Comparing SOS and the LDA social

August 13, 2006

I had been toying with the idea of going to SOS again this week because I was hoping to run into some people and because I wanted to get a comparison of the LDA social with SOS. In the end, it was a last minute decision, and I opted to take the train (for ~8:15 PM arrival) once again.

Comparing SOS and the LDA social, total dance space is comparable. It was on crowded side at SOS tonight, but the LDA social would have been considered less crowded than any of the SOS nights at Mary Ward I have been to. I would say that average level of dancers is comparable except at the highest end, which would favor SOS. I would also guess that LDA social would appear friendlier. I think the sound at the LDA social was better than at SOS because SOS still has some dead spots. I wonder if placing the loudspeakers at higher elevation at LDA social made it better (or if they simply have better acoustics). Music selection at SOS is definitely more adventurous although I can’t say I had any major problems with the selections at the LDA social.

Songs played tonight included Azuquita Pa’l Café – El Gran Combo, La Llave – Grupo Latin Vibe, Swing La Moderna – Ray Barretto, Babarabatiri – Tito Puente, La Palomilla - Joe Cuba, My Favorite Things – New Swing Sextet, Ahora Quien – Marc Anthony, Periodico De Ayer – Hector Lavoe. For some reason I thought Que Bueno Baila Usted might have been played but I am not entirely sure. I recognized about 30% of the songs. I only heard one non-Salsa (Bachata in this case).

Miscellaneous. Total number of Cambridge-associated contingent was 9 (if I were to believe Johnny and count one person I did not spot with my own eyes). I ran into “Diane”, who was delightful as usual; she tried to twist my arm to attend the UK Congress. Hmm. As expected, fair number of people (11 from 3.3) from the LDA was there too. I also recognized some LDA instructors like Inaki and Mario; I think this is the first time I saw either at SOS. Total number of dance partners for me tonight was 15 or more for at least 17 dances altogether. I ran into a small contingent of Cambridge folks (4 including me) on the train back to Cambridge.

Quote of the day – “You only live once. You should enjoy it as much as you can. You should work hard and play hard.”

Cliché. But it also was about as strong an argument that reasonably could have been given.