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.