iFest

August 10, 2006

Advanced with Sally assisted by Lindsey

1,2,3,4,5,6 L-R hold prepare and lead stationary clockwise double turn for follower with leader doing 1/2 counterclockwise turn at the end (7) and do a drop catch to end with R-R [amusing note: Sally thought I might be turning a little too sharply here. That’s a first.]
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward with R-R going over and L-L connected – block follower on 5 and lead her forward again on 7 with 1/2 traveling clockwise turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 standard Copa with L-L going over and free R hand on follower’s R hip end with open position L-L [note for myself: lead follower forward on 5 with R hand and initiate follower’s turn on 6. I still sometimes rush this now and then.]
1,2,3,5,6,7 forward on 1 & L-L hat for leader – around the world on 2,3 and finish with simple CBL for follower and hook turn for leader to turn clockwise and end facing follower with free R hand on R side of L-L (L-L is behind leader’s R waist)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and get R hand underneath L-L and against follower’s back (leader’s R forearm is locked against follower’s L arm and her back – R hand, which need not contact anything should have palm facing away from follower’s back – same should apply with follower’s L arm against leader’s back and R arm) and get together – walk around as unit clockwise on 5,6,7 – end with R hand sliding down slightly and holding follower’s L arm above her elbow
1,2,3,5,6,7 a Copa variation here – open break and bring follower to Copa position with both free hands ending on follower’s shoulder – lead follower into traveling clockwise traveling turn – turning lead is on 5 [note: This could easily be modified to lead follower into normal Copa counterclockwise traveling turn with turning lead on 6 instead.]

1,2,3,5,6,7 open hold CBL start with L-R high and R-L low and lead follower into traveling clockwise turn with R-L being something of a touch-and-go (enough of lead is done to place follower’s L hand behind her R waist while R-L is on leader’s L side and then after the connection is broken, R hand reconnects with follower’s L hand but from his R side) – L-R is also brought down as well. It may be best for leader to keep facing away from follower although a peek may be necessary or okay to ensure proper reconnection of R-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower on leader’s R side (leader should be able to make this easier by moving slightly to L side during 1,2,3) with L-R disconnected after open break – lead follower into double counterclockwise turn with R-L low to end with wrap for follower with R-L across follower’s waist and on her R side
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower to L then behind as leader moves to R and to front to essentially exchange places with follower (or with both moving in counterclockwise motion) – then lead follower forward and into free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn

During some lulls or in between partner changes, I managed to get some practice of Tuesday LDA routine (the end bit) with many of my partners in the class. It cheered me up a fair deal that this worked fairly well much of the time.

As I expected, he who could be named made his return, which predictably made the evening exceedingly bustling. It seemed fairly reasonable to guess (and somewhat amusing) that some came specifically because of it.

I had at least 16 and as many as 20 dances tonight and didn’t leave until 12:30 AM. Great number of them was really good – sometimes making me think that I should have asked for more but ultimately not doing so simply because I didn’t feel like pushing my luck. In particular, I enjoyed my dances with Sylvia – in part because I could convince (or delude) myself that she might have gotten more enjoyment out of dancing with me (although probably not as much compared to dancing with Sergio) than with Cyrille.

Quote of the day – “When are you going to start that on-2 class of yours?”

Yeah! I’ve been asking the same question for – over a year. For my money, these days I find Sergio the only lead in Cambridge (or for that matter in most of the UK) I could watch for more than a minute at a time and be fairly sure that I would be engaged and not be bored.

Some notable songs played tonight include Un Verano En New York (unfortunately before the class only) and Azuquita Pa’l Café – both by El Gran Combo (Fair number of El Gran Combo tonight in fact … Ojos Chinos was played also). Others included Mambo Diablo, Ahora Quien, Playa No More (different version?), Merecumbe??? (not by Johnny Colon, I think), La Pantera Mambo, Me Voy Pa’ Cali, Hacha Y Machete.

I might consider making requests for some songs – except I have too many – over 20 songs merely from songs I could but have not played yet. I think it’s more than possible that I could make one new request per week and not run out of requests for at least half year (or much longer given I’m still buying new CDs). I guess this means I still have a great deal to look forward to.

I wonder if Ivan is going to tell me that I misquoted him. Is there any other mistakes or problems? Bring it on.

Factoid of the day – There apparently is a Ghost Tour of Cambridge. Apparently, there are some 60 (66?) ghosts in various parts of Cambridge University.