Back to the drawing board

April 6, 2006

Intermediate with Pure Salsa - Sally

1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL end with L-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break on 1, lead follower forward on right side as L-R goes over leader’s head on 2,3 – windmill-like lead for follower to turn 1 1/2 clockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 pivot half turn for leader on 1,2,3 and switch to R-R early (as early as 1), follower is twisted or turned 1/2 clockwise on 5 (with R-R going around follower’s head) and led to turn counterclockwise instead
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R hat for follower while leader gets into CBL position with L-L connection made in front of follower and follower is led into traveling full counterclockwise turn, which is stopped with R hand on follower’s R shoulder
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to a stationary 1 1/2 clockwise turn with L-L pulled straight down after follower turns 1/2 (Joe would call it pulling down the zipper… it would seem I still need to concentrate on not letting L-L move too much to my L during the early part of the pull down) so that L-L ends behind follower’s back R waist – switch to R-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa and lead follower back into a free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL into open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to double stationary clockwise turn with L-R high and R-L low (R-L is let go briefly after follower’s L hand is placed behind her back R waist)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower forward on right side as L-R goes over behind leader’s head on 2,3 into back-to-back crucifix position – R-L is used to lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling clockwise turn (let go L-R)
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-L engancha (leader's elbow over follower's elbow and back to closed hold) and CBL

Second hour of the class was spent gabbing with some newcomers to the scene. Towards the end of the classes, Sergio and Ivan showed up. This led to on and off discussion about technique, tension, timing etc throughout the night. What have I learned? Regarding tension, I feel as if I’m back to the drawing board. It was very illuminating to have Sergio demonstrate tension on the fingers he used for leading. I’m certainly no expert in following (I was guilty of anticipating at one point and was apparently “heavy” to lead at least at the outset), but his lead felt clear enough. This led me to try changing the way I lead with particular attention paid to tension in my fingers – I only got one practice of this but this could be a fairly quick fix job. What else? I need to work on my basic footwork, broken left turn and spotting in general (or pretty much everything that was examined or talked about). Body movement - this could take more than a lifetime. I guess these tinkering will never end. I have an impression that Sergio's idea of basic also has evolved over last 6 months or however long it was since I was last involved in talking about this topic. Moreover I apparently need to know more about percussion instruments and their timing in Salsa music. Voila!