Learning, teaching, leading and following

August 31, 2006

Advanced with Sally assisted by Lindsey

1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R hold prepare and lead follower into a stationary double or triple turn ending with elbow-to-elbow (with slight change of hand position on the final turn) connection
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start with R-R going over follower’s head – lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise Copa turn with over and under to get R-R behind follower’s L waist end with L hand showing in front of follower’s face to make L-L connection fairly early
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns full clockwise with L-L high (temporarily disconnecting R-R) and lead follower into stationary clockwise turn with all connections intact
1,2,3,5,6,7 crossed hold L-L on top, L-L hat for leader as leader gets into CBL position and reconnecting L-L underneath R-R and lead follower into 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 traveling clockwise turn touch-and-go (to end with crossed hold L-L on top)
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise with L-L going over his head on 1,2,3 – then leader turns further 1/2 counterclockwise (minimize traveling) with 5,6,7 with emphasis on leading follower forward on 5 (I preferred slight pull with R-R) to effect or lead follower to do her CBL finish while R-R goes over leader’s head
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R hat for follower and free hand goes to follower’s L shoulder while L-L hold is switched (make it so that both fingers are pointing up and convenient for blocking move) – lead follower forward on 5 and absorb/block her momentum and lead her back into counterclockwise turn with L-L going for an unusual neck wrap (also change hold if possible here so that leader’s palms are facing follower’s neck with thumbs down) and leader positions himself to R of follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 stay in CBL position and unwrap follower with 1 1/2 or 2 1/2 clockwise traveling turn

I daresay Sally was quite pleased with my lead today although she still managed to make suggestions here and there.

Ivan arrived early (before the start of the second hour of classes) and was available for chat. Among other things, we talked about state of CBL style Salsa in Cambridge (e.g. No one except Johnny did CBL when Ivan arrived, which drove Ivan to go to London twice a week regularly. Even when I first learning Salsa in Cambridge, it was difficult to find many good partners for CBL. Now, it’s a lot easier although you still need to overcome quite a bit of barriers such as Club Salsa simply not having enough space to accommodate large number of dancers. If there are many good or decent dancers, newcomers have little room to practice and get intimidated. If there are not any good/decent dancers, it’s difficult to progress. More often than not, less experienced dancers (especially followers) get picked on by Cuban style dancers, which does little to help them progress on CBL style.)

In an interesting coincidence, a pair of girls from the absolute beginner class decided to pick on us (I think Cyrille was their first choice, and I happened to be standing right next to him) for extra lessons. Cyrille bowed out, but I decided to give it a try. I think my earlier talk with Ivan was foremost in my mind, as well as some experiences I had in giving instructions at one-on-one level with a number of people in the past. Bailamos’s guide to learning Salsa also came to mind. I also thought I would risk being seen as giving these girls a lesson mostly because they are good-looking, etc, but decided not to worry about it. It looked like they were given instructions on Mambo basic, back basic and pivot turns (both leader’s and follower’s) in the class. I added cross body lead to their repertoire. I tried CBL with turns briefly before abandoning the idea. After these basics was to get them to dance in time to the music while doing those steps from various positions. I’m guessing that I spent about 3-4 songs on each of them. I don’t exactly have much hope that they will stick with it. I suppose it’s somewhat likely that they might show up for next couple of weeks – perhaps even couple of months. While survival rate for followers is somewhat better than it is for leaders, it’s not exactly great. I tried to warn them that it would take at least few months to get comfortable with CBL style Salsa (of course, a few months is in fact a gross underestimate if we are talking about getting to something like advanced social dancer level). Even if they stay around and become pretty good, I am sure that I won’t get many thanks for my sacrificing large chunk of the highest level CBL Salsa night in Cambridge.

I tried to catch up on my normal social dancing afterwards, but I fell rather short of my usual quota and didn’t even manage to ask let alone dance with several people.

I suppose I also “wasted” some time at the end trying a “simple” shine Sergio showed Lindsey and me. See below.

1,2,3,5,6,7 basic ending with R foot crossed in front of L foot on 7 with L arm pointing forward
1 L foot to side L with R arm pointing forward (L arm tucked in now)
3 L foot cross over in front of R foot with R arm still pointing forward
5 R foot to side R with L arm pointing forward (R arm tucked in)
7 R foot cross over in front of L foot with R arm in something like haircomb (not quite) like movement
1 start of broken left with R arm coming down and pointing forward
2,3 continue with broken left
4 shoulder isolation movements
5,6,7 finish broken left turn

[Note: I think a good starting exercise may be to practice doing forward and back basic with R arm pointing forward on 1 and 5 and L arm pointing forward on 3 and 7. For me, this arm movement is exact opposite of what I am used to doing.]

I also spent some part of the second hour playing with follower’s footwork. Some minor footwork adjustments suggested by Sergio made staying in balance even easier (I didn’t think it was terrible to begin with). No real practice though.

Other items. Sam’s back and complained of getting dizzy couple of times (but she seemed to enjoy my leading more than ever). Sally played El Quinto de Beethoven – Cesta All-Stars/Charlie Palmieri version (as opposed to Markolino Dimond/Frankie Dante); apparently this track did not sound exactly like the one she heard elsewhere. Lindsey challenged me to do a triple, which I complied awkwardly with cheating. No debut of the penguin or the mime yet.