In the heat of Thursday night

July 20, 2006

Intermediate/Advanced with Chris assisted by Charlotte

1,2,3,5,6,7 open hold prepare and lead follower to double turn “touch-and-go” to end in double crossed hold and end with pseudo-sombrero (leader’s R hand towards follower and L hand to leader’s head) and finish with drop catch for L-R behind leader's back
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward leading with L-R ending back-to-back keeping connections intact (R-L does no lead throughout but is there to prevent follower from turning) – cross over still keeping connections intact (leading follower to cross over as well … the couple is walking around each other clockwise) and lead follower back with L-R again – now all connections can and need to be disconnected as both are walking backwards to get back to open position [note: While this move is probably leadable based upon Chris’s explanation after the class, it was working as choreography mostly in today’s class for me – I certainly never felt that I ever came close to leading it today and probably will need tons of practice to be able to lead it.] – end with L-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL start and full counterclockwise traveling turn for follower with L-L and R hand ending on follower’s R shoulder
1,2,3,5,6,7 in place or prepare and lead follower to 1 1/2 (2 1/2 would be difficult although not impossible) stationary clockwise turn with leader turning full clockwise with L-L low
1,2,3,5,6,7 connect R-R and prepare (would need to be pretty quick here) and lead touch-and-go (L-L connection would need to be made of course)
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start with all connections intact (L-L going over) but end with fake and bring follower backwards on 5,6,7 (probably best to bring R hand on follower’s R shoulder rather than keeping in contact)
1,2,3,5,6,7 Mambo jazz and block follower from going forward on 5 and leader turns clockwise with L-L low
1,2,3,5,6,7 break L-L with R hand to get to closed hold and place R hand on follower’s R shoulder and lead follower into full traveling counterclockwise turn with R hand helping to stop follower’s turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare, R foot cross over in front and lead follower to stationary clockwise turn on 6 (with lead coming just before 6… not sure if this would make follower’s turn more difficult) with leader turning counterclockwise (during the class I was probably cheating by crossing over with R foot on 4 and leading follower to turn on 5 rather than on 6)

It was very warm during the class, but it seemed to get more comfortable as night wore on. Tomak thought it was crazy for us to dance on a hot humid day like this. Some of the students in the class seemed to be on verge of collapsing.

There were two hen parties during the second class. I did not realize men were allowed in hen parties.

Lindsey and Sally were both present today. I thought they were moving deliberately and gingerly. However, had I not known that they were involved in car accident less than a week ago and were still a bit shook up, I might not have noticed anything. I suppose this may be a hopeful sign that they will recover fully in relatively short amount of time.

Dancing started off a little slow but picked up its pace eventually (at least 16 dances altogether) until a little after 11:30 PM. It was interesting to see how much I like certain dance partners taking swings up, down, up, down, etc. This seemingly is caused more by changes in what I want to try leading (especially because of LDA recently) rather than by any changes in my dance partner’s style or abilities (although some of my dance partners have shown dramatic improvements or changes in their approaches).

Probably the most amusing set of banter I had tonight was with Sam, who said (among other things) during our dance to Contigo (by Cache) something like, “Your lead is becoming more and more like Sergio’s. Please don’t become like Sergio’s or I might have to stop dancing with you.” Indeed I had just tried to attempt a lead I took from Sergio with Sam. I offered to explain what was being led after the dance. Even after my explanation, Sam was still doubtful and told me it was difficult to follow. I decided that this was probably because my lead was not precise enough, so I signaled Sergio to my side and asked him to lead the move for Sam. Not surprisingly, Sam decided that the way Sergio led the move was indeed much better. (An aside – I recall a very similar situation with Sam, Rajiv and me few months ago. I showed Rajiv a move I learned and he led it more satisfactorily for Sam.) In any case, I worked on refining my lead for this move afterwards with further guidance from Sergio. I later went back to Sam and said, “I knew that you’d find Sergio’s leads better.” I suppose that this in some ways is a Pyrrhic victory, but then again, it is the truth so there’s nothing really wrong with it – I just need to get better. Finally (and I suspect Sam might be peeved to hear this), I took Sam’s initial comment more as a compliment rather than complaint.

Just before I left, I decided to hijack the DJ booth to play one song “Descarga Lebron” mostly to get a certain specific dance happen. It worked.

On a completely unrelated topic, today’s Tour de France stage was one of the most amazing ever. Epic. I could easily imagine that some people have already started writing a screenplay for a movie.

Some of the other songs played tonight by Sally included La Pantera Mambo, La 33 (both by La 33), Hacha Y Machete (Hector Lavoe), El Pito (Isidro Infante), Micaela (Sonora Carruseles) plus quite a number of songs I am less familiar with. All Salsa except for one Cha Cha Cha.