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.