Don't drink the water

July 25, 2006

LDA 3.3 with Susana & Mario

1,2,3,5,6,7 toss follower’s hands up on 2, hands on waist (could use back of R hand) – lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn – try keeping R hand on waist level to end across follower’s back and step across follower on 7 for…
1,2,3,5,6,7 around the world moving with follower in counterclockwise motion and L hand on follower’s R shoulder to lead 1 1/2 traveling clockwise turn for follower with L hand ending behind follower’s back (from her L side) – leader positions himself facing away from follower’s line on her L side
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break (more or less) with R hand clearly offered behind leader’s R waist for R-L connection by 3/4 – bring follower forward on 5 and bring R-L back (and switching to L-L) to lead follower into full traveling counterclockwise turn with L-L ending across follower’s waist by her R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 allow follower forward (absorb energy) – bring hands back up on 3 and down (this ends up being 2 1/2 stationary turn for follower) and switch to R-L ending behind follower’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and overtake with R-L extended forward (so this is rather like another Copa – back-to-back position) – bring hand slightly towards leader and above with leader turning slightly counterclockwise (not quite 1/4) and toss lightly downwards (slightly towards follower)

Aside from the last bit, which was problematic with some followers (Helen for one thought I was a little off – speaking of names, there has been a lot of Helens in my life recently also), everything else seemed pretty easy including the first two bars, which is as close to being a piece of cake as it gets and works as opportunity to refine and practice at normal speed. Of course, I might be singing a different tune 6 months from now (and saying that much improvement has been made over those 6 months). Susana told me that my lead has improved a great deal in past month (based upon first two or three bars) – nice to hear whether true or not. I suspect that I am more relaxed during the class if nothing else because (1) I am more used to the surroundings and style of teaching, (2) I’m arriving on time and not missing classes intermittently, (3) I have really improved a bit. Between the three classes I’m taking regularly (mostly Joe on Mondays, LDA on Tuesdays and Sally on Thursdays), I am really being challenged and my abilities are stretched a great deal. Occasional material from Sergio also adds spice and precision. My only complaint? I’m probably spending a little too much time doing Salsa.

Practice was pretty good. My primary practice partner after the class today and I exchanged information on some favorite showy moves. She described her style as predominantly Puerto Rican, which she described as less turns compared to New York. It seemed like she was more used to “spectacular” stunts, dips and endless spins as opposed to what she referred to as intricate turn patterns. I had her "lead" me into one of the endless spins, which left me quite wobbly.

On travel front, I was too busy to check for scheduled engineering works and delays caused by accidents before departing for the train station. Thankfully, there were no problems for the inbound train. On the other hand, the train back to Cambridge was stuck in Stevenage for about half an hour because of a freight train blocking our way.

Miscellaneous notes. There will be a LDA social next Friday. Of all upcoming Friday Salsa events outside Club Salsa, this should be the only one that will definitely prevent me from stopping by Club Salsa altogether. The other upcoming Friday events outside Club Salsa include Sally’s Birthday party this Friday and a Cambiando concert at my workplace on the 18th of August. I had a short chat with a fellow student who was also at the SOS couple of days ago. His reaction? "It [the heat] was the worst. I'm never going there [the hotel venue on the South side] again." In the middle of the class, I decided to take a small sip of water. Bad mistake. It only caused me to sweat profusely immmediately and become self-conscious about it. I'm pretty sure I could have gone a little longer without water as I wasn't exactly dying of thirst.