Three musketeers plus one ride to the Scala

August 27, 2006

Until Friday I was increasingly becoming unsure whether I would go to the Scala. Tide turned after Cyrille talked to me about going, and after some texts, etc our group was four with Sergio and Zhenzhi joining us. We met and left Cambridge shortly after 10 PM.

As expected, Scala was close to full by the time we arrived. I/We were greeted by friends and friend of friends, etc. There was some room on the stage but the main floor was packed and full of people unaware of their neighbors and taking up large amount of space. The floor quality was also poor - dirty and scummy. After two quick dances (or even before that), I was saying, “I hate it already.” There was a disagreement between what is 1 and 5. I thought I was right, but then again I almost always think I am right.

Because both Cyrille and Sergio expressed desire to leave early before the start of the trip, I naturally thought that was what was going to happen. Thus I kept a relatively low profile. I think I danced maybe two more times before the first set of performances.

Brazilian Lambazouk dance did not grab my attention – it seemed that the biggest requirement for the performers was that they have marvelous physique. I felt that watching the female performer for the same (it felt that way too much at times!) dance from last night was akin to watching a Barbie doll dance. Compared to them Salsa dance performers are mostly fat, old, ugly or scrawny – nothing special to look at when they’re not dancing.

I had two more dances between the first and second set of performances. One was to Periodico De Ayer (Hector Lavoe).

Sergio and Liam wanted to see a friend of theirs in performance (I think one of Manhattan Mambo Dancers) and wanted a better spot to watch it. I lost sight of them and ended up with the worst spot in the house – joined by Cyrille.

Another Brazillian dance – nice physique and uninspiring dancing again - yawn. A group from Dublin (Fusion Dance Company) drew some loud cheers (presumably because the girls were exceptionally cute by Salsa performer standards) – I was mainly amused to note that I danced with half of them last night at the Rocket. Sergio's comment about them later was, "It looked like they practiced a lot." Lee and Shelley – I like these guys, but it was difficult to see much of the action. They are popular here and seem quite down to earth and approachable in my opinion. Continuing on lookism topic (snark), I seem to recall hearing comments like Lee is the pretty one. I think Lee and Shelley’s piece was set to Cuban Fantasy, but I’m not sure which artist.

Tracy found me wandering around before the second set of performances and had me for couple of dances. The second one was really nifty because we found unexpectedly large amount of space (in straight line where 2 1/2 couples could have danced comfortably in and on the main floor no less) – I have never seen that at the Scala. It was fun making use of all that space and the music suited very well – I think people sitting in front of us were entertained. Next song was Descarga Cubana (Cachao), and I danced with one of the former spectators.

Third set of performances was notable for wisecrack comments.

Quote of the Day 1 – “My grandpa never wore those clothes.”

Quote of the Day 2 – “They are massacring whole eras of music. They are massacring whole genre of music.”

Crowding problem became considerably lighter after the last set of performances. It was also past 2 AM, so I thought the call for return home might come at any time. I was now in watching people dance mode – mostly people I know (one of whom gave me a friendly wink while dancing – cute). Liam’s dance with one of the Manhattan Mambo Dancers was quite cool also.

After one more dance, I went for a long stretch without one. This break was broken eventually when El Quinto De Beethoven (Markolino Dimond & Frankie Dante) came on – I thought the DJ might have done something to the song but I am not certain. I tried dancing once again on the main floor thinking that the crowding was not as bad – wrong. One time I tried this I was blocked from all ends thus making even simple CBL difficult. I fled back to the stage where I spotted yet another one of the Fusion dancers from last night – so now I have danced with 2/3 (or 4) of them. In the end, I had at least 16 dances – a lot more than I expected and many of them much better than I expected. Also it was past 4 AM by this time. We eventually made for the door around 4:30 AM where another Cambridge folk (William?) hitched a ride with us.

The only other (slightly surprising) bit was that I was stopped briefly by Lee for a short chat as we were leaving - just small talk about the night, etc. I talked about having been in a difficult spot to watch his performance. Just slightly surprising because I don’t know him very well at all – I might have had a short chat or two with him at the BritSalsafest but nothing since until now. I guess he’s just a naturally friendly guy. I had my glasses on too.

Probably the most amusing bit of conversation on the return trip involved baby food. Too much shop talk otherwise. Cyrille was knocked out cold within seconds of departure. Zhenzhi fell asleep too.

It was surprisingly pleasant night dancing-wise. I wouldn't call it great but having gone with low expectations probably helped.