June 29, 2006
Advanced – Sally assisted by Chris
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL ending with semi-open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward on leader’s L side and R-L to leader’s R waist and leave follower’s R hand by leader’s waist and leader does 1 1/2 clockwise turn on spot [a question – follower’s footwork is simple CBL but how is this lead communicated? why would the follower turn around?] – end with L-L hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL start and lead follower into traveling double counterclockwise turn ending with leader’s R hand on follower’s R shoulder to prevent further turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead here is all with R hand (keep L-L neutral) – lead follower forward on 1, back on 2,3 then back again for 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn over and under and switch from L-L to R-L and get R-L behind follower’s R waist (leader is positioned to R of follower on 8) [note added later: I think there may not be a switch to R-L here… may want to stick with L-L throughout]
1,2,3,5,6,7 both step backwards on 1 (this is leadable) and lead follower into 1 1.2 clockwise traveling turn – end with crossed hold R-R on top
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to stationary clockwise double turn touch-and-go
1,2,3,5,6,7 drop L-L underneath R-R on 1 then drop R-R underneath L-L on 3, then lead follower to broken left turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns 1/2 clockwise with all connections intact – lead follower forward and into 1 1/2 traveling clockwise turn with L-L (let go R-R) ending with L-L on a neck wrap and follower to L of leader (leader will have to travel with follower during her traveling turn)
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower forward on 1 and into full clockwise turn as leader walks around ending in 1/2 turn of his own with R arm ending on follower’s R shoulder and L-L in front of follower – then lead follower forward and into 1 1/2 traveling clockwise turn
Perhaps it was the improvement brought upon by competitive inhibition/exclusion treatment in the RSF or being asked to review GW’s abstract for his progress report or a leftover amusement and euphoria from an e-mail couple of days ago from EM. In any case, I was feeling pretty uppity and was looking forward to seeing how tonight unfolded. I felt that I had to fight against antici-pation and keep telling myself that nothing has changed. My prediction? August. Never mind what else was said. For better or worse, nothing really has changed and it will not change anytime soon.
I would not have considered tonight a great night – too many men and not enough women – although it didn’t really affect me very much. Despite never having solved my spotting issues and declaring that I was "crap" at spotting, my form was pretty good. By usual recent standard, overall level of followers was not exceptional. What I ended up doing was to dance with pretty much everyone in sight (unless they left before I got a chance to ask them). Amusingly (and perhaps I shouldn’t think myself highly about the whole thing including writing about it) my dance partners this evening included couple of pre-teenagers. Maybe people will throw stones at me for saying this but I thought the older of the siblings in particular had quite good tension/connection and timing (or at least stay in timing with my lead if not with the music – I suspect that it could be both). Hilarious - jokes about waiting in line for 10 years from now aside. In any case, I didn't hurt anyone's back or cause any type of injuries.
Miscellaneous. Lighting works continued today. Apparently there will be a conflict of birthday parties for Sally and Vishal on July 28th. Drew said he like "fusion" as music of choice for tomorrow - whatever it means.
Keeping pulse of Club Salsa Wednesday
June 28, 2006
Combining factors like couple of people asking me whether I was going to be at Club Salsa on Wednesday and the Kings Cross train station fiasco yesterday, I decided to see how things are and maybe dance a little. It turned out that some of the people I thought I might see did not show up. Oh well. I ended up having 7 dances with 6 women after sitting out for the first half dozen songs. Most of the dances were fairly low-key; I wasn’t very good one time I tried to make more of an effort to do more. One way of seeing this is that my slump is still ongoing. Another way to see it is that I did not get much chance to stretch, expand and test my abilities (whatever ability I have that is).
As DJ, Cristian started with 8-10 Salsa followed by one each of Merengue and Bachata. The pattern thereafter was 6-8 Salsa followed by two non-Salsa (Merengue and Bachata usually but based upon past experience two Merengue in a row sometimes). Salsa selections included Lovely Day, El Pito - Isidro Infante (perhaps beginning to get overplayed), Me Voy Pa’ Cali – Oscar D’Leon (I have it but I haven't played it because it gets played plenty of times by others) and was generally not NY friendly in my opinion. I would say about half the songs were unfamiliar, which I like and approve in principle. With one song, however, I could not figure out where beat 1 once I lost it – it was not a case of not being able to differentiate between 1 and 5 – I was able to figure out the core beats and thus the speed of the song but couldn’t differentiate between 1, 3, 5, and 7. Merengue and Bachata selections are more varied and unfamiliar – good things in my opinion once again.
Theodore showed up just before I left, and I was able to give him my compliments for his Merengue selections from last Friday. I did tell him that 3 Merengue in a row was a little too much, and he replied that he almost played 4 Merengue in a row. Whew!
Miscellaneous. I had a clarification about the AC. The old AC unit between the DJ booth and the bar had been nonfunctional for some time, so Vishal moved the AC unit that used be face the stairs. Thus there is no new AC, but simply a new arrangement to help cool the main dance floor rather than the seating area. There is a new lighting arrangement, which I thought was pretty nice. For now the new lights affect only the seating area, but Vishal said there will be more changes with the lights.
Combining factors like couple of people asking me whether I was going to be at Club Salsa on Wednesday and the Kings Cross train station fiasco yesterday, I decided to see how things are and maybe dance a little. It turned out that some of the people I thought I might see did not show up. Oh well. I ended up having 7 dances with 6 women after sitting out for the first half dozen songs. Most of the dances were fairly low-key; I wasn’t very good one time I tried to make more of an effort to do more. One way of seeing this is that my slump is still ongoing. Another way to see it is that I did not get much chance to stretch, expand and test my abilities (whatever ability I have that is).
As DJ, Cristian started with 8-10 Salsa followed by one each of Merengue and Bachata. The pattern thereafter was 6-8 Salsa followed by two non-Salsa (Merengue and Bachata usually but based upon past experience two Merengue in a row sometimes). Salsa selections included Lovely Day, El Pito - Isidro Infante (perhaps beginning to get overplayed), Me Voy Pa’ Cali – Oscar D’Leon (I have it but I haven't played it because it gets played plenty of times by others) and was generally not NY friendly in my opinion. I would say about half the songs were unfamiliar, which I like and approve in principle. With one song, however, I could not figure out where beat 1 once I lost it – it was not a case of not being able to differentiate between 1 and 5 – I was able to figure out the core beats and thus the speed of the song but couldn’t differentiate between 1, 3, 5, and 7. Merengue and Bachata selections are more varied and unfamiliar – good things in my opinion once again.
Theodore showed up just before I left, and I was able to give him my compliments for his Merengue selections from last Friday. I did tell him that 3 Merengue in a row was a little too much, and he replied that he almost played 4 Merengue in a row. Whew!
Miscellaneous. I had a clarification about the AC. The old AC unit between the DJ booth and the bar had been nonfunctional for some time, so Vishal moved the AC unit that used be face the stairs. Thus there is no new AC, but simply a new arrangement to help cool the main dance floor rather than the seating area. There is a new lighting arrangement, which I thought was pretty nice. For now the new lights affect only the seating area, but Vishal said there will be more changes with the lights.
They’re good but not THAT good
June 27, 2006
6:10 PM – I leave from work and start my drive to the Cambridge train station. On the way to the station, I noted that I did not check for train delays, etc. I figured that I will look for any engineering works sign once I get to the station.
6:30 PM – I park my car and walk up to the train station.
6:33 PM – I arrive at the station. As my luck would have it, there is a problem. There are no trains to Kings Cross because of a fire near the station yesterday. I find that the next train to London would arrive at Finsbury Park around 8:15 PM. Once at Finsbury Park, I would have to go through Picadilly Line followed by Northern line to get to Camden Town. Thus the earliest time of arrival to LDA would be around 8:30 PM. To top it off, LDA has change of time schedule for this week and next week as well as different location for level 3.2 and 3.3 with 3.3 starting at 8 PM. Thus with best-case scenario, I would miss half the lesson by taking the train. I also take into consideration that the trip back to Cambridge would be slow and thus unpleasant.
6:50 PM – I get back to my car. I do a quick thinking. It would take at least 10 minutes to get to M11. Once on M11, it would take minimum of 75 minutes to get to Cecil Sharp House. Of course because of change of location, I may have more difficulty finding parking, etc. So even in ideal scenario, I would be 30 minutes late by car as well.
6:55 PM – I give up. Enough is enough.
7:20 PM – I decide to do a quick check. Could I have learned about the fire and the closure of Kings Cross station using internet? The answer turned out to be yes, but it would not have been a simple matter to find the answer. I could easily have done my usual check and missed the notice about the fire. The way the national rail website is organized, one has to use two separate methods to find out about scheduled delays (e.g. engineering works) and unscheduled delays (e.g. fires and other accidents). Among other things, I was amused to see a notice that said that travel to London was advised against for today – I wonder how people commuting to Kings Cross for work dealt with today’s problems?
I could think of it couple of ways. I lost a little over 8 pounds by missing the lesson or I gained about 15 pounds by not traveling to London (via train or car) for at most half a lesson as well as 3-5 hours of time lost for commuting. I think I’ll go watch Spain versus France, read a book, relax, etc.
6:10 PM – I leave from work and start my drive to the Cambridge train station. On the way to the station, I noted that I did not check for train delays, etc. I figured that I will look for any engineering works sign once I get to the station.
6:30 PM – I park my car and walk up to the train station.
6:33 PM – I arrive at the station. As my luck would have it, there is a problem. There are no trains to Kings Cross because of a fire near the station yesterday. I find that the next train to London would arrive at Finsbury Park around 8:15 PM. Once at Finsbury Park, I would have to go through Picadilly Line followed by Northern line to get to Camden Town. Thus the earliest time of arrival to LDA would be around 8:30 PM. To top it off, LDA has change of time schedule for this week and next week as well as different location for level 3.2 and 3.3 with 3.3 starting at 8 PM. Thus with best-case scenario, I would miss half the lesson by taking the train. I also take into consideration that the trip back to Cambridge would be slow and thus unpleasant.
6:50 PM – I get back to my car. I do a quick thinking. It would take at least 10 minutes to get to M11. Once on M11, it would take minimum of 75 minutes to get to Cecil Sharp House. Of course because of change of location, I may have more difficulty finding parking, etc. So even in ideal scenario, I would be 30 minutes late by car as well.
6:55 PM – I give up. Enough is enough.
7:20 PM – I decide to do a quick check. Could I have learned about the fire and the closure of Kings Cross station using internet? The answer turned out to be yes, but it would not have been a simple matter to find the answer. I could easily have done my usual check and missed the notice about the fire. The way the national rail website is organized, one has to use two separate methods to find out about scheduled delays (e.g. engineering works) and unscheduled delays (e.g. fires and other accidents). Among other things, I was amused to see a notice that said that travel to London was advised against for today – I wonder how people commuting to Kings Cross for work dealt with today’s problems?
I could think of it couple of ways. I lost a little over 8 pounds by missing the lesson or I gained about 15 pounds by not traveling to London (via train or car) for at most half a lesson as well as 3-5 hours of time lost for commuting. I think I’ll go watch Spain versus France, read a book, relax, etc.
Growing pains?
June 26, 2006
1st hour of Intermediate/Advaned with Joe
The first hour was something of a blur. I was feeling off today and wasn't prepared for the level of difficulty.
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to stationary double clockwise turn with L-R with leader turning full counterclockwise or more on 7 with L-R ending under leader’s R arm [note: I found this really difficult unless leader does his turn on 7 regardless of how fast the follower turns. In fact, I wasn't getting this at all during the first hour, and the previous comment is based upon my experience from the second hour. In my opinion as long as follower turns without wobbling, leader can turn while follower is finishing her turn.]
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break facing away from follower (continuing to turn counterclockwise during 1,2) – lead follower forward with L-R low (lead towards 2 o’clock on 5) then into 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn ending with L-R behind of follower’s L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader could step forward or backward on 1 depending on positioning, then turn away from follower’s line with 1/4 clockwise turn of body on 2,3 with R hand offered in front of follower – lead follower forward on 5 (2 o’clock works here too) and into R-L wrap (like lasso)
1,2,3,5,6,7 exchange places with both moving around in counterclockwise rotation during 1,2,3 – then lead follower into stationary or slightly backwards full clockwise turn
This works more or less, but I don't think it's quite right because there was more (see below). I can't remember how it fits. I could make it fit at the end easily enough with a hand switch or with another filler, but ...
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L hold start and leader does clockwise turn with L-L low to get into CBL position and flick L-L up and over with R arm to reconnect L-L in front on 3 (there is another move like this which only brings follower’s free L hand onto leader’s shoulder – not sure how much of change in lead is needed to distinguish between the two) – and lead follower into traveling 1 1/2 turn (direction? outside turn? would mean clockwise traveling turn)
Revised version (I suspect that this also is not accurate)
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to stationary double clockwise turn with L-R with leader turning full counterclockwise or more on 7 with L-R ending under leader’s R arm
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break facing away from follower (continuing counterclockwise movement) – lead follower forward (lead towards 2 o’clock on 5) then finish with simple CBL 1/2 counterclockwise turn for follower ending with L-R behind of follower’s L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader could step forward or backward on 1 depending on positioning, then turn away from follower’s line with 1/4 clockwise turn of body on 2,3 with R hand offered in front of follower to connect R-L – lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn ending with neck wrap (I am least certain about this part… oh well – waist wrap would work too but that sounds even less familiar) and in continuous motion…
1,2,3,5,6,7 turn follower further 1/2 counterclockwise and offer L-L in front – lead follower into traveling 1 1/2 clockwise turn with L-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L is lowered all the way down and leader does clockwise turn to get into CBL position and flick L-L up and over with R arm and reconnect L-R in front on 3 – lead follower forward on 5 (2 o’clock works here too) and into R-L wrap (like lasso)
1,2,3,5,6,7 exchange places with both moving around in counterclockwise rotation during 1,2,3 – then lead follower into stationary or slightly backwards full clockwise turn
2nd hour with Joe
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to stationary double clockwise turn with L-R with leader turning full counterclockwise or more on 7 L-R ending under leader’s R arm and switching to R-R (couple of methods of doing this was shown)
1,2,3,5,6,7 into CBL open position and lead follower into full counterclockwise traveling turn with R-R in neck wrap and in continuous motion …
1,2,3,5,6,7 turn follower further 1/2 counterclockwise and offer L-L in front – lead follower into traveling 1 1/2 clockwise turn (more or less continuous motion from 1,2,3) with leader turning counterclockwise simultaneously (otherwise the hands get too tangled in my opinion) during the last turn to end facing away from follower (ends with crossed hold L-L on top)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward into crucifix position for follower on 1,2,3 – lead follower to right on 5 and leader moves to follower’s L side letting to R-R and with L-L ending under essentially under R arm
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns full counterclockwise on 1,2,3 to get back to open CBL position and lead follower forward and into full counterclockwise traveling turn with L-L high and with further turn prevented with help of R hand on follower’s R shoulder (half crucifix or half Jesus check)
1,2,3,5,6,7 allow follower forward on 1 and bring follower back and turning 1/2 clockwise on 2,3 while leader maneuvers to follower’s R – switch to R-L and lead follower into stationary or slightly backwards full clockwise turn with leader initially getting back to open position and possibly with full counterclockwise turn on 7
1,2,3,4,5,6 R-L to follower’s L shoulder – let follower’s L hand spring back to leader’s shoulder as leader gets into CBL position and finish with simple CBL
Possibly because I was expecting a simpler class (as was the case last week and perhaps the week before as well), I struggled a bit with the first hour. The second hour was slightly better for me possibly because I was getting more used to the pace.
In any case, I was thinking that my form was very off throughout the class. I thought I could be having another mini slump; I thought I was awful Friday too. I joked to one of my partners that I seemed to have come across kryptonite or some such thing. I suppose I could simply chalk it up to losing an irrational exuberance rather than blaming something or someone else.
Even though there were many dance partners (prospective and actual) I liked tonight, I thought it was going to be a bad night of dancing for me. In some ways, it was – I felt like I was quite poor and had to fudge things left and right. I did somehow manage to make the evening quite enjoyable possibly by combination of simplifying my moves and being forgiving of lack of precision on my lead and of less crisp footwork. Having many friendly and nice dance partners helped a great deal of course.
Overall, it was another lively evening with fair representation of leads and followers. This could be the last week like this culminating with this Friday being a farewell party for Enrico (Rico) and Andrew (Drew) and doubling as a beach themed Salsa party. The person with the best costume will receive free admission to Club Salsa for next 2 months.
Some people were tempting me to show up on Wednesday this week as well. Oh my. LDA Tuesday, and Club Salsa Thursday and Friday are pretty much set in stone this week. I’m pretty much committed to going to the Rocket this Saturday (and have already talked to people like Cyrille and Mimi about it). There’s the Peterborough party on Sunday, which I have not committed to but feel pressured to attend. If I also do Wednesday, I am potentially looking at 9 days in a row (Monday to next Tuesday). Yikes.
1st hour of Intermediate/Advaned with Joe
The first hour was something of a blur. I was feeling off today and wasn't prepared for the level of difficulty.
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to stationary double clockwise turn with L-R with leader turning full counterclockwise or more on 7 with L-R ending under leader’s R arm [note: I found this really difficult unless leader does his turn on 7 regardless of how fast the follower turns. In fact, I wasn't getting this at all during the first hour, and the previous comment is based upon my experience from the second hour. In my opinion as long as follower turns without wobbling, leader can turn while follower is finishing her turn.]
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break facing away from follower (continuing to turn counterclockwise during 1,2) – lead follower forward with L-R low (lead towards 2 o’clock on 5) then into 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn ending with L-R behind of follower’s L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader could step forward or backward on 1 depending on positioning, then turn away from follower’s line with 1/4 clockwise turn of body on 2,3 with R hand offered in front of follower – lead follower forward on 5 (2 o’clock works here too) and into R-L wrap (like lasso)
1,2,3,5,6,7 exchange places with both moving around in counterclockwise rotation during 1,2,3 – then lead follower into stationary or slightly backwards full clockwise turn
This works more or less, but I don't think it's quite right because there was more (see below). I can't remember how it fits. I could make it fit at the end easily enough with a hand switch or with another filler, but ...
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L hold start and leader does clockwise turn with L-L low to get into CBL position and flick L-L up and over with R arm to reconnect L-L in front on 3 (there is another move like this which only brings follower’s free L hand onto leader’s shoulder – not sure how much of change in lead is needed to distinguish between the two) – and lead follower into traveling 1 1/2 turn (direction? outside turn? would mean clockwise traveling turn)
Revised version (I suspect that this also is not accurate)
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to stationary double clockwise turn with L-R with leader turning full counterclockwise or more on 7 with L-R ending under leader’s R arm
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break facing away from follower (continuing counterclockwise movement) – lead follower forward (lead towards 2 o’clock on 5) then finish with simple CBL 1/2 counterclockwise turn for follower ending with L-R behind of follower’s L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader could step forward or backward on 1 depending on positioning, then turn away from follower’s line with 1/4 clockwise turn of body on 2,3 with R hand offered in front of follower to connect R-L – lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn ending with neck wrap (I am least certain about this part… oh well – waist wrap would work too but that sounds even less familiar) and in continuous motion…
1,2,3,5,6,7 turn follower further 1/2 counterclockwise and offer L-L in front – lead follower into traveling 1 1/2 clockwise turn with L-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L is lowered all the way down and leader does clockwise turn to get into CBL position and flick L-L up and over with R arm and reconnect L-R in front on 3 – lead follower forward on 5 (2 o’clock works here too) and into R-L wrap (like lasso)
1,2,3,5,6,7 exchange places with both moving around in counterclockwise rotation during 1,2,3 – then lead follower into stationary or slightly backwards full clockwise turn
2nd hour with Joe
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to stationary double clockwise turn with L-R with leader turning full counterclockwise or more on 7 L-R ending under leader’s R arm and switching to R-R (couple of methods of doing this was shown)
1,2,3,5,6,7 into CBL open position and lead follower into full counterclockwise traveling turn with R-R in neck wrap and in continuous motion …
1,2,3,5,6,7 turn follower further 1/2 counterclockwise and offer L-L in front – lead follower into traveling 1 1/2 clockwise turn (more or less continuous motion from 1,2,3) with leader turning counterclockwise simultaneously (otherwise the hands get too tangled in my opinion) during the last turn to end facing away from follower (ends with crossed hold L-L on top)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward into crucifix position for follower on 1,2,3 – lead follower to right on 5 and leader moves to follower’s L side letting to R-R and with L-L ending under essentially under R arm
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns full counterclockwise on 1,2,3 to get back to open CBL position and lead follower forward and into full counterclockwise traveling turn with L-L high and with further turn prevented with help of R hand on follower’s R shoulder (half crucifix or half Jesus check)
1,2,3,5,6,7 allow follower forward on 1 and bring follower back and turning 1/2 clockwise on 2,3 while leader maneuvers to follower’s R – switch to R-L and lead follower into stationary or slightly backwards full clockwise turn with leader initially getting back to open position and possibly with full counterclockwise turn on 7
1,2,3,4,5,6 R-L to follower’s L shoulder – let follower’s L hand spring back to leader’s shoulder as leader gets into CBL position and finish with simple CBL
Possibly because I was expecting a simpler class (as was the case last week and perhaps the week before as well), I struggled a bit with the first hour. The second hour was slightly better for me possibly because I was getting more used to the pace.
In any case, I was thinking that my form was very off throughout the class. I thought I could be having another mini slump; I thought I was awful Friday too. I joked to one of my partners that I seemed to have come across kryptonite or some such thing. I suppose I could simply chalk it up to losing an irrational exuberance rather than blaming something or someone else.
Even though there were many dance partners (prospective and actual) I liked tonight, I thought it was going to be a bad night of dancing for me. In some ways, it was – I felt like I was quite poor and had to fudge things left and right. I did somehow manage to make the evening quite enjoyable possibly by combination of simplifying my moves and being forgiving of lack of precision on my lead and of less crisp footwork. Having many friendly and nice dance partners helped a great deal of course.
Overall, it was another lively evening with fair representation of leads and followers. This could be the last week like this culminating with this Friday being a farewell party for Enrico (Rico) and Andrew (Drew) and doubling as a beach themed Salsa party. The person with the best costume will receive free admission to Club Salsa for next 2 months.
Some people were tempting me to show up on Wednesday this week as well. Oh my. LDA Tuesday, and Club Salsa Thursday and Friday are pretty much set in stone this week. I’m pretty much committed to going to the Rocket this Saturday (and have already talked to people like Cyrille and Mimi about it). There’s the Peterborough party on Sunday, which I have not committed to but feel pressured to attend. If I also do Wednesday, I am potentially looking at 9 days in a row (Monday to next Tuesday). Yikes.
Low maintenance or high?
June 23, 2006
I arrived somewhat early and was sitting in the corner and got into a conversation with some people. When one of them found out that I was DJing, he tried to get me to play certain artists he liked. The list of requests went like this. Do you have Marc Anthony? No. Los Van Van? No. El Gran Combo? Yes. Some artist I don’t recall hearing about. No. Celia Cruz? I only have one song. I did preface the conversation with a disclaimer that my collection was not especially expansive.
Playlist
Esa Muneca – Willie Rosario
Betece – Africando
Linda Cubana – Sonora Carruseles*
Hablame – Frankie Ruiz
Barreras Ninguna – Jimmy Bosch
1-800-Quiereme – Luisito Rosario
Me Libere – El Gran Combo
Tumbando Cabeza – Tabaco Y Ron
Esas Lagrimas – Gilberto Santa Rosa (1)*
There was a short interruption for one Merengue and one Bachata (Suave – Elvis Crespo, Obsesion – Aventura). I did not even bother to leave the DJ booth.
Si Quieres Bailar – Pete Rodriguez (2)
Indestructible – Ray Barretto (-5%)
Celia Y Tito – Tito Puente with Celia Cruz
Cachondea – Fruko Y Sus Tesos (-5%)
Dejame Sonar – Tito Puente
Mambo – Cachao
Descarga La Moderna – Ray Barretto (-5%) (3)
Vishal played several Salsa, starting with Playa No More by Crystal Sierra once again. I think one song was Salsa/Reggaeton fusion. I had 2 or 3 dances during this break.
Anacaona – Cheo Feliciano (4)
Paraiso De Dulzura – Hector Lavoe*
El Matrimonio – El Gran Combo (5)
Pecado – Toque D’ Keda (6)
Ven Tu – Dominic Marte
Es La Musica – Massimo Scalici (7)
Get It Up – Eurocuban Project
Contigo – Cache
Y Eso Duele – Gilberto Santa Rosa (-2.5%) (8)
Hacha Y Machete – Hector Lavoe
I had few more dances during this break. Theodore started with couple of nice Salsa songs I did not recognize. This was followed by some new Merengue, which was fine at least until he decided to play 3 of them in a row. These were followed by 4-5 Salsa, some of which were played at too low volume. One of the final Salsa was Betece, which I played earlier in the evening.
El Preso – Fruko Y Sus Tesos (9)
Thinking Of You – Lenny Kravitz (10)
Lamento Boliviano – Toque D’ Keda (11)
A Gozar Con Mi Combo – Cachao (12)
I took off for a dance with Danie after putting on Cachao. I was thinking that Vishal would take over, but he didn’t show up in time. As an emergency, I forwarded the CD to another Cachao track when my last song ended. Vishal decided to skip the song and put his songs on instead.
Summary – 30 songs. 27 Salsa. 3 Bachata. Three new (*) songs. The number of Bachata and Merengue were even at 4 each, but the end of the evening was spent mostly with other non-Salsa stuff.
(1) I originally had Amor de Una Noche – N’Klabe, but decided upon a last minute change.
(2) I originally had Soy El Rey, but changed song selection after the Merengue/Bachata interruption.
(3) Vishal stopped by with request for some slower songs. He then decided to take over immediately. I wish I had known because I would have been very interested in dancing to this song.
(4) Luis had arrived shortly before this song. He was pleased with this selection.
(5) Luis was asking for Bachata. In this instance, I think he was right. El Matrimonio is a fine song by El Gran Combo, but how many people know that anyway?
(6) Because Sam was there.
(7) My original choice was Me Prendiste Velas – Oscar D’Leon. While it’s a very good song, I decided that the place needed a big jolt of energy at this point.
(8) I had noticed that Theodore was not dancing especially enthusiastically to Paraiso De Dulzura earlier. I’m not sure if it was the spark point, but he decided to bring his CDs to play to the crowd with permission from Vishal. Again had I known this, I would have tried to dance to this song (Y Eso Duele). As a compromise, I put on one more song for me to dance to during the break.
(9) During the middle of this song, Vishal asked that I play for about 15 minutes before he take over.
(10) Maria requested this song near the end of my third set.
(11) Sam’s request. Two other people stopped by with request. First was for Los Van Van or some Timba. I had to turn down the second one because I wasn’t going to be on long enough.
(12) I don’t quite know what Timba is. I asked if Cachao would do. I have no idea if this is close. Sam liked it.
Dancing tonight was of usual Friday quality more or less. Quantity was higher than usual by recent Friday standard but the quality of dancing on my part was perhaps below average by recent Friday standard. I don't do very well on Fridays generally compared to other days of the week. I felt I was a bit too sloppy and was spending too much energy and trying too hard. Again, that’s what I get for DJing.
Quote of the day – “You need to get a lower maintenance girlfriend.”
I found this comment and situation hilarious although I managed to keep a straight face while merely smiling in return. This comment from a stranger came about because I was holding Sam’s shoe bag briefly as we were all getting ready to leave at the end of the evening. The whole conversation went something like this.
X – “What’s in the bag?”
me – “Shoes.”
X – “You're carrying shoes???”
me – “They’re hers” (looking at Sam)
X – (laughs) “You need to get a lower maintenance girlfriend.”
I suppose I could and perhaps should have said, “She’s not my girlfriend,” but I was too bemused. I simply had too many thoughts about how to respond to this that I ended up saying nothing. For one, I thought that talking about my own shoes in my backpack was going to cause more confusion or perhaps embarrassment. The banter about the shoe bag continued even after Sam took the bag from my hands.
Another fun quote – “People in England gossip all the time. You need to be careful about what you say.”
I know! I know! Moreover, considering my earlier example one might say that you also may need to be careful about not saying anything! I don’t think I want to try to imagine the type of interpretations that come up when people read cryptic comments or try to read between lines here.
I arrived somewhat early and was sitting in the corner and got into a conversation with some people. When one of them found out that I was DJing, he tried to get me to play certain artists he liked. The list of requests went like this. Do you have Marc Anthony? No. Los Van Van? No. El Gran Combo? Yes. Some artist I don’t recall hearing about. No. Celia Cruz? I only have one song. I did preface the conversation with a disclaimer that my collection was not especially expansive.
Playlist
Esa Muneca – Willie Rosario
Betece – Africando
Linda Cubana – Sonora Carruseles*
Hablame – Frankie Ruiz
Barreras Ninguna – Jimmy Bosch
1-800-Quiereme – Luisito Rosario
Me Libere – El Gran Combo
Tumbando Cabeza – Tabaco Y Ron
Esas Lagrimas – Gilberto Santa Rosa (1)*
There was a short interruption for one Merengue and one Bachata (Suave – Elvis Crespo, Obsesion – Aventura). I did not even bother to leave the DJ booth.
Si Quieres Bailar – Pete Rodriguez (2)
Indestructible – Ray Barretto (-5%)
Celia Y Tito – Tito Puente with Celia Cruz
Cachondea – Fruko Y Sus Tesos (-5%)
Dejame Sonar – Tito Puente
Mambo – Cachao
Descarga La Moderna – Ray Barretto (-5%) (3)
Vishal played several Salsa, starting with Playa No More by Crystal Sierra once again. I think one song was Salsa/Reggaeton fusion. I had 2 or 3 dances during this break.
Anacaona – Cheo Feliciano (4)
Paraiso De Dulzura – Hector Lavoe*
El Matrimonio – El Gran Combo (5)
Pecado – Toque D’ Keda (6)
Ven Tu – Dominic Marte
Es La Musica – Massimo Scalici (7)
Get It Up – Eurocuban Project
Contigo – Cache
Y Eso Duele – Gilberto Santa Rosa (-2.5%) (8)
Hacha Y Machete – Hector Lavoe
I had few more dances during this break. Theodore started with couple of nice Salsa songs I did not recognize. This was followed by some new Merengue, which was fine at least until he decided to play 3 of them in a row. These were followed by 4-5 Salsa, some of which were played at too low volume. One of the final Salsa was Betece, which I played earlier in the evening.
El Preso – Fruko Y Sus Tesos (9)
Thinking Of You – Lenny Kravitz (10)
Lamento Boliviano – Toque D’ Keda (11)
A Gozar Con Mi Combo – Cachao (12)
I took off for a dance with Danie after putting on Cachao. I was thinking that Vishal would take over, but he didn’t show up in time. As an emergency, I forwarded the CD to another Cachao track when my last song ended. Vishal decided to skip the song and put his songs on instead.
Summary – 30 songs. 27 Salsa. 3 Bachata. Three new (*) songs. The number of Bachata and Merengue were even at 4 each, but the end of the evening was spent mostly with other non-Salsa stuff.
(1) I originally had Amor de Una Noche – N’Klabe, but decided upon a last minute change.
(2) I originally had Soy El Rey, but changed song selection after the Merengue/Bachata interruption.
(3) Vishal stopped by with request for some slower songs. He then decided to take over immediately. I wish I had known because I would have been very interested in dancing to this song.
(4) Luis had arrived shortly before this song. He was pleased with this selection.
(5) Luis was asking for Bachata. In this instance, I think he was right. El Matrimonio is a fine song by El Gran Combo, but how many people know that anyway?
(6) Because Sam was there.
(7) My original choice was Me Prendiste Velas – Oscar D’Leon. While it’s a very good song, I decided that the place needed a big jolt of energy at this point.
(8) I had noticed that Theodore was not dancing especially enthusiastically to Paraiso De Dulzura earlier. I’m not sure if it was the spark point, but he decided to bring his CDs to play to the crowd with permission from Vishal. Again had I known this, I would have tried to dance to this song (Y Eso Duele). As a compromise, I put on one more song for me to dance to during the break.
(9) During the middle of this song, Vishal asked that I play for about 15 minutes before he take over.
(10) Maria requested this song near the end of my third set.
(11) Sam’s request. Two other people stopped by with request. First was for Los Van Van or some Timba. I had to turn down the second one because I wasn’t going to be on long enough.
(12) I don’t quite know what Timba is. I asked if Cachao would do. I have no idea if this is close. Sam liked it.
Dancing tonight was of usual Friday quality more or less. Quantity was higher than usual by recent Friday standard but the quality of dancing on my part was perhaps below average by recent Friday standard. I don't do very well on Fridays generally compared to other days of the week. I felt I was a bit too sloppy and was spending too much energy and trying too hard. Again, that’s what I get for DJing.
Quote of the day – “You need to get a lower maintenance girlfriend.”
I found this comment and situation hilarious although I managed to keep a straight face while merely smiling in return. This comment from a stranger came about because I was holding Sam’s shoe bag briefly as we were all getting ready to leave at the end of the evening. The whole conversation went something like this.
X – “What’s in the bag?”
me – “Shoes.”
X – “You're carrying shoes???”
me – “They’re hers” (looking at Sam)
X – (laughs) “You need to get a lower maintenance girlfriend.”
I suppose I could and perhaps should have said, “She’s not my girlfriend,” but I was too bemused. I simply had too many thoughts about how to respond to this that I ended up saying nothing. For one, I thought that talking about my own shoes in my backpack was going to cause more confusion or perhaps embarrassment. The banter about the shoe bag continued even after Sam took the bag from my hands.
Another fun quote – “People in England gossip all the time. You need to be careful about what you say.”
I know! I know! Moreover, considering my earlier example one might say that you also may need to be careful about not saying anything! I don’t think I want to try to imagine the type of interpretations that come up when people read cryptic comments or try to read between lines here.
See you in August? September? October?
June 22, 2006
Intermediate/Advanced (combined) with Sally and Chris
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL end with R-R hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL crossed hold L-L underneath and lead follower into traveling 1 1/2 clockwise turn touch-and-go
1,2,3,5,6,7 drop L-L underneath R-R as leader does 1/2 clockwise turn – lead follower into full stationary clockwise turn and leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader walks 1/2 turn counterclockwise with L-L high, then let go R-R (place follower's R hand on R waist/hip) and leader prepares and does 1 1/2 counterclockwise spin turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R underneath L-L and prepare follower on 1,2,3 Mambo basic and broken left start on 5 and get follower into crucifix position with 1/2 counterclockwise turn for follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare follower keeping L-L low and lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn touch and go with L-L and end with L-L behind follower’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start with free R hand ending on follower’s R hip/waist – lead follower to left on 4/5 and lead follower into traveling (backwards) clockwise turn and leader turn to get back into facing follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and into tight closed hold with L-L going over leader’s head for hat – then turn as unit full counterclockwise (360 or around-the-world or whatever)
Was tonight a case of boom before bust? I don’t know the extent of the effect the summer vacation will have upon Salsa in Cambridge for next few months. In any case, there were plenty of people to dance with tonight probably because school is not quite done but is closed to being done. There so many people yet so little time that I missed out on several really good ones. One or two omissions were especially regrettable. Oh well. You can’t have it all.
Quote of the day (may not be exact) – “You can always get better.”
Yes, I agree completely. In some ways it’s a little sad though…
Another quote – “Cambridge is a small place.”
Sigh.
Why do I get a feeling that not everything is well? And much of it is beyond my control. I suspect it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
Dancing was pretty good. I don’t think anyone I danced with had major complaints. Who knows for sure though? There were some bumps and scratches; I lost a small piece of skin on my ring finger.
Unspoken thought of the day (not mine) - "I must protect my beer!"
Vishal seemed pleased and proud of the new AC. Temperature at the club was fine, but we'll have to see what happens on a warmer day with bigger crowd for a true test.
Intermediate/Advanced (combined) with Sally and Chris
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL end with R-R hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL crossed hold L-L underneath and lead follower into traveling 1 1/2 clockwise turn touch-and-go
1,2,3,5,6,7 drop L-L underneath R-R as leader does 1/2 clockwise turn – lead follower into full stationary clockwise turn and leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader walks 1/2 turn counterclockwise with L-L high, then let go R-R (place follower's R hand on R waist/hip) and leader prepares and does 1 1/2 counterclockwise spin turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R underneath L-L and prepare follower on 1,2,3 Mambo basic and broken left start on 5 and get follower into crucifix position with 1/2 counterclockwise turn for follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare follower keeping L-L low and lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn touch and go with L-L and end with L-L behind follower’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start with free R hand ending on follower’s R hip/waist – lead follower to left on 4/5 and lead follower into traveling (backwards) clockwise turn and leader turn to get back into facing follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and into tight closed hold with L-L going over leader’s head for hat – then turn as unit full counterclockwise (360 or around-the-world or whatever)
Was tonight a case of boom before bust? I don’t know the extent of the effect the summer vacation will have upon Salsa in Cambridge for next few months. In any case, there were plenty of people to dance with tonight probably because school is not quite done but is closed to being done. There so many people yet so little time that I missed out on several really good ones. One or two omissions were especially regrettable. Oh well. You can’t have it all.
Quote of the day (may not be exact) – “You can always get better.”
Yes, I agree completely. In some ways it’s a little sad though…
Another quote – “Cambridge is a small place.”
Sigh.
Why do I get a feeling that not everything is well? And much of it is beyond my control. I suspect it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
Dancing was pretty good. I don’t think anyone I danced with had major complaints. Who knows for sure though? There were some bumps and scratches; I lost a small piece of skin on my ring finger.
Unspoken thought of the day (not mine) - "I must protect my beer!"
Vishal seemed pleased and proud of the new AC. Temperature at the club was fine, but we'll have to see what happens on a warmer day with bigger crowd for a true test.
A more relaxing session at the LDA
June 20, 2006
I took the train 6:45 PM departure from Cambridge to London and 10:15 PM departure from Kings Cross back to Cambridge. No engineering works = less hassle than driving. I can relax on the train and read a book or take notes.
LDA 3.3 with Susana and Mario
1,2,3,5,6,7 toss follower’s hands up (slightly to her front right) and hands on follower’s hips for free 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn for follower with leader’s R hand on follower’s back in preparation for turn as unit
1,2,3,5,6,7 turn as unit 1/2 counterclockwise finish CBL with low cross pass (L-R behind leader’s R waist)
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa lead with R hand landing on follower’s leading R hip and lead follower into free 1 1/2 Copa turn with leader also doing 1 1/2 (more like 1 3/4) counterclockwise turn to get to open position
1,2,3,5,6,7 closed hold CBL (relax! only need R hand on back) and switch to R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and into reverse CBL position and lead 2 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn over and under to get R-R behind follower’s L waist (end in CBL position)
1,2,3,5,6,7 offer L hand in front for L-L connection by 3 and turn follower full clockwise on 4 (!) with L-L going over and coming down right away while R-R is kept close to leader so that R-R is at follower’s front L waist (or follower’s arm is across in front of her belly) on 5 and lead her backwards on 6,7
1,2,3,5,6,7 stay in CBL position and lead follower into traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn or similar
Not being 20 minutes late (or however) seemed to make things easier for me. At very least I was able to get more repetitions and practices. The only minor drag was that some students who paid for the class did not show up once again so that there were excess leaders. On positive note, one of the assistant instructors Helen participated once again; she’s very nice to work with. I spent downtime on working on my footwork and spins. I’m guessing that I was at least solidly in middle of the pack among leaders tonight.
Based upon my observations during last 3 weeks, I would say that Susana is the more indispensable instructor between her and Mario. While Mario talks quite a lot and gives much of the instructions, Susana goes at least one or two steps further.
Unlike in the past sessions, I stayed a little longer after the class and did some practice. Cool. It’s very nice to get fair amount of meaningful repetitions. I’m also enjoying being asked to stretch my abilities a little but not too much. I would say that these LDA classes are something of a hybrid between Joe’s classes and Sally’s classes – about the same level or slightly harder (in part because of resetting of 20-week plan on Mondays, Sally’s classes are slightly more challenging than the Latin Collective classes for me right now) and with more time for real-time practices than both. More practices are possible because most people do not need review of whole lot of fundamentals and also because the routines are shorter comparatively.
I took the train 6:45 PM departure from Cambridge to London and 10:15 PM departure from Kings Cross back to Cambridge. No engineering works = less hassle than driving. I can relax on the train and read a book or take notes.
LDA 3.3 with Susana and Mario
1,2,3,5,6,7 toss follower’s hands up (slightly to her front right) and hands on follower’s hips for free 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn for follower with leader’s R hand on follower’s back in preparation for turn as unit
1,2,3,5,6,7 turn as unit 1/2 counterclockwise finish CBL with low cross pass (L-R behind leader’s R waist)
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa lead with R hand landing on follower’s leading R hip and lead follower into free 1 1/2 Copa turn with leader also doing 1 1/2 (more like 1 3/4) counterclockwise turn to get to open position
1,2,3,5,6,7 closed hold CBL (relax! only need R hand on back) and switch to R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and into reverse CBL position and lead 2 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn over and under to get R-R behind follower’s L waist (end in CBL position)
1,2,3,5,6,7 offer L hand in front for L-L connection by 3 and turn follower full clockwise on 4 (!) with L-L going over and coming down right away while R-R is kept close to leader so that R-R is at follower’s front L waist (or follower’s arm is across in front of her belly) on 5 and lead her backwards on 6,7
1,2,3,5,6,7 stay in CBL position and lead follower into traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn or similar
Not being 20 minutes late (or however) seemed to make things easier for me. At very least I was able to get more repetitions and practices. The only minor drag was that some students who paid for the class did not show up once again so that there were excess leaders. On positive note, one of the assistant instructors Helen participated once again; she’s very nice to work with. I spent downtime on working on my footwork and spins. I’m guessing that I was at least solidly in middle of the pack among leaders tonight.
Based upon my observations during last 3 weeks, I would say that Susana is the more indispensable instructor between her and Mario. While Mario talks quite a lot and gives much of the instructions, Susana goes at least one or two steps further.
Unlike in the past sessions, I stayed a little longer after the class and did some practice. Cool. It’s very nice to get fair amount of meaningful repetitions. I’m also enjoying being asked to stretch my abilities a little but not too much. I would say that these LDA classes are something of a hybrid between Joe’s classes and Sally’s classes – about the same level or slightly harder (in part because of resetting of 20-week plan on Mondays, Sally’s classes are slightly more challenging than the Latin Collective classes for me right now) and with more time for real-time practices than both. More practices are possible because most people do not need review of whole lot of fundamentals and also because the routines are shorter comparatively.
Bored of moves?
June 19, 2006
The teachers today were Tiz, Joe and Ivey.
1st hour with Tiz
Shines taught today were Slave-Suzy, Hook step, and Bicycle. Joe was teaching Slide-step among others for Improvers.
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead stationary clockwise turn for follower with L-R ending with drop catch ending with R-R [all drop catches with leader ending facing away from follower with counterclockwise turn]
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break, turn around and lead follower to stationary clockwise turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead stationary clockwise turn for follower with L-R ending with drop catch ending with R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower forward on leader’s right side with R-R going over while connecting L-L in front then lead follower into 1/2 traveling clockwise turn with a gentle R-R lead to get back to open
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead stationary clockwise turn for follower with L-R ending with drop catch ending with R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower forward on leader’s right side with R-R going over while connecting L-L in front and windmill lead with L-L going over and under to place follower’s L hand behind her R waist (downward lead then let go) – leader turns clockwise and connect R-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 in-and-out standard (many variations of Copa are possible of course)
2nd hour with Tiz
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break into reverse CBL position and lead follower into 1/2 traveling clockwise turn with L-R and drop catch ending with R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break, turn around and lead follower to stationary clockwise turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break into reverse CBL position and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling clockwise turn (aided with R hand on follower’s L shoulder for lead on 4) with L-R and drop catch ending with R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower forward on leader’s right side with R-R going over and lead windmill 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn for follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R open break and into Copa but lead follower into 1 1/2 clockwise turn (can be aided with free L hand on follower’s L shoulder for lead on 4) and drop catch ending with R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break, toss R-R and connect L-L and lead broken left turn for follower
Instead of broken left, leading another traveling turn (many methods) with L-L is easy enough. Most of these things are dead easy with most competent followers. Of course, all this is essentially review of things I learned already and only with minor changes.
There were more experienced and/or talented Salsa dancers tonight than usual. Oh wait, that’s not quite right. It was certainly on the good side but not exceptionally so. In any case, dancing was good – not quite as good as last night but that is not saying much.
Vishal played a lot of songs I did not recognize. I made a comment/query about this to Vishal, and he referred to me playing a lot of new things as a factor that led him to be more adventuresome. I would imagine that Vishal would have more songs to choose from compared to me if he wanted. Many of the songs were fine although it would have been nice if fewer songs had a lot of transitions. My dance with Ivey for example was made difficult because of there being 4-6 transitions.
This was Agnes’s last night at Club Salsa this academic year. I found this out at the last minute, which led me to steal her away from Adam for one last dance before I left. She’ll be back but not until October. I suppose same situation will apply to other undergraduates (as well as some university-associated people who are not students as I note sadly).
Word of the day - escalation ... videotape might be another appropriate one...
Thought of the day - I wonder if I am getting bored of learning new moves? By moves, I mean primarly turn patterns.
The teachers today were Tiz, Joe and Ivey.
1st hour with Tiz
Shines taught today were Slave-Suzy, Hook step, and Bicycle. Joe was teaching Slide-step among others for Improvers.
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead stationary clockwise turn for follower with L-R ending with drop catch ending with R-R [all drop catches with leader ending facing away from follower with counterclockwise turn]
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break, turn around and lead follower to stationary clockwise turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead stationary clockwise turn for follower with L-R ending with drop catch ending with R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower forward on leader’s right side with R-R going over while connecting L-L in front then lead follower into 1/2 traveling clockwise turn with a gentle R-R lead to get back to open
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead stationary clockwise turn for follower with L-R ending with drop catch ending with R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower forward on leader’s right side with R-R going over while connecting L-L in front and windmill lead with L-L going over and under to place follower’s L hand behind her R waist (downward lead then let go) – leader turns clockwise and connect R-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 in-and-out standard (many variations of Copa are possible of course)
2nd hour with Tiz
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break into reverse CBL position and lead follower into 1/2 traveling clockwise turn with L-R and drop catch ending with R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break, turn around and lead follower to stationary clockwise turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break into reverse CBL position and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling clockwise turn (aided with R hand on follower’s L shoulder for lead on 4) with L-R and drop catch ending with R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower forward on leader’s right side with R-R going over and lead windmill 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn for follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R open break and into Copa but lead follower into 1 1/2 clockwise turn (can be aided with free L hand on follower’s L shoulder for lead on 4) and drop catch ending with R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break, toss R-R and connect L-L and lead broken left turn for follower
Instead of broken left, leading another traveling turn (many methods) with L-L is easy enough. Most of these things are dead easy with most competent followers. Of course, all this is essentially review of things I learned already and only with minor changes.
There were more experienced and/or talented Salsa dancers tonight than usual. Oh wait, that’s not quite right. It was certainly on the good side but not exceptionally so. In any case, dancing was good – not quite as good as last night but that is not saying much.
Vishal played a lot of songs I did not recognize. I made a comment/query about this to Vishal, and he referred to me playing a lot of new things as a factor that led him to be more adventuresome. I would imagine that Vishal would have more songs to choose from compared to me if he wanted. Many of the songs were fine although it would have been nice if fewer songs had a lot of transitions. My dance with Ivey for example was made difficult because of there being 4-6 transitions.
This was Agnes’s last night at Club Salsa this academic year. I found this out at the last minute, which led me to steal her away from Adam for one last dance before I left. She’ll be back but not until October. I suppose same situation will apply to other undergraduates (as well as some university-associated people who are not students as I note sadly).
Word of the day - escalation ... videotape might be another appropriate one...
Thought of the day - I wonder if I am getting bored of learning new moves? By moves, I mean primarly turn patterns.
Sharing joys of SOS
June 18, 2006
After some scrambling at work and a quick bite to eat at home, I picked up Agnes at 7 PM. I would have preferred to leave slightly earlier because of roadwork at M11. In any case, I decided to try to new route via A1 and Caledonian Road. It wasn’t a bad route: it took just under 90 minutes to park at the usual spot. However, I think M11 is still preferable if there’s no scheduled roadwork. Caledonian Road part might be worth trying again (via North Circular Road and A503). Incidentally, Mimi opted out complaining of tiredness. I probably drove slower in part because of heavy inquisition from Agnes – at least when she was not distracted by her mobile phone.
When Agnes first took a look at the dancers at SOS, she seemed a bit stunned and intimidated and she admitted as much. Her nervousness showed a little when I gave her a warm-up dance, and I did my best to get her to relax while also show her off. I thought that it would have been easier if there were some leaders I knew reasonably well. But ultimately, I wasn’t too worried, and I decided that the best course of action might be to not worry, find myself other dance partners, and make her look more available for dancing rather than socializing. In no time at all, Agnes was finding plenty of dance partners and seemed to be having a great time.
For me, it was a pretty good SOS night unlike last few times. Only 2-3 dances were disappointing while others were decent or very nice. At this point, it seems like dancing with followers who many would consider excellent no longer guarantees a good dance for me. I am sure I am wrong in some cases, but I suspect that some people get disinterested unless they are dancing with someone exceptional – and I’ll probably never get to that level. No big deal.
Song selections at SOS included at least two Bachata including Te Quiero by Oliver. Amor de Una Noche by N’Klabe was also heard. No Anacaona unlike last two times. As usual, I did not recognize most songs, but I am sure I am far from alone in this. The next to last song for the night was El Cantante by Hector Lavoe (I decided to dance a nice relaxed one for this one singing along at times); I had briefly considered playing this song on Friday (and when I said this to Agnes, she seemed horrified and told me,… what was the quote? “They’ll crucify kill you!” It would be annoying if you don’t have a good dance partner but in reality, it’s no worse than suffering through fusion of 2, 3 or more songs.). The DJ played one more song at 10:30 PM – a slow tune, which allowed me to end the evening on a high note. Agnes told me that she regretted not having the last dance with me (I ended up dancing with her just twice tonight), but she wasn’t exactly being neglected and was having a fantastic and inspirational time (as I expected, she fitted in just fine).
Drive back was fairly relaxing in part because the roads were familiar. Conversations when not interrupted by more phone calls were more gossipy rather than inquisitional.
Miscellaneous. I found out who Shiraz is – my first guess was correct. SOS was fairly empty tonight, but it worked just fine for me. I recognized only one other Cambridge regular (or was it two?). I pointed out Leon Rose (both Leon and Tamambo were there tonight) to Agnes at beginning of the evening but she mistook someone else – this could have had a silly effect, which never came about. This was a pretty good weekend – other good news included USA 1-1 Italy (with two red cards for USA and one red card for Italy) and South Korea 1-1 France. I bet Cyrille is furious. I wonder if I might be the biggest advertisement for SOS in Cambridge.
After some scrambling at work and a quick bite to eat at home, I picked up Agnes at 7 PM. I would have preferred to leave slightly earlier because of roadwork at M11. In any case, I decided to try to new route via A1 and Caledonian Road. It wasn’t a bad route: it took just under 90 minutes to park at the usual spot. However, I think M11 is still preferable if there’s no scheduled roadwork. Caledonian Road part might be worth trying again (via North Circular Road and A503). Incidentally, Mimi opted out complaining of tiredness. I probably drove slower in part because of heavy inquisition from Agnes – at least when she was not distracted by her mobile phone.
When Agnes first took a look at the dancers at SOS, she seemed a bit stunned and intimidated and she admitted as much. Her nervousness showed a little when I gave her a warm-up dance, and I did my best to get her to relax while also show her off. I thought that it would have been easier if there were some leaders I knew reasonably well. But ultimately, I wasn’t too worried, and I decided that the best course of action might be to not worry, find myself other dance partners, and make her look more available for dancing rather than socializing. In no time at all, Agnes was finding plenty of dance partners and seemed to be having a great time.
For me, it was a pretty good SOS night unlike last few times. Only 2-3 dances were disappointing while others were decent or very nice. At this point, it seems like dancing with followers who many would consider excellent no longer guarantees a good dance for me. I am sure I am wrong in some cases, but I suspect that some people get disinterested unless they are dancing with someone exceptional – and I’ll probably never get to that level. No big deal.
Song selections at SOS included at least two Bachata including Te Quiero by Oliver. Amor de Una Noche by N’Klabe was also heard. No Anacaona unlike last two times. As usual, I did not recognize most songs, but I am sure I am far from alone in this. The next to last song for the night was El Cantante by Hector Lavoe (I decided to dance a nice relaxed one for this one singing along at times); I had briefly considered playing this song on Friday (and when I said this to Agnes, she seemed horrified and told me,
Drive back was fairly relaxing in part because the roads were familiar. Conversations when not interrupted by more phone calls were more gossipy rather than inquisitional.
Miscellaneous. I found out who Shiraz is – my first guess was correct. SOS was fairly empty tonight, but it worked just fine for me. I recognized only one other Cambridge regular (or was it two?). I pointed out Leon Rose (both Leon and Tamambo were there tonight) to Agnes at beginning of the evening but she mistook someone else – this could have had a silly effect, which never came about. This was a pretty good weekend – other good news included USA 1-1 Italy (with two red cards for USA and one red card for Italy) and South Korea 1-1 France. I bet Cyrille is furious. I wonder if I might be the biggest advertisement for SOS in Cambridge.
DJ til you drop
June 16, 2006
Playlist
Micaela – Sonora Carruseles
Lluvia – Eddie Santiago
Vivir Sin Ella – Gilberto Santa Rosa*
Etnia – Grupo Niche
Barreras Ninguna – Jimmy Bosch
La Fruta Bomba – Fruko Y Sus Tesos
El Matrimonio – El Gran Combo*
La Familia – Ray Barretto (1)
Dejame Sonar – Tito Puente (canta Tony Vega) (2)*
Bandolera – Hector Lavoe (3)*
Soy El Rey – Pete Rodriguez (4)*
Me Prendiste Velas – Oscar D’Leon
Nina Y Senora – Tito Puente
Mambo – Cachao
Descarga La Moderna – Ray Barretto (-5%)
Vamonos Pa'l Monte – Eddie Palmieri (eventually to –6%) (5)
Ven Tu – Dominic Marte
Te Quiero – Oliver
Es La Musica – Massimo Scalici
Contigo – Cache
break
Vishal started off with Playa No More once again. There was a sound system breakdown during this song. I joked to next person over (I think it was Lindsey) that Vishal overusing the track caused this breakdown. I think Vishal played about 4-6 Salsa and 1 Merengue during this break. I had two dances during this break.
Get It Up – Eurocuban Project
El Pito – Isidro Infante
Y Eso Duele – Gilberto Santa Rosa (-2.5%)*
Ojos – Willie Colon & Ruben Blades*
Si Quieres Bailar – Pete Rodriguez*
Viva Puente – El Gran Combo (6)*
Ran Kan Kan – Tito Puente (live version)
Fiesta A La King – Tito Puente (shorter version)*
Anacaona – Cheo Feliciano
Hacha Y Machete – Hector Lavoe
You Will Remember Me – Dominic Marte
Lamento Boliviano – Toque D’ Keda
Me Libere – El Gran Combo*
Ven Morena – Oscar D’Leon
El Swing De Fruko – Fruko Y Sus Tesos (7)
Merengue track #3 from Vishal’s CD (8)
La Pantera Mambo – La 33
Aicha – Africando
Culebra – Grupo Niche (9)
Otra Oportunidad – Jimmy Bosch
Idilio – Willie Colon (10)
El Preso – Fruko Y Sus Tesos
Thinking Of You – Lenny Kravitz
Bailando – Frankie Ruiz (11)
Speak Low – Manny Oquendo (12)*
Perdoname – Gilberto Santa Rosa (13)*
(1) Pete asked, “Is this Ray Barretto?” Yes, it is.
(2) I think Vishal plays this now and then.
(3) Pete asked, “Is this Ray Barretto again?” No, it isn’t. This is the longest song I have played thus far as a DJ – over 9 minutes long. There is one other song I would consider playing, which is even longer at over 10 minutes.
(4) I think Vishal plays this one occasionally as well.
(5) This song was started at normal speed and then gradually slowed down to –6%. There are many versions of this song, and mine speeds up dramatically with about 3 minutes to go. I initially slowed it down to –5% in course of about 15 seconds, then went down even more shortly thereafter. As I expected, there were some rumblings about this song being really fast (in part because of their experience from April 21st when I did not slow the song when it speeded up), but I think it worked better tonight.
(6) As I expected, I noticed some grins when the Ran Kan Kan motif came on in the middle of the song.
(7) Vishal exclaimed, “That’s two fast songs in a row! I don’t think my AC can handle it! I’m getting the AC replaced (?) next week. You can play fast songs in a row after that!”
(8) The request for Merengue came up during Ven Morena. I think Vishal was expecting this song to be played after Ven Morena (not El Swing De Fruko), so he probably reacted more strongly than he would have earlier.
(9) Vishal seemed impressed and happy about me being able to keep most people on the dance floor with Salsa at this hour.
(10) Minor miscue. Two songs were on simultaneously for a second.
(11) Another minor miscue. Two songs were on at the same time again for few seconds. I must be getting a little tired.
(12) I felt that I went too long (or just right) with too many familiar tracks so I wanted to rectify the situation. I heard some mutters "It's time to go home" when I put this on, but most if not all stayed. I danced to this song until the very end and still managed to cue the next song in time.
(13) This song was played at normal speed. I think Vishal must speed up the song quite a bit when he plays this. I danced to this song as well. I left one more song to be played after this (Periodico De Ayer), but Vishal overruled it. He played Chan Chan from Buena Vista Social Club CD instead.
Summary. 46 songs. 41 Salsa. 4 Bachata. 1 Merengue. Vishal played only one Merengue along with several Salsa tonight, so Bachata wins easily. I played 12 new songs (*) I have never played before. My guess is that I won’t surpass this number in the future.
There was no request for Merengue despite there being a huge number of people. Hooray! In fact no one made any request to me (except indirectly via Vishal). For last 2 months or so during the time I was DJing, the number of people at Club Salsa was decent but not packed. It was fairly crowded last week, and tonight was really bustling. Things were reminiscent of the times when Club Salsa was open only on Fridays and Saturdays (and later on Wednesdays also). I’m guessing that this was due to exams being over and done. I have no idea if this will be sustained during the summer when many students are away.
There was not much time to dance or socialize because I spent so much time at the DJ booth. I did manage to talk to Cyrille about SOS, but he had other plans (among which was France v South Korea World Cup group G match, which I will have to tape). Mimi's in, so that's three people at least. One more could be easily accommodated (or even two), but I'm running out ideas.
Playlist
Micaela – Sonora Carruseles
Lluvia – Eddie Santiago
Vivir Sin Ella – Gilberto Santa Rosa*
Etnia – Grupo Niche
Barreras Ninguna – Jimmy Bosch
La Fruta Bomba – Fruko Y Sus Tesos
El Matrimonio – El Gran Combo*
La Familia – Ray Barretto (1)
Dejame Sonar – Tito Puente (canta Tony Vega) (2)*
Bandolera – Hector Lavoe (3)*
Soy El Rey – Pete Rodriguez (4)*
Me Prendiste Velas – Oscar D’Leon
Nina Y Senora – Tito Puente
Mambo – Cachao
Descarga La Moderna – Ray Barretto (-5%)
Vamonos Pa'l Monte – Eddie Palmieri (eventually to –6%) (5)
Ven Tu – Dominic Marte
Te Quiero – Oliver
Es La Musica – Massimo Scalici
Contigo – Cache
break
Vishal started off with Playa No More once again. There was a sound system breakdown during this song. I joked to next person over (I think it was Lindsey) that Vishal overusing the track caused this breakdown. I think Vishal played about 4-6 Salsa and 1 Merengue during this break. I had two dances during this break.
Get It Up – Eurocuban Project
El Pito – Isidro Infante
Y Eso Duele – Gilberto Santa Rosa (-2.5%)*
Ojos – Willie Colon & Ruben Blades*
Si Quieres Bailar – Pete Rodriguez*
Viva Puente – El Gran Combo (6)*
Ran Kan Kan – Tito Puente (live version)
Fiesta A La King – Tito Puente (shorter version)*
Anacaona – Cheo Feliciano
Hacha Y Machete – Hector Lavoe
You Will Remember Me – Dominic Marte
Lamento Boliviano – Toque D’ Keda
Me Libere – El Gran Combo*
Ven Morena – Oscar D’Leon
El Swing De Fruko – Fruko Y Sus Tesos (7)
Merengue track #3 from Vishal’s CD (8)
La Pantera Mambo – La 33
Aicha – Africando
Culebra – Grupo Niche (9)
Otra Oportunidad – Jimmy Bosch
Idilio – Willie Colon (10)
El Preso – Fruko Y Sus Tesos
Thinking Of You – Lenny Kravitz
Bailando – Frankie Ruiz (11)
Speak Low – Manny Oquendo (12)*
Perdoname – Gilberto Santa Rosa (13)*
(1) Pete asked, “Is this Ray Barretto?” Yes, it is.
(2) I think Vishal plays this now and then.
(3) Pete asked, “Is this Ray Barretto again?” No, it isn’t. This is the longest song I have played thus far as a DJ – over 9 minutes long. There is one other song I would consider playing, which is even longer at over 10 minutes.
(4) I think Vishal plays this one occasionally as well.
(5) This song was started at normal speed and then gradually slowed down to –6%. There are many versions of this song, and mine speeds up dramatically with about 3 minutes to go. I initially slowed it down to –5% in course of about 15 seconds, then went down even more shortly thereafter. As I expected, there were some rumblings about this song being really fast (in part because of their experience from April 21st when I did not slow the song when it speeded up), but I think it worked better tonight.
(6) As I expected, I noticed some grins when the Ran Kan Kan motif came on in the middle of the song.
(7) Vishal exclaimed, “That’s two fast songs in a row! I don’t think my AC can handle it! I’m getting the AC replaced (?) next week. You can play fast songs in a row after that!”
(8) The request for Merengue came up during Ven Morena. I think Vishal was expecting this song to be played after Ven Morena (not El Swing De Fruko), so he probably reacted more strongly than he would have earlier.
(9) Vishal seemed impressed and happy about me being able to keep most people on the dance floor with Salsa at this hour.
(10) Minor miscue. Two songs were on simultaneously for a second.
(11) Another minor miscue. Two songs were on at the same time again for few seconds. I must be getting a little tired.
(12) I felt that I went too long (or just right) with too many familiar tracks so I wanted to rectify the situation. I heard some mutters "It's time to go home" when I put this on, but most if not all stayed. I danced to this song until the very end and still managed to cue the next song in time.
(13) This song was played at normal speed. I think Vishal must speed up the song quite a bit when he plays this. I danced to this song as well. I left one more song to be played after this (Periodico De Ayer), but Vishal overruled it. He played Chan Chan from Buena Vista Social Club CD instead.
Summary. 46 songs. 41 Salsa. 4 Bachata. 1 Merengue. Vishal played only one Merengue along with several Salsa tonight, so Bachata wins easily. I played 12 new songs (*) I have never played before. My guess is that I won’t surpass this number in the future.
There was no request for Merengue despite there being a huge number of people. Hooray! In fact no one made any request to me (except indirectly via Vishal). For last 2 months or so during the time I was DJing, the number of people at Club Salsa was decent but not packed. It was fairly crowded last week, and tonight was really bustling. Things were reminiscent of the times when Club Salsa was open only on Fridays and Saturdays (and later on Wednesdays also). I’m guessing that this was due to exams being over and done. I have no idea if this will be sustained during the summer when many students are away.
There was not much time to dance or socialize because I spent so much time at the DJ booth. I did manage to talk to Cyrille about SOS, but he had other plans (among which was France v South Korea World Cup group G match, which I will have to tape). Mimi's in, so that's three people at least. One more could be easily accommodated (or even two), but I'm running out ideas.
Too much name dropping
June 15, 2006
Intermediate with Jay assisted by Lindsey
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic Mambo
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL ending with semi-open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 around the world without going into closed hold (open break start, chest-to-chest on 3 with leader positioned to L on 3, turn around on 5 (leader step cross behind) and exchange places again on 6,7
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL (mambo jazz start or “whoosh”) with R-L low forward on 5 and raised to lead follower into normal CBL 1/2 counterclockwise turn on 6,7 while L-R is kept low so that L-R ends behind follower’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL ending with 1 1/2 clockwise turn with over and under maneuver to get R-L behind follower’s L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL ending with 1/2 counterclockwise turn for follower to get back to open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 hop, then hook turn 1/2 clockwise for leader and bring connections down to middle of leader’s back
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward on leader’s R side and bring follower under R arm – then lead follower backwards immediately on 6,7
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward on leader’s R side and bring follower under R arm – lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling clockwise turn (letting go L-R of course)
over and under so that follower’s L hand ends behind her R waist – switch to L-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa and lead follower into 1 1/2 Copa counterclockwise turn with L-L and with leader turning 1/2 counterclockwise with L-L ending at about shoulder level to L
1,2,3,5,6,7 high toss to switch from L-L to R-L (leader moves to L side) and lasso
1,2,3,5,6,7 switch places (both moving in counterclockwise walk) and lasso again
1,2,3,5,6,7 switch places (both moving in counterclockwise walk) – keep R-L connected – offer L in front on R side – block follower on 5 and leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise on 6,7 to get back to semi-open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL and lead follower to 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn with R-L ending behind follower’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL (free L hand on follower’s R shoulder) ending with 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn for follower to get back to open position
It was a night full of mild surprises.
I thought about doing some practices during the second hour but couldn't find a good pretext.
Marie was there for the second hour taking the Improver class without attending the first hour of class at intermediate – presumably to keep company for a friend she brought along. Natalie showed up after the classes with a toe injury that precluded her from dancing. Sam also showed up after the classes with head injury she suffered last night. In any case, Sam was complaining of dizziness, which led her to avoid dancing Salsa. Some others also showed up only after the class as well. Patrick made an appearance after absence of over 6 months or so; I had been meaning to ask someone like Rajiv about whereabouts of Patrick for at least a month. I had guessed that he moved out of Cambridge, but this is not the case. Maria also showed up after a long absence – I managed to keep her standing upright throughout all my dances with her (unlike that debacle at a CDC Salsa class last spring).
My best guess is that the end of exams led many people to come out and celebrate tonight – even if some were not in good condition to dance Salsa.
I had been wondering if Sam was done with Cambridge for good now that she had received her degree (notwithstanding possibility of pursuing an advanced degree). No worries there. Sam apparently will be back as the Salsa team captain along with Mark next academic year, so she’ll have plenty more opportunities to say “Not right now” to me. In any case, I suppose this probably means that the CDC Salsa team captains will be present at Club Salsa more frequently compared to this year. This year’s captains were Maritza and Shiraz, and I am unsure if I have ever seen Shiraz. In fact, I don’t even know if Shiraz is he or she. I have seen Maritza perhaps three or four times this academic year.
Grace… I mean Agnes asked me about SOS. I guess she wants to see more of London Salsa scene before heading off to Singapore. I might see about getting a small group for it this Sunday.
Vishal might have run out Salsa music to play tonight with there being no help as usual from Sally or Chris. He ended up playing 3 Bachata and 1 Merengue. Typically, Thursday nights at Club Salsa are devoted solely to Salsa.
I spent a little time getting more familiarized with the alternate DJ mixer. The usual mixer is apparently away in part because of Vishal’s sister’s wedding this weekend. My guess is that I’ll play larger number of songs I had not played before tomorrow night if nothing else because I’m getting tired of restricting myself last couple of weeks.
I wonder if opportunities for practicing more difficult moves will become fewer during the summer break; this was one reason why I decided to try LDA. Tonight was fine; I even ran out material to practice and couldn't think of more things to try on the spot. It's probably just as well because getting more repetitions probably is quite useful at this moment. Summer looms.
This post is quite gossipy and full of bits that I don't have explicit okay to write about. I think everything is completely harmless, and I hope it's okay. I promise that this won't become the norm.
Intermediate with Jay assisted by Lindsey
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic Mambo
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL ending with semi-open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 around the world without going into closed hold (open break start, chest-to-chest on 3 with leader positioned to L on 3, turn around on 5 (leader step cross behind) and exchange places again on 6,7
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL (mambo jazz start or “whoosh”) with R-L low forward on 5 and raised to lead follower into normal CBL 1/2 counterclockwise turn on 6,7 while L-R is kept low so that L-R ends behind follower’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL ending with 1 1/2 clockwise turn with over and under maneuver to get R-L behind follower’s L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL ending with 1/2 counterclockwise turn for follower to get back to open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 hop, then hook turn 1/2 clockwise for leader and bring connections down to middle of leader’s back
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward on leader’s R side and bring follower under R arm – then lead follower backwards immediately on 6,7
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward on leader’s R side and bring follower under R arm – lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling clockwise turn (letting go L-R of course)
over and under so that follower’s L hand ends behind her R waist – switch to L-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa and lead follower into 1 1/2 Copa counterclockwise turn with L-L and with leader turning 1/2 counterclockwise with L-L ending at about shoulder level to L
1,2,3,5,6,7 high toss to switch from L-L to R-L (leader moves to L side) and lasso
1,2,3,5,6,7 switch places (both moving in counterclockwise walk) and lasso again
1,2,3,5,6,7 switch places (both moving in counterclockwise walk) – keep R-L connected – offer L in front on R side – block follower on 5 and leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise on 6,7 to get back to semi-open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL and lead follower to 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn with R-L ending behind follower’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL (free L hand on follower’s R shoulder) ending with 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn for follower to get back to open position
It was a night full of mild surprises.
I thought about doing some practices during the second hour but couldn't find a good pretext.
Marie was there for the second hour taking the Improver class without attending the first hour of class at intermediate – presumably to keep company for a friend she brought along. Natalie showed up after the classes with a toe injury that precluded her from dancing. Sam also showed up after the classes with head injury she suffered last night. In any case, Sam was complaining of dizziness, which led her to avoid dancing Salsa. Some others also showed up only after the class as well. Patrick made an appearance after absence of over 6 months or so; I had been meaning to ask someone like Rajiv about whereabouts of Patrick for at least a month. I had guessed that he moved out of Cambridge, but this is not the case. Maria also showed up after a long absence – I managed to keep her standing upright throughout all my dances with her (unlike that debacle at a CDC Salsa class last spring).
My best guess is that the end of exams led many people to come out and celebrate tonight – even if some were not in good condition to dance Salsa.
I had been wondering if Sam was done with Cambridge for good now that she had received her degree (notwithstanding possibility of pursuing an advanced degree). No worries there. Sam apparently will be back as the Salsa team captain along with Mark next academic year, so she’ll have plenty more opportunities to say “Not right now” to me. In any case, I suppose this probably means that the CDC Salsa team captains will be present at Club Salsa more frequently compared to this year. This year’s captains were Maritza and Shiraz, and I am unsure if I have ever seen Shiraz. In fact, I don’t even know if Shiraz is he or she. I have seen Maritza perhaps three or four times this academic year.
Grace… I mean Agnes asked me about SOS. I guess she wants to see more of London Salsa scene before heading off to Singapore. I might see about getting a small group for it this Sunday.
Vishal might have run out Salsa music to play tonight with there being no help as usual from Sally or Chris. He ended up playing 3 Bachata and 1 Merengue. Typically, Thursday nights at Club Salsa are devoted solely to Salsa.
I spent a little time getting more familiarized with the alternate DJ mixer. The usual mixer is apparently away in part because of Vishal’s sister’s wedding this weekend. My guess is that I’ll play larger number of songs I had not played before tomorrow night if nothing else because I’m getting tired of restricting myself last couple of weeks.
I wonder if opportunities for practicing more difficult moves will become fewer during the summer break; this was one reason why I decided to try LDA. Tonight was fine; I even ran out material to practice and couldn't think of more things to try on the spot. It's probably just as well because getting more repetitions probably is quite useful at this moment. Summer looms.
This post is quite gossipy and full of bits that I don't have explicit okay to write about. I think everything is completely harmless, and I hope it's okay. I promise that this won't become the norm.
Call me Don Quixote
June 13, 2006
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t - this describes problems of deciding upon a method of transportation to LDA.
Going to London for Salsa lessons requires a lot of effort. I know that many of the finest Salsa dancers in the present Cambridge scene have went to London in the past. Of course until fairly recently, there was little option for learning CBL style Salsa in Cambridge. Nowadays, learning CBL style Salsa in Cambridge to get to a fairly high level is doable, and things should only get better as more people become more proficient. However, it is still difficult to get beyond intermediate level merely by taking drop-in classes in Cambridge only unless a larger pool of intermediate level dancers form and more of the intermediate level dancers take part in these classes.
5:30 PM – I check various websites to check on automobile traffic in London and on train engineering schedule. Traffic website shows delay on M11 (slow traffic between M25 and North circular) while there’s no scheduled engineering works for the train. It’s raining. I might want to avoid walking in the rain, but rain might mean traffic conditions could be bad. What to do?
6:10 PM – Traffic website says that the delay on M11 is cleared.
6:30 PM – It’s now a little too late to take the train.
6:40 PM – Time of departure. I decided that it might be better to leave somewhat early. Last week, I left at 6:30 PM, and it took only 65 minutes. But the weather is poor.
6:50 PM – I’m on M11, and traffic warning signs suggesting 50 mph, and then 40 mph maximum is on. I’m already regretting not having taken the train.
6:55 PM – After seeing couple of cars stopped on the side of the road, I now see a big puddle in the middle of the motorway and four or five car on the side of the road apparently having lost control. Scary.
7:00 PM – Less than a mile after traffic warning sign read “End” of reduced advised maximum speed, a traffic jam appears.
7:10 PM – Traffic jam clears up. Last week, I was on local road by this time. This time, I have not yet reached M25 junction.
7:20 PM – Another traffic jam - this time after M25. Uh oh.
7:40 PM – It looks like the traffic jam is going to continue into North Circular Road. Oh No. I decided to improvise because I’m definitely going to be late at this rate.
7:55 PM – I have made some missteps. I circled around Redbridge Roundabout twice before taking A12, and then I left A12 prematurely. I thought I was on Whipps Cross Road, but I was on High Street instead. I eventually make my way to Lea Bridge Road.
8:10 PM – This alternate route is slower than last week’s route. A107 is particularly bad.
8:15 PM – I’m finally on Seven Sisters Road – finally back to a familiar road.
8:38 PM – Rest of the road was pretty good. I think I took a pretty good route last week. My guess is that I did not save much time by taking an alternate route. Then again, I probably did not lose any time either.
LDA 3.3 with Susana & Mario
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL ending with L-R hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 pivot 1/2 clockwise turn for leader – switch to R-R briefly and place follower’s R hand on leader’s R waist while stepping in place on 5 – transfer weight to L foot on 6 and turn 1 1/2 counterclockwise (follower does a body roll, etc) [note: I missed instructions and preparations for this section because of late arrival. This is based upon my reading of how other students were leading this during and after the class.]
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL start and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn with R hand on follower’s stomach level and with R foot level or overtaking follower on her L side
1,2,3,5,6,7 in place on 1, transfer weight to R on 2 and initiate and finish turn as a unit 1/2 counterclockwise between 2 and 3 into CBL position [note: need to end in a position and with enough space to allow follower to step forward on 5] – lead follower forward using R hand on follower’s back on 5,6 with L-R high initially (is this essentially high cross pass?) and bring L-R down between 6 and 7 to lead follower to turn 1/2 counterclockwise and with leader turning 1/2 to 3/4 clockwise on 7 and switch to R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 reconnecting L-L above R-R at some point, lead follower into Copa and into 2 1/2 Copa traveling turn with L-L going over follower’s head and staying high with leader (very possibly following follower to stay within short distance during 5,6) turning 1/2 counterclockwise on 7 or after follower is done with her spin (L-L ends at about shoulder level to L) [note: main lead for Copa turn is with R hand on follower's hip on 4]
1,2,3,5,6,7 find a convenient place to step on 1 while bringing L-L way down, move to L into open CBL position during 2,3 while switching to R-L – lead follower into free traveling counterclockwise turn
Being over 20 minutes late to the class gave me no time to relax and breath it all in. The starting bit is fairly demanding for the leader. I started off okay with the starting bit then I lost it before regaining some control. This is unfortunate. I'll need a lot of practice to stay balanced throughout.
Practices were done to songs like “Asia Mood” and “Nina Y Senora” by Tito Puente at normal speed. There's no trick of playing artificially slow song to make students feel better about themselves, which is the way to go to teach things properly.
At the end of the class, Justin clued me on what I missed during the first 20 minutes or so. There was preparatory work for leader’s spins. My guess is that I would have been a little more relaxed and confident during the early part of the routine had I arrived on time. I would have struggled a bit with the latter part of the routine in normal speed no matter what. Justin also mentioned that Mario asked where the guy from Cambridge is at the beginning of the class. I guess simply having the longest commute among all students made me somewhat remarkable.
After the class, I took time to look at some of the other leaders in class. After more observation, I reconfirmed my earlier assessment that I am no better than average lead in this 3.3 class. In fact, I’m probably slightly below average. I don’t think I am the worst lead by significant margin based upon brief observation of some nearby students. In other words, I’m not in the same league as some of the strongest leads in this class but I’m not completely out of my league in this class either. It’s both nice and not so nice being one of the strongest lead in the class as I usually am in a class in Cambridge.
Some of the better leads in the class reminded me of some Cambridge instructors like Ivan, Jay, Johnny, etc. It’s impossible to judge whether these students are better than their Cambridge parallels based upon my little observations, but I think they looked just as good and possibly better. Some of the leaders had as good a good recall of last week’s routine if not better. I thought at least one of the leader might have been a better than average as a follower in the 3.3 class.
Maybe I could make myself feel better about being below average by thinking that most of these guys probably have been dancing Salsa for longer amount of time. But then again, who cares?
It would seem that some people dropped out after the first class while other new ones joined in. The class was 2 or 3 women short this week, but I did not find this to be a problem. In fact, I appreciated a little break now and then to catch my breath and to refocus.
The drive home was no better than drive to London. It took a little over 2 hours because of traffic jam in North Circular, which led me to take a detour to M25 (which entailed getting lost and going towards the opposite direction briefly), and a 10+ mile-long detour on M25 courtesy of road works. This kind of detour is a rarity in the USA; it's fact of life in the UK.
Thus far, 4 out of 6 commute to and from LDA would get a poor grade in my opinion. If this continues, it would be very difficult to justify taking these classes even though they are pretty darn good. Commutes lasting 70-90 minutes each way with normal traffic condition is pretty rough already, and 2 hour commute each way makes it not worthwhile for me. I think I’ll take the train next time, especially if the weather is poor. Driving should be made an option only if there is a scheduled engineering works for railroad.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t - this describes problems of deciding upon a method of transportation to LDA.
Going to London for Salsa lessons requires a lot of effort. I know that many of the finest Salsa dancers in the present Cambridge scene have went to London in the past. Of course until fairly recently, there was little option for learning CBL style Salsa in Cambridge. Nowadays, learning CBL style Salsa in Cambridge to get to a fairly high level is doable, and things should only get better as more people become more proficient. However, it is still difficult to get beyond intermediate level merely by taking drop-in classes in Cambridge only unless a larger pool of intermediate level dancers form and more of the intermediate level dancers take part in these classes.
5:30 PM – I check various websites to check on automobile traffic in London and on train engineering schedule. Traffic website shows delay on M11 (slow traffic between M25 and North circular) while there’s no scheduled engineering works for the train. It’s raining. I might want to avoid walking in the rain, but rain might mean traffic conditions could be bad. What to do?
6:10 PM – Traffic website says that the delay on M11 is cleared.
6:30 PM – It’s now a little too late to take the train.
6:40 PM – Time of departure. I decided that it might be better to leave somewhat early. Last week, I left at 6:30 PM, and it took only 65 minutes. But the weather is poor.
6:50 PM – I’m on M11, and traffic warning signs suggesting 50 mph, and then 40 mph maximum is on. I’m already regretting not having taken the train.
6:55 PM – After seeing couple of cars stopped on the side of the road, I now see a big puddle in the middle of the motorway and four or five car on the side of the road apparently having lost control. Scary.
7:00 PM – Less than a mile after traffic warning sign read “End” of reduced advised maximum speed, a traffic jam appears.
7:10 PM – Traffic jam clears up. Last week, I was on local road by this time. This time, I have not yet reached M25 junction.
7:20 PM – Another traffic jam - this time after M25. Uh oh.
7:40 PM – It looks like the traffic jam is going to continue into North Circular Road. Oh No. I decided to improvise because I’m definitely going to be late at this rate.
7:55 PM – I have made some missteps. I circled around Redbridge Roundabout twice before taking A12, and then I left A12 prematurely. I thought I was on Whipps Cross Road, but I was on High Street instead. I eventually make my way to Lea Bridge Road.
8:10 PM – This alternate route is slower than last week’s route. A107 is particularly bad.
8:15 PM – I’m finally on Seven Sisters Road – finally back to a familiar road.
8:38 PM – Rest of the road was pretty good. I think I took a pretty good route last week. My guess is that I did not save much time by taking an alternate route. Then again, I probably did not lose any time either.
LDA 3.3 with Susana & Mario
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL ending with L-R hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 pivot 1/2 clockwise turn for leader – switch to R-R briefly and place follower’s R hand on leader’s R waist while stepping in place on 5 – transfer weight to L foot on 6 and turn 1 1/2 counterclockwise (follower does a body roll, etc) [note: I missed instructions and preparations for this section because of late arrival. This is based upon my reading of how other students were leading this during and after the class.]
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL start and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn with R hand on follower’s stomach level and with R foot level or overtaking follower on her L side
1,2,3,5,6,7 in place on 1, transfer weight to R on 2 and initiate and finish turn as a unit 1/2 counterclockwise between 2 and 3 into CBL position [note: need to end in a position and with enough space to allow follower to step forward on 5] – lead follower forward using R hand on follower’s back on 5,6 with L-R high initially (is this essentially high cross pass?) and bring L-R down between 6 and 7 to lead follower to turn 1/2 counterclockwise and with leader turning 1/2 to 3/4 clockwise on 7 and switch to R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 reconnecting L-L above R-R at some point, lead follower into Copa and into 2 1/2 Copa traveling turn with L-L going over follower’s head and staying high with leader (very possibly following follower to stay within short distance during 5,6) turning 1/2 counterclockwise on 7 or after follower is done with her spin (L-L ends at about shoulder level to L) [note: main lead for Copa turn is with R hand on follower's hip on 4]
1,2,3,5,6,7 find a convenient place to step on 1 while bringing L-L way down, move to L into open CBL position during 2,3 while switching to R-L – lead follower into free traveling counterclockwise turn
Being over 20 minutes late to the class gave me no time to relax and breath it all in. The starting bit is fairly demanding for the leader. I started off okay with the starting bit then I lost it before regaining some control. This is unfortunate. I'll need a lot of practice to stay balanced throughout.
Practices were done to songs like “Asia Mood” and “Nina Y Senora” by Tito Puente at normal speed. There's no trick of playing artificially slow song to make students feel better about themselves, which is the way to go to teach things properly.
At the end of the class, Justin clued me on what I missed during the first 20 minutes or so. There was preparatory work for leader’s spins. My guess is that I would have been a little more relaxed and confident during the early part of the routine had I arrived on time. I would have struggled a bit with the latter part of the routine in normal speed no matter what. Justin also mentioned that Mario asked where the guy from Cambridge is at the beginning of the class. I guess simply having the longest commute among all students made me somewhat remarkable.
After the class, I took time to look at some of the other leaders in class. After more observation, I reconfirmed my earlier assessment that I am no better than average lead in this 3.3 class. In fact, I’m probably slightly below average. I don’t think I am the worst lead by significant margin based upon brief observation of some nearby students. In other words, I’m not in the same league as some of the strongest leads in this class but I’m not completely out of my league in this class either. It’s both nice and not so nice being one of the strongest lead in the class as I usually am in a class in Cambridge.
Some of the better leads in the class reminded me of some Cambridge instructors like Ivan, Jay, Johnny, etc. It’s impossible to judge whether these students are better than their Cambridge parallels based upon my little observations, but I think they looked just as good and possibly better. Some of the leaders had as good a good recall of last week’s routine if not better. I thought at least one of the leader might have been a better than average as a follower in the 3.3 class.
Maybe I could make myself feel better about being below average by thinking that most of these guys probably have been dancing Salsa for longer amount of time. But then again, who cares?
It would seem that some people dropped out after the first class while other new ones joined in. The class was 2 or 3 women short this week, but I did not find this to be a problem. In fact, I appreciated a little break now and then to catch my breath and to refocus.
The drive home was no better than drive to London. It took a little over 2 hours because of traffic jam in North Circular, which led me to take a detour to M25 (which entailed getting lost and going towards the opposite direction briefly), and a 10+ mile-long detour on M25 courtesy of road works. This kind of detour is a rarity in the USA; it's fact of life in the UK.
Thus far, 4 out of 6 commute to and from LDA would get a poor grade in my opinion. If this continues, it would be very difficult to justify taking these classes even though they are pretty darn good. Commutes lasting 70-90 minutes each way with normal traffic condition is pretty rough already, and 2 hour commute each way makes it not worthwhile for me. I think I’ll take the train next time, especially if the weather is poor. Driving should be made an option only if there is a scheduled engineering works for railroad.
Hot! Hot! Hot!
June 12, 2006
Shines
Slide
1 L foot cross over in front of R
2 R foot slide back
3 L foot slide back (in front of R)
5 R foot cross over in front of L
6 L foot cross over in front of R
7 R foot cross over in front of L
Reverse slide
1,2,3 basic
5 R foot cross behind L
6 L foot slide forward
7 R foot slide forward (behind L)
1 L foot step back cross behind R
2 R foot step back cross behind L
3 L foot step back cross behind R
5 R foot step in place (no longer crossed behind L)
6 L foot somewhat large step forward
7 R foot normal basic position for 7
Pachanga
1 L foot slide L
2 R foot together
3 R foot slide R
4 L foot together
5 L foot slide L
6 R foot together
7 R foot slide R
8 L foot together
1st hour of Intermediate partner work with Tiz
(I’m skipping all the basic and simple CBLs)
1,2,3,5,6,7 from open hold, simple Copa
1,2,3,5,6,7 from R-R hold, simple Copa (R down and roll for Copa motion/lead ending on follower’s hip followed by free 1 1/2 Copa turn for follower) with leader doing full clockwise turn on 7
1,2,3,5,6,7 from R-L hold, stationary double clockwise turn for follower one up one down with leader doing optional swivel turn on 7 (after pulling down the zipper on 6 and letting go R-L briefly) with reconnection of R-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and into Copa with both L-R connection made as early as 8/1 and as late as 3 – on 3, both R-L and L-R is in front of follower – lead follower forward with R-L low on 5 and let follower do a 1 1/2 Copa turn with L-R high for follower to spin on
The first hour is somewhat similar to the format of second hour of improver class from the second week. However, the amount of material is considerably greater than in the old improver class.
2nd hour of Intermediate partner work with Tiz
1,2,3,5,6,7 from open hold, Copa with R-L ending in front of follower on 3 and L-R behind follower’s R waist – lead follower into free Copa 1 1/2 turn (leading with R-L? and letting go)
1,2,3,5,6,7 Reconnect with L-R behind follower’s R waist and basic and lead L-R down on 5 to get follower to do a simple pivot turn to get back into open or closed hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 from open hold, standard Copa start but ending with over and under lead using L-R to get L-R positioned behind follower’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic and lead L-R down on 5 to get follower to do a simple pivot turn to get back into open or closed hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 from R-R hold with L-L underneath, Copa with R-R ending in front of follower on 3 – lead Copa turn with R-R over and under to get R-R behind follower’s L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead rock step for follower possibly with help of L hand on follower’s R shoulder and lead follower into a free 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn for her to get back into open position (leader steps into follower’s space and turn clockwise to face follower and get into closed hold)
1,2,3,5,6,7 from R-R hold lead follower into Copa ending with L hand on follower’s R shoulder and start leading follower on 4 on shoulder for traveling clockwise 1 1/2 or 2 1/2 turn
Class was more enjoyable than it has been for last couple of weeks. At no time did I feel that I was going to get injured. Some of the better followers had to leave early and did not stay for the second class.
Vishal and Danie asked me if Tiz’s lessons were easier than Joe’s. Apparently they got an impression that this might be the case based upon someone’s comments about last week’s class. I couldn’t disagree more. If anything, Tiz tries to pack more material into the class than Joe. The way the class structure has been revised after the switch to the two-hour format is like this – the first hour is similar to the old second hour of improver class except with more material, and the second hour is similar to the old first hour of intermediate class except with more material once again. Thus the first hour works as a warm-up and/or an introduction to a basic material, while large number of more complex variations is introduced in the second hour. I suspect that my capacity for remembering materials from the class is better than anyone else more or less, and I find it very challenging to remember everything!
If the material in class were easy, I should think that a lot more people should be able to incorporate materials from class into social dancing. Very few people are able to do this, and many forget the material within couple of days. Until they can follow the moves in club setting speed comfortably, followers should not think that the material is too easy. Likewise, leaders have no right to think that the material is easy unless they could lead the move with a follower of “average” ability attending the class at normal club music speed. If people find it difficult to do the material in a controlled class setting, they should consider the idea that they should go down a level (or two!).
Not long ago, some anonymous person asked me how I would rate myself as a Salsa dancer. My answer was that I was either solid or high intermediate by UK standards. I could add that no leader in Cambridge who still takes classes regularly is better than solid or high intermediate in my opinion. In fact I probably could argue that many people involved in teaching Salsa in Cambridge are no better than solid or high intermediate (note: I’m using a very broad definition when I say people involved in teaching as I am including teaching assistants here.).
Conditions for dancing was not ideal tonight. The air was hot and humid, and there seemed to be a lot of equipment eccentricities (lights and sound system). I generally stuck to dance partners who could stay on time with me. Dancing was okay for me with my biggest complaint being that my leads were more forceful than I normally prefer.
Shines
Slide
1 L foot cross over in front of R
2 R foot slide back
3 L foot slide back (in front of R)
5 R foot cross over in front of L
6 L foot cross over in front of R
7 R foot cross over in front of L
Reverse slide
1,2,3 basic
5 R foot cross behind L
6 L foot slide forward
7 R foot slide forward (behind L)
1 L foot step back cross behind R
2 R foot step back cross behind L
3 L foot step back cross behind R
5 R foot step in place (no longer crossed behind L)
6 L foot somewhat large step forward
7 R foot normal basic position for 7
Pachanga
1 L foot slide L
2 R foot together
3 R foot slide R
4 L foot together
5 L foot slide L
6 R foot together
7 R foot slide R
8 L foot together
1st hour of Intermediate partner work with Tiz
(I’m skipping all the basic and simple CBLs)
1,2,3,5,6,7 from open hold, simple Copa
1,2,3,5,6,7 from R-R hold, simple Copa (R down and roll for Copa motion/lead ending on follower’s hip followed by free 1 1/2 Copa turn for follower) with leader doing full clockwise turn on 7
1,2,3,5,6,7 from R-L hold, stationary double clockwise turn for follower one up one down with leader doing optional swivel turn on 7 (after pulling down the zipper on 6 and letting go R-L briefly) with reconnection of R-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and into Copa with both L-R connection made as early as 8/1 and as late as 3 – on 3, both R-L and L-R is in front of follower – lead follower forward with R-L low on 5 and let follower do a 1 1/2 Copa turn with L-R high for follower to spin on
The first hour is somewhat similar to the format of second hour of improver class from the second week. However, the amount of material is considerably greater than in the old improver class.
2nd hour of Intermediate partner work with Tiz
1,2,3,5,6,7 from open hold, Copa with R-L ending in front of follower on 3 and L-R behind follower’s R waist – lead follower into free Copa 1 1/2 turn (leading with R-L? and letting go)
1,2,3,5,6,7 Reconnect with L-R behind follower’s R waist and basic and lead L-R down on 5 to get follower to do a simple pivot turn to get back into open or closed hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 from open hold, standard Copa start but ending with over and under lead using L-R to get L-R positioned behind follower’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic and lead L-R down on 5 to get follower to do a simple pivot turn to get back into open or closed hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 from R-R hold with L-L underneath, Copa with R-R ending in front of follower on 3 – lead Copa turn with R-R over and under to get R-R behind follower’s L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead rock step for follower possibly with help of L hand on follower’s R shoulder and lead follower into a free 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn for her to get back into open position (leader steps into follower’s space and turn clockwise to face follower and get into closed hold)
1,2,3,5,6,7 from R-R hold lead follower into Copa ending with L hand on follower’s R shoulder and start leading follower on 4 on shoulder for traveling clockwise 1 1/2 or 2 1/2 turn
Class was more enjoyable than it has been for last couple of weeks. At no time did I feel that I was going to get injured. Some of the better followers had to leave early and did not stay for the second class.
Vishal and Danie asked me if Tiz’s lessons were easier than Joe’s. Apparently they got an impression that this might be the case based upon someone’s comments about last week’s class. I couldn’t disagree more. If anything, Tiz tries to pack more material into the class than Joe. The way the class structure has been revised after the switch to the two-hour format is like this – the first hour is similar to the old second hour of improver class except with more material, and the second hour is similar to the old first hour of intermediate class except with more material once again. Thus the first hour works as a warm-up and/or an introduction to a basic material, while large number of more complex variations is introduced in the second hour. I suspect that my capacity for remembering materials from the class is better than anyone else more or less, and I find it very challenging to remember everything!
If the material in class were easy, I should think that a lot more people should be able to incorporate materials from class into social dancing. Very few people are able to do this, and many forget the material within couple of days. Until they can follow the moves in club setting speed comfortably, followers should not think that the material is too easy. Likewise, leaders have no right to think that the material is easy unless they could lead the move with a follower of “average” ability attending the class at normal club music speed. If people find it difficult to do the material in a controlled class setting, they should consider the idea that they should go down a level (or two!).
Not long ago, some anonymous person asked me how I would rate myself as a Salsa dancer. My answer was that I was either solid or high intermediate by UK standards. I could add that no leader in Cambridge who still takes classes regularly is better than solid or high intermediate in my opinion. In fact I probably could argue that many people involved in teaching Salsa in Cambridge are no better than solid or high intermediate (note: I’m using a very broad definition when I say people involved in teaching as I am including teaching assistants here.).
Conditions for dancing was not ideal tonight. The air was hot and humid, and there seemed to be a lot of equipment eccentricities (lights and sound system). I generally stuck to dance partners who could stay on time with me. Dancing was okay for me with my biggest complaint being that my leads were more forceful than I normally prefer.
England 1 - Paraguay 0
June 10, 2006
With about an hour and half to kill before the start of England v. Paraguay game, I decided to take a stroll to town center to visit the mirror shop Sergio referred me to with my iPod playing the Buena Vista Social Club album.
I found a frame and mirror shop on Sussex St (map), which more or less fit Sergio's description.
Their selection of mirrors was kept downstairs. For such a small store, I thought the selection was pretty impressive.
After some browsing and narrowing my choice to two, I approached one of the shopkeepers for additional query.
me - "Are there differences between these two aside from the frame? For example, is the quality of glass different?"
salesgirl - "Yes. The quality of the mirror is different. I don't remember the word, but with these (cheaper) mirrors… (holding one of the smaller mirror) …well it's less apparent with these smaller ones."
me - "Distortion."
salesgirl - "Yeah. That's the word."
Sergio had talked about mirror quality, distortion, etc. before. It was not particularly pleasant looking at oneself on a mirror with distortion...
me - "Okay. One more question. Do you know if there is a reason for a steep discount on this one?"
salesgirl - (examining the mirror) "The discount was there before I started working here. You can have a look here... I see a small chip here but that can be mended with gold filler we have upstairs."
I inquire about delivery and other details. On the way upstairs (to take a look at the gold stuff, payment, etc.), we had a little small talk.
me - "So I guess you're not from this country?"
salesgirl - "No, I'm from Poland."
me - "Ah. I suppose you were not happy about last night's result?"
I had overheard her previous customer saying that she (customer) would have to get her husband to pick up the mirror after the football match.
salesgirl - "Yeah. It's so typical of them. It was just like this last time too. They barely qualified too. They're good, but…"
me - "They might get something out of it still. They did beat USA last time. I was out last night, and the place I was at had a TV on. There are some Polish people working there, and I asked the Polish girl there if she was rooting for Ecuador. I didn't know she was Polish though..."
salesgirl - "Yeah. It was like that last night at the restaurant I work during evenings…"
As I was waiting to pay for the mirror, I probably had an embarrassed look or something.
salesgirl - "It IS a very big mirror."
me - "I know. And I never bought a mirror before. (smiling) And it's all for a very silly reason."
salesgirl - "I think it'll look very nice when mounted on a wall."
me - "I think that would be too much effort for me. I'll probably keep in on the floor."
Thinking about it more, this is only the second furniture I have purchased in the UK. The first one was a coat stand.
After the purchase and arranging for delivery (the mirror is too big to fit in my car), one more line.
me - "Well. Now I better hurry back so I can watch the football game."
Was it to compensate for purchasing a big mirror? Who knows?
When I returned, the game had started already. I had only missed the first 4 minutes - but all of the scoring was done during those 4 minutes. Final score: England 1 - Paraguay 0.
With about an hour and half to kill before the start of England v. Paraguay game, I decided to take a stroll to town center to visit the mirror shop Sergio referred me to with my iPod playing the Buena Vista Social Club album.
I found a frame and mirror shop on Sussex St (map), which more or less fit Sergio's description.
Their selection of mirrors was kept downstairs. For such a small store, I thought the selection was pretty impressive.
After some browsing and narrowing my choice to two, I approached one of the shopkeepers for additional query.
me - "Are there differences between these two aside from the frame? For example, is the quality of glass different?"
salesgirl - "Yes. The quality of the mirror is different. I don't remember the word, but with these (cheaper) mirrors… (holding one of the smaller mirror) …well it's less apparent with these smaller ones."
me - "Distortion."
salesgirl - "Yeah. That's the word."
Sergio had talked about mirror quality, distortion, etc. before. It was not particularly pleasant looking at oneself on a mirror with distortion...
me - "Okay. One more question. Do you know if there is a reason for a steep discount on this one?"
salesgirl - (examining the mirror) "The discount was there before I started working here. You can have a look here... I see a small chip here but that can be mended with gold filler we have upstairs."
I inquire about delivery and other details. On the way upstairs (to take a look at the gold stuff, payment, etc.), we had a little small talk.
me - "So I guess you're not from this country?"
salesgirl - "No, I'm from Poland."
me - "Ah. I suppose you were not happy about last night's result?"
I had overheard her previous customer saying that she (customer) would have to get her husband to pick up the mirror after the football match.
salesgirl - "Yeah. It's so typical of them. It was just like this last time too. They barely qualified too. They're good, but…"
me - "They might get something out of it still. They did beat USA last time. I was out last night, and the place I was at had a TV on. There are some Polish people working there, and I asked the Polish girl there if she was rooting for Ecuador. I didn't know she was Polish though..."
salesgirl - "Yeah. It was like that last night at the restaurant I work during evenings…"
As I was waiting to pay for the mirror, I probably had an embarrassed look or something.
salesgirl - "It IS a very big mirror."
me - "I know. And I never bought a mirror before. (smiling) And it's all for a very silly reason."
salesgirl - "I think it'll look very nice when mounted on a wall."
me - "I think that would be too much effort for me. I'll probably keep in on the floor."
Thinking about it more, this is only the second furniture I have purchased in the UK. The first one was a coat stand.
After the purchase and arranging for delivery (the mirror is too big to fit in my car), one more line.
me - "Well. Now I better hurry back so I can watch the football game."
Was it to compensate for purchasing a big mirror? Who knows?
When I returned, the game had started already. I had only missed the first 4 minutes - but all of the scoring was done during those 4 minutes. Final score: England 1 - Paraguay 0.
Unexpected dancing on a Friday night
June 9, 2006
Not much was expected of tonight because of the competing party at the LeL. I had planned to play a very generic set because I assumed that there would not be a big demand for adventuresome music (of course, I don’t think there ever is a great demand for adventuresome music). Then again, I am almost always playing nice Salsa dance songs and/or hits – even if many people don’t recognize immediately that they are nice and/or hits.
Playlist
Mandali – Africando
Lluvia – Eddie Santiago (1)*
Ave Maria Lola – Sonora Carruseles
Soledad – La 33
Evitare – N’Klabe
Soy Dichoso – Ray Barretto
Salsa Y Control – Lebron Brothers (2)
Para Darte Fuego – Frankie Ruiz
Desnudate Mujer – Frankie Ruiz
Acabe De Llegar – Tabaco Y Ron
Juana Pena – Willie Colon (3)*
Vishal played 2 Merengue and 6 Salsa. The first Salsa was Playa No More (Crystal Sierra). This is very predictable. Of last 5 weeks, Playa No More was Vishal’s first Salsa song on Friday night for 4 weeks, and it was the second song for the fifth (last) week. Other songs included Me Libere and Brujeria by Gran Combo – also a part of Vishal Friday canon. I was keeping a low profile during this break.
Mi Gente – Oscar D’Leon
Celia Y Tito – Isidro Infante (4)
Babarabatiri – Tito Puente
Anacaona – Cheo Feliciano
Tumbando Cabeza – Tabaco Y Ron
No Me Resigno – Toque D’Keda (5)
Lamento Boliviano – Toque D’Keda
El Topodoreso – Hector Lavoe
Cachondea – Fruko Y Sus Tesos (-5%)
Bongo Loco – Lebron Brothers
Me Prendiste Velas – Oscar D’Leon
Puerto Rico – Eddie Palmieri
1-800-Quireme – Luisito Rosario
Amor De Una Noche – N’Klabe
El Pito – Isidro Infante
Hong Kong Mambo – Tito Puente
Picadillo – Tito Puente
Contigo – Cache
Nina had shown up sometime during the early-mid part of my second set, so I had planned on finding an opportunistic time to play Contigo once again. Thanks to a convergence of events (Vishal being ready to take over once again and no one having asked Nina for a dance for this song), I managed to get Nina for my first dance of the evening. As I was getting off the dance floor, I was asked for a dance by another follower - this turned out to be my last dance of the evening. Nothing more to add except to say that two dances for the evening are two more than zero dances, which I had last Friday and expected for today.
Vishal played some Salsa, some Merengue, some Merengue/R&B hybrid, then some more Salsa again. Some of the songs played by Vishal during this later period included Otra Oportunidad, Ping Pong, Sey and the famous Aventura Bachata song. I took over for one more song before calling it a night.
El Preso – Fruko Y Sus Tesos
(1) Vish stops by and says, “This is good. There are a lot of beginners here. Keep it up.” It never gets old. I have never heard this song played in Cambridge, but it might have been popular before my time.
(2) There was a lady who stopped by with two CDs for me to play with. One was a collection of Lebron Brothers. I recognized some of the songs in the CD, and there were others, which sounded very nice at least based upon 5-10 second listening. However, I decided to play something I know for sure as I prefer to know the song fairly well before putting it on. I also prefer to have some sort of ownership of the music by having purchased the CD, etc.
(3) This track was defective (skipping). The DJ board used today is not as nice as the usual one, but it probably would be safer to make another copy of this CD.
(4) Pete liked this one.
(5) There was a Bachata request two songs ago.
Thirty songs – 28 Salsa and 2 Bachata. Only two were “new” (*) songs, and one ended prematurely because of skipping problem. I did not think it was the night to introduce whole lot of new songs.
Despite there being another party at the LeL, the crowd at Club Salsa was surprisingly robust in number. More than a few people went to both events. I had considered doing the same, but it didn’t seem worthwhile because it was very late by the time I was done with the second set.
Pete asked me if I had any Cuban music. I replied in negative and said that I don't know what was meant by Cuban music. Tito Puente once claimed, "I play Cuban music." when asked about the Salsa music. My impression is that more traditional Cuban music like Cuban Son is not especially popular with most people in Cambridge, but who know for sure unless someone tries to play them more often.
Quote I dislike – “It’s Merengue time!”
It was said twice during the course of the evening. One of these days, I might break down and buy Gran Combo, Marc Anthony or even Crystal Sierra CD(s). On second thought, avoiding Gran Combo simply because Me Libere and Brujeria is overplayed is pretty silly. Los Van Van probably would be worth getting except I have no idea about how I would go about figuring out which of their songs or albums are good. On the other hand while I wouldn’t go as far as to say that I hate Merengue, but Merengue simply holds absolutely no interest for me.
Not much was expected of tonight because of the competing party at the LeL. I had planned to play a very generic set because I assumed that there would not be a big demand for adventuresome music (of course, I don’t think there ever is a great demand for adventuresome music). Then again, I am almost always playing nice Salsa dance songs and/or hits – even if many people don’t recognize immediately that they are nice and/or hits.
Playlist
Mandali – Africando
Lluvia – Eddie Santiago (1)*
Ave Maria Lola – Sonora Carruseles
Soledad – La 33
Evitare – N’Klabe
Soy Dichoso – Ray Barretto
Salsa Y Control – Lebron Brothers (2)
Para Darte Fuego – Frankie Ruiz
Desnudate Mujer – Frankie Ruiz
Acabe De Llegar – Tabaco Y Ron
Juana Pena – Willie Colon (3)*
Vishal played 2 Merengue and 6 Salsa. The first Salsa was Playa No More (Crystal Sierra). This is very predictable. Of last 5 weeks, Playa No More was Vishal’s first Salsa song on Friday night for 4 weeks, and it was the second song for the fifth (last) week. Other songs included Me Libere and Brujeria by Gran Combo – also a part of Vishal Friday canon. I was keeping a low profile during this break.
Mi Gente – Oscar D’Leon
Celia Y Tito – Isidro Infante (4)
Babarabatiri – Tito Puente
Anacaona – Cheo Feliciano
Tumbando Cabeza – Tabaco Y Ron
No Me Resigno – Toque D’Keda (5)
Lamento Boliviano – Toque D’Keda
El Topodoreso – Hector Lavoe
Cachondea – Fruko Y Sus Tesos (-5%)
Bongo Loco – Lebron Brothers
Me Prendiste Velas – Oscar D’Leon
Puerto Rico – Eddie Palmieri
1-800-Quireme – Luisito Rosario
Amor De Una Noche – N’Klabe
El Pito – Isidro Infante
Hong Kong Mambo – Tito Puente
Picadillo – Tito Puente
Contigo – Cache
Nina had shown up sometime during the early-mid part of my second set, so I had planned on finding an opportunistic time to play Contigo once again. Thanks to a convergence of events (Vishal being ready to take over once again and no one having asked Nina for a dance for this song), I managed to get Nina for my first dance of the evening. As I was getting off the dance floor, I was asked for a dance by another follower - this turned out to be my last dance of the evening. Nothing more to add except to say that two dances for the evening are two more than zero dances, which I had last Friday and expected for today.
Vishal played some Salsa, some Merengue, some Merengue/R&B hybrid, then some more Salsa again. Some of the songs played by Vishal during this later period included Otra Oportunidad, Ping Pong, Sey and the famous Aventura Bachata song. I took over for one more song before calling it a night.
El Preso – Fruko Y Sus Tesos
(1) Vish stops by and says, “This is good. There are a lot of beginners here. Keep it up.” It never gets old. I have never heard this song played in Cambridge, but it might have been popular before my time.
(2) There was a lady who stopped by with two CDs for me to play with. One was a collection of Lebron Brothers. I recognized some of the songs in the CD, and there were others, which sounded very nice at least based upon 5-10 second listening. However, I decided to play something I know for sure as I prefer to know the song fairly well before putting it on. I also prefer to have some sort of ownership of the music by having purchased the CD, etc.
(3) This track was defective (skipping). The DJ board used today is not as nice as the usual one, but it probably would be safer to make another copy of this CD.
(4) Pete liked this one.
(5) There was a Bachata request two songs ago.
Thirty songs – 28 Salsa and 2 Bachata. Only two were “new” (*) songs, and one ended prematurely because of skipping problem. I did not think it was the night to introduce whole lot of new songs.
Despite there being another party at the LeL, the crowd at Club Salsa was surprisingly robust in number. More than a few people went to both events. I had considered doing the same, but it didn’t seem worthwhile because it was very late by the time I was done with the second set.
Pete asked me if I had any Cuban music. I replied in negative and said that I don't know what was meant by Cuban music. Tito Puente once claimed, "I play Cuban music." when asked about the Salsa music. My impression is that more traditional Cuban music like Cuban Son is not especially popular with most people in Cambridge, but who know for sure unless someone tries to play them more often.
Quote I dislike – “It’s Merengue time!”
It was said twice during the course of the evening. One of these days, I might break down and buy Gran Combo, Marc Anthony or even Crystal Sierra CD(s). On second thought, avoiding Gran Combo simply because Me Libere and Brujeria is overplayed is pretty silly. Los Van Van probably would be worth getting except I have no idea about how I would go about figuring out which of their songs or albums are good. On the other hand while I wouldn’t go as far as to say that I hate Merengue, but Merengue simply holds absolutely no interest for me.
Seeing the light and following it
June 8, 2006
Advanced with Sally
1,2,3,5,6,7 closed hold to mambo jazz to allow follower for styling (for me the interesting bit here it leading mambo jazz primarily with R hand on follower’s back)
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL ending with R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower for a stationary clockwise double turn ending with arm-lock (after the first turn transition to hand of god position keeping follower’s hand position on the sweet spot)
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa fake into 2 1/2 traveling over and under counterclockwise turn with leader positioned in front of follower possibly slight to her R (R-R is behind follower’s L waist)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower around 1/2 clockwise starting on 2 and switch to L-R with L-R going across leader’s body (in reverse CBL position) decelerating and lead follower into traveling full counterclockwise turn over and under with L-R ending behind follower’s L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break (neutral lead) and leader turns at least 1/4 clockwise and connect R-L and lead follower into double counterclockwise turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 after an optional back, open break and into tight closed hold and turn follower around 1/2 clockwise on spot on 4 and lead follower forward on 5 and move as a unit counterclockwise during 6,7 back into normal closed hold
It was not long ago when I said nice evening of dancing is likely to become rarer. I suppose I might have spoke too soon because tonight was pretty darn good.
For now, I’m going to assume that circumstance tonight was very unusual. In some cases, I felt that simply getting on the dance floor was cause for a minor celebration.
My emphasis today was on practicing certain general leading technique using hand on follower’s back (closed hold) rather than on specific moves – although there was a bit of the latter too. Part of this was perhaps more of a correction rather than introduction of new material. It worked out rather nicely as first pass practice.
Part of the warm-up and other moments were spent trying to do some basic footwork on-2 with the point Sergio made the other day about the pauses on 4 and on 8.
Sally mentioned Jay would teach that next Thurday's lesson. I don’t think it was privileged information. It should be interesting; I look forward to it.
Quote I liked – “I’m looking for a muse.”
Huh? What? Who? It’s nice to have one sometimes. It’s certainly better to gain one rather than lose one.
One of the more amusing things today was leading a double turn for a minor. It was but a small part of the spectacle. I would think that many things including dancing would be easier to learn when young.
Some people are done with exams. Congratulations! My understanding is that pretty much everyone will be done with them by next week. Of course, a lot of people probably would be going away for the summer (or longer).
Advanced with Sally
1,2,3,5,6,7 closed hold to mambo jazz to allow follower for styling (for me the interesting bit here it leading mambo jazz primarily with R hand on follower’s back)
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL ending with R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower for a stationary clockwise double turn ending with arm-lock (after the first turn transition to hand of god position keeping follower’s hand position on the sweet spot)
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa fake into 2 1/2 traveling over and under counterclockwise turn with leader positioned in front of follower possibly slight to her R (R-R is behind follower’s L waist)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower around 1/2 clockwise starting on 2 and switch to L-R with L-R going across leader’s body (in reverse CBL position) decelerating and lead follower into traveling full counterclockwise turn over and under with L-R ending behind follower’s L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break (neutral lead) and leader turns at least 1/4 clockwise and connect R-L and lead follower into double counterclockwise turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 after an optional back, open break and into tight closed hold and turn follower around 1/2 clockwise on spot on 4 and lead follower forward on 5 and move as a unit counterclockwise during 6,7 back into normal closed hold
It was not long ago when I said nice evening of dancing is likely to become rarer. I suppose I might have spoke too soon because tonight was pretty darn good.
For now, I’m going to assume that circumstance tonight was very unusual. In some cases, I felt that simply getting on the dance floor was cause for a minor celebration.
My emphasis today was on practicing certain general leading technique using hand on follower’s back (closed hold) rather than on specific moves – although there was a bit of the latter too. Part of this was perhaps more of a correction rather than introduction of new material. It worked out rather nicely as first pass practice.
Part of the warm-up and other moments were spent trying to do some basic footwork on-2 with the point Sergio made the other day about the pauses on 4 and on 8.
Sally mentioned Jay would teach that next Thurday's lesson. I don’t think it was privileged information. It should be interesting; I look forward to it.
Quote I liked – “I’m looking for a muse.”
Huh? What? Who? It’s nice to have one sometimes. It’s certainly better to gain one rather than lose one.
One of the more amusing things today was leading a double turn for a minor. It was but a small part of the spectacle. I would think that many things including dancing would be easier to learn when young.
Some people are done with exams. Congratulations! My understanding is that pretty much everyone will be done with them by next week. Of course, a lot of people probably would be going away for the summer (or longer).
Rumors, contests and survival
June 7, 2006
Word has it that the Rocket is cancelled this weekend due to the upstairs room not being ready. I wasn't going to go unless the upstairs room were open so...
Win performer's passes for Cuban Carnival or full passes for Salsa Republic Weekender via londonsalsa.co.uk contest. I'm not entering the contest, but some of you might be interested...
The world did not end yesterday (06.06.06). I did notice that my name was the 13th listed for yesterday's LDA 3.3 class...
Word has it that the Rocket is cancelled this weekend due to the upstairs room not being ready. I wasn't going to go unless the upstairs room were open so...
Win performer's passes for Cuban Carnival or full passes for Salsa Republic Weekender via londonsalsa.co.uk contest. I'm not entering the contest, but some of you might be interested...
The world did not end yesterday (06.06.06). I did notice that my name was the 13th listed for yesterday's LDA 3.3 class...
Is London any different?
June 6, 2006
This time I tried driving. It was much faster than expected – it took me only 65 minutes from work to finding a parking spot next to Cecil Sharp House. Traffic was generally light so this is probably the minimum amount of time needed for commute. Because I departed fairly early (6:30 PM) to insure against getting lost and having difficulty finding parking, etc., I ended up arriving more than half an hour early. Finding parking was easy. For future reference, I think departing between 6:45 PM and 7 PM will be sufficient. Also, this route may be better than using A12/A11 for future SOS and Scala trips.
LDA 3.3 with Susana & Mario
L-R open after CBL
1,2,3,5,6,7 straight around the world but with more crisp movements – open break on 1, get back to firm closed hold on 3 possibly with slight twist (clockwise), turn as a unit 1/2 clockwise on 5 (leader doing something of a backward possibly hook step), lead follower forward on 6 along reverse CBL lane and leading with R hand on follower’s lower back (think Sergio’s demonstration the other night) and turn her 1/2 clockwise on 7 still using R hand on follower’s back
this might have been followed by simple CBL (probably not – there may have been a simple transition away from closed hold at the end of last part)
L-R hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 R hand tossed (presumably on 2) for L-L connection (presumably on 3) with leader getting into CBL position and lead follower into full counterclockwise turn ending in crucifix position and with R hand on follower’s R shoulder to prevent further turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower into 2 1/2 stationary clockwise turn with L-L and with leader turning 3/4 clockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 something like a Copa but with leader already in reverse CBL position to start with and a slight backwards step on 1 was used – L-L goes over and around follower on 3 – standard Copa finish (preferably with L-L led slightly downwards on 5)
R-L hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn with L hand on follower’s R shoulder by no later than 3 to initiate the lead – R-L is let go and R hand goes firmly to follower’s lower back – R foot is level or past follower on 7
1,2,3,5,6,7 weight on L foot on 1 (of course), transfer weight to R foot on 2 (no kidding – just being slightly sarcastic here) and turn as a unit 1/2 counterclockwise (keep L foot close to ground) and finish with simple CBL
1,2,3,5,6,7 R hand tossed (presumably on 2) for L-L connection (presumably on 3) with leader getting into CBL position and lead follower into full counterclockwise turn ending in crucifix position and with R hand on follower’s R shoulder to prevent further turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower into 2 1/2 stationary clockwise turn with L-L over and under (the downward L-L motion should be enough of a lead for the final turn and proper positioning of follower’s L hand behind her back R waist) – leader turns full clockwise after the final lead at least 3/4 turn and reconnect R-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start and lead follower into 1 1/2 Copa counterclockwise traveling turn with R-L going high and with leader turning full clockwise on 7 (or after follower is nearly done)
I suppose the most interesting bits were the parts involving leads with R hand on follower’s lower back (a la Sergio). Everything else was little more than variations of things I have already seen, use and/or have tried to use (except I rarely bother with anything more than double turns and never 2 1/2 over and under).
My main point of taking this class was to work with followers who are fairly good with their balance, tension, and following technique. The abilities of followers varied a quite deal – perhaps a little more than hoped for, but no one was completely out of their league. I suspect this will be about as good as it gets unless I find a decent regular practice partner. An interesting aside was that I thought I recognized some people in level 3 and level 4 SOS class taking part in 3.1 or 3.2 class here. I think I recognized about half of the followers as people who took part in last week’s taster class.
Perhaps higher standards for everyone would have been nicer, but then I might not have qualified for the class or I might have ended up being the worst student in the class.
It’s a little more difficult to gauge the level of leaders (it always is as there is little reason to pay attention to them), but my impression for now was that I was not by far the worst in class. While I could be wrong about me not being one of the worst, I am pretty sure I am not the best.
Because there is no level 4 class in this 6-week session, there was an opportunity for practice. I considered practicing, but Phillip talked me into visiting a nearby pub instead with the argument that I could have a Coke if I didn’t want beer. Our little group also included Marilyn and Justin, and we had a bit of small talk for about an hour before disbanding. Since much of the conversation was not about Salsa, there’s little reason to elaborate on the small talks except for my observation that I found Phillip to be more efficient with direct questions compared to pretty much all other British people I have conversed with.
The drive back should have been easy, except for a rather lengthy delay caused by road works. Nothing new here – it’s one of great joys of living in England.
This time I tried driving. It was much faster than expected – it took me only 65 minutes from work to finding a parking spot next to Cecil Sharp House. Traffic was generally light so this is probably the minimum amount of time needed for commute. Because I departed fairly early (6:30 PM) to insure against getting lost and having difficulty finding parking, etc., I ended up arriving more than half an hour early. Finding parking was easy. For future reference, I think departing between 6:45 PM and 7 PM will be sufficient. Also, this route may be better than using A12/A11 for future SOS and Scala trips.
LDA 3.3 with Susana & Mario
L-R open after CBL
1,2,3,5,6,7 straight around the world but with more crisp movements – open break on 1, get back to firm closed hold on 3 possibly with slight twist (clockwise), turn as a unit 1/2 clockwise on 5 (leader doing something of a backward possibly hook step), lead follower forward on 6 along reverse CBL lane and leading with R hand on follower’s lower back (think Sergio’s demonstration the other night) and turn her 1/2 clockwise on 7 still using R hand on follower’s back
this might have been followed by simple CBL (probably not – there may have been a simple transition away from closed hold at the end of last part)
L-R hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 R hand tossed (presumably on 2) for L-L connection (presumably on 3) with leader getting into CBL position and lead follower into full counterclockwise turn ending in crucifix position and with R hand on follower’s R shoulder to prevent further turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower into 2 1/2 stationary clockwise turn with L-L and with leader turning 3/4 clockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 something like a Copa but with leader already in reverse CBL position to start with and a slight backwards step on 1 was used – L-L goes over and around follower on 3 – standard Copa finish (preferably with L-L led slightly downwards on 5)
R-L hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn with L hand on follower’s R shoulder by no later than 3 to initiate the lead – R-L is let go and R hand goes firmly to follower’s lower back – R foot is level or past follower on 7
1,2,3,5,6,7 weight on L foot on 1 (of course), transfer weight to R foot on 2 (no kidding – just being slightly sarcastic here) and turn as a unit 1/2 counterclockwise (keep L foot close to ground) and finish with simple CBL
1,2,3,5,6,7 R hand tossed (presumably on 2) for L-L connection (presumably on 3) with leader getting into CBL position and lead follower into full counterclockwise turn ending in crucifix position and with R hand on follower’s R shoulder to prevent further turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower into 2 1/2 stationary clockwise turn with L-L over and under (the downward L-L motion should be enough of a lead for the final turn and proper positioning of follower’s L hand behind her back R waist) – leader turns full clockwise after the final lead at least 3/4 turn and reconnect R-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start and lead follower into 1 1/2 Copa counterclockwise traveling turn with R-L going high and with leader turning full clockwise on 7 (or after follower is nearly done)
I suppose the most interesting bits were the parts involving leads with R hand on follower’s lower back (a la Sergio). Everything else was little more than variations of things I have already seen, use and/or have tried to use (except I rarely bother with anything more than double turns and never 2 1/2 over and under).
My main point of taking this class was to work with followers who are fairly good with their balance, tension, and following technique. The abilities of followers varied a quite deal – perhaps a little more than hoped for, but no one was completely out of their league. I suspect this will be about as good as it gets unless I find a decent regular practice partner. An interesting aside was that I thought I recognized some people in level 3 and level 4 SOS class taking part in 3.1 or 3.2 class here. I think I recognized about half of the followers as people who took part in last week’s taster class.
Perhaps higher standards for everyone would have been nicer, but then I might not have qualified for the class or I might have ended up being the worst student in the class.
It’s a little more difficult to gauge the level of leaders (it always is as there is little reason to pay attention to them), but my impression for now was that I was not by far the worst in class. While I could be wrong about me not being one of the worst, I am pretty sure I am not the best.
Because there is no level 4 class in this 6-week session, there was an opportunity for practice. I considered practicing, but Phillip talked me into visiting a nearby pub instead with the argument that I could have a Coke if I didn’t want beer. Our little group also included Marilyn and Justin, and we had a bit of small talk for about an hour before disbanding. Since much of the conversation was not about Salsa, there’s little reason to elaborate on the small talks except for my observation that I found Phillip to be more efficient with direct questions compared to pretty much all other British people I have conversed with.
The drive back should have been easy, except for a rather lengthy delay caused by road works. Nothing new here – it’s one of great joys of living in England.
No longer a well-hidden secret
June 5, 2006
1st hour of Intermediate with Tiz
R-L hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead double turn over and under – end with R-L behind follower’s R waist [note: I found New York hold to be more troublesome than Ballroom hold here] – leader ends slightly to R of follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break – overtake – and move into follower’s previous spot with 1/2 counterclockwise turn with either R-L high initially or R-L initially on leader’s R hip and let go briefly
L-L hold (fingers pointing down could be useful but is not the only way)
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead double turn over and under – end with L-L behind follower’s R waist – leader ends slightly to L of follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead with rock step and into CBL position and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn
2nd hour of Intermediate with Tiz
R-L hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead double turn over and under – end with R-L behind follower’s R waist – let go R-L after completion of pulling the zipper on 5-6 and leader does swivel turn on 7 and reconnect R-L – leader ends slightly to R of follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower into Copa position with R hand on follower’s R hip with L hand offered in front of follower’s head – lead follower forward letting her catch the L hand for a traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn
R-L hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead double turn over and under – end with R-L behind follower’s R waist – let go R-L after completion of pulling the zipper on 5-6 and leader does swivel turn on 7 and reconnect R-L – leader ends slightly to R of follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower into Copa position but it’s a Copa fake with R-L moving high 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn (it’s somewhat like reverse CBL) with leader getting back into semi-open or closed position
L-L hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead double turn over and under – end with L-L behind follower’s R waist– let go L-L after completion of pulling the zipper on 5-6 and leader does swivel turn on 7 and reconnect L-L – leader ends slightly to R of follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and into reverse CBL position and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn with L-L leading follower forward (across leader’s chest?) along her line on 5 before going up (somewhat like windmill but was not so dramatic)
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader does half broken left turn-like to turn 1/2 counterclockwise and gets into casate (marriage) position and back basic together
1,2,3,5,6,7 back basic together and lead follower into free 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn with arm-in-arm lead
L-L hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead double turn over and under – end with L-L behind follower’s R waist– let go L-L after completion of pulling the zipper on 5-6 and leader does swivel turn on 7 and reconnect L-L – leader ends slightly to L of follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 into CBL and traveling full counterclockwise turn with L-L in crucifix position and R hand on or across follower’s front waist/stomach
1,2,3,5,6,7 swivel follower back into open position with L-L being placed behind follower’s R waist again on 1 (!) and then basic
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead with rock step and into CBL position and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn
The lessons and the material were fine. I don’t know about the leaders, but the ability of followers tonight left something to be desired (tension, balance, lightness, etc). Few followers would have had okay chance of following the class material in club setting, and more than a few of the followers struggled with the material in controlled class setting at slow tempo. I think some of these people would have struggled badly in the Improver class – nothing new here but this seems more pronounced last couple of weeks. I used the phrase health hazard last week in last week’s first draft, which I ended up taking it out, and the same phrase resurfaced in my mind.
Since there is no input from the instructors regarding placement of students in different level of classes, it would be interesting (for lack of better words) to see if self-selection will happen in an efficient not-too-negative manner. For now, words like punishment or torture chamber rather than learning come to my mind. The material itself for me was easy to understand as it was essentially a minor variation of things I already knew fairly well at least at intellectual level but it was difficult to get a good practice to enhance my muscle memory.
I became very tired of the class so I stayed off the dance floor for an early part of the club hours. After having gone through another SOS outing where I found most of my dance partners lacking in something or another, it was difficult to get my enthusiasm high tonight. In any case, the strike if there ever was one is broken.
Initially when I started dancing, I stayed away from people in the Intermediate class and started with a follower in the Improver class – perhaps to make a point. I ended up only with four different dance partners – all of whom are more or less known quantity to me.
Dancing was okay, and I felt somewhat better by the end, but there was no cavalry riding in for a rescue this time. There was not much opportunity to try to move normally. I wonder if tolerable will become the most common word to describe better than average Club Salsa night from now on.
An interesting recent development is that some better followers now do the most unexpected things. One of the more interesting explanations involves my partners thinking that I know some leads that they know. Because my lead has become more precise, subtle, complex, etc., they might be making unexpected (to me) responses or follows when my lead is a little off. For now it’s just a speculation – I could be completely off base here.
I don’t think that Salsa dancing is getting worse in Cambridge – if anything the opposite is true. However, I think it’s generally getting more frustrating for me and I doubt that incremental improvements in my abilities will not make things much better.
Of course, all this could be temporary. I have had some slumps before. To be completely sure, I’ll have to see what I think in another month or two. I’m not optimistic.
Is the appearance of people with ability to spin and forceful leads without much regard for music or Salsa dance conventions new to Cambridge? I suppose to laypeople, they look fine dancing with other people who cannot dance to music either.
The instructors today were Tiz at Intermediate, Joe at Improver and Russell at Beginner. Apparently they will rotate around. It would appear that the class is now reset to week 1. I made a comment about this to Joe, and he replied, “These are with new variations.” True enough, but was it a spin or contradiction? I suppose it really doesn’t matter. There are so many new people in square one that starting back from week 1 makes some sense. It’s not like anyone with very small number of exceptions properly learned the material during the first go-around.
1st hour of Intermediate with Tiz
R-L hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead double turn over and under – end with R-L behind follower’s R waist [note: I found New York hold to be more troublesome than Ballroom hold here] – leader ends slightly to R of follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break – overtake – and move into follower’s previous spot with 1/2 counterclockwise turn with either R-L high initially or R-L initially on leader’s R hip and let go briefly
L-L hold (fingers pointing down could be useful but is not the only way)
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead double turn over and under – end with L-L behind follower’s R waist – leader ends slightly to L of follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead with rock step and into CBL position and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn
2nd hour of Intermediate with Tiz
R-L hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead double turn over and under – end with R-L behind follower’s R waist – let go R-L after completion of pulling the zipper on 5-6 and leader does swivel turn on 7 and reconnect R-L – leader ends slightly to R of follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower into Copa position with R hand on follower’s R hip with L hand offered in front of follower’s head – lead follower forward letting her catch the L hand for a traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn
R-L hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead double turn over and under – end with R-L behind follower’s R waist – let go R-L after completion of pulling the zipper on 5-6 and leader does swivel turn on 7 and reconnect R-L – leader ends slightly to R of follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower into Copa position but it’s a Copa fake with R-L moving high 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn (it’s somewhat like reverse CBL) with leader getting back into semi-open or closed position
L-L hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead double turn over and under – end with L-L behind follower’s R waist– let go L-L after completion of pulling the zipper on 5-6 and leader does swivel turn on 7 and reconnect L-L – leader ends slightly to R of follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and into reverse CBL position and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn with L-L leading follower forward (across leader’s chest?) along her line on 5 before going up (somewhat like windmill but was not so dramatic)
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader does half broken left turn-like to turn 1/2 counterclockwise and gets into casate (marriage) position and back basic together
1,2,3,5,6,7 back basic together and lead follower into free 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn with arm-in-arm lead
L-L hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead double turn over and under – end with L-L behind follower’s R waist– let go L-L after completion of pulling the zipper on 5-6 and leader does swivel turn on 7 and reconnect L-L – leader ends slightly to L of follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 into CBL and traveling full counterclockwise turn with L-L in crucifix position and R hand on or across follower’s front waist/stomach
1,2,3,5,6,7 swivel follower back into open position with L-L being placed behind follower’s R waist again on 1 (!) and then basic
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead with rock step and into CBL position and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn
The lessons and the material were fine. I don’t know about the leaders, but the ability of followers tonight left something to be desired (tension, balance, lightness, etc). Few followers would have had okay chance of following the class material in club setting, and more than a few of the followers struggled with the material in controlled class setting at slow tempo. I think some of these people would have struggled badly in the Improver class – nothing new here but this seems more pronounced last couple of weeks. I used the phrase health hazard last week in last week’s first draft, which I ended up taking it out, and the same phrase resurfaced in my mind.
Since there is no input from the instructors regarding placement of students in different level of classes, it would be interesting (for lack of better words) to see if self-selection will happen in an efficient not-too-negative manner. For now, words like punishment or torture chamber rather than learning come to my mind. The material itself for me was easy to understand as it was essentially a minor variation of things I already knew fairly well at least at intellectual level but it was difficult to get a good practice to enhance my muscle memory.
I became very tired of the class so I stayed off the dance floor for an early part of the club hours. After having gone through another SOS outing where I found most of my dance partners lacking in something or another, it was difficult to get my enthusiasm high tonight. In any case, the strike if there ever was one is broken.
Initially when I started dancing, I stayed away from people in the Intermediate class and started with a follower in the Improver class – perhaps to make a point. I ended up only with four different dance partners – all of whom are more or less known quantity to me.
Dancing was okay, and I felt somewhat better by the end, but there was no cavalry riding in for a rescue this time. There was not much opportunity to try to move normally. I wonder if tolerable will become the most common word to describe better than average Club Salsa night from now on.
An interesting recent development is that some better followers now do the most unexpected things. One of the more interesting explanations involves my partners thinking that I know some leads that they know. Because my lead has become more precise, subtle, complex, etc., they might be making unexpected (to me) responses or follows when my lead is a little off. For now it’s just a speculation – I could be completely off base here.
I don’t think that Salsa dancing is getting worse in Cambridge – if anything the opposite is true. However, I think it’s generally getting more frustrating for me and I doubt that incremental improvements in my abilities will not make things much better.
Of course, all this could be temporary. I have had some slumps before. To be completely sure, I’ll have to see what I think in another month or two. I’m not optimistic.
Is the appearance of people with ability to spin and forceful leads without much regard for music or Salsa dance conventions new to Cambridge? I suppose to laypeople, they look fine dancing with other people who cannot dance to music either.
The instructors today were Tiz at Intermediate, Joe at Improver and Russell at Beginner. Apparently they will rotate around. It would appear that the class is now reset to week 1. I made a comment about this to Joe, and he replied, “These are with new variations.” True enough, but was it a spin or contradiction? I suppose it really doesn’t matter. There are so many new people in square one that starting back from week 1 makes some sense. It’s not like anyone with very small number of exceptions properly learned the material during the first go-around.
Joy of staying upright
June 4, 2006
12:30 PM. My phone is beeping. I apparently missed a call from Sergio. I call him back, and he asks if I’m going to SOS tonight. I hadn’t really thought about it so I tell him I’ll call back in about half an hour. I like the idea – if nothing else because I wanted to get opinions on several subjects from Sergio and the drive to and back from London offered a perfect opportunity. Also, there won’t be a lot of opportunity to pick his brain this month.
1:30 PM. I tried calling Sergio back but did not get connected, so I e-mail him back in affirmative. Over next hour or so, we agreed upon departure time, etc (Sergio preferred to skip the lessons). We also talked about contacting some people we know to see if they’re interested, but no luck.
6:50 PM. I pick up Sergio and start my drive to London. It’s rather warm so I am regretting not having brought a short-sleeved shirt. Most of the drive to London was spent talking about some fundamentals as well as music Sergio had on his iPod or about on-2. There was much of Los Flamboyan and Johnny Colon. Other songs of interest included Pico Swing (cousin of Picadillo) and Caravan (sharing middle-eastern sounding theme to Pirana probably originating from something else, maybe a movie [added later - no… I think it’s a cartoon - Looney Tunes maybe? - but there's probably a source that is even older... added even later - it goes back to Duke Ellington in 1930's]). Among other things I learned that follower’s step is the dominant step on-2 unlike on-1.
8:20 PM. Arrival at Tavistock Place.
8:45 PM. Sergio has had three dances already while I’ve done nothing but sit and change my shoes. I told him that I never recall an occasion where he started dancing before I did – let alone be in a situation where he’s three up on total number of dances. I’m having a great time greeting people – shaking hands with familiar faces like Johnny, Tamambo and Mauro and making eye contact, waving, etc with women I know from Cambridge and London. I think I spotted maybe six women I associate with Cambridge including Serap and Vera. Just seeing many of these familiar faces put smile to my face. I am especially delighted at having spotted and having been spotted by Diane (not her real name – I don’t think she’d mind about me using her real name but I like it this way). Who knows why (and I certainly am not going to complain) but she’s an absolute delight to talk and interact with – in large part because she seems to enjoy talking with me or find me interesting as a person at least. Even though this is only the fifth occasion where I’ve seen her (and in the first one, we didn’t talk or dance or interact in any way), I talk to her as if she were my best friend. It’s so bizarre. I also look at people dancing – most of them look as if they’re struggling a little too much. In retrospect, it may have been better to have stayed seated because I should have known that I would become one of those people who I saw struggling. Of course, there never was a credible chance of a successful strike.
8:50 PM to 10:30 PM. I have my first dance. Not bad. Unfortunately, most of the dances thereafter ranged from slightly better to truly awful. I found more than half of the dances to be deeply disappointing. Only in about half dozen dances did I feel that my partner and I were dancing to the same speed. I probably should have kept my dances considerably simpler perhaps. My best guess is that only two of my dance partners tonight were up to follow most if not all of my leads. However, one such dance felt a little too detached while I was goofing around and talking in another. Sergio suggested that I should try to end the evening on a good note. I ended up dancing with my first partner (although it was not the last song) as my last dance. Again, it was alright – not great but more or less enjoyable and on-time. I decided not to take any more risk thereafter.
10:40 PM. After another chat with Diane (who after assuring me that I am not getting worse and that I was on-time with her blamed the summer heat on many people not being on-time – interestingly, Sergio later made an independent observation that hot weather really makes people heavy on their feet because their feet get wet from sweat?!?!), I left Mary Ward Hall with mixed feelings – the dances were generally disappointing but everything else (e.g. talking with Diane, Vera and others) was quite nice.
10:45 PM. Drive back to Cambridge involved a non-stop gab-a-thon with all kind of topics being touched upon. I learned about some methods of leading from closed hold, which I found absolutely fascinating.
A quote I liked – “I like to change all the time.”
Another quote - "I think of three hours as a minimum."
12:30 PM. My phone is beeping. I apparently missed a call from Sergio. I call him back, and he asks if I’m going to SOS tonight. I hadn’t really thought about it so I tell him I’ll call back in about half an hour. I like the idea – if nothing else because I wanted to get opinions on several subjects from Sergio and the drive to and back from London offered a perfect opportunity. Also, there won’t be a lot of opportunity to pick his brain this month.
1:30 PM. I tried calling Sergio back but did not get connected, so I e-mail him back in affirmative. Over next hour or so, we agreed upon departure time, etc (Sergio preferred to skip the lessons). We also talked about contacting some people we know to see if they’re interested, but no luck.
6:50 PM. I pick up Sergio and start my drive to London. It’s rather warm so I am regretting not having brought a short-sleeved shirt. Most of the drive to London was spent talking about some fundamentals as well as music Sergio had on his iPod or about on-2. There was much of Los Flamboyan and Johnny Colon. Other songs of interest included Pico Swing (cousin of Picadillo) and Caravan (sharing middle-eastern sounding theme to Pirana probably originating from something else, maybe a movie [added later - no… I think it’s a cartoon - Looney Tunes maybe? - but there's probably a source that is even older... added even later - it goes back to Duke Ellington in 1930's]). Among other things I learned that follower’s step is the dominant step on-2 unlike on-1.
8:20 PM. Arrival at Tavistock Place.
8:45 PM. Sergio has had three dances already while I’ve done nothing but sit and change my shoes. I told him that I never recall an occasion where he started dancing before I did – let alone be in a situation where he’s three up on total number of dances. I’m having a great time greeting people – shaking hands with familiar faces like Johnny, Tamambo and Mauro and making eye contact, waving, etc with women I know from Cambridge and London. I think I spotted maybe six women I associate with Cambridge including Serap and Vera. Just seeing many of these familiar faces put smile to my face. I am especially delighted at having spotted and having been spotted by Diane (not her real name – I don’t think she’d mind about me using her real name but I like it this way). Who knows why (and I certainly am not going to complain) but she’s an absolute delight to talk and interact with – in large part because she seems to enjoy talking with me or find me interesting as a person at least. Even though this is only the fifth occasion where I’ve seen her (and in the first one, we didn’t talk or dance or interact in any way), I talk to her as if she were my best friend. It’s so bizarre. I also look at people dancing – most of them look as if they’re struggling a little too much. In retrospect, it may have been better to have stayed seated because I should have known that I would become one of those people who I saw struggling. Of course, there never was a credible chance of a successful strike.
8:50 PM to 10:30 PM. I have my first dance. Not bad. Unfortunately, most of the dances thereafter ranged from slightly better to truly awful. I found more than half of the dances to be deeply disappointing. Only in about half dozen dances did I feel that my partner and I were dancing to the same speed. I probably should have kept my dances considerably simpler perhaps. My best guess is that only two of my dance partners tonight were up to follow most if not all of my leads. However, one such dance felt a little too detached while I was goofing around and talking in another. Sergio suggested that I should try to end the evening on a good note. I ended up dancing with my first partner (although it was not the last song) as my last dance. Again, it was alright – not great but more or less enjoyable and on-time. I decided not to take any more risk thereafter.
10:40 PM. After another chat with Diane (who after assuring me that I am not getting worse and that I was on-time with her blamed the summer heat on many people not being on-time – interestingly, Sergio later made an independent observation that hot weather really makes people heavy on their feet because their feet get wet from sweat?!?!), I left Mary Ward Hall with mixed feelings – the dances were generally disappointing but everything else (e.g. talking with Diane, Vera and others) was quite nice.
10:45 PM. Drive back to Cambridge involved a non-stop gab-a-thon with all kind of topics being touched upon. I learned about some methods of leading from closed hold, which I found absolutely fascinating.
A quote I liked – “I like to change all the time.”
Another quote - "I think of three hours as a minimum."
Nina hears her song
June 2, 2006
Playlist
set 1
Quizas – N’Klabe
Chiquilla Ideal – Manny Oquendo
Barrera Ninguna – Jimmy Bosch
Pa’ Bravo Yo – Pupy Santiago*
Miye Na We – Africando
Estoy Caliente – Tabaco Y Ron
La Cura – Frankie Ruiz*
Esto Es Guaguanco – Cheo Feliciano
El #100 – Tito Puente
El Pito – Isidro Infante
Mi Mujer Es Una Bomba – Oscar D’Leon
Indestructible – Ray Barretto (-5%)
1-800-Quiereme – Luisito Rosario
Periodico De Ayer – Hector Lavoe
Pecado – Toque D’Keda
Es La Musica – Massimo Scalici
Fragile – Massimo Scalici
Vishal played couple of Merengue followed by 6-8 Salsa including the ubiquitousJ. Lo Playa No More by J. Lo-wannabe Crystal Sierra. At least it wasn’t the first song once again – it was the fourth. This time it was Serap making the comment that I need to get back to the DJ booth to stop the endless sameness of songs being played. Of course, most people have not been coming to Club Salsa every day for years, and for them and more Vishal’s songs are like comfort food. Some of the later songs played by Vishal were less obvious. Johnny & Serap stayed for one song (it ended up being a little longer than just one song) to be played by me before leaving.
set 2
Que Bonita Es Sonar – Jimmy Bosch
Get It Up – Eurocuban Project
You Rock My World – Michael Jackson (Berna Jam remix)
I Love Salsa – N’Klabe (normal speed)
You Will Remember Me – Dominic Marte
Lamento Boliviano – Toque D’Keda
Another break. Tonight’s crowd is more Cuban dominated if anything, and a request for Los Van Van prompted Vishal to take over once again. Thus I thought Vishal was going to play couple of Los Van Van to start it off. During the first song (Los Van Van) played by Vishal, I spotted Nina. I then prompted Vishal to play one more Los Van Van and then to play Contigo. Strangely, Vishal ended up playing instead another song (Sacala A Bailar) by the same band (Cache) that plays Contigo. I then suggested another Los Van Van song, which was played by Vishal during the previous break. Hmm. Also during this break, Vishal played some Gran Combo (including Me Libere). As soon as I returned to the DJ booth, the first request I received was Gran Combo. Huh??? Other requests included Gilberto Santa Rosa (or anything old... although I have no idea what they meant by old... 90's? 80's? 70's? 60's?) and Buena Vista Social Club stuff. I suppose they bought a lot of drinks to make Vishal happy because he came back soon to play more Gran Combo, Merengue, etc.
set 3
Un Alto En El Camino – Grupo Niche
Pirana – Willie Colon*
Contigo – Cache
El Preso – Fruko Y Sus Tesos
Bongo Loco – Lebron Brothers
Me Prendiste Velas – Oscar D’Leon
Cachondea – Fruko Y Sus Tesos (-4%)
There you have it. Contigo was played as the third song of my third set. After more than a month, Nina finally gets to hear and dance to the song she requested.
Summary. 30 songs. 27 Salsa. 3 Bachata. Only 3 songs (*) are new to my playlist. Two of the three so-called new songs had been played by other Cambridge DJs in the past. I could have played a lot more new songs, but I didn’t think this was the night to do it. By the time I left around 1:30 AM, Vishal had played 4 Merengue meaning there was more Merengue than Bachata on Friday for the first time in well over a month.
I was asked for one dance, but the song was horrible so I asked for a rain check, and I never got a chance to keep my promise to find her later. I ended up having zero dances for the night – I don’t know if this makes it better or not. I suppose I didn’t feel like dancing very much and decided not to force myself. I could try to think of it as me going on a strike or something, but I don’t think such thing will last very long.
I think this was the first night in Club Salsa where I did not get a follower in a closed or open hold. In fact, the only physical interaction I had with women tonight was with Serap (goodbye kisses) and with Nina (when she stopped me briefly to thank me about the song as I was leaving).
On the other hand, there was a lot of handshaking tonight with men for some reason or another. Good music, good vibe, etc.
Miscellaneous. Johnny said he figured out who I was in the londonsalsa.co.uk forum. Strange... It was far from a secret in this blog (see posts from February 2006 and September 2005 in now defunct Salsa Mafia forum and a dead give-away post in londonsalsa.co.uk … also some of the things I write on this blog is repeated in londonsalsa.co.uk) – I thought pretty much everyone knew about it. In fact, I am pretty sure I had conversations about the forum if not my handle with Johnny during some of our drives to or from SOS. By the way, KAD is an acronym, not an alternate spelling of kid – if anything it was chosen because of phonetic similarity to cad.
Playlist
set 1
Quizas – N’Klabe
Chiquilla Ideal – Manny Oquendo
Barrera Ninguna – Jimmy Bosch
Pa’ Bravo Yo – Pupy Santiago*
Miye Na We – Africando
Estoy Caliente – Tabaco Y Ron
La Cura – Frankie Ruiz*
Esto Es Guaguanco – Cheo Feliciano
El #100 – Tito Puente
El Pito – Isidro Infante
Mi Mujer Es Una Bomba – Oscar D’Leon
Indestructible – Ray Barretto (-5%)
1-800-Quiereme – Luisito Rosario
Periodico De Ayer – Hector Lavoe
Pecado – Toque D’Keda
Es La Musica – Massimo Scalici
Fragile – Massimo Scalici
Vishal played couple of Merengue followed by 6-8 Salsa including the ubiquitous
set 2
Que Bonita Es Sonar – Jimmy Bosch
Get It Up – Eurocuban Project
You Rock My World – Michael Jackson (Berna Jam remix)
I Love Salsa – N’Klabe (normal speed)
You Will Remember Me – Dominic Marte
Lamento Boliviano – Toque D’Keda
Another break. Tonight’s crowd is more Cuban dominated if anything, and a request for Los Van Van prompted Vishal to take over once again. Thus I thought Vishal was going to play couple of Los Van Van to start it off. During the first song (Los Van Van) played by Vishal, I spotted Nina. I then prompted Vishal to play one more Los Van Van and then to play Contigo. Strangely, Vishal ended up playing instead another song (Sacala A Bailar) by the same band (Cache) that plays Contigo. I then suggested another Los Van Van song, which was played by Vishal during the previous break. Hmm. Also during this break, Vishal played some Gran Combo (including Me Libere). As soon as I returned to the DJ booth, the first request I received was Gran Combo. Huh??? Other requests included Gilberto Santa Rosa (or anything old... although I have no idea what they meant by old... 90's? 80's? 70's? 60's?) and Buena Vista Social Club stuff. I suppose they bought a lot of drinks to make Vishal happy because he came back soon to play more Gran Combo, Merengue, etc.
set 3
Un Alto En El Camino – Grupo Niche
Pirana – Willie Colon*
Contigo – Cache
El Preso – Fruko Y Sus Tesos
Bongo Loco – Lebron Brothers
Me Prendiste Velas – Oscar D’Leon
Cachondea – Fruko Y Sus Tesos (-4%)
There you have it. Contigo was played as the third song of my third set. After more than a month, Nina finally gets to hear and dance to the song she requested.
Summary. 30 songs. 27 Salsa. 3 Bachata. Only 3 songs (*) are new to my playlist. Two of the three so-called new songs had been played by other Cambridge DJs in the past. I could have played a lot more new songs, but I didn’t think this was the night to do it. By the time I left around 1:30 AM, Vishal had played 4 Merengue meaning there was more Merengue than Bachata on Friday for the first time in well over a month.
I was asked for one dance, but the song was horrible so I asked for a rain check, and I never got a chance to keep my promise to find her later. I ended up having zero dances for the night – I don’t know if this makes it better or not. I suppose I didn’t feel like dancing very much and decided not to force myself. I could try to think of it as me going on a strike or something, but I don’t think such thing will last very long.
I think this was the first night in Club Salsa where I did not get a follower in a closed or open hold. In fact, the only physical interaction I had with women tonight was with Serap (goodbye kisses) and with Nina (when she stopped me briefly to thank me about the song as I was leaving).
On the other hand, there was a lot of handshaking tonight with men for some reason or another. Good music, good vibe, etc.
Miscellaneous. Johnny said he figured out who I was in the londonsalsa.co.uk forum. Strange... It was far from a secret in this blog (see posts from February 2006 and September 2005 in now defunct Salsa Mafia forum and a dead give-away post in londonsalsa.co.uk … also some of the things I write on this blog is repeated in londonsalsa.co.uk) – I thought pretty much everyone knew about it. In fact, I am pretty sure I had conversations about the forum if not my handle with Johnny during some of our drives to or from SOS. By the way, KAD is an acronym, not an alternate spelling of kid – if anything it was chosen because of phonetic similarity to cad.
Rich get richer…
June 1, 2006
Advanced with Sally & Chris
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL end with double open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa/reverse CBL start with R-L going over and L-R at waist finishing with leader doing a hook turn (follower stays in place during 5,6,7 doing body roll or such) with R-L high and briefly letting go and keeping follower’s L hand behind her R waist [note: most people did not keep her L hand when I tried this later sometimes with a slight modification involving omission of the hook turn – in one such occasion, I almost broke out laughing] reconnect L-R by follower’s back R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward – L-R comes up and R-L comes down during 2 1/2 clockwise traveling turn for follower with R-L briefly disconnected before reconnecting
1,2,3,5,6,7 This is another Copa – open break and bring follower forward with L-R going over leader’s head so that follower and leader are back-to-back and lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise Copa free turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 start with L-R hold – flick off L-R on 2 and connect with R-L by 3 – lead follower into full traveling counterclockwise turn with R-L low for wrap (R-L at follower’s R waist)
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower forward on 1 and bring follower around 1/2 clockwise and switch to L-L – lead follower straight back on 5 and then over and under (result is something like a L-L wrap in front of follower’s R waist)
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L forward then up and around while doing 1/2 clockwise turn (follower is led into 1/2 counterclockwise turn) into CBL position (open – switch to R-L?) then into 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling (free?) turn for follower
followed by a simple shine
I suppose I had an interesting night of dancing. Most dances were pretty good and some were fantastic but all of them had some failed moves or other deficiencies. This is nothing new - in fact, occurrence of miscues from failed lead-follow communication is so common that I would become unnerved when everything goes well. Pretty much all of the missed moves were easy to do with some other followers, and there wasn't anyone with whom everything was easy. Another way of putting this would be that moves #1, #2, and #3 but not #4 or #5 would be easy with one follower while moves #4 and #5 but not #1, #2 or #3 would be easy with another follower. This probably means that my leads for these moves may be adequate enough to work with some people but not precise enough to work with everyone. Another explanation is that I am experiencing something that Sergio goes through a lot of the times (but I don’t think this is correct because the moves I was using were rather vanilla in my opinion). I suppose this might be nothing unusual – most good leads in Cambridge probably have some moves that they can use successfully with a very small number of followers.
I ended up staying for several songs after what turned out to be my last dance of the night thus missing dances for four songs from the Italian CD played by Vishal. Vishal saw me (not dancing) and said, “Now we just need to find someone for you to dance with.”
An observation - as people get better, they practice more whether it be for spinning technique, leading technique, body isolations or other fundamentals.
Advanced with Sally & Chris
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL end with double open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa/reverse CBL start with R-L going over and L-R at waist finishing with leader doing a hook turn (follower stays in place during 5,6,7 doing body roll or such) with R-L high and briefly letting go and keeping follower’s L hand behind her R waist [note: most people did not keep her L hand when I tried this later sometimes with a slight modification involving omission of the hook turn – in one such occasion, I almost broke out laughing] reconnect L-R by follower’s back R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward – L-R comes up and R-L comes down during 2 1/2 clockwise traveling turn for follower with R-L briefly disconnected before reconnecting
1,2,3,5,6,7 This is another Copa – open break and bring follower forward with L-R going over leader’s head so that follower and leader are back-to-back and lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise Copa free turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 start with L-R hold – flick off L-R on 2 and connect with R-L by 3 – lead follower into full traveling counterclockwise turn with R-L low for wrap (R-L at follower’s R waist)
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower forward on 1 and bring follower around 1/2 clockwise and switch to L-L – lead follower straight back on 5 and then over and under (result is something like a L-L wrap in front of follower’s R waist)
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L forward then up and around while doing 1/2 clockwise turn (follower is led into 1/2 counterclockwise turn) into CBL position (open – switch to R-L?) then into 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling (free?) turn for follower
followed by a simple shine
I suppose I had an interesting night of dancing. Most dances were pretty good and some were fantastic but all of them had some failed moves or other deficiencies. This is nothing new - in fact, occurrence of miscues from failed lead-follow communication is so common that I would become unnerved when everything goes well. Pretty much all of the missed moves were easy to do with some other followers, and there wasn't anyone with whom everything was easy. Another way of putting this would be that moves #1, #2, and #3 but not #4 or #5 would be easy with one follower while moves #4 and #5 but not #1, #2 or #3 would be easy with another follower. This probably means that my leads for these moves may be adequate enough to work with some people but not precise enough to work with everyone. Another explanation is that I am experiencing something that Sergio goes through a lot of the times (but I don’t think this is correct because the moves I was using were rather vanilla in my opinion). I suppose this might be nothing unusual – most good leads in Cambridge probably have some moves that they can use successfully with a very small number of followers.
I ended up staying for several songs after what turned out to be my last dance of the night thus missing dances for four songs from the Italian CD played by Vishal. Vishal saw me (not dancing) and said, “Now we just need to find someone for you to dance with.”
An observation - as people get better, they practice more whether it be for spinning technique, leading technique, body isolations or other fundamentals.
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