Hmm... I'm getting better at this...

August 24, 2006

Advanced with Sally and Chris

1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower into double hammerlock turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start with both hands ending ahead of follower – leader steps into follower’s previous spot on 5 facing away from follower and turn full counterclockwise (R-L is briefly disconnected low during the turn while L-R goes high-low-high-low so that the hold is crossed behind leader at below waist level on 7/8
1,2,3,5,6,7 bring follower under arm on 1,2,3 and lead follower back into traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn over and under with L-R (R-L is disconnected) – L-R ends behind follower’s L waist (follower can style with arm here)
1,2,3,5,6,7 show R hand in front to reconnect by 3 so that follower can be led into 1/2 clockwise turn on 4 (try to bring L-R high and close to follower’s head in near pizza waiter position early – Jane) – lead follower back into traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn with L-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns full clockwise on 1,2,3 with switching from L-R to R-R – step back on 5 as R-R is pointed downward and slightly to R then use R-R to lead follower into traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn over and under to end R-R behind follower’s L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 backward step on 1 and into CBL (more of open type) and lead follower into free traveling 1 1/2 clockwise turn

It seems like the practice music is being speeded up a little. It was something I started noticing last couple of weeks. Now I would call it a definite trend. Of course, "Thinking of You" at normal speed is a fairly slow song – albeit a little faster than "Acid."

Chris was free during the second hour, and we talked about teaching, social dancing, Salsa in London and elsewhere, and joys of anonymity.

I tried giving myself a small challenge by doing warm-up on follower's timing. I also tried some other common follower's steps but did not get any meaningful practice otherwise. It's a good exercise and learning experience exchanging places.

Anastasia asked about the clave. Next song had a fairly obvious one.

It was another big dancer’s night with some surprising no-shows as well as a few people who elicited a thought, “hmm… where did they come from?” It made for nice dancing (aside from energy issue) and watching.

The best dances for me probably came earlier in the evening in part because I ran out of energy early – probably stemming from the fact that all my usual meals before dinner (breakfast, lunch and a light snack) were all slightly smaller than usual. I guess I could say I bonked again. I better remember to eat better next week and not make it 3 weeks in a row (and perhaps eat something more substantial after the class and before the club). Dancing on fumes is very exhausting and seems to require extra time for full recovery.

Luis was entertaining. He commented that I was dancing faster and more and more like a Latino - whatever that means. He also was making suggestions left and right about prospective dance partners I should be dancing with as usual - sometimes to comical effects.

I was probably playing with music much more than usual by my Cambridge standard. Perhaps one of the more amusing examples came up when a problem with skipping CD (player) came up. Overall, a good number of songs led to interesting dances - hopefully not too whimsical and confusing for my partners.

Sergio was doing more teaching than usual - this time involving fair amount of partner work (to wrong music but still effective). I had an excellent view.

Quote of the day - "Do that again. That wasn’t a real kiss."

Cool.