events like this.
I also wonder if it’s safer now to start referring to some less public people by name – provided that they are okay with it. This blog sometimes has too much self-analysis, which is time-consuming and is by default self-absorbed. I would imagine many people wouldn’t mind as long as nothing bad is written about them.
Weird night. Incoherent night. Tiring night. These are some of many descriptions I could think of when I think of my Scala outing. There were enjoyable moments too but overall it was a flat and underwhelming night for me in general.
Where to start? Perhaps with a phone call from Sergio shortly after noon, as I was driving to my workplace with Lenny Kravitz on at high volume, to let me know that he decided to come along? Or perhaps getting home to eat dinner and trying to find time to work with Frankie Martinez body movement DVD before picking up Sergio? By the way, there was not enough time to get started with Frankie. Or perhaps I should start with getting lost less than a minute after picking up Sergio? Instead of taking Chesterton Road from High Street to eventually enter M11 from exit 13, I ended up going towards Milton Road, then taking a minor road to turn around, taking a wrong turn on Milton Road and ending up on Arbury Road and finally on some parking lot (or car park as they call it here) before backtracking my way all the way back to High Street via Union Lane. After this initial farce (I probably lost about 5 minutes here), drive to Scala was flawless and I managed to find a space to park right in front of Kings Cross station less than 100 minutes after I left home for a less than 2 minutes walk to Scala.
Maybe 2 seconds after I entered Scala, I spotted two, then three, then four, then five people from Cambridge Salsa scene. Within 5 minutes, the number grew to dozen and eventually to a little over 25 people – I counted 28 people (14 men, 14 women) including me. It was as if I never left Cambridge. According to Joe Davids, this was the best ever attended Scala night on Easter (meaning probably over 1200 people) and Club Salsa regulars contributed over 2% of the total.
Scala. Big yet small. I think there were four rooms; I only managed to find three - the place was something of a maze. The first room I spotted was a Cuban alcove about the size of lower floor at Club Salsa. Three sides of this alcove were surrounded by walls, which made the space look even more constricted than it perhaps was. The fourth side led to a social area / bar / coat check, which took up more than 5 times the area of the Cuban alcove thus dwarfing the alcove. The second room I saw the Main Salsa room (Salsa Max). This room had three areas for dancing – the main floor (about the size of main floor at Clarendon Grill in Arlington/DC), the elevated stage behind the main speakers (slightly smaller than the main floor – when combined with the main floor, the dance space becomes comparable in size to the main downstairs floor at the Rocket), and the corridor behind the DJ booth. There were a lot of corridors, stairs, etc., and many places to watch the dancers were somewhat inaccessible from the dance floor thus finding a new dance partner who wasn’t already on the dance floor was a bit tricky for me. In terms of layout for easy access to dance floor, this room was the worst I have ever seen for a Salsa venue. My initial reaction was something like “They are going to have 1000+ Salsa dancers in this place? This is not going to be fun. I wouldn’t want more than 300-400 people at most.” Cambridge Guildhall main hall has more space than all of Salsa Max room danceable area combined. The third room for Lambada looked pretty nice at a quick glance – pretty spacious with dance floor being accessible to dancers.
Music was generally good and sometimes adventurous. I particularly enjoyed the fact that several songs I either played at Club Salsa or was planning on playing at Club Salsa in some future based solely on my opinion were played tonight by professional DJs. It was also nice to see that some songs I would have considered essentially unplayable at Club Salsa were played tonight as well – it might give me more courage to push boundaries even further if chance presents itself.
There were three showcases. I progressively stood or sat closer to the stage for each successive shows. I think I enjoyed the Lee & Shelley one the most – even though I think I saw this routine three times now.
On Londonsalsa.co.uk forum, one person wrote that there would be over 1000 black belt Salsa dancers at Scala tonight. I don’t know what her opinion of black belt Salsa dancer would be. If I were to place least experienced dancers from Cambridge tonight as the lowest cut-off point for black belt, I would have to say that the number would be well below 1000; I thought a very large number of people were watching other people dance 90+% of the time. My guess is that the median Salsa dancer tonight from Cambridge would place in top quartile of people who were at Scala, and everyone would have been considered average (approximately 50% percentile) at worst. I think one third to half of my dances tonight were with Cambridge people; I would never have predicted it.
Back to space. There wasn’t very much. Vast majority of Cambridge people were dancing on the elevated stage area behind the speakers, which for a short time had more space compared to the main floor. At times, dances were more of a traffic management than anything else. Sergio mentioned observing tempers flaring over with some people using their partners as a battering ram on people who were intruding on their space, etc. I felt like I had to be quite restrained and dance compactly – some of my partners seemed perfectly okay about this while others were probably bored. It seemed like whenever I tried to stretch things and venture beyond a comfort zone, some disaster struck. I never got around to dancing with full energy – which may or may not be a good thing.
I only recognized couple of dozen regulars from SOS, and relatively few random people I asked for a dance were very good. On the whole, about half of 10 or so dances I enjoyed and had absolutely no complaints about were with strangers. Many of the better dancers were better largely because of some underlying context (e.g. better than usual dances with familiar dance partners, dancing with people I haven’t seen in a while – both in Cambridge and in London). None of the dances when taking dancing alone as sole criteria reached spellbinding level though, and I felt pretty flat most of the time.
Unique. I find this adjective somewhat troubling whenever my dance partner to describe my dance style. I must have heard this about three times in last 5 months or so and my best explanation is that my partner simply does not have much experience. It would make sense if this word is used in a pejorative manner, but the tone used has seemed complimentary. Still, it had a negative effect on me tonight – probably because I was already feeling fairly negative. I think I was able to get myself up for one more dance after this comment. I suppose I’m not good at reading people – for example, there are people who I think may not like me very much for some unknown reason but I am very unsure about this assessment. I feel very awkward interacting with them and I would micro-analyze every small gestures and generally be oversensitive – not fun especially since I don’t have a nice gentle subtle ways in me to correct any problems. When translated into dancing, there are people who I can dance with more or less competently but I have poor idea of what she wants from the dance as well as what I want out of the dance. Awkward.
Highlight of the evening. I ran into someone I was hoping to run into tonight – it took long enough – it was 3:20 AM by the time I spotted her – I’ll call her Diane (not her real name); she apparently arrived around 1 AM. It took a long look as well as a returning look of recognition from her as I approached her because she had changed her appearance quite a bit. It’s gratifying to know that she likes dancing with me – supposedly because I enjoy and have fun dancing and have a lot of energy (somewhat surprising because I was feeling very tired by the time I had my dances with her and my shines were sloppy as hell - by the way, a big part of our first dance was an inside joke). I guess I just need to work on everything else. It’s interesting to note that two other people who made a comment like this to me in the past are Serap and Sally. I was already planning on working based upon more dance advice from Sergio, but this provides even more impetus.
Sergio thinks I should work harder on my basics, and I agree with him. My understanding is that he’s looking at my feet mostly. When I started out, my feet were my strong points and my hands were rubbish. Now, it’s the other way around and my feet feel heavy. I don’t know how easy it will be – hopefully the cure will take many weeks of training to take a dramatic effect as opposed to many months or even years. It’s nice to know that people think I’m worth working with – whatever it is that they see.
Drive back was odd – I’m so not used to driving out of London when it’s not dark. Even though I was never lost, I felt lost two or three times and had difficulty figuring out if I was indeed on the correct road. Also driving long distance at 4:30 AM to 6 AM in any condition is not something I am used to. Aside from basics of dancing (and idea of some tutoring), main topic of conversation was music.
I was hoping that Scala would help to gauge my progress over last couple of months but this did not work as well as I hoped. I’m not sure if I am any better and more fun to dance with for other people. I think I have more opinions about abilities of my partners – generally more critical although I no longer know if my judgment is any better; I have changed my opinion so often about my various dance partners in the past so that I no longer know if someone I like dancing with now would be someone I would still enjoy dancing with as much in two or three months time. In case it means anything, as I get more critical of others, I am getting even more critical of myself; I am guessing and hoping that I am dancing better than I was 2, 4 or 6 months ago in an absolute sense, but it usually doesn’t “feel” that way except on occasional superb nights.
I’m feeling pretty nervous about Tuesday night. I meant to speak to Cambridge people about it once again while I was at Scala. I ended up talking about it only with one person and that was because this person decided to drop out with a perfectly understandable reason. A funny or odd thing is that while I became worried, I felt even friendlier and freer with this person when given this news. Whether it turns out a success or disaster, I wonder if I have any more energy left to organize any more events like this.
I also wonder if it’s safer now to start referring to some less public people by name – provided that they are okay with it. This blog sometimes has too much self-analysis, which is time-consuming and is by default self-absorbed. I would imagine many people wouldn’t mind as long as nothing bad is written about them.
Playing to Cuban crowd
April 14, 2006
I wasn’t expecting to be back as DJ so soon until Vishal invited me back Thursday night. The DJ situation seems a little fluid at the moment, and there was talk of yet another newcomer DJing (although this did not materialize tonight).
Playlist – order is approximate and is less certain in the middle
Frankie Ruiz – La Rueda (1)
N’Klabe – Quizas (2)
Africando – Mandali
La 33 – Soledad
Sonora Carruseles – Ave Maria Lola
Alex Leon – Acabo De Llegar (3)
Oscar D’Leon – Mi Mujer Es Una Bomba (4)
Willie Colon – Idillo
Tabaco Y Ron – Tumbando Cabeza (5)
Tito Puente – El #100 (6)
Grupo Niche – Culebra
Ray Barretto – Quitate La Mascara
Luisito Rosario – 1-800-Quiereme
Eddie Palmieri – Ritmo Caliente II
La 33 – La 33
Lebron Brothers – Bongo Loco (7)
Oscar D’Leon – Mi Gente (8)
N’Klabe – I Love Salsa
Dominic Marte – Ven Tu (9)
La 33 – Que Rico Boogaloo (10)
Frankie Ruiz - Mirandote
Tito Puente – Ran Kan Kan – live version (11)
some random request from Buena Vista Social Club CD (12)
Vishal’s Merengue track #1 (13)
Vishal’s Merengue track #3
Tito Puente – Picadillo (14)
La 33 – La Pantera Mambo
Orchestra Harlow – El Jardinero Del Amor (15)
Tabaco Y Ron – Lloraras – live version (16)
Jimmy Bosch – Otra Oportunidad
Grupo Niche – Un Alto En El Camino (17)
Toque D’ Keda – Lamento Boliviano
(1) I thought the plan was that Enrique would have the first set, but he wasn’t there tonight so my plan had to be reconfigured. A song from Johnny’s CD collection was used as the first song of the evening.
(2) Vast majority of people were beginners. Playing slower tracks seemed like a good idea. I kept this up for next few songs. Vishal stopped by 2 songs later to make a comment on this – it’s a good idea.
(3) Speeding things up just slightly.
(4) A defect was found on this track and was terminated early.
(5) This was the first song I might have played in my original plan. Every song up to this point was not part of my original plan.
(6) A Tito Puente song that people won’t accuse of being Mambo or Latin Jazz.
(7) Quite possibly the first time Lebron Brothers was played at Club Salsa.
(8) Mexican Party Music? I had meant to play this couple of times before. Finally it makes its debut.
(9) After 18 Salsa songs in row (19 if Johnny’s track is included), a Bachata track gets played at 11:20 PM or about 1 2/3 hours after the start of the Club hours. Normally with a crowd like tonight, I would guess that up to 5 Merengue songs would have been played by now as recently as 2 months ago.
(10) Bachata track is followed by a rare opportunity to dance Cha Cha Cha – although I’m not completely convinced that this is a Cha Cha Cha song.
(11) By the way, next Thursday is Tito Puente’s Birthday.
(12) I lose control of song selections briefly to play someone’s request…
(13) …followed by couple of Merengue songs at Vishal’s request (people wanted Merengue by the reaction).
(14) Taking a hard right turn to reassert my control. I considered playing Palmieri/Tjader version, which is 7 minutes long. I looked at the crowd and opted instead for the 3 minute version.
(15) Vishal asks when he should take over. I tell him in about 20 minutes; I’ll finish with a Bachata track.
(16) I fooled some people with this new version.
(17) Playing with mood swings. I think this stretch worked quite well.
I was done around 12:20 AM. I think Vishal played maybe 12-16 more Salsa songs for the rest of the evening. I danced with 5 people altogether – only two were comfortable with CBL style of Salsa. If I were to do another long set, I should forego paying an entrance fee – I would have done it tonight except I wasn’t completely sure about playing even a short set, let alone a set lasting around 2 2/3 hours.
Few more people were rounded up for Tuesday’s Tony & Daniela workshop and party. I’m cautiously optimistic that it will be at least equal to last couple of times if not better, and I’m less worried about uneven number of sexes after having made concerted effort to talk to men of Cambridge. Many of crème de la crème of Cambridge area should be present. I meant to invite more people during the early part of the club hours, but DJing duty interfered with it – I will have to do this with e-mail with some people later. By the way, Vishal won’t be present at Club Salsa on Tuesday for the Tony & Daniela workshop. I’m sure it won’t turn out like a house party while parents are away – but it was fun making such a joke to Vishal. In any case, I will be a little shorthanded so please be nice and try not to take advantage of the situation. Because I told a few people not to worry about advanced booking, I might as well do the same with everyone – whatever one does, some people will show up unannounced anyway. For those planning on showing up for the club only, it costs only 2 pounds with the flier (or print this announcement). Doors will be open at 7 PM.
The night ended with some drunk guy taking off his shirt and waving it around followed by an unusual fracas. For some reason, this guy seemed to think that taking off his shirt and showing his bare chest is a regular part of Salsa dancing. Hmm. Who should we blame? The Egyptologist?
I wasn’t expecting to be back as DJ so soon until Vishal invited me back Thursday night. The DJ situation seems a little fluid at the moment, and there was talk of yet another newcomer DJing (although this did not materialize tonight).
Playlist – order is approximate and is less certain in the middle
Frankie Ruiz – La Rueda (1)
N’Klabe – Quizas (2)
Africando – Mandali
La 33 – Soledad
Sonora Carruseles – Ave Maria Lola
Alex Leon – Acabo De Llegar (3)
Oscar D’Leon – Mi Mujer Es Una Bomba (4)
Willie Colon – Idillo
Tabaco Y Ron – Tumbando Cabeza (5)
Tito Puente – El #100 (6)
Grupo Niche – Culebra
Ray Barretto – Quitate La Mascara
Luisito Rosario – 1-800-Quiereme
Eddie Palmieri – Ritmo Caliente II
La 33 – La 33
Lebron Brothers – Bongo Loco (7)
Oscar D’Leon – Mi Gente (8)
N’Klabe – I Love Salsa
Dominic Marte – Ven Tu (9)
La 33 – Que Rico Boogaloo (10)
Frankie Ruiz - Mirandote
Tito Puente – Ran Kan Kan – live version (11)
some random request from Buena Vista Social Club CD (12)
Vishal’s Merengue track #1 (13)
Vishal’s Merengue track #3
Tito Puente – Picadillo (14)
La 33 – La Pantera Mambo
Orchestra Harlow – El Jardinero Del Amor (15)
Tabaco Y Ron – Lloraras – live version (16)
Jimmy Bosch – Otra Oportunidad
Grupo Niche – Un Alto En El Camino (17)
Toque D’ Keda – Lamento Boliviano
(1) I thought the plan was that Enrique would have the first set, but he wasn’t there tonight so my plan had to be reconfigured. A song from Johnny’s CD collection was used as the first song of the evening.
(2) Vast majority of people were beginners. Playing slower tracks seemed like a good idea. I kept this up for next few songs. Vishal stopped by 2 songs later to make a comment on this – it’s a good idea.
(3) Speeding things up just slightly.
(4) A defect was found on this track and was terminated early.
(5) This was the first song I might have played in my original plan. Every song up to this point was not part of my original plan.
(6) A Tito Puente song that people won’t accuse of being Mambo or Latin Jazz.
(7) Quite possibly the first time Lebron Brothers was played at Club Salsa.
(8) Mexican Party Music? I had meant to play this couple of times before. Finally it makes its debut.
(9) After 18 Salsa songs in row (19 if Johnny’s track is included), a Bachata track gets played at 11:20 PM or about 1 2/3 hours after the start of the Club hours. Normally with a crowd like tonight, I would guess that up to 5 Merengue songs would have been played by now as recently as 2 months ago.
(10) Bachata track is followed by a rare opportunity to dance Cha Cha Cha – although I’m not completely convinced that this is a Cha Cha Cha song.
(11) By the way, next Thursday is Tito Puente’s Birthday.
(12) I lose control of song selections briefly to play someone’s request…
(13) …followed by couple of Merengue songs at Vishal’s request (people wanted Merengue by the reaction).
(14) Taking a hard right turn to reassert my control. I considered playing Palmieri/Tjader version, which is 7 minutes long. I looked at the crowd and opted instead for the 3 minute version.
(15) Vishal asks when he should take over. I tell him in about 20 minutes; I’ll finish with a Bachata track.
(16) I fooled some people with this new version.
(17) Playing with mood swings. I think this stretch worked quite well.
I was done around 12:20 AM. I think Vishal played maybe 12-16 more Salsa songs for the rest of the evening. I danced with 5 people altogether – only two were comfortable with CBL style of Salsa. If I were to do another long set, I should forego paying an entrance fee – I would have done it tonight except I wasn’t completely sure about playing even a short set, let alone a set lasting around 2 2/3 hours.
Few more people were rounded up for Tuesday’s Tony & Daniela workshop and party. I’m cautiously optimistic that it will be at least equal to last couple of times if not better, and I’m less worried about uneven number of sexes after having made concerted effort to talk to men of Cambridge. Many of crème de la crème of Cambridge area should be present. I meant to invite more people during the early part of the club hours, but DJing duty interfered with it – I will have to do this with e-mail with some people later. By the way, Vishal won’t be present at Club Salsa on Tuesday for the Tony & Daniela workshop. I’m sure it won’t turn out like a house party while parents are away – but it was fun making such a joke to Vishal. In any case, I will be a little shorthanded so please be nice and try not to take advantage of the situation. Because I told a few people not to worry about advanced booking, I might as well do the same with everyone – whatever one does, some people will show up unannounced anyway. For those planning on showing up for the club only, it costs only 2 pounds with the flier (or print this announcement). Doors will be open at 7 PM.
The night ended with some drunk guy taking off his shirt and waving it around followed by an unusual fracas. For some reason, this guy seemed to think that taking off his shirt and showing his bare chest is a regular part of Salsa dancing. Hmm. Who should we blame? The Egyptologist?
Where did that come from?
April 13, 2006
Intermediate - Sally with Chris - Pure Salsa
1,2,3,5,6,7 Mambo basic
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL end extended (follower does shoulder wiggle)
1,2,3,5,6,7 follower is brought closer on 2,3 and lead double turn for follower with R-L with R-L coming down after the first turn (pulling the zipper) to get R-L behind follower’s back R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower along on the right side with L hand offered behind leader’s backside to connect L-R and lead follower into 1 1/2 clockwise turn ending with tight closed hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 keep follower on the spot on 1 (as opposed to stepping back) and rotate as a unit counterclockwise for rotating CBL ending with cross pass (essentially hook turn for leader to face follower) and change to R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R Copa stopping follower’s motion aided with R forearm on follower’s back – connect L-L in front of follower’s L shoulder and lead follower forward on 5 and 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn led with L-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L hat for leader and CBL with R-L led (at waist level on 6) free 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn for follower
end with a shine for leader followed by a shine for follower
Chris now has a talking part in classes (same as last week). If you're giving instructions in class as part of the lesson…
leader’s shine
1,2,3 start with Mambo basic and turn 1/4 counterclockwise for 2,3,
5,6,7 Suzy Q (second half)
8 L foot cross over in front of R foot on heel
1,2,3,4 shuffle alternative feet in small movements R, L, R, L
5,6,7 big wide steps with swerve R, L, R – follow with Mambo basic back facing the follower
You never know how an evening will turn out. I did not feel a particularly good vibe going in. I coasted through the lessons. I wasn't feeling down or anything but I was particularly inspired either. So when I sat down and decided to chill for the second hour of lessons, I had no high expectations about dancing tonight.
I found myself chatting with a small group of people including Vishal during the second hour of lessons. Topics included music, DJing, business, vacations, practice (or lack of) - pretty innocuous stuff dealing with various aspects of Salsa and other matters. We met some newcomers from abroad. I did a little of practice of today's routine and related material from Monday classes for a short time - maybe 5 min at most.
Dancing started eventually. I sat out during the first song then started dancing without taking very few breaks. In no time, I had strung together half dozen pretty good dances and found myself in a reasonably good form. This was followed by more than dozen dances with increasing intensity. I found myself leading a move that surprised me more than a few times - some people follow so well that it's almost feels like they know what I am going to lead before I know what's going to happen. Chris for one thought I was in a very good form tonight, and I did dance well with pretty much everyone. I suspect I led some dances that were at considerably higher level than some people are used to and do this without it becoming absolutely overwhelming - exhausting but not overwhelming. Who knows how it (positive feedback loop resulting in having better and better dances as night progresses) happens, but one might as well enjoy it when it happens. I was complaining about lack of workout from dancing lately. I wouldn't say I exhausted myself (not even close) tonight but it was a pretty good workout.
Intermediate - Sally with Chris - Pure Salsa
1,2,3,5,6,7 Mambo basic
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL end extended (follower does shoulder wiggle)
1,2,3,5,6,7 follower is brought closer on 2,3 and lead double turn for follower with R-L with R-L coming down after the first turn (pulling the zipper) to get R-L behind follower’s back R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower along on the right side with L hand offered behind leader’s backside to connect L-R and lead follower into 1 1/2 clockwise turn ending with tight closed hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 keep follower on the spot on 1 (as opposed to stepping back) and rotate as a unit counterclockwise for rotating CBL ending with cross pass (essentially hook turn for leader to face follower) and change to R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R Copa stopping follower’s motion aided with R forearm on follower’s back – connect L-L in front of follower’s L shoulder and lead follower forward on 5 and 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn led with L-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L hat for leader and CBL with R-L led (at waist level on 6) free 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn for follower
end with a shine for leader followed by a shine for follower
Chris now has a talking part in classes (same as last week). If you're giving instructions in class as part of the lesson…
leader’s shine
1,2,3 start with Mambo basic and turn 1/4 counterclockwise for 2,3,
5,6,7 Suzy Q (second half)
8 L foot cross over in front of R foot on heel
1,2,3,4 shuffle alternative feet in small movements R, L, R, L
5,6,7 big wide steps with swerve R, L, R – follow with Mambo basic back facing the follower
You never know how an evening will turn out. I did not feel a particularly good vibe going in. I coasted through the lessons. I wasn't feeling down or anything but I was particularly inspired either. So when I sat down and decided to chill for the second hour of lessons, I had no high expectations about dancing tonight.
I found myself chatting with a small group of people including Vishal during the second hour of lessons. Topics included music, DJing, business, vacations, practice (or lack of) - pretty innocuous stuff dealing with various aspects of Salsa and other matters. We met some newcomers from abroad. I did a little of practice of today's routine and related material from Monday classes for a short time - maybe 5 min at most.
Dancing started eventually. I sat out during the first song then started dancing without taking very few breaks. In no time, I had strung together half dozen pretty good dances and found myself in a reasonably good form. This was followed by more than dozen dances with increasing intensity. I found myself leading a move that surprised me more than a few times - some people follow so well that it's almost feels like they know what I am going to lead before I know what's going to happen. Chris for one thought I was in a very good form tonight, and I did dance well with pretty much everyone. I suspect I led some dances that were at considerably higher level than some people are used to and do this without it becoming absolutely overwhelming - exhausting but not overwhelming. Who knows how it (positive feedback loop resulting in having better and better dances as night progresses) happens, but one might as well enjoy it when it happens. I was complaining about lack of workout from dancing lately. I wouldn't say I exhausted myself (not even close) tonight but it was a pretty good workout.
Temporary lifting of the Salsa music ban
April 12, 2006 (and part of April 13, 2006)
I was hooked up to my iPod when a colleague said something to me. I turned off my music and took off my earphones to hear the comment again.
"I'm going to put on some Salsa music."
"Oh. Okay."
I put my iPod back on and continued listening to Goldberg Variations. After all, my ban is still in effect.
Few hours later, I am at Club Salsa. Cristian’s classes are still as popular as ever. It takes another 10-15 min before the classes end. The club stays quite crowded for a while once again. It's a mix of dance and chitchat night for me.
I think it has been a long time since I felt that I was exhausted from dancing and that I had enough. There have been many fun nights at Club Salsa this year, but I don’t think I ever ended a night in Cambridge feeling that I couldn’t have handled another dozen dances or even more. I danced myself to exhaustion at the Brit Salsafest, and I had thoroughly satisfied myself with quality and quantity of dancing at SOS on a few occasions (but not this year). However, I almost always leave most nights wanting more. Perhaps Scala Latina this weekend will do the job (although a red flag was raised prompted by a comment made to me about Scala being too crowded).
At one point, Cristian made an announcement saying that Club Salsa will be open this Friday and Saturday. My reaction was, "Okay. Is this news?"
Only at lunch next day at the cafeteria did the reason for the announcement became clear. I noticed that they were serving fish and chips, which is usually a Friday fare. I asked the server about this anomaly (this being Thursday) and the answer was that they will be closed for Good Friday. Oh. A lot of things make sense all of sudden, including someone else's comment about taking only 4 days off while going away for 10 days.
Back at my desk, another colleague exclaims, "I'm bored."
A second colleague turns to me and says, "Hey, maybe you should put some Salsa music on."
Oh well. There goes my ban. First album on is Ray Barretto's "Latino." Next up. Cal Tjader's "Soul Sauce."
I was hooked up to my iPod when a colleague said something to me. I turned off my music and took off my earphones to hear the comment again.
"I'm going to put on some Salsa music."
"Oh. Okay."
I put my iPod back on and continued listening to Goldberg Variations. After all, my ban is still in effect.
Few hours later, I am at Club Salsa. Cristian’s classes are still as popular as ever. It takes another 10-15 min before the classes end. The club stays quite crowded for a while once again. It's a mix of dance and chitchat night for me.
I think it has been a long time since I felt that I was exhausted from dancing and that I had enough. There have been many fun nights at Club Salsa this year, but I don’t think I ever ended a night in Cambridge feeling that I couldn’t have handled another dozen dances or even more. I danced myself to exhaustion at the Brit Salsafest, and I had thoroughly satisfied myself with quality and quantity of dancing at SOS on a few occasions (but not this year). However, I almost always leave most nights wanting more. Perhaps Scala Latina this weekend will do the job (although a red flag was raised prompted by a comment made to me about Scala being too crowded).
At one point, Cristian made an announcement saying that Club Salsa will be open this Friday and Saturday. My reaction was, "Okay. Is this news?"
Only at lunch next day at the cafeteria did the reason for the announcement became clear. I noticed that they were serving fish and chips, which is usually a Friday fare. I asked the server about this anomaly (this being Thursday) and the answer was that they will be closed for Good Friday. Oh. A lot of things make sense all of sudden, including someone else's comment about taking only 4 days off while going away for 10 days.
Back at my desk, another colleague exclaims, "I'm bored."
A second colleague turns to me and says, "Hey, maybe you should put some Salsa music on."
Oh well. There goes my ban. First album on is Ray Barretto's "Latino." Next up. Cal Tjader's "Soul Sauce."
Improvers feels like Intermediate and Intermediate feels impossible
April 10, 2006
Intermediate - Joe Davids of Latin Collective
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic Mambo
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL cross pass ending facing follower (follower is in front and to right)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and get around behind follower and into CBL position – this would have been fairly difficult except I already use a similar routine regularly in my social dancing – R hand on follower’s stomach/belly on 2, both hands on follower’s waists on 3 as leader gets behind follower, R hand on follower’s back somewhere between 5 and 7, L hand is offered in front by 7 for L-R connection (follower is facing the same direction the whole time without turning and ideally should be doing haircomb with her L hand at the end to get back to closed hold)
1,2,3,5,6,7,1,2,3 the aim here is lead follower to do something that might be called cross-walk. Using L-R (possibly with help of R on her back), lead follower to step crossed back on 1 and cross in front on 3 (thus lead is back on 1 and forward on 3), then follower to do cross-cross-cross (thus lead is push-pull-push … or maybe lead follower toward her right-left-right), then another cross-cross-cross (lead here is pull-push-pull) – there is a bit about R foot in front, which might help to block her path forward but depending on the follower’s movement, leader might have to inch forward to accommodate her movement … this will need some practice
5,6,7 get that R foot out of follower’s path and lead follower into traveling counterclockwise 1 1/2 turn while leader also does counterclockwise turn to get back to facing the follower – I am so bad with these simultaneous turn and I tend to wait until follower is pretty much done turning … because most followers are pretty slow with their turns and will often do something to cause me to lose my balance if I try to turn at the same time. This means I end up giving myself very little time and thus leaving me no time to recover for next part
1,2,3,5,6,7 bring L-R down and offer R to reconnect R-L at follower’s shoulder level – open break (?) and bring follower forward on 2,3 – keep R-L essentially on follower’s shoulder as follower is led into 1/2 clockwise traveling turn – I think L-R is briefly raised during follower’s turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 hmmm. I’m really unsure about this part. I think it might be leader’s pivot turn to get into CBL position followed by something - this wasn't the most difficult part but least practiced
Not exactly impossible but very challenging even at slow speed.
Improvers
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic Mambo
1,2,3,5,6,7 high cross pass – step in place on 1 maybe and step to side on 2,3 – L-R is positioned so that leader’s L arm is pointing up near leader’s body with the L hand and fingers pointing away from leader’s body to make a gate for the follower – lead follower through the gate using R hand on follower’s back to lead her forward on 5 (normal CBL steps for follower), while a modified hook turn is used by the leader to get back facing the follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 connect R-L – basic on 1,2,3 with hands coming down – lead follower into broken left turn – lead is to left on 5 and slowly raising both hands and positioned to follower’s right side by 7 – follower’s turn is completed during 1,2,3 [note: timing for broken left for follower is 5,6,7,1,2,3 rather than leader’s timing of 1,2,3,5,6,7.]
option 1
1,2,3,5,6,7 as follower completes her broken left turn, leader does a full pivot clockwise turn (L-R is lowered to shoulder level around 2 as follower’s turn is completed while R-L is still dancing up and down for clearance – R-L hat is possible although I would need a lot more practice for this maneuver – if this hat works, CBL can be done. Otherwise, get the R-L hat done at a later time for a more leisurely CBL on next 1,2,3,5,6,7
option 2
1,2,3,5,6,7 as follower completes her broken left turn, leader does a 1/2 pivot clockwise turn and split connections and bring them down to leader’s waist level (R-L on L side and L-R on R side) followed by 1/2 counterclockwise turn on 5,6,7 while maintaining R-L connection and briefly disconnecting L-R before reconnecting
1,2,3,5,6,7 start of Copa – let go R-L and step forward on 5 with raised R hand clearing follower and do a 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn with L-R also let go after the first 1/2 turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 get back into CBL position and into closed hold position and end with simple CBL
Last week’s improvers class wasn’t a stroll on the beach either. This was the biggest Monday class to date. There won’t be a Monday class next week – presumably because of Scala Latina.
Sergio’s broken left is still difficult but no longer feels impossible. A key fact, which I did not understand fully last week, is that the swivel turn is initiated immediately after 3 rather than on 4. This is how it goes with emphasis on staying in balance throughout.
modified broken left as described by Sergio
1 L foot forward
2 R foot in place
3 L foot back (straight back so that it is slightly to L of and behind R foot) – start swivel turn right away – keep head looking forward until the last moment and presumably until swivel turn is essentially over – immediately start turning counterclockwise on L foot as head is turned around and is sneaking to look forward again – all this is happening from beat 3 (or 3.5 or whatever) and goes through 4 and just before 5
5 head is looking forward again – R foot is on toes (or on balls of the foot) slightly to R and behind L foot – all or most of weight is on L foot
7 L foot forward (so that positioning would be back to the original position on 1)
traditional broken left (to help compare and contrast with the modified version above)
1 L foot forward
2 R foot in place
3 L foot back (pointing backwards or 6 o'clock so the body is turned 1/4 counterclockwise already and one could be facing backwards so that head is turned 1/2 counterclockwise)
5 R foot step slightly in front of L foot (pointing to ~ 3 o'clock)
6 step on L foot but now pointing to 12 o'clock
7 R foot together with L foot to get back to original position
So the modified version entails a faster turnaround and more time spent facing the follower. This could make leading of broken left different - leader would have to be ready for a slow turn of traditional and faster turn. I wasn't sure how the followers in the improvers class were dealing with broken left tonight but many were done with their turn before 1 - almost certainly because they were anticipating the lead and started turning before 7 (they might have started turning on 6).
I am now committed to attending the Scala Latina on Sunday, but transportation method is now completely up in the air as the plan for a coach has fell through. Driving is always an option, but perhaps I also should consider joining another group on the train too. Scala Latina might give me a nice assessment of how my dancing is coming along. Most followers in Cambridge are either too familiar with my moves and/or are too inexperienced so the quality of my leads is a bit tricky to assess. Also there haven’t been very many opportunities to try dancing at my maximum capacity without feeling tentative for extended amount of time recently.
Core Beat
step on 1, 3, 5, 7
Pachanga
starting with feet apart, slide in and out on 1, 3, 5, 7
Double Right
pivot turn on 1,2,3 and hook turn on 5,6,7
Double Left
1 forward
2 in place
3 turn 1/2 counterclockwise as step back (toes pointing back)
4,5,6,7,8 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn on L foot on the spot
Intermediate - Joe Davids of Latin Collective
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic Mambo
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL cross pass ending facing follower (follower is in front and to right)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and get around behind follower and into CBL position – this would have been fairly difficult except I already use a similar routine regularly in my social dancing – R hand on follower’s stomach/belly on 2, both hands on follower’s waists on 3 as leader gets behind follower, R hand on follower’s back somewhere between 5 and 7, L hand is offered in front by 7 for L-R connection (follower is facing the same direction the whole time without turning and ideally should be doing haircomb with her L hand at the end to get back to closed hold)
1,2,3,5,6,7,1,2,3 the aim here is lead follower to do something that might be called cross-walk. Using L-R (possibly with help of R on her back), lead follower to step crossed back on 1 and cross in front on 3 (thus lead is back on 1 and forward on 3), then follower to do cross-cross-cross (thus lead is push-pull-push … or maybe lead follower toward her right-left-right), then another cross-cross-cross (lead here is pull-push-pull) – there is a bit about R foot in front, which might help to block her path forward but depending on the follower’s movement, leader might have to inch forward to accommodate her movement … this will need some practice
5,6,7 get that R foot out of follower’s path and lead follower into traveling counterclockwise 1 1/2 turn while leader also does counterclockwise turn to get back to facing the follower – I am so bad with these simultaneous turn and I tend to wait until follower is pretty much done turning … because most followers are pretty slow with their turns and will often do something to cause me to lose my balance if I try to turn at the same time. This means I end up giving myself very little time and thus leaving me no time to recover for next part
1,2,3,5,6,7 bring L-R down and offer R to reconnect R-L at follower’s shoulder level – open break (?) and bring follower forward on 2,3 – keep R-L essentially on follower’s shoulder as follower is led into 1/2 clockwise traveling turn – I think L-R is briefly raised during follower’s turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 hmmm. I’m really unsure about this part. I think it might be leader’s pivot turn to get into CBL position followed by something - this wasn't the most difficult part but least practiced
Not exactly impossible but very challenging even at slow speed.
Improvers
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic Mambo
1,2,3,5,6,7 high cross pass – step in place on 1 maybe and step to side on 2,3 – L-R is positioned so that leader’s L arm is pointing up near leader’s body with the L hand and fingers pointing away from leader’s body to make a gate for the follower – lead follower through the gate using R hand on follower’s back to lead her forward on 5 (normal CBL steps for follower), while a modified hook turn is used by the leader to get back facing the follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 connect R-L – basic on 1,2,3 with hands coming down – lead follower into broken left turn – lead is to left on 5 and slowly raising both hands and positioned to follower’s right side by 7 – follower’s turn is completed during 1,2,3 [note: timing for broken left for follower is 5,6,7,1,2,3 rather than leader’s timing of 1,2,3,5,6,7.]
option 1
1,2,3,5,6,7 as follower completes her broken left turn, leader does a full pivot clockwise turn (L-R is lowered to shoulder level around 2 as follower’s turn is completed while R-L is still dancing up and down for clearance – R-L hat is possible although I would need a lot more practice for this maneuver – if this hat works, CBL can be done. Otherwise, get the R-L hat done at a later time for a more leisurely CBL on next 1,2,3,5,6,7
option 2
1,2,3,5,6,7 as follower completes her broken left turn, leader does a 1/2 pivot clockwise turn and split connections and bring them down to leader’s waist level (R-L on L side and L-R on R side) followed by 1/2 counterclockwise turn on 5,6,7 while maintaining R-L connection and briefly disconnecting L-R before reconnecting
1,2,3,5,6,7 start of Copa – let go R-L and step forward on 5 with raised R hand clearing follower and do a 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn with L-R also let go after the first 1/2 turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 get back into CBL position and into closed hold position and end with simple CBL
Last week’s improvers class wasn’t a stroll on the beach either. This was the biggest Monday class to date. There won’t be a Monday class next week – presumably because of Scala Latina.
Sergio’s broken left is still difficult but no longer feels impossible. A key fact, which I did not understand fully last week, is that the swivel turn is initiated immediately after 3 rather than on 4. This is how it goes with emphasis on staying in balance throughout.
modified broken left as described by Sergio
1 L foot forward
2 R foot in place
3 L foot back (straight back so that it is slightly to L of and behind R foot) – start swivel turn right away – keep head looking forward until the last moment and presumably until swivel turn is essentially over – immediately start turning counterclockwise on L foot as head is turned around and is sneaking to look forward again – all this is happening from beat 3 (or 3.5 or whatever) and goes through 4 and just before 5
5 head is looking forward again – R foot is on toes (or on balls of the foot) slightly to R and behind L foot – all or most of weight is on L foot
7 L foot forward (so that positioning would be back to the original position on 1)
traditional broken left (to help compare and contrast with the modified version above)
1 L foot forward
2 R foot in place
3 L foot back (pointing backwards or 6 o'clock so the body is turned 1/4 counterclockwise already and one could be facing backwards so that head is turned 1/2 counterclockwise)
5 R foot step slightly in front of L foot (pointing to ~ 3 o'clock)
6 step on L foot but now pointing to 12 o'clock
7 R foot together with L foot to get back to original position
So the modified version entails a faster turnaround and more time spent facing the follower. This could make leading of broken left different - leader would have to be ready for a slow turn of traditional and faster turn. I wasn't sure how the followers in the improvers class were dealing with broken left tonight but many were done with their turn before 1 - almost certainly because they were anticipating the lead and started turning before 7 (they might have started turning on 6).
I am now committed to attending the Scala Latina on Sunday, but transportation method is now completely up in the air as the plan for a coach has fell through. Driving is always an option, but perhaps I also should consider joining another group on the train too. Scala Latina might give me a nice assessment of how my dancing is coming along. Most followers in Cambridge are either too familiar with my moves and/or are too inexperienced so the quality of my leads is a bit tricky to assess. Also there haven’t been very many opportunities to try dancing at my maximum capacity without feeling tentative for extended amount of time recently.
Core Beat
step on 1, 3, 5, 7
Pachanga
starting with feet apart, slide in and out on 1, 3, 5, 7
Double Right
pivot turn on 1,2,3 and hook turn on 5,6,7
Double Left
1 forward
2 in place
3 turn 1/2 counterclockwise as step back (toes pointing back)
4,5,6,7,8 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn on L foot on the spot
A solution to a dilemma
April 9, 2006
I have been talking about cutting down, but cutting down on my visits to Club Salsa is not a good option until Tony & Daniela workshop is finished. Still I need to find a way to not think about Salsa so much. My solution? I will stop listening to Salsa music (or any Latin music) while I'm at work for next 10 days or more.
I have been talking about cutting down, but cutting down on my visits to Club Salsa is not a good option until Tony & Daniela workshop is finished. Still I need to find a way to not think about Salsa so much. My solution? I will stop listening to Salsa music (or any Latin music) while I'm at work for next 10 days or more.
Short stint as DJ on a weird Friday
April 7, 2006
The idea was Enrique would do a set first and then I would follow. I was expecting to start around or after midnight, but the actual start time was around 11:20 PM. By this point, Enrique had gone through a set of Salsa, couple of Bachata, another set of Salsa, a trio of Merengue, and at least one more Salsa (ending with a 7 min long Gran Combo song). I thought I had about 2 hours to play with. Originally, I was thinking of starting with a long set of Tito Puente (or as long as possible) after a Merengue set, but I decided against this when Enrique decided upon a Gran Combo selection as his swan song.
Playlist
Eddie Palmieri – Nunca Contigo (1)
Eddie Palmieri – Puerto Rico (2)
Ray Barretto – El Hijo De Obtala (3)
Ray Barretto – Soy Dichoso
Orchestra Harlow – Abran Paso (4)
Orchestra Harlow – El Jardinero Del Amor (5)
Markolino Dimond & Frankie Dante – Los Rumberos
Markolino Dimond & Frankie Dante – Porque Adore (6)
Domenic Marte – La Quiero
Toque D’ Keda – Quiero Hacerte El Amor (7)
Tito Puente – Hong Kong Mambo
Tito Puente – Picadillo A Lo Puente
Tito Puente – Fiesta A La King (8)
Tommy Olivencia – No Tires La Primera Piedra (9)
(1) Switching from Enrique’s laptop-based DJ software/hardware system to CD based system was new to me and gave me an extra thing to worry about. I made a little goofy mistake while Gran Combo was on and lost the sound for a split second before I corrected the problem. Sally seemed mildly amused to see me looking tense as I was getting ready to start, and she tried to be reassuring and supportive.
(2) More accidents happen. I notice that the second CD player was not set the way I wanted it to be (set so that songs are cued automatically rather than starts immediately). I asked Cristian for help, and he showed me how to toggle between two settings (actually I’m not quite sure how it worked even though I have shown this twice now). Cristian accidentally moved a lever and caused loss of sound once again for a split second before I recovered.
(3) This was probably my least favorite selection. It’s popular with some people on the forum. I thought I would see how it would be received. It was okay.
(4) This was a recommendation I got from the previous night. Du-dum.
(5) I had wanted to play this for a few weeks now. It worked very well.
(6) “That’s a lot of Markolino. Pretty ballsy.”
(7) It was supposed to be Lamento Boliviano. I had the wrong track on. No big deal.
(8) This was another experimental track chosen deliberately to get people used to this type of sound. Then again, none of the songs I played thus far except for Hong Kong Mambo is a regular part of Club Salsa playlist. Okay. It’s more experimental than others. I thought I might as well go out swinging. Still, the number of people dancing to this song was about the same as the number of people dancing to the third Merengue song earlier in the evening.
(9) The last song and the first compromise. On second thought, I might have been better off ending with a Tito Puente live version of Ran Kan Kan. I guess it’s not exactly a big part of the regular rotation though.
Again, I couldn’t get more than three Tito Puente songs in a row; I was aiming for as many as six or seven in a row. By the time I had Abran Paso on, some people were clamoring for more Merengue (after getting just 6 Salsa in a row after 3 Merengue! Is this the norm?). I of course have not a single Merengue song in my collection. I would have been okay with playing some Merengue, but Vishal happened to be nearby at this time and he told me with confidence that I don’t have to play any Merengue. By the time I had Hong Kong Mambo on, Vishal seemed more worried and was ready to take over. By the time I had Picadillo A Lo Puente on, I heard a complaint that I was playing too much Mambo. Hmm. What is Mambo and what is Salsa? Tito Puente referred to his music as Cuban music not Salsa, but I thought pretty much everything else I played was/is marketed as Salsa or maybe Latin Jazz. Whatever – for some more than one Mambo or Tito Puente is one too many. Most of my Salsa selections were from the 70’s by the way.
The dance floor was filled most of the times but didn’t seem overcrowded while I was in charge of the DJ booth. An interesting thing that happened was that many of the more experienced dancers took over the main floor rather than dancing in the fringes to escape the overcrowded main floor. However, the main dance floor certainly was not limited to the best dancers or one style of Salsa dancers (i.e. both Cuban and CBL were present). Hmm. I wonder if that is considered a bad sign – as opposed to seeing drunkards on the main floor holding and spilling their drinks as they try to dance (and do not come back after being told to keep drinks off the dance floor)? Oh well. I probably cost Vishal a bit of money because people who buy alcohol and want to dance Merengue left early. Combining this with surprising number of experienced dancers staying late made this Friday a very unusual one.
By the time Vishal took over, damage seemed to have been done. Many people who would have stayed late for Merengue were gone while hard core Salsa crowd stayed behind. Aside from a few Reggaeton, Bachata and Merengue, Vishal ended up playing a lot more Salsa than it has been customary after 1 AM.
After my DJ duties, I got around to dancing a little (as I did before I moved into the DJ booth). Right now, I’m a little frustrated with my dancing because I feel like I’m stuck doing same old easy things but not necessarily doing it well all the time. I have no problem trying to help people get better, but getting an opportunity where I can try more complicated moves is becoming scarce. I might get one or two opportunities at a time with someone fairly competent without overwhelming my partner or making the dance feel like an exercise. These opportunities occur maybe 3-4 times at most on a given night. The days when practically every dance was an opportunity work on trying every new move feels like ancient history. Now it’s more about picking appropriate times to try to refine technique while hoping that my partner will react appropriately if I lead something properly. This has feel of one of those transitional phases.
I often find myself dancing with people who find things I consider very easy to be very difficult. These things include not only turns and basic footwork but also timing (many of the beginners and improvers seem to be executing moves learned in class with almost complete disregard for speed of the music – music is simply a background noise). Because large number of hurdles needs to be cleared for someone to become a proficient social dancer (not the least of which is quantity and quality of practice one gets), it’s no surprise that very few people get past beginner/improver state.
Rest of the time was spent on working on things like Sergio’s broken left turn – this is becoming a much bigger challenge than I expected. I tried breaking it down to many small parts as well as trying it whole. Either way, I’m off balance at least half the time – assuming I executed the turn more or less approximately as described and shown by Sergio (and I know I don’t always get that far!). By Sergio’s definition, I’m guessing that I’m off balance as often as I’m well balanced on my feet at all times and usually off balance whenever I’m spinning. Ouch. I think I just found another reason not to enter dance competitions.
Club Salsa was open til 2:30 AM. I ended up staying up until much later talking about music, etc. I would not be too surprised if it will be a while before I get asked to DJ on Friday again but who knows for sure? I thought tonight’s selections were received about as well as I expected; I was fully prepared for chilly reception from many people. I guess it helps that I don’t have a great financial stake on the matter but rather consider this an opportunity to try to move the scene and treating it as fun and play. I probably would have played more songs by newer generation of musicians if I had more time – somewhat similar to last time I worked the DJ booth on a Friday but in a less haphazard fashion.
The idea was Enrique would do a set first and then I would follow. I was expecting to start around or after midnight, but the actual start time was around 11:20 PM. By this point, Enrique had gone through a set of Salsa, couple of Bachata, another set of Salsa, a trio of Merengue, and at least one more Salsa (ending with a 7 min long Gran Combo song). I thought I had about 2 hours to play with. Originally, I was thinking of starting with a long set of Tito Puente (or as long as possible) after a Merengue set, but I decided against this when Enrique decided upon a Gran Combo selection as his swan song.
Playlist
Eddie Palmieri – Nunca Contigo (1)
Eddie Palmieri – Puerto Rico (2)
Ray Barretto – El Hijo De Obtala (3)
Ray Barretto – Soy Dichoso
Orchestra Harlow – Abran Paso (4)
Orchestra Harlow – El Jardinero Del Amor (5)
Markolino Dimond & Frankie Dante – Los Rumberos
Markolino Dimond & Frankie Dante – Porque Adore (6)
Domenic Marte – La Quiero
Toque D’ Keda – Quiero Hacerte El Amor (7)
Tito Puente – Hong Kong Mambo
Tito Puente – Picadillo A Lo Puente
Tito Puente – Fiesta A La King (8)
Tommy Olivencia – No Tires La Primera Piedra (9)
(1) Switching from Enrique’s laptop-based DJ software/hardware system to CD based system was new to me and gave me an extra thing to worry about. I made a little goofy mistake while Gran Combo was on and lost the sound for a split second before I corrected the problem. Sally seemed mildly amused to see me looking tense as I was getting ready to start, and she tried to be reassuring and supportive.
(2) More accidents happen. I notice that the second CD player was not set the way I wanted it to be (set so that songs are cued automatically rather than starts immediately). I asked Cristian for help, and he showed me how to toggle between two settings (actually I’m not quite sure how it worked even though I have shown this twice now). Cristian accidentally moved a lever and caused loss of sound once again for a split second before I recovered.
(3) This was probably my least favorite selection. It’s popular with some people on the forum. I thought I would see how it would be received. It was okay.
(4) This was a recommendation I got from the previous night. Du-dum.
(5) I had wanted to play this for a few weeks now. It worked very well.
(6) “That’s a lot of Markolino. Pretty ballsy.”
(7) It was supposed to be Lamento Boliviano. I had the wrong track on. No big deal.
(8) This was another experimental track chosen deliberately to get people used to this type of sound. Then again, none of the songs I played thus far except for Hong Kong Mambo is a regular part of Club Salsa playlist. Okay. It’s more experimental than others. I thought I might as well go out swinging. Still, the number of people dancing to this song was about the same as the number of people dancing to the third Merengue song earlier in the evening.
(9) The last song and the first compromise. On second thought, I might have been better off ending with a Tito Puente live version of Ran Kan Kan. I guess it’s not exactly a big part of the regular rotation though.
Again, I couldn’t get more than three Tito Puente songs in a row; I was aiming for as many as six or seven in a row. By the time I had Abran Paso on, some people were clamoring for more Merengue (after getting just 6 Salsa in a row after 3 Merengue! Is this the norm?). I of course have not a single Merengue song in my collection. I would have been okay with playing some Merengue, but Vishal happened to be nearby at this time and he told me with confidence that I don’t have to play any Merengue. By the time I had Hong Kong Mambo on, Vishal seemed more worried and was ready to take over. By the time I had Picadillo A Lo Puente on, I heard a complaint that I was playing too much Mambo. Hmm. What is Mambo and what is Salsa? Tito Puente referred to his music as Cuban music not Salsa, but I thought pretty much everything else I played was/is marketed as Salsa or maybe Latin Jazz. Whatever – for some more than one Mambo or Tito Puente is one too many. Most of my Salsa selections were from the 70’s by the way.
The dance floor was filled most of the times but didn’t seem overcrowded while I was in charge of the DJ booth. An interesting thing that happened was that many of the more experienced dancers took over the main floor rather than dancing in the fringes to escape the overcrowded main floor. However, the main dance floor certainly was not limited to the best dancers or one style of Salsa dancers (i.e. both Cuban and CBL were present). Hmm. I wonder if that is considered a bad sign – as opposed to seeing drunkards on the main floor holding and spilling their drinks as they try to dance (and do not come back after being told to keep drinks off the dance floor)? Oh well. I probably cost Vishal a bit of money because people who buy alcohol and want to dance Merengue left early. Combining this with surprising number of experienced dancers staying late made this Friday a very unusual one.
By the time Vishal took over, damage seemed to have been done. Many people who would have stayed late for Merengue were gone while hard core Salsa crowd stayed behind. Aside from a few Reggaeton, Bachata and Merengue, Vishal ended up playing a lot more Salsa than it has been customary after 1 AM.
After my DJ duties, I got around to dancing a little (as I did before I moved into the DJ booth). Right now, I’m a little frustrated with my dancing because I feel like I’m stuck doing same old easy things but not necessarily doing it well all the time. I have no problem trying to help people get better, but getting an opportunity where I can try more complicated moves is becoming scarce. I might get one or two opportunities at a time with someone fairly competent without overwhelming my partner or making the dance feel like an exercise. These opportunities occur maybe 3-4 times at most on a given night. The days when practically every dance was an opportunity work on trying every new move feels like ancient history. Now it’s more about picking appropriate times to try to refine technique while hoping that my partner will react appropriately if I lead something properly. This has feel of one of those transitional phases.
I often find myself dancing with people who find things I consider very easy to be very difficult. These things include not only turns and basic footwork but also timing (many of the beginners and improvers seem to be executing moves learned in class with almost complete disregard for speed of the music – music is simply a background noise). Because large number of hurdles needs to be cleared for someone to become a proficient social dancer (not the least of which is quantity and quality of practice one gets), it’s no surprise that very few people get past beginner/improver state.
Rest of the time was spent on working on things like Sergio’s broken left turn – this is becoming a much bigger challenge than I expected. I tried breaking it down to many small parts as well as trying it whole. Either way, I’m off balance at least half the time – assuming I executed the turn more or less approximately as described and shown by Sergio (and I know I don’t always get that far!). By Sergio’s definition, I’m guessing that I’m off balance as often as I’m well balanced on my feet at all times and usually off balance whenever I’m spinning. Ouch. I think I just found another reason not to enter dance competitions.
Club Salsa was open til 2:30 AM. I ended up staying up until much later talking about music, etc. I would not be too surprised if it will be a while before I get asked to DJ on Friday again but who knows for sure? I thought tonight’s selections were received about as well as I expected; I was fully prepared for chilly reception from many people. I guess it helps that I don’t have a great financial stake on the matter but rather consider this an opportunity to try to move the scene and treating it as fun and play. I probably would have played more songs by newer generation of musicians if I had more time – somewhat similar to last time I worked the DJ booth on a Friday but in a less haphazard fashion.
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