Nice smile!

August 17, 2006

Advanced with Sally assisted by Lindsey

1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL with 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn for follower continued into…
1,2,3,5,6,7 keep going forward with L-R at about follower’s neck level to lead follower to turn another full counterclockwise turn with L-R ending behind follower’s neck on her right side (I can’t decide whether leader’s palm should be facing follower’s neck or be away from her neck – I think the former is probably preferable) by 3 and R hand is offered in front of follower’s face to reconnect R-L in front (and slightly to L) of follower’s face – lead follower into traveling 1 1/2 clockwise turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns double stationary counterclockwise with (during which L-R goes high initially for drop catch and R-L goes high and then low with reconnected L-R going high again for drop catch again to end with R-L/R)
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower into crucifix position with 1/2 clockwise turn on 2,3 – then lead follower into stationary counterclockwise turn with R-R high and L-L low (was this a double turn? if so then this would be something of touch-and-go with L-L to end with L-L positioned across follower’s stomach on her R side) – leader and follower faces same direction with leader positioned to R of follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 with L-L coming up (and disconnecting R-R) – lead follower to turn 1/2 counterclockwise (in retrospect, I’m not sure if I ever led this properly – I think the lead may entail moving L-L towards follower between 1 and 2) while leader turns 1/2 clockwise – on 4 leader and follower are facing same direction again except opposite of 1 with L-L in front – lead follower into traveling clockwise turn (1 1/2 or 2 1/2 – whatever works) ending with L-L neck wrap
1,2,3,5,6,7 allow follower to step back on 1 with her R foot while reconnecting R-R in front – lead follower into traveling counterclockwise turn (touch-and-go if 2 1/2 or more) ending with pseudo-sombrero finish (continuing to next … see below)
1,2,3,5,6,7 pseudo-sombrero finish (R-R over follower’s head and L-L over leader’s head) and disconnect and reconnect R-R underneath while getting into CBL position – lead follower forward on 5 and into traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn with R-R low and switching to L-R (so L-R ends behind follower’s R waist and R-L is connected at about follower’s eye level to her L)
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower into stationary double clockwise turn probably starting on 2 with all connections intact through the first part in an over-and-under type of move – after placing R-L behind follower’s R waist (or perhaps shortly before) leader turns full counterclockwise (at some point all connections are disconnected) and end with L-L behind follower’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 into CBL and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn to unwrap

A low energy day. Substandard breakfast and insubstantial lunch did not help, and a snack before the class was not fulfilling either. I was feeling bonked by the night’s end.

I might have lost even more energy when I got involved in giving something of a private tuition for a pair of first-time female students (not counting however many lessons they took with Theodore), who were somewhat indignant about being pushed into the beginner class because they were not familiar with cross body lead. I don’t even remember how I got involved in this – at one point, I saw them complaining to Vishal and next I was explaining CBL, which then led to giving instructions for CBL (from both closed and open hold), pivot turns (dealing with several basic leads for follower’s turn as well as dealing with leader’s turns) and hats (and how they can be distinguished from signal for turns) as well as general tips about hand holds, closed holds, etc. Two major points which seemed to surprise this pair were that so little music was being used during the class (a difficulty when you have multiple classes going at the same time) and that classes moved very rapidly into partner work (as opposed to each person moving by himself/herself for large part of the class).

The club hours had even more feel of being a dancer’s night than last Thursday. Although there were not as many regulars, the numbers were more than compensated by people who usually show up less frequently as well as by some newcomers. There seemed to be fair bit of mixing too. Too bad I wasn’t feeling particularly energetic and the air was surprisingly humid and warm - also too many strained, awkward or questionable associations thanks to my writings. I did have some nice dances and dance fragments though, and I didn’t cause any injuries (wink wink). Total number of dances was a little over 12. Vishal decided to end club around 11:40 with there being fair number of people still dancing and milling about and with Sally making protests in jest.

I overheard that there was a third leader who danced on-2 although I did not see this with my own eyes. (In fact, when I had a brief glimpse at this on-2 candidate before I heard this talk (I am not even sure if I was looking at the right person), I assumed that he was simply off time because I thought I saw him stepping forward with his left foot on-2, which is not Eddie Torres on-2 ... although it matches with something I’ve heard referred to as Power-2 ... but what do I know anyway?).

Ivan was showing off his silly puppet shine – very modern (being snarky here). This might have led Sergio to get me to make up a shine. After a little, I suggested something lasting one bar. Sergio commented that what I suggested was rather difficult. Then he proceeded to make it easier with some changes in footwork. Then he decided to make it more difficult by adding arm movement elements, etc.

There were some trophies on display by the DJ booth (as a part of advertisement for an upcoming dance competition to be hosted by Cristian in October).

Quote of the day? – “She’s young. She’ll heal quickly.”

Maybe. I certainly didn't feel young tonight.