Inaugural LDA social

August 4, 2006

The first LDA social. What to expect? A deserted party possibly given that it’s a brand new undertaking and that I have noticed very little promotion for it? In any case, it was not worth dragging anyone but myself to it. The only thing I was fairly sure about was the dance floor (nice and spacious) and music (should be almost all Salsa). Also I thought I could look forward to not having this blog affect my interaction with people there.

At the train station, I recognized someone familiar, who I ended up accompanying to Kings Cross. She asked me about good places to learn on-2 in London. I suggested Manhattan Mambo (Wednesdays) and Special Tee (Saturdays).

When I arrived at 8:45 PM (the event was supposed to have started at 8 PM), they were doing a Bachata class with Inaki Fernandez – a minor surprise. It seemed like a beginner class, and it was difficult for me to gauge Inaki’s style from what little I have seen. This class was followed by some sort of line dancing, which lasted to nearly 9:30 PM.

I think the total number of people in attendance was approximately 150. From the level 3.3 class, I spotted only seven others. I think the attendance level from other level of classes was about the same (no better than 50%). I am guessing that more than half of the people at the social have not taken classes at LDA. Level of dancers was similar to SOS if you take out almost all teachers and superstars from SOS. For me this worked out fine because I tend not to dance with teachers or superstars at SOS whereas I did dance with teachers and assistants here.

Song selection was for my taste a bit on too familiar side. For better or worse, I recognized one third to nearly half of the songs. These included: La Noticia, Otra Oportunidad – Jimmy Bosch; Lloraras, Que Bueno Baila Usted – Oscar D’Leon; Brujeria, Viva Puente – El Gran Combo; Betece, Sey – Africando; Lovely Day – Rudy B; Playa No More - Crystal Sierra; Avisale A Mi Contrario – original artist?; Obsesion – Aventura; Ran Kan Kan – cover artist unknown (disco-like). During a little over 2 hours I was there for the party proper, all but two Bachata songs played were Salsa.

Sound level was comfortable – about the same as SOS (possibly louder???). It didn’t seem handcuffed like upstairs at the Rocket or thumping like downstairs at the Rocket.

I think I must have danced with at least 20 people tonight – I can definitely recall 18 for sure. I only had one dance with someone from my 3.3 class; this dance worked much nicer than my last 2 or 3 with her (or during warm-ups). I recall 5 people asking me for a dance – nice again – including one for Bachata (hmm… it has been something like 3 months since I tried dancing Bachata). I thought I was going to go all night without getting a no for an answer, but I got one near the end.

I tried to do my best to fit the dance to the music and generally keeping the dances relaxed (meaning not reaching my top speed 99% of the time). This was more difficult when I was dancing with less poised partners, but it worked more often than I expected and most people seemed pretty receptive to what I was doing (whether they were aware or not).

I had a great time and would consider coming to another one. I have no idea how others felt though, and I am unsure about bringing anyone else to the next social – at least not yet. I would not be surprised if I had better time than 95% of people there (possibly because of differences in expectations). Music might be too conventional for some. The level of dancers although fine may not seem spectacular enough for others. It might be not crowded enough for yet others.

Quote of the day – “I’m following you. I hope you don’t mind.”