October 30, 2006
Intermediate with Tiz
triple spiral
goes over 2 bars. turn 1/2 clockwise on 1. suzy Q’s with R foot kicks on 4, 7 and 4, then get back to original position
slave grapevine
slave on 1,2,3
R foot cross over in front on 4
L foot to normal standing position on 5
R foot slightly back on 6
L foot cross over in front of R on 7
R foot step over L on 8 and get back to mambo basic on 1,2,3
Both of these were covered last week too. I’m all for repetition even if it’s easy for me.
Turn patterns
I’m omitting quite a lot of technical details Tiz tried to impart. I thought it was very well done but it would simply take too much time to describe it all in full.
1 L-R double turn
2 R-L double turn
3 touch-and-go double turn followed by Copa (L-R going over while R-L is used for initial lead with R going to follower’s hips)
4 touch-and-go double turn
5 R-L one up one down double turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 one-up-one-down double turn with R-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 show L for L-R going over for Copa start and all connections pointing towards direction follower came from – leader moves into follower’s previous position on 5 and turn 1/2 counterclockwise with R-L on leaders R shoulder to face follower – reconnect R-L like drop catch at about chest level
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise with R going over and switching to R-R – lead follower forward on 5 briefly with R-R (disconnected after this initial lead) for CBL finish for follower with leader turning full counterclockwise (with optional nifty pointing visual trick using free L hand/fingers)
I liked it.
6 R-L one up one down double turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 one-up-one-down double turn with R-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower to 1 1/2 counterclockwise overall traveling turn (follower's footwork is different than it is with typical 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn from CBL) with R-L kept low throughout and with leader at reverse CBL-like position on 3 and staying on that same side (R-L ends across follower’s stomach)
1,2,3,5,6,7 mambo jazz and unwrap follower (1 1/2 traveling clockwise turn for follower)
7 double hammerlock turn
followed by Copa and 1 1/2 wrapping counterclockwise Copa turn followed by preparation and unwrapping stationary clockwise 1 1/2 turn
8 double hammerlock turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 double hammerlock turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start with L-R going over and all connections pointing towards the direction follower came from followed by leader occupying follower’s previous position and turning 1/2 counterclockwise underneath both connections
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower into double clockwise stationary turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 simple finish involving left turn for leader to get back into open position (of course there are many other options)
The middle bit isn’t too bad. Keep it smooth throughout.
9 double (or single) hammerlock turn with leader turning clockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 double (or single) hammerlock turn with leader turning 3/4 to full clockwise on 7 or 8 briefly letting go R-L and bringing L-R down (early preparation would be useful - hook turn is fine here)
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower forward and back while leader gets behind and around follower from her right side with connections kept above follower's shoulder (like crucifix position - supposedly less stressful for follower) - be careful not to be forceful here
1,2,3,5,6,7 mambo jazz and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling turn (clockwise or counterclockwise - it probably doesnt' matter much)
I'm not a big fan of this kind of move (risking injury), but maybe this one's not so bad.
Tiz was quite good at talking up followers in the class - justified or not - and being a good cheerleader overall. At one point, he claimed that he knew only of one person - a guy (Lee, of course) - as being a lighter follower.
I thought it was going to be just an okay Monday. Then Stephanie showed up. Enough said really. If I say any more nice things about her, I’ll probably get in trouble. Even Sey (by Africando) is pretty fun if I don’t have to think and worry about keeping everyone in time to the music. I tried to dance with most of the followers in my class, but I was only partly successful. When one gets spoiled with good dance partners, making sure to dance with large number of less experienced partners can become a conscientious effort.
Quote of the day – “I know how to move. I just don’t know what to do with you.”
I’m not sure if I got the quote exactly right. It’s all mental. It was fun all-around.
Vishal played some really nice tunes tonight. One song might have been Hector Lavoe’s “Mi Gente” or a cover of it. There might have been at least one other song with Hector in lead vocals. There were better songs too. I asked about some of them, but did not recognize the song titles (and no artist information).
Quote of the day 2 – “You keep asking me when I am changing my shoes.”
Hmm. It is becoming a bad habit – highly unfortunate. It’s not just limited to one or two people either.
I bet many people like having a small not-too-critical audience. When things seemingly are too good, it is both nice and scary.
Breaking it down by time period
October 27, 2006
El Matrimonio – El Gran Combo was on when I came in. It was not especially popular, but the place was still fairly quiet.
Playlist
Soledad – La 33
Mi Gente – Oscar D’Leon
Etnia – Grupo Niche
Me Libere – El Gran Combo
Guarare – Ray Barretto
Mambo Of The Times – Joe Cuba (1)*
Si Tu Bailas – Grupo Latin Vibe
1-800-Quiereme – Luisito Rosario
Trombon Criollo – Cachao*
Descarga Criolla – Ray Barretto (2)*
Que Buena Baila Usted – Oscar D’Leon
Lindo Yambu – Cheo Feliciano
Bailando – Frankie Ruiz
Dejame Sonar – Tito Puente (canta Tony Vega)
La Familia – Ray Barretto (3)
Ojos Chinos – El Gran Combo
La Pantera Mambo – La 33 (4)
Te Quiero – Oliver
Mambo – Cachao
Descarga La Moderna – Ray Barretto (-4%) (5)
La Llave – Grupo Latin Vibe
La Muerte – El Gran Combo (6)
Llore – Hector Lavoe* (7)
(1) Things haven’t really picked up with “familiar” songs like Me Libere or Etnia. Guarare was not doing it either. I thought I might as well throw something completely different and see what happens. If nothing else, it caught people’s attention, and more people were dancing to next set of songs.
(2) Vishal’s reaction was, “Mambo too early. Play them later.”
(3) It’s not a good night for Ray.
(4) As usual, Luis always wants this one. Early and late. I held off for close to ten songs.
(5) An old combination. The first half (Mambo) did better than the second. As I thought earlier, it’s not a Barretto night (yet I keep playing him).
(6) It’s not exactly a Gran Combo night either. Ojos Chinos probably did the best of the three.
(7) Luis said that I should play (more?) Hector Lavoe later. Ooookay. I had Gilberto Santa Rosa up next, but it was not played. Vishal took over for the rest of the evening.
Total 23 songs. 22 Salsa. 1 Bachata. 4 new songs. The most popular songs for dancing were Llore, Mambo, La Pantera Mambo, Ojos Chinos, Dejame Sonar, Bailando, Lindo Yambu, Si Tu Bailas. Songs that bombed in my opinion were Etnia, Me Libere, Guarare, La Familia, La Muerte. The others were either somewhere in between or seemed to have served a useful purpose (e.g. grab people’s attention or set things up for next set of songs or made its debut or possibly led people to dance nicely).
I had a little talk with Luis about the music I was playing. He talked about me playing 70s music many other DJs don’t play, etc. This led me to do a breakdown of songs I played tonight by time period.
50’s – Trombon Criollo
60’s – Descarga Criollo, Descarga La Moderna, Mambo of the Times
70’s – La Familia, Guarare
80’s – Llore
90’s – Dejame Sonar, Mambo, Bailando, Etnia
00’s – Soledad, Si Tu Bailas, 1-800-Quiereme, Te Quiero, La Llave
unknown – Lindo Yambu (90s?), La Muerte, Ojos Chinos (70’s-90’s), Que Buena Baila Usted, Mi Gente (70’s-90’s)
This seemed like a good opportunity to reexamine and post what I have; some people were curious. The list includes few albums, which I have not received yet but expect soon. It does not include albums (by Tito Rodriguez and by Estrellas Caiman) I ordered long time ago but don’t expect to receive anytime soon. The way to format this list was not easy to decide, and I am placing it on a different link for now.
El Matrimonio – El Gran Combo was on when I came in. It was not especially popular, but the place was still fairly quiet.
Playlist
Soledad – La 33
Mi Gente – Oscar D’Leon
Etnia – Grupo Niche
Me Libere – El Gran Combo
Guarare – Ray Barretto
Mambo Of The Times – Joe Cuba (1)*
Si Tu Bailas – Grupo Latin Vibe
1-800-Quiereme – Luisito Rosario
Trombon Criollo – Cachao*
Descarga Criolla – Ray Barretto (2)*
Que Buena Baila Usted – Oscar D’Leon
Lindo Yambu – Cheo Feliciano
Bailando – Frankie Ruiz
Dejame Sonar – Tito Puente (canta Tony Vega)
La Familia – Ray Barretto (3)
Ojos Chinos – El Gran Combo
La Pantera Mambo – La 33 (4)
Te Quiero – Oliver
Mambo – Cachao
Descarga La Moderna – Ray Barretto (-4%) (5)
La Llave – Grupo Latin Vibe
La Muerte – El Gran Combo (6)
Llore – Hector Lavoe* (7)
(1) Things haven’t really picked up with “familiar” songs like Me Libere or Etnia. Guarare was not doing it either. I thought I might as well throw something completely different and see what happens. If nothing else, it caught people’s attention, and more people were dancing to next set of songs.
(2) Vishal’s reaction was, “Mambo too early. Play them later.”
(3) It’s not a good night for Ray.
(4) As usual, Luis always wants this one. Early and late. I held off for close to ten songs.
(5) An old combination. The first half (Mambo) did better than the second. As I thought earlier, it’s not a Barretto night (yet I keep playing him).
(6) It’s not exactly a Gran Combo night either. Ojos Chinos probably did the best of the three.
(7) Luis said that I should play (more?) Hector Lavoe later. Ooookay. I had Gilberto Santa Rosa up next, but it was not played. Vishal took over for the rest of the evening.
Total 23 songs. 22 Salsa. 1 Bachata. 4 new songs. The most popular songs for dancing were Llore, Mambo, La Pantera Mambo, Ojos Chinos, Dejame Sonar, Bailando, Lindo Yambu, Si Tu Bailas. Songs that bombed in my opinion were Etnia, Me Libere, Guarare, La Familia, La Muerte. The others were either somewhere in between or seemed to have served a useful purpose (e.g. grab people’s attention or set things up for next set of songs or made its debut or possibly led people to dance nicely).
I had a little talk with Luis about the music I was playing. He talked about me playing 70s music many other DJs don’t play, etc. This led me to do a breakdown of songs I played tonight by time period.
50’s – Trombon Criollo
60’s – Descarga Criollo, Descarga La Moderna, Mambo of the Times
70’s – La Familia, Guarare
80’s – Llore
90’s – Dejame Sonar, Mambo, Bailando, Etnia
00’s – Soledad, Si Tu Bailas, 1-800-Quiereme, Te Quiero, La Llave
unknown – Lindo Yambu (90s?), La Muerte, Ojos Chinos (70’s-90’s), Que Buena Baila Usted, Mi Gente (70’s-90’s)
This seemed like a good opportunity to reexamine and post what I have; some people were curious. The list includes few albums, which I have not received yet but expect soon. It does not include albums (by Tito Rodriguez and by Estrellas Caiman) I ordered long time ago but don’t expect to receive anytime soon. The way to format this list was not easy to decide, and I am placing it on a different link for now.
Que Viva La Musica
October 26, 2006
Sally Advanced
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL and 1/2 clockwise turn for follower (lead for turn does not come until 6 – this was an excuse for follower to do something like a stutter-step stylized footwork)
1,2,3,5,6,7 full clockwise turn for leader with L-R let go at just under shoulder level and connect R-R – step back on 5 bringing follower forward and into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn [note: I think in some cases, I was playing with starting the turn on previous 7,8 (prepare on 7 and start the turn on 8) or 8,1 rather than on 1,2 – I guess it would be a different move, but it could make leading the second half of this move less hectic]
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa fake (offering L a little late to make L-L connection) R-R ends in front of follower’s R shoulder while L-L is just above follower’s L shoulder with there being no space between leader’s R shoulder and follower’s L shoulder for support (it could be a firm squeeze at follower's shoulders – also stay side-by-side) – turn as unit full clockwise (hook step on 5 is a good option but this might be flexible)
1,2,3,5,6,7 Mambo jazz and lead follower forward into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn with leader turning 1/2 counterclockwise to bring both connections above leader’s shoulders – end position is leader facing away from follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 bring R-R down and to behind leader’s R waist and reconnect R-R from front of leader’s body during 1,2,3 and lead follower into full clockwise stationary turn (keep body position same throughout until 7 – apparently this rather than having leader twisting around is more comfortable for the follower according to Sally) and leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise to face follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 drop R-R underneath L-L as leader moves into CBL position with L-L hat for leader – lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn led with R-R and with free L hand going to follower’s L shoulder early
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare follower on 1,2 and lead follower into 1 1/2 stationary over and under turn with R-R ending by follower’s L waist across her stomach – lead follower straight back on 5 and release R-R with leader stepping into follower’s previous position with optional 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn
The material was deceptively challenging. Perhaps I was slightly out of practice.
Another lively Thursday night. A lot of talking and dancing - conversations lasting well past the final song and at outside the club - 10 partners or so. Nothing that happened was extraordinary, but there were many little things, which I found nice but will refrain from mentioning publicly.
Many of the songs played by Sally were recognizable. These included: Arrepientete – Ray Barretto*, El Quinto De Beethoven – Cesta All-Stars*, Ahora Quien – Marc Anthony, La Pantera Mambo – La 33*, Mi Fracaso – Lebron Brothers, Que Buena Baila Usted – Oscar D’Leon, Me Voy Pa Cali – Oscar D’Leon, Thinking of You - Lenny Kravitz*. Starred (*) songs are the ones I danced to tonight. I badly wanted to dance to Mi Fracaso also but couldn't find a suitable willing partner.
It was my turn to elbow someone else's mouth. I hate that. Perhaps it was bound to happen considering I often go to great lengths to be experimental and try leading moves differently and almost unconsciously much of the time with her.
Apparently most of the team has not been paired yet. One expectation was that Ivan will be the one to decide, but I imagine that this would not be done by him alone. It is kind of amusing trying to imagine potential pairings. Here's one possible outcome: PR, AH, JS, IY, ST, SM, ZR. Maybe someone else would like to state their prediction for fun?
Both Zern and Cyrille expressed interest in the Nov 21st thingy. Based upon past experience, I had been planning on working on building interest among leads first. Good start - they were easy. Also thanks to Zern for an unrelated favor.
Sally Advanced
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL and 1/2 clockwise turn for follower (lead for turn does not come until 6 – this was an excuse for follower to do something like a stutter-step stylized footwork)
1,2,3,5,6,7 full clockwise turn for leader with L-R let go at just under shoulder level and connect R-R – step back on 5 bringing follower forward and into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn [note: I think in some cases, I was playing with starting the turn on previous 7,8 (prepare on 7 and start the turn on 8) or 8,1 rather than on 1,2 – I guess it would be a different move, but it could make leading the second half of this move less hectic]
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa fake (offering L a little late to make L-L connection) R-R ends in front of follower’s R shoulder while L-L is just above follower’s L shoulder with there being no space between leader’s R shoulder and follower’s L shoulder for support (it could be a firm squeeze at follower's shoulders – also stay side-by-side) – turn as unit full clockwise (hook step on 5 is a good option but this might be flexible)
1,2,3,5,6,7 Mambo jazz and lead follower forward into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn with leader turning 1/2 counterclockwise to bring both connections above leader’s shoulders – end position is leader facing away from follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 bring R-R down and to behind leader’s R waist and reconnect R-R from front of leader’s body during 1,2,3 and lead follower into full clockwise stationary turn (keep body position same throughout until 7 – apparently this rather than having leader twisting around is more comfortable for the follower according to Sally) and leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise to face follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 drop R-R underneath L-L as leader moves into CBL position with L-L hat for leader – lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn led with R-R and with free L hand going to follower’s L shoulder early
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare follower on 1,2 and lead follower into 1 1/2 stationary over and under turn with R-R ending by follower’s L waist across her stomach – lead follower straight back on 5 and release R-R with leader stepping into follower’s previous position with optional 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn
The material was deceptively challenging. Perhaps I was slightly out of practice.
Another lively Thursday night. A lot of talking and dancing - conversations lasting well past the final song and at outside the club - 10 partners or so. Nothing that happened was extraordinary, but there were many little things, which I found nice but will refrain from mentioning publicly.
Many of the songs played by Sally were recognizable. These included: Arrepientete – Ray Barretto*, El Quinto De Beethoven – Cesta All-Stars*, Ahora Quien – Marc Anthony, La Pantera Mambo – La 33*, Mi Fracaso – Lebron Brothers, Que Buena Baila Usted – Oscar D’Leon, Me Voy Pa Cali – Oscar D’Leon, Thinking of You - Lenny Kravitz*. Starred (*) songs are the ones I danced to tonight. I badly wanted to dance to Mi Fracaso also but couldn't find a suitable willing partner.
It was my turn to elbow someone else's mouth. I hate that. Perhaps it was bound to happen considering I often go to great lengths to be experimental and try leading moves differently and almost unconsciously much of the time with her.
Apparently most of the team has not been paired yet. One expectation was that Ivan will be the one to decide, but I imagine that this would not be done by him alone. It is kind of amusing trying to imagine potential pairings. Here's one possible outcome: PR, AH, JS, IY, ST, SM, ZR. Maybe someone else would like to state their prediction for fun?
Both Zern and Cyrille expressed interest in the Nov 21st thingy. Based upon past experience, I had been planning on working on building interest among leads first. Good start - they were easy. Also thanks to Zern for an unrelated favor.
Tired ramblings
October 23, 2006
This might have been the first time I learned nothing new, which is not necessarily the same thing as having attended a class that was useless.
Materials covered included (Tiz in intermediate) –
1. Double turn led with L-R
2. Double turn lead with R-L
3. Double turn touch-and-go
4. with L-L and R-R crossed, leader turning 1/2 clockwise or counterclockwise followed by leading follower into a CBL movement while leader turns full counterclockwise – leader is in something like crucifix position except with connections being directly above leader’s shoulders. In one variation, R-R goes over leader’s head while in another variation, R-R is released between 6 and 7 after initiating the lead on 5 while L-L too is released along leader’s arm and reconnected extended (not fully extended of course)
5. Double hammerlock turn
5a. followed by leading follower into traveling 1 1/2 clockwise turn (starting with open break) into a wrap followed by mambo jazz and leading follower into traveling 1 1/2 clockwise unwrapping turn
6. Double turn with L-R ending with leader turning 1/2 clockwise for drop catch to R-R
6a. followed by leader turning on 1,2,3 then leading follower into another double turn
The material was covered possibly with even more emphasis on technical details perhaps in anticipation for their all-dayer this weekend.
I cannot say that my technique leading these moves is flawless every time, but I didn’t think the amount of detail given tonight (which was not small for most people in class in my opinion) was nothing more than fairly general reminder for me. Perhaps I could have worked more on hitting all the footwork except I was usually quite busy trying to keep people upright and not crashing into other people.
Tiz repeatedly said (more than?) 90% of the leaders were not leading the move as nicely as he would like them to. I think there were maybe 12 men in this class, so this estimate (if his numbers were accurate) would indicate that only one guy was doing it satisfactorily. Now that number is just small enough to keep me on my toes because while I would guess that the chance of me doing everything properly was pretty good but this was by no means certain. Things emphasized included signaling clearly, economizing on movement, using proper amount of force (not excessive but not losing clarity), and keeping leads smooth (continuous rather than abrupt – unless it is necessary of course).
As for followers, it was not said if anyone was doing double turns well. Of course, if 90% of the leaders are not leading properly… Then again, a really good follower would be able to overcome so-so leads. However, attending drop-in classes alone is unlikely to be sufficient to reach such a point – even attending several workshops probably is insufficient. A lot of outside practice probably would be necessary to reach and expand one’s full potential.
Random thought – I would guess that in most cases 50 lessons (or approximately one lesson a week for a year) should be enough learn most things an instructor has to offer. This does not mean a student will learn nothing after 50 or so lessons but I would imagine that the rate of return would diminish longer it goes on.
Bad habits are difficult to break. I think Tiz might have said something like it. It’s an oft used remark made by many people.
Quote of the day – “Maybe it’s just as well. If I were over 6 feet tall, I probably would be too vain.”
That comment was worth a good laugh.
The dancing afterwards was pretty good by Monday standard. It was very nice to see Annetta again – first time since before the UK Salsa Congress. I had a dance with Aiste. This too was very nice, but it only made me more convinced than ever that merely having a social dance or two with performer-level followers will do little to improve my dancing skills.
Ivan too was there and I had opportunity to talk with him more than I had in a while. I talked him into dance with someone new, which I suspect was not a torture for him but still something he probably became somewhat unaccustomed to doing. It did have some unforeseen but not unpredictable consequences. A thought I had afterwards was something like, “I might have opened a small can of worms.”
Vishal told me that he was invited to DJ again at the next Scala Saturday and he asked me if I would be willing to guide him there again. Yikes. I told him I will think about it and get back to him.
Quote of the day 2 – “I was getting tired just reading it.”
Perhaps I should be acting my age. What did you say, sonny? Also I probably write too much. Feeling sleepy…
This might have been the first time I learned nothing new, which is not necessarily the same thing as having attended a class that was useless.
Materials covered included (Tiz in intermediate) –
1. Double turn led with L-R
2. Double turn lead with R-L
3. Double turn touch-and-go
4. with L-L and R-R crossed, leader turning 1/2 clockwise or counterclockwise followed by leading follower into a CBL movement while leader turns full counterclockwise – leader is in something like crucifix position except with connections being directly above leader’s shoulders. In one variation, R-R goes over leader’s head while in another variation, R-R is released between 6 and 7 after initiating the lead on 5 while L-L too is released along leader’s arm and reconnected extended (not fully extended of course)
5. Double hammerlock turn
5a. followed by leading follower into traveling 1 1/2 clockwise turn (starting with open break) into a wrap followed by mambo jazz and leading follower into traveling 1 1/2 clockwise unwrapping turn
6. Double turn with L-R ending with leader turning 1/2 clockwise for drop catch to R-R
6a. followed by leader turning on 1,2,3 then leading follower into another double turn
The material was covered possibly with even more emphasis on technical details perhaps in anticipation for their all-dayer this weekend.
I cannot say that my technique leading these moves is flawless every time, but I didn’t think the amount of detail given tonight (which was not small for most people in class in my opinion) was nothing more than fairly general reminder for me. Perhaps I could have worked more on hitting all the footwork except I was usually quite busy trying to keep people upright and not crashing into other people.
Tiz repeatedly said (more than?) 90% of the leaders were not leading the move as nicely as he would like them to. I think there were maybe 12 men in this class, so this estimate (if his numbers were accurate) would indicate that only one guy was doing it satisfactorily. Now that number is just small enough to keep me on my toes because while I would guess that the chance of me doing everything properly was pretty good but this was by no means certain. Things emphasized included signaling clearly, economizing on movement, using proper amount of force (not excessive but not losing clarity), and keeping leads smooth (continuous rather than abrupt – unless it is necessary of course).
As for followers, it was not said if anyone was doing double turns well. Of course, if 90% of the leaders are not leading properly… Then again, a really good follower would be able to overcome so-so leads. However, attending drop-in classes alone is unlikely to be sufficient to reach such a point – even attending several workshops probably is insufficient. A lot of outside practice probably would be necessary to reach and expand one’s full potential.
Random thought – I would guess that in most cases 50 lessons (or approximately one lesson a week for a year) should be enough learn most things an instructor has to offer. This does not mean a student will learn nothing after 50 or so lessons but I would imagine that the rate of return would diminish longer it goes on.
Bad habits are difficult to break. I think Tiz might have said something like it. It’s an oft used remark made by many people.
Quote of the day – “Maybe it’s just as well. If I were over 6 feet tall, I probably would be too vain.”
That comment was worth a good laugh.
The dancing afterwards was pretty good by Monday standard. It was very nice to see Annetta again – first time since before the UK Salsa Congress. I had a dance with Aiste. This too was very nice, but it only made me more convinced than ever that merely having a social dance or two with performer-level followers will do little to improve my dancing skills.
Ivan too was there and I had opportunity to talk with him more than I had in a while. I talked him into dance with someone new, which I suspect was not a torture for him but still something he probably became somewhat unaccustomed to doing. It did have some unforeseen but not unpredictable consequences. A thought I had afterwards was something like, “I might have opened a small can of worms.”
Vishal told me that he was invited to DJ again at the next Scala Saturday and he asked me if I would be willing to guide him there again. Yikes. I told him I will think about it and get back to him.
Quote of the day 2 – “I was getting tired just reading it.”
Perhaps I should be acting my age. What did you say, sonny? Also I probably write too much. Feeling sleepy…
SOS for those who were feeling it
October 22, 2006
Considering how late I stayed up (or regardless of it or perhaps even because of it), I was feeling pretty energetic throughout the afternoon. So even though Sergio and Mimi both eventually decided against SOS tonight, I headed there in high spirits by myself by train knowing only Liam will arrive later in the evening. I didn’t get in touch with everyone I might have wanted to, but then again I was in something of going alone (or at least not invite a big group) kind of mood.
SOS was in excellent form tonight, not feeling any aftereffects of Scala as far as I can tell. Some of the people I saw at Scala were here again (e.g. Adam L, Joe D., Martina). By the way, Cyrille apparently thought many people from SOS were at Scala last night, but I didn't think so. Even though I enjoyed dancing at Scala (perhaps in some ways more than at SOS tonight), I think the general level is almost always higher at SOS compared to any place else in London.
My dancing was good – arguably best at the very beginning and at the very end. The middle part was quite up and down.
I saw “Diane” again as well. I didn’t dance with her – just made some conversation here and there in between. I probably won’t see or hear from her in person for a while – maybe a month or perhaps longer. I’m a little bummed about this of course.
The DJ tonight was Amir, Helen’s boyfriend. He was one of the big draws for me wanting to go to SOS tonight (Liam told me couple of days ago that Amir was the DJ tonight). I must say that his selections were somewhat up-and-down and certainly not as provocative as the first time I heard him play. However, a good DJ cannot play the same best songs all the time lest they are made stale (as even Liam admitted). I did ask Amir about and received information on one interesting song – Traicion by Roberto Roena.
Liam accompanied me on the way back. He danced a lot more than usual – about 15 songs (and he sometimes dances as few as 3 times at SOS). The conversation was almost exclusively about music and dance – no surprise there.
Quote of the day – “I feel like I have become good only recently. Umm. Let me take that back. It’s all relative.”
It’s true! Just like the words like “Intermediate” and “Advanced” when describing things like Salsa classes should be taken with a big grain of salt.
Exchange of the day – “It sounds like you might want to go there with a tape recorder.” “Or a video recorder.”
It was about taking private lessons with Frankie Martinez (written with a wink for you-know-who-you-are).
Considering how late I stayed up (or regardless of it or perhaps even because of it), I was feeling pretty energetic throughout the afternoon. So even though Sergio and Mimi both eventually decided against SOS tonight, I headed there in high spirits by myself by train knowing only Liam will arrive later in the evening. I didn’t get in touch with everyone I might have wanted to, but then again I was in something of going alone (or at least not invite a big group) kind of mood.
SOS was in excellent form tonight, not feeling any aftereffects of Scala as far as I can tell. Some of the people I saw at Scala were here again (e.g. Adam L, Joe D., Martina). By the way, Cyrille apparently thought many people from SOS were at Scala last night, but I didn't think so. Even though I enjoyed dancing at Scala (perhaps in some ways more than at SOS tonight), I think the general level is almost always higher at SOS compared to any place else in London.
My dancing was good – arguably best at the very beginning and at the very end. The middle part was quite up and down.
I saw “Diane” again as well. I didn’t dance with her – just made some conversation here and there in between. I probably won’t see or hear from her in person for a while – maybe a month or perhaps longer. I’m a little bummed about this of course.
The DJ tonight was Amir, Helen’s boyfriend. He was one of the big draws for me wanting to go to SOS tonight (Liam told me couple of days ago that Amir was the DJ tonight). I must say that his selections were somewhat up-and-down and certainly not as provocative as the first time I heard him play. However, a good DJ cannot play the same best songs all the time lest they are made stale (as even Liam admitted). I did ask Amir about and received information on one interesting song – Traicion by Roberto Roena.
Liam accompanied me on the way back. He danced a lot more than usual – about 15 songs (and he sometimes dances as few as 3 times at SOS). The conversation was almost exclusively about music and dance – no surprise there.
Quote of the day – “I feel like I have become good only recently. Umm. Let me take that back. It’s all relative.”
It’s true! Just like the words like “Intermediate” and “Advanced” when describing things like Salsa classes should be taken with a big grain of salt.
Exchange of the day – “It sounds like you might want to go there with a tape recorder.” “Or a video recorder.”
It was about taking private lessons with Frankie Martinez (written with a wink for you-know-who-you-are).
Inaugural Scala Saturday All-Nighter
October 21, 2006
The final arrangement was to meet at Club Salsa between 9:30 and 10 so that we can leave at 10. I was the fourth to arrive - around 9:50. Vishal was there since 8 or so, and Cyrille and Stephanie arrived before me. Mimi and Marina arrived at 10 while Vishal was still running around smoothing things out. In fact Vishal ran into so many things to look after that some of us ended up having some dances. Cyrille and Stephanie received a big applause from an appreciative crowd while Mimi looked like a better Cuban lead than anyone else at the Club tonight. By the time Vishal picked up Danie and our caravan lined up to head down to London, my car clock read 10:57.
The drive down was fairly smooth. Vishal, Danie, Cyrille and Stephanie were in the trailing car listening to one of Stephanie's CDs, and I once again had the delightful Swedish pair in the backseat once again. The drive was quite reminiscent of one of the Rocket trips earlier this year with a lot of giggling and singing in the backseat. I really can't imagine any better set of backseat duo with me acting as a chauffer. I think the pair especially enjoyed Ran Kan Kan, Lamento Boliviano and La Palomilla. The only odd incident was on Gray's Inn Road where Vishal flashed me asking me to stop while he ran out of the car in a very mysterious fashion. Even with a lot of advice beforehand (which Vishal did not hear or taken because he was so harried), Mimi too was in a big hurry to get inside the Scala as well (thus missing out on Vishal's discount).
We arrived around 12:10. As expected, Scala tonight was not as crowded as on Bank Holidays. I think the official count was just around 1000. Thus crowding was not bad, especially on the stage. By 3 AM or so, hardly anyone was using the stage (and I didn't bother with Stage more than half dozen times or so). We missed the first showcase, and I didn't have a very good view of the last showcase (it was a couple I have seen maybe 3 times previously).
For the first time in London, I heard the DJ(s) playing a song twice in a single evening. This is more common in Cambridge of course. In Cambridge, songs like Playa No More, Me Libere, Brujeria, Lloraras are liable to be played more than once (especially when there are more than one DJs) - in case of Playa No More, I think I heard Vishal play it twice by himself. Another song that sometimes gets is that great Reggaeton classic (with the word "Otra" in the chorus which everyone sings along), which many Salsa dancers take as the exit cue. So which song did they play twice tonight in London? La Palomilla - Joe Cuba Sextet. I have heard this song played exactly once in Cambridge - by me on one Monday. I had to break one of my rules to play this song - namely that I have to have a legal copy of the song - it's the only time this rule was broken (not counting the Michael Jackson remix, for which I don't think there is a legal copy period).
I probably danced more than I ever did at any previous Scala outings. Perhaps a third of the dances were with people from Cambridge - including Nina who came independently. Dancing was pretty good - it met or exceeded my expectations. I just need to avoid going anywhere with too high expectations.
I was less tired than I expected to be by the end of the evening - my eyes were feeling quite fine for the drive back unlike in previous Scala outings. We must have left shortly after 4 AM (there was a talk about changing the clock because of end of daylight savings hour, but this shouldn't happen until next weekend). We stopped briefly to buy some food at a convenience store (Stephanie for one did not have dinner and accidentally drank an alcoholic beverage which made her world spin instantly) and examine mysterious blood on Vishal's car. Nina joined us (front passenger's seat naturally as the back seat was occupied by the Swedish pair once again) for the drive back. Good times on the way back - including a sing along to Timba Temba Tumba (Los Van Van) as well as more giggling. Still, my head was throbbing (especially between around exit 8 and exit 9) - perhaps not entirely due to tiredness.
Quote of the day - "I need to be careful with what I write."
Actually I have been more or less as careful as I want to be. I guess it was more that I had not quite realized - I don't know what exactly. It was a very nice conversation - I haven't had one like it in a very long time. Perhaps the circumstances were more ideal than I expected at the time - because I had a ready excuse for not having to make replies right away (while I tried to catch my breath, hide my embarrassment, recover, etc).
The final arrangement was to meet at Club Salsa between 9:30 and 10 so that we can leave at 10. I was the fourth to arrive - around 9:50. Vishal was there since 8 or so, and Cyrille and Stephanie arrived before me. Mimi and Marina arrived at 10 while Vishal was still running around smoothing things out. In fact Vishal ran into so many things to look after that some of us ended up having some dances. Cyrille and Stephanie received a big applause from an appreciative crowd while Mimi looked like a better Cuban lead than anyone else at the Club tonight. By the time Vishal picked up Danie and our caravan lined up to head down to London, my car clock read 10:57.
The drive down was fairly smooth. Vishal, Danie, Cyrille and Stephanie were in the trailing car listening to one of Stephanie's CDs, and I once again had the delightful Swedish pair in the backseat once again. The drive was quite reminiscent of one of the Rocket trips earlier this year with a lot of giggling and singing in the backseat. I really can't imagine any better set of backseat duo with me acting as a chauffer. I think the pair especially enjoyed Ran Kan Kan, Lamento Boliviano and La Palomilla. The only odd incident was on Gray's Inn Road where Vishal flashed me asking me to stop while he ran out of the car in a very mysterious fashion. Even with a lot of advice beforehand (which Vishal did not hear or taken because he was so harried), Mimi too was in a big hurry to get inside the Scala as well (thus missing out on Vishal's discount).
We arrived around 12:10. As expected, Scala tonight was not as crowded as on Bank Holidays. I think the official count was just around 1000. Thus crowding was not bad, especially on the stage. By 3 AM or so, hardly anyone was using the stage (and I didn't bother with Stage more than half dozen times or so). We missed the first showcase, and I didn't have a very good view of the last showcase (it was a couple I have seen maybe 3 times previously).
For the first time in London, I heard the DJ(s) playing a song twice in a single evening. This is more common in Cambridge of course. In Cambridge, songs like Playa No More, Me Libere, Brujeria, Lloraras are liable to be played more than once (especially when there are more than one DJs) - in case of Playa No More, I think I heard Vishal play it twice by himself. Another song that sometimes gets is that great Reggaeton classic (with the word "Otra" in the chorus which everyone sings along), which many Salsa dancers take as the exit cue. So which song did they play twice tonight in London? La Palomilla - Joe Cuba Sextet. I have heard this song played exactly once in Cambridge - by me on one Monday. I had to break one of my rules to play this song - namely that I have to have a legal copy of the song - it's the only time this rule was broken (not counting the Michael Jackson remix, for which I don't think there is a legal copy period).
I probably danced more than I ever did at any previous Scala outings. Perhaps a third of the dances were with people from Cambridge - including Nina who came independently. Dancing was pretty good - it met or exceeded my expectations. I just need to avoid going anywhere with too high expectations.
I was less tired than I expected to be by the end of the evening - my eyes were feeling quite fine for the drive back unlike in previous Scala outings. We must have left shortly after 4 AM (there was a talk about changing the clock because of end of daylight savings hour, but this shouldn't happen until next weekend). We stopped briefly to buy some food at a convenience store (Stephanie for one did not have dinner and accidentally drank an alcoholic beverage which made her world spin instantly) and examine mysterious blood on Vishal's car. Nina joined us (front passenger's seat naturally as the back seat was occupied by the Swedish pair once again) for the drive back. Good times on the way back - including a sing along to Timba Temba Tumba (Los Van Van) as well as more giggling. Still, my head was throbbing (especially between around exit 8 and exit 9) - perhaps not entirely due to tiredness.
Quote of the day - "I need to be careful with what I write."
Actually I have been more or less as careful as I want to be. I guess it was more that I had not quite realized - I don't know what exactly. It was a very nice conversation - I haven't had one like it in a very long time. Perhaps the circumstances were more ideal than I expected at the time - because I had a ready excuse for not having to make replies right away (while I tried to catch my breath, hide my embarrassment, recover, etc).
Sneaking in Mambo any way you can
October 20, 2006
Playlist
El Matrimonio – El Gran Combo
Sientate Ahi – Oscar D’Leon
Amor Perfecto – El Gran Combo (1)
Salsa Y Control – Lebron Brothers
El Pito – Sonora Carruseles (2)
All That Vibe – Grupo Latin Vibe*
Suelta El Bongo – La 33
Hong Kong Mambo – Tito Puente (3)
Lindo Yambu – Cheo Feliciano
Babarabatiri – Tito Puente (4)
My Favorite Things – New Swing Sextet (5)
Lloraras – Oscar D’Leon (6)*
No Me Resigno – Toque D’Keda
Malanga Amarilla – Cachao (7)
Descarga Cubana – Cal Tjader*
Ran Kan Kan – Tito Puente (Mamborama version)
Picadillo – Tito Puente (a version from 50’s?) (8)*
Aprieta (Oye Como Va) – Joe Cuba Sextet (9)
Azuquita Pal Café – El Gran Combo
Abran Paso – Orchestra Harlow
Me Prendiste Velas – Oscar D’Leon
Hacha Y Machete – Hector Lavoe
El Swing De Fruko – Fruko Y Sus Tesos (10)
Lamento Boliviano – Toque D’Keda
break (originally planned to be 10 minutes but it went a bit longer)
No Hay Cama Pa’ Tanta Gente – El Gran Combo (11)
La Llave – Grupo Latin Vibe
Mambo Mongo – Mongo Santamaria (Fania version) (-2%) (12)
You Will Remember Me – Dominic Marte (13)
(1) Pretty small crowd thus far. The number of people dancing hit rock bottom with this song before gradually going back up.
(2) This song resulted in a spike, which is fine. Slightly less fine is that Vishal played the same song later in the evening. It’s things like this that makes me avoid playing songs I think Vishal is likely to play later. A prime example is Playa No More, which of course was played later – not that I would play it unless I was desperate.
(3) This one was popular too. It has been a while since this was played at Club Salsa.
(4) Another dip. This is reminiscent of what happened with El Gran Combo earlier. Possibly just a coincidence. Not too worried in any case.
(5) Going great.
(6) Another slight dip. This was somewhat of a surprise. Maybe it’s just overplayed.
(7) Looking good.
(8) This is going really well. This version of Picadillo is the fifth version of the song I have played. Tito Puente has at least two versions of Picadillo. Another version of Picadillo was recorded by Cal Tjader & Eddie Palmieri. Tito Puente recorded yet another version called Picadillo A Lo Puente. In his final studio album, Tito Puente in collaboration with Eddie Palmieri recorded Picadillo Jam. I know of a sixth version of the song called Pico Swing recorded by New Swing Sextet – I don’t have a copy of this song yet.
(9) I played this two weeks ago with one of the speakers temporarily disabled, which resulted in vocals being missing. It played better this time around although it wasn’t easy to tell from the DJ booth. This of course is Cha Cha.
(10) The pace of the songs was becoming faster and faster, reaching apex with this song. As expected, most people were pretty worn out by this song. I thought the stretch from Malanga Amarilla to Hacha Y Machete worked brilliantly. Even the something of a crowd clearing effect this song had was fine because I half expected it. Playing Bachata next was in the plans before I picked this song.
(11) It seemed like a good transition song as any.
(12) Vishal finally came with the usual comment, “No more Mambo.” I thought I was doing just fine, and the dance floor never became any more packed later in the evening. This song was the only song I made any modification (-2% speed in this case) whatsoever this evening.
(13) This second set didn't last very long. I had told Vishal that it's a difficult crowd - a sentiment he repeated to me later in the evening. The most popular songs played by me tonight were El Pito, Hong Kong Mambo, Lindo Yambu, My Favorite Things, Malanga Amarilla, Ran Kan Kan, Azuquita Pal Cafe to Hacha Y Machete stretch. Of course this is no guarantee that any of these songs will prove popular next time they are played.
Total 28 songs. 24 Salsa. 3 Bachata. 1 Cha Cha. Four new songs(*) - Lloraras is well-established here in Cambridge (but I don't think I played it before) whereas the other three are songs (at least these specific versions) I don't recall hearing played anywhere. I was quite pleased with what I played tonight (or what I was able to get away with playing). I don't recall hearing anyone else in Cambridge ever play 17 of the songs I played tonight - which goes to explain my reputation for playing different songs. 11 songs, which I have heard played by other Cambridge DJs in last year or so are - Sientate Ahi (Pete); El Pito, Lloraras (Vishal, Cristian, Enrique and possibly others); Lindo Yambu (Cristian); Suelta El Bongo, Azuquita Pal Cafe, Hacha Y Machete (Sally); My Favorite Things (Sally, Johnny); No Me Resigno, Lamento Boliviano (Vishal - note: I gave him the CD with these two songs); Hong Kong Mambo (Enrique).
By the time I was done DJing, it was around 12:30 AM. Going to Sally’s party at that point did not seem like a bright idea – even though there presumably would have been more people to dance with at her party. It was quite crowded this evening but with mostly unfamiliar faces. Presumbably most people went to Sally's party or were saving themselves for the all-nighter tomorrow. I had around 9 dances with 9 different partners.
Exchange of the day – “That was the worst mix of that song I have ever heard.” “He probably mixed it himself.”
I generally stay away from remixes, and I certainly am not interested in remixing or remaking or stitching any song(s). I don’t care about it enough to try to critique anyone’s ability to remix songs. I don’t remember hearing any other remix of this song, and I don’t think the original is anything to write home about. Thus the comment I made was nothing more than a general assessment not meant to be positive or negative. I am unsure how he took my reply but becoming amused seems like as good a guess as any.
I received a hard blow to my mouth with an elbow – second time this week on the same spot – first time was during a basketball game Tuesday evening (thanks Richard D!). I think there’s more swelling this time, and the bruise is noticeable this time. I’m 99% sure that I get hit more often than I hit another person. The ratio might be somewhere between 4:1 to 3:2.
Exchange of the day 2 – “I know you have it. I’ve heard it played here before.” “We have many DJs.”
And my collection is very different from Vishal’s or Cristian’s or Sally’s. I would venture to guess that music collections of Vishal, Cristian and Sally combined do not match 70% of my Latin music collection (at least they don’t carry them around and use them). Of course, I imagine that they also have tons of things I don’t have. For instance, I don't have a single track of Merengue or Reggaeton. Also vast majority of what I have is not worth playing at a dance party.
Exchange of the day 3 – “Hey! I didn’t see you dance (very much?) tonight. What’s going on?” “It’s because there isn’t anyone (for him) to dance with.”
See a statistic I listed above. Certainly by that (late) hour, I couldn’t fault the reply (even if it wasn’t completely ironclad accurate). I am tempted to reveal identities here but maybe it’s safer not to do so. You never know.
Vishal said he's really looking forward to Scala tomorrow. I hope he'll have a good time as well as an informative experience DJing as well as hearing what the different DJs play for the Salsa crowd in London.
Playlist
El Matrimonio – El Gran Combo
Sientate Ahi – Oscar D’Leon
Amor Perfecto – El Gran Combo (1)
Salsa Y Control – Lebron Brothers
El Pito – Sonora Carruseles (2)
All That Vibe – Grupo Latin Vibe*
Suelta El Bongo – La 33
Hong Kong Mambo – Tito Puente (3)
Lindo Yambu – Cheo Feliciano
Babarabatiri – Tito Puente (4)
My Favorite Things – New Swing Sextet (5)
Lloraras – Oscar D’Leon (6)*
No Me Resigno – Toque D’Keda
Malanga Amarilla – Cachao (7)
Descarga Cubana – Cal Tjader*
Ran Kan Kan – Tito Puente (Mamborama version)
Picadillo – Tito Puente (a version from 50’s?) (8)*
Aprieta (Oye Como Va) – Joe Cuba Sextet (9)
Azuquita Pal Café – El Gran Combo
Abran Paso – Orchestra Harlow
Me Prendiste Velas – Oscar D’Leon
Hacha Y Machete – Hector Lavoe
El Swing De Fruko – Fruko Y Sus Tesos (10)
Lamento Boliviano – Toque D’Keda
break (originally planned to be 10 minutes but it went a bit longer)
No Hay Cama Pa’ Tanta Gente – El Gran Combo (11)
La Llave – Grupo Latin Vibe
Mambo Mongo – Mongo Santamaria (Fania version) (-2%) (12)
You Will Remember Me – Dominic Marte (13)
(1) Pretty small crowd thus far. The number of people dancing hit rock bottom with this song before gradually going back up.
(2) This song resulted in a spike, which is fine. Slightly less fine is that Vishal played the same song later in the evening. It’s things like this that makes me avoid playing songs I think Vishal is likely to play later. A prime example is Playa No More, which of course was played later – not that I would play it unless I was desperate.
(3) This one was popular too. It has been a while since this was played at Club Salsa.
(4) Another dip. This is reminiscent of what happened with El Gran Combo earlier. Possibly just a coincidence. Not too worried in any case.
(5) Going great.
(6) Another slight dip. This was somewhat of a surprise. Maybe it’s just overplayed.
(7) Looking good.
(8) This is going really well. This version of Picadillo is the fifth version of the song I have played. Tito Puente has at least two versions of Picadillo. Another version of Picadillo was recorded by Cal Tjader & Eddie Palmieri. Tito Puente recorded yet another version called Picadillo A Lo Puente. In his final studio album, Tito Puente in collaboration with Eddie Palmieri recorded Picadillo Jam. I know of a sixth version of the song called Pico Swing recorded by New Swing Sextet – I don’t have a copy of this song yet.
(9) I played this two weeks ago with one of the speakers temporarily disabled, which resulted in vocals being missing. It played better this time around although it wasn’t easy to tell from the DJ booth. This of course is Cha Cha.
(10) The pace of the songs was becoming faster and faster, reaching apex with this song. As expected, most people were pretty worn out by this song. I thought the stretch from Malanga Amarilla to Hacha Y Machete worked brilliantly. Even the something of a crowd clearing effect this song had was fine because I half expected it. Playing Bachata next was in the plans before I picked this song.
(11) It seemed like a good transition song as any.
(12) Vishal finally came with the usual comment, “No more Mambo.” I thought I was doing just fine, and the dance floor never became any more packed later in the evening. This song was the only song I made any modification (-2% speed in this case) whatsoever this evening.
(13) This second set didn't last very long. I had told Vishal that it's a difficult crowd - a sentiment he repeated to me later in the evening. The most popular songs played by me tonight were El Pito, Hong Kong Mambo, Lindo Yambu, My Favorite Things, Malanga Amarilla, Ran Kan Kan, Azuquita Pal Cafe to Hacha Y Machete stretch. Of course this is no guarantee that any of these songs will prove popular next time they are played.
Total 28 songs. 24 Salsa. 3 Bachata. 1 Cha Cha. Four new songs(*) - Lloraras is well-established here in Cambridge (but I don't think I played it before) whereas the other three are songs (at least these specific versions) I don't recall hearing played anywhere. I was quite pleased with what I played tonight (or what I was able to get away with playing). I don't recall hearing anyone else in Cambridge ever play 17 of the songs I played tonight - which goes to explain my reputation for playing different songs. 11 songs, which I have heard played by other Cambridge DJs in last year or so are - Sientate Ahi (Pete); El Pito, Lloraras (Vishal, Cristian, Enrique and possibly others); Lindo Yambu (Cristian); Suelta El Bongo, Azuquita Pal Cafe, Hacha Y Machete (Sally); My Favorite Things (Sally, Johnny); No Me Resigno, Lamento Boliviano (Vishal - note: I gave him the CD with these two songs); Hong Kong Mambo (Enrique).
By the time I was done DJing, it was around 12:30 AM. Going to Sally’s party at that point did not seem like a bright idea – even though there presumably would have been more people to dance with at her party. It was quite crowded this evening but with mostly unfamiliar faces. Presumbably most people went to Sally's party or were saving themselves for the all-nighter tomorrow. I had around 9 dances with 9 different partners.
Exchange of the day – “That was the worst mix of that song I have ever heard.” “He probably mixed it himself.”
I generally stay away from remixes, and I certainly am not interested in remixing or remaking or stitching any song(s). I don’t care about it enough to try to critique anyone’s ability to remix songs. I don’t remember hearing any other remix of this song, and I don’t think the original is anything to write home about. Thus the comment I made was nothing more than a general assessment not meant to be positive or negative. I am unsure how he took my reply but becoming amused seems like as good a guess as any.
I received a hard blow to my mouth with an elbow – second time this week on the same spot – first time was during a basketball game Tuesday evening (thanks Richard D!). I think there’s more swelling this time, and the bruise is noticeable this time. I’m 99% sure that I get hit more often than I hit another person. The ratio might be somewhere between 4:1 to 3:2.
Exchange of the day 2 – “I know you have it. I’ve heard it played here before.” “We have many DJs.”
And my collection is very different from Vishal’s or Cristian’s or Sally’s. I would venture to guess that music collections of Vishal, Cristian and Sally combined do not match 70% of my Latin music collection (at least they don’t carry them around and use them). Of course, I imagine that they also have tons of things I don’t have. For instance, I don't have a single track of Merengue or Reggaeton. Also vast majority of what I have is not worth playing at a dance party.
Exchange of the day 3 – “Hey! I didn’t see you dance (very much?) tonight. What’s going on?” “It’s because there isn’t anyone (for him) to dance with.”
See a statistic I listed above. Certainly by that (late) hour, I couldn’t fault the reply (even if it wasn’t completely ironclad accurate). I am tempted to reveal identities here but maybe it’s safer not to do so. You never know.
Vishal said he's really looking forward to Scala tomorrow. I hope he'll have a good time as well as an informative experience DJing as well as hearing what the different DJs play for the Salsa crowd in London.
Free Salsa Social at CDC
October 19, 2006
Free is a very good price. Even if I personally don’t mind small expenditures for Salsa, my guess was that many people like things for free. Thus when Sergio sent me a query about going to the CDC Salsa social (and who else probably would be going), my reaction was something like “Don’t fight fate.” Instead, I had Sergio arrange a group for a dinner to raise the ante – the final participants were Sergio, Liam and me.
Highlights of dinner conversation included Richard Pryor – I asked, “The comedian?” I imagine that a main highlight of the evening for Sergio and Liam must have been my driving form this evening. The usual music talk involved Malanga Amarilla (by Cachao), Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers being covered by Usher (Raymond), Ray Barretto and Poncho Sanchez.
We arrived at the University Centre around 9:15 and was surprised to find that they had a Salsa class in progress – I don’t recall reading about free lessons in the CDC website. Aside from people giving or helping with instructions, hardly anyone I knew was there. Cyrille arrived shortly afterwards. Around 9:40, we began to wonder if no one was going to show up and came close to leaving and going to Club Salsa instead as the class was winding down.
And then everyone arrived in span of about 10-15 minutes. Apparently everyone else knew about the class and knew when to arrive, and pretty much all suspects were there – with a glaring exception of one who probably did as much word-of-mouth boosting of tonight’s event as anyone. More than a few people probably wondered "Where the heck is ----?"
Liam was very keen on trying to get as many songs he liked from my CD collection get played tonight. This worked beautifully for a while. First, a set of three Tito Puente songs was played as Liam’s request – Hong Kong Mambo, Babarabatiri, and Nina Y Senora. I particularly enjoyed Hong Kong Mambo. Next, I tried to get songs by Lebron Brothers played – Salsa Y Control, Piensalo Bien and Bongo Loco. Salsa Y Control was great. Unfortunately, I had the track numbers scrambled and a wrong song (Regresa A Mi) was played as the second Lebron Brothers track. After that I must have lost DJ’s confidence in me because he didn’t play any more of songs from this CD.
Word of the day - "Neo-fascist"
While I had quite a good number of dances, I don’t think the quantity was quite on par with the recent Thursday standard (I didn't dance with anyone more than once for a change) – quality was good. Floor was nice in both quality and quantity. There were a lot of people – although I did miss a number of regulars who presumably stayed at Club Salsa tonight (too bad these kind of events tend to cause fragmentation). Sound system was pretty weak – just the way I remember it from last school year. Music played by Sally would have trumped much of tonight’s selection at CDC.
I finally matched all the names to the faces in the Salsa team (as well as pointing them out to a curious bystander). The most amusing revelation was that Sean (one of my oldest friend from the Cambridge Salsa scene) made it into the team and that it took me about 10 days to realize this. In fact, I figured out the identity of every other team members before I realized that Sean made it. I had my first inkling yesterday but was only 99% sure (and I received the confirmation tonight). I guess we just don’t talk to each other as much as we used to.
I’m guessing no one’s going to mind if I give names of the team members. They are – Agnes, Isabel, Jane, Phyllis, Samantha, Stephanie, Zhenzhi and Haihan, Mark, Rajiv, Richard, Sean, Thomas, Yoon.
Quote of the day – “He looks like he’s dancing with himself.”
This quote had long legs. Hmm. I cannot believe I said that. Hmm. Did I use this quote before? I distinctly remember someone making a very similar comment (I remember the context and people involved too). If so, this might merely be the second time tonight when someone used something I wrote here. I guess it is questionable whether such comment is entirely complimentary – it could suggest something artistic or possibly narcissism. Perhaps a better more accurate interpretation of the comment is that the couple dancing together was not moving harmoniously or that their style was very different or possibly clashing or that one half of the couple looked to be moving comfortably and effortlessly while the other looked distressed, harried or overworked.
There was another statement using the words primary school and dark and sweaty - this was never seriously considered as today’s quote.
Other quotes of note.
“I’d like to have her back in one piece.”
I definitely heard that one before. Actually the dance in question was executed and followed quite well and I though everything was quite under control. I suppose my dance partner was given a few more surprises than she expected. The dance in question was fairly typical for me. I often start easy and gradually build things up until I sense that my partner is beginning to have difficulties. When I reach this point I would ease up. The dance was going quite smoothly – even as I presumably led moves my partner might normally find difficult (but she was following very well). So when I kept up the level of difficulty a bit longer while introducing different elements, my partner was a bit overwhelmed and shocked (while still staying very much in control in every other and important matters). At least that is my version of the story. This also leads to another quote.
“Are you going to break me?”
No fear of that - at least I thought not physically in this case. It does lead to yet another quote.
“Don’t worry. I have a very bad memory.” and “I have forgotten it already.”
Hopefully, this quote won’t jog her memory. Who am I kidding? I probably just doomed myself. Masochist!
Finally…
“He fingered my CD.”
That drew a look from Liam. Good thing I don’t carry my originals around.
Free is a very good price. Even if I personally don’t mind small expenditures for Salsa, my guess was that many people like things for free. Thus when Sergio sent me a query about going to the CDC Salsa social (and who else probably would be going), my reaction was something like “Don’t fight fate.” Instead, I had Sergio arrange a group for a dinner to raise the ante – the final participants were Sergio, Liam and me.
Highlights of dinner conversation included Richard Pryor – I asked, “The comedian?” I imagine that a main highlight of the evening for Sergio and Liam must have been my driving form this evening. The usual music talk involved Malanga Amarilla (by Cachao), Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers being covered by Usher (Raymond), Ray Barretto and Poncho Sanchez.
We arrived at the University Centre around 9:15 and was surprised to find that they had a Salsa class in progress – I don’t recall reading about free lessons in the CDC website. Aside from people giving or helping with instructions, hardly anyone I knew was there. Cyrille arrived shortly afterwards. Around 9:40, we began to wonder if no one was going to show up and came close to leaving and going to Club Salsa instead as the class was winding down.
And then everyone arrived in span of about 10-15 minutes. Apparently everyone else knew about the class and knew when to arrive, and pretty much all suspects were there – with a glaring exception of one who probably did as much word-of-mouth boosting of tonight’s event as anyone. More than a few people probably wondered "Where the heck is ----?"
Liam was very keen on trying to get as many songs he liked from my CD collection get played tonight. This worked beautifully for a while. First, a set of three Tito Puente songs was played as Liam’s request – Hong Kong Mambo, Babarabatiri, and Nina Y Senora. I particularly enjoyed Hong Kong Mambo. Next, I tried to get songs by Lebron Brothers played – Salsa Y Control, Piensalo Bien and Bongo Loco. Salsa Y Control was great. Unfortunately, I had the track numbers scrambled and a wrong song (Regresa A Mi) was played as the second Lebron Brothers track. After that I must have lost DJ’s confidence in me because he didn’t play any more of songs from this CD.
Word of the day - "Neo-fascist"
While I had quite a good number of dances, I don’t think the quantity was quite on par with the recent Thursday standard (I didn't dance with anyone more than once for a change) – quality was good. Floor was nice in both quality and quantity. There were a lot of people – although I did miss a number of regulars who presumably stayed at Club Salsa tonight (too bad these kind of events tend to cause fragmentation). Sound system was pretty weak – just the way I remember it from last school year. Music played by Sally would have trumped much of tonight’s selection at CDC.
I finally matched all the names to the faces in the Salsa team (as well as pointing them out to a curious bystander). The most amusing revelation was that Sean (one of my oldest friend from the Cambridge Salsa scene) made it into the team and that it took me about 10 days to realize this. In fact, I figured out the identity of every other team members before I realized that Sean made it. I had my first inkling yesterday but was only 99% sure (and I received the confirmation tonight). I guess we just don’t talk to each other as much as we used to.
I’m guessing no one’s going to mind if I give names of the team members. They are – Agnes, Isabel, Jane, Phyllis, Samantha, Stephanie, Zhenzhi and Haihan, Mark, Rajiv, Richard, Sean, Thomas, Yoon.
Quote of the day – “He looks like he’s dancing with himself.”
This quote had long legs. Hmm. I cannot believe I said that. Hmm. Did I use this quote before? I distinctly remember someone making a very similar comment (I remember the context and people involved too). If so, this might merely be the second time tonight when someone used something I wrote here. I guess it is questionable whether such comment is entirely complimentary – it could suggest something artistic or possibly narcissism. Perhaps a better more accurate interpretation of the comment is that the couple dancing together was not moving harmoniously or that their style was very different or possibly clashing or that one half of the couple looked to be moving comfortably and effortlessly while the other looked distressed, harried or overworked.
There was another statement using the words primary school and dark and sweaty - this was never seriously considered as today’s quote.
Other quotes of note.
“I’d like to have her back in one piece.”
I definitely heard that one before. Actually the dance in question was executed and followed quite well and I though everything was quite under control. I suppose my dance partner was given a few more surprises than she expected. The dance in question was fairly typical for me. I often start easy and gradually build things up until I sense that my partner is beginning to have difficulties. When I reach this point I would ease up. The dance was going quite smoothly – even as I presumably led moves my partner might normally find difficult (but she was following very well). So when I kept up the level of difficulty a bit longer while introducing different elements, my partner was a bit overwhelmed and shocked (while still staying very much in control in every other and important matters). At least that is my version of the story. This also leads to another quote.
“Are you going to break me?”
No fear of that - at least I thought not physically in this case. It does lead to yet another quote.
“Don’t worry. I have a very bad memory.” and “I have forgotten it already.”
Hopefully, this quote won’t jog her memory. Who am I kidding? I probably just doomed myself. Masochist!
Finally…
“He fingered my CD.”
That drew a look from Liam. Good thing I don’t carry my originals around.
Simple moves with simple stylizations - except not trivially simple
October 16, 2006
Intermediate with Tiz
1,2,3,5,6,7 open hold Copa start with R-L low and L-R high but lead a reverse Copa instead so that follower does 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn instead (R-L ends behind follower’s R waist)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and another Copa with L-R brought over leader’s head and let go while and R-L is pointed low towards the direction follower came from lead follower into normal 1 1/2 Copa traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn with leader turning ~1/2 clockwise with swivel turn (on 7? – one way of doing this is to step to R on 5 and swivel on 7 to end with crossed legs) – R-L is above leader’s R shoulder and leader is facing away from follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower in while leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise bringing R-L in front of follower’s head and do an over and under (coming down on 6?) for 1 1/2 traveling clockwise turn for follower to get R-L behind follower’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 next was another Copa start with L-R connection made and going over follower but with leader occupying follower’s space on 5 (rather than turning her in any direction) with L-R high and R-L low then leader turning 1/2 counterclockwise with R-L briefly disconnected and reconnected
1,2,3,5,6,7 it’s an open hold but with L-R on R side and R-L on L side underneath L-R to start with – unfortunately this position was not really utilized – back basic instead
1,2,3,5,6,7 this was quite awkward for me (very different movement than I am used to) – leader turns 1/2 clockwise with R-L connection only and R-L wrapped on leader’s neck on 3 – step to right on 5 and lead follower forward with R-L and doing a 1/2 clockwise turn while leader turns full counterclockwise to get back to facing follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to a stationary clockwise turn with both connections intact while leader also turns full counterclockwise at the same time – this is fairly simple move but a stylistic change was introduced so that at about 1/2 turn point for leader L-R and R-L is by L and R side of leader’s neck and R-L is brought over leader’s head as final ~1/2 turn is made … this makes the move look more interesting (or at least it did for Tiz)
1,2,3,5,6,7 in place open break and into CBL position with R-L going over follower’s head – lead follower into traveling 1/2 clockwise turn with all connections intact and R-L being repositioned all the way to behind followers R shoulder underneath L-R at the end
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-L is positioned behind follower’s R shoulder and is used to disconnect R-L and lead follower’s free L hand to make a counterclockwise (from leader’s perspective) sweeping motion and reconnect to get back to open position
1,2,3,5,6,7 repeat first move
1,2,3,5,6,7 repeat second move but end with simple double-crossed hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise and bring connections over his head and down to on the shoulders behind his neck – lead follower into CBL using R-L as the lead and leader turns full counterclockwise with R-L going over to get back to open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start and with leader positioned to L of follower on 3 – follower is held in place or led slightly backwards on 4 and leader does a hook turn to get into a cross pass position (facing away from follower’s line with L-R behind leader’s R waist)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward while leader turns 1/2 clockwise and holding follower’s R wrist/arm with R arm (letting go L-R of course) and lead follower into traveling 1 1/2 clockwise turn (downward toss lead, I think) with leader turning full clockwise with L hand kept behind R waist throughout – get back to cross-pass position again (L-R behind leader’s R waist with leader facing away from follower’s line)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward letting go L-R while leader moves behind follower and holding/checking follower’s hips with both hands to bring follower backwards (preferred footwork involved R foot crossed behind L foot on 5, which is not something I always do – maybe it would look better to do so)
1,2,3,5,6,7 Mambo jazz and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling turn (clockwise will do)
I was a little late, but Joe and company arrived even later. Vishal joked that I’ll have to teach the class if they don’t show up. Such scenario would be scary especially considering the class size. I imagine that I could conceivably come up with reasonable material for up to improver level with few minutes of consideration. However, that would not be the same as being able to teach it effectively. I think I am quite content staying as a student as I still feel that I have quite a lot to learn from each and every class.
It felt like a rather quiet evening even though fair number of people stayed to dance for about an hour or so before gradually dispersing. People I regularly dance with were limited to Anastasia, Lorraine and Stephanie (I danced with other people too of course). Like her compatriot Cyrille, Anastasia was recovering from (hip?) injury suffered during dancing. Sergio was there and danced maybe 2 or 3 times; nice to see that he's still alive and well. I also watched Rajiv dance with Stephanie; somewhat notable mostly in that I don't watch him dance very much these days. I think I might be doing a little more watching than I used to - perhaps because I am spending more time catching my breath, etc rather than dancing non-stop.
Vishal seems to have given up on the idea of hiring a coach for the Scala this Saturday and was talking more about organizing carpool. It looks increasingly likely that I will go as well - not sure about transportation method but I am probably coordinating with Cyrille. London seemingly is increasingly becoming common destination for more Cambridge Salsa dancers in general (rather than select few), which partly may explain lukewarm responses to some recent special Salsa events in Cambridge.
At one point, I was rummaging through Vishal's CD case for possible songs to play (Vishal was preoccupied). While it was difficult to ascertain everything he had (presumably not represented in total in this particular case), the amount of choice seemed a little dire in my opinion (way too much non-Salsa) and made me think, "No wonder he plays same thing all the time" [note: he plays more new stuff than he used to.] I picked one song from his CDs simply based on artist name and song (neither of which I was familiar with) and was fortunate in that the chosen song was not terrible. I also picked as as the final song, which Vishal labelled Tito Puente - Mambo, which turned out to be a live version of Ran Kan Kan from the album Mambo Birdland.
Exchange of the day - "It sounds like something you might hear in a cruise liner." "I suppose the Royal Canadian Line. The band's from Toronto, Canada."
Sacala A Bailar - Cache (It's from a CD of the band Cache I lent (permanently?) to Vishal. This is the same band that did Contigo-With You.). This exchange was not made with Sergio.
Exchange of the day 2 - "I missed your DJing Friday." "I didn't play last Friday." "Exactly." "Oh! Thanks! (or maybe I skipped Thanks) You know I don't play many songs I would like to play?" so on…
And I thought last Friday's music was alright considering everything...
Intermediate with Tiz
1,2,3,5,6,7 open hold Copa start with R-L low and L-R high but lead a reverse Copa instead so that follower does 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn instead (R-L ends behind follower’s R waist)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and another Copa with L-R brought over leader’s head and let go while and R-L is pointed low towards the direction follower came from lead follower into normal 1 1/2 Copa traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn with leader turning ~1/2 clockwise with swivel turn (on 7? – one way of doing this is to step to R on 5 and swivel on 7 to end with crossed legs) – R-L is above leader’s R shoulder and leader is facing away from follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower in while leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise bringing R-L in front of follower’s head and do an over and under (coming down on 6?) for 1 1/2 traveling clockwise turn for follower to get R-L behind follower’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 next was another Copa start with L-R connection made and going over follower but with leader occupying follower’s space on 5 (rather than turning her in any direction) with L-R high and R-L low then leader turning 1/2 counterclockwise with R-L briefly disconnected and reconnected
1,2,3,5,6,7 it’s an open hold but with L-R on R side and R-L on L side underneath L-R to start with – unfortunately this position was not really utilized – back basic instead
1,2,3,5,6,7 this was quite awkward for me (very different movement than I am used to) – leader turns 1/2 clockwise with R-L connection only and R-L wrapped on leader’s neck on 3 – step to right on 5 and lead follower forward with R-L and doing a 1/2 clockwise turn while leader turns full counterclockwise to get back to facing follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to a stationary clockwise turn with both connections intact while leader also turns full counterclockwise at the same time – this is fairly simple move but a stylistic change was introduced so that at about 1/2 turn point for leader L-R and R-L is by L and R side of leader’s neck and R-L is brought over leader’s head as final ~1/2 turn is made … this makes the move look more interesting (or at least it did for Tiz)
1,2,3,5,6,7 in place open break and into CBL position with R-L going over follower’s head – lead follower into traveling 1/2 clockwise turn with all connections intact and R-L being repositioned all the way to behind followers R shoulder underneath L-R at the end
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-L is positioned behind follower’s R shoulder and is used to disconnect R-L and lead follower’s free L hand to make a counterclockwise (from leader’s perspective) sweeping motion and reconnect to get back to open position
1,2,3,5,6,7 repeat first move
1,2,3,5,6,7 repeat second move but end with simple double-crossed hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise and bring connections over his head and down to on the shoulders behind his neck – lead follower into CBL using R-L as the lead and leader turns full counterclockwise with R-L going over to get back to open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start and with leader positioned to L of follower on 3 – follower is held in place or led slightly backwards on 4 and leader does a hook turn to get into a cross pass position (facing away from follower’s line with L-R behind leader’s R waist)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward while leader turns 1/2 clockwise and holding follower’s R wrist/arm with R arm (letting go L-R of course) and lead follower into traveling 1 1/2 clockwise turn (downward toss lead, I think) with leader turning full clockwise with L hand kept behind R waist throughout – get back to cross-pass position again (L-R behind leader’s R waist with leader facing away from follower’s line)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward letting go L-R while leader moves behind follower and holding/checking follower’s hips with both hands to bring follower backwards (preferred footwork involved R foot crossed behind L foot on 5, which is not something I always do – maybe it would look better to do so)
1,2,3,5,6,7 Mambo jazz and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling turn (clockwise will do)
I was a little late, but Joe and company arrived even later. Vishal joked that I’ll have to teach the class if they don’t show up. Such scenario would be scary especially considering the class size. I imagine that I could conceivably come up with reasonable material for up to improver level with few minutes of consideration. However, that would not be the same as being able to teach it effectively. I think I am quite content staying as a student as I still feel that I have quite a lot to learn from each and every class.
It felt like a rather quiet evening even though fair number of people stayed to dance for about an hour or so before gradually dispersing. People I regularly dance with were limited to Anastasia, Lorraine and Stephanie (I danced with other people too of course). Like her compatriot Cyrille, Anastasia was recovering from (hip?) injury suffered during dancing. Sergio was there and danced maybe 2 or 3 times; nice to see that he's still alive and well. I also watched Rajiv dance with Stephanie; somewhat notable mostly in that I don't watch him dance very much these days. I think I might be doing a little more watching than I used to - perhaps because I am spending more time catching my breath, etc rather than dancing non-stop.
Vishal seems to have given up on the idea of hiring a coach for the Scala this Saturday and was talking more about organizing carpool. It looks increasingly likely that I will go as well - not sure about transportation method but I am probably coordinating with Cyrille. London seemingly is increasingly becoming common destination for more Cambridge Salsa dancers in general (rather than select few), which partly may explain lukewarm responses to some recent special Salsa events in Cambridge.
At one point, I was rummaging through Vishal's CD case for possible songs to play (Vishal was preoccupied). While it was difficult to ascertain everything he had (presumably not represented in total in this particular case), the amount of choice seemed a little dire in my opinion (way too much non-Salsa) and made me think, "No wonder he plays same thing all the time" [note: he plays more new stuff than he used to.] I picked one song from his CDs simply based on artist name and song (neither of which I was familiar with) and was fortunate in that the chosen song was not terrible. I also picked as as the final song, which Vishal labelled Tito Puente - Mambo, which turned out to be a live version of Ran Kan Kan from the album Mambo Birdland.
Exchange of the day - "It sounds like something you might hear in a cruise liner." "I suppose the Royal Canadian Line. The band's from Toronto, Canada."
Sacala A Bailar - Cache (It's from a CD of the band Cache I lent (permanently?) to Vishal. This is the same band that did Contigo-With You.). This exchange was not made with Sergio.
Exchange of the day 2 - "I missed your DJing Friday." "I didn't play last Friday." "Exactly." "Oh! Thanks! (or maybe I skipped Thanks) You know I don't play many songs I would like to play?" so on…
And I thought last Friday's music was alright considering everything...
A quickie stop for the Salsa dance competition
October 15, 2006
After rushing through work and not really finishing it, I headed home a little after 8 for a meal before heading of to Club Salsa to check out the competition.
I did make a perfunctory effort to find a dance partner for the competition by trying to get in touch with 3 people (and succeeding with only 1). I failed. No big deal. In the back of my mind, I thought it is always possible to just pick a random person as a partner at the last minute if I felt inspired enough.
Dance competitions do not interest me very much for variety of reasons. Perhaps I care least about the fact the quality of the dance is judged by some arbitrary onlooker(s) using some arbitrary definition. For example, Cristian (tonight's judge) would have looked for a number of factors possibly including difficulty of moves, quality of partner-work executions, stylistics or artistry, musical interpretation, showmanship, shines (if any), etc. There might be other things he might have looked for as well as overlooked. He might place greater importance on some things over others. Almost certainly his opinions would not be identical to mine. This of course applies to anyone - the judge could be Ivan, Sally, Johnny, Serap, Joe Davids, Sergio, Cyrille, Rhona, Helen, the Salsa team, Frankie Martinez, Eddie Torres, etc. Different people will have different standards, and standards change over time too.
Perhaps the most intriguing part of entering competitions for me is the preparation. Thus far Salsa dancing involved practicing routines taught in class during the class, using the material learned in class during social dancing and experimenting and playing with things I learned in class or by accident while social dancing (aside from a very small amount of practices outside the class (e.g. working on body isolations, spins, shines by myself for a minute or two occasionally or reviewing turn patterns with random available person after a class). A concerted practice for a performance or competition offers interesting possibilities (some of which I might not realize until I actually do one).
I arrived after 9 PM. It was a little on the quiet side. Vishal was suffering from a hangover. I guess he partied too hard last night.
More people arrived after me. I had not seen Zern in a while (he has different regular nights also) - he entered the competition with Euvian and made it to the next round. Cyrille also arrived later - still smarting from his hand injury.
Stephanie was there too. She has become a real revelation. In addition to having improved her technique and style, she also developed a quite a taste for (or strong opinions about) music. Everyone has different taste of course, but in my book she has a very good ear. Long time ago when she first danced with me, she declared that I can dance with her anytime (or something like that -- at least that's how recall it). Back then, I thought was she was pretty good but I would not have gone as far as to return the compliment. Probably the best thing about her was that she was happy to dance with me. Now she's simply great period - and I am thrilled that she is still happy to dance with me (at least when she likes the song) - and not just once a night either. You never know how people will turn out in a relatively short amount of time.
Stephanie was a last second participant of the Salsa competition - she says she dislikes competitions but she was dragged into one twice in a row now. This time, William was her partner. They made it to next round too.
I didn't enter. I wasn't inspired enough.
Near the end of the evening, Zern and Cyrille talked themselves into leading each other. I decided that it would be fun to join in. Zern's a little easier to lead than Cyrille. Zern said he also found Cyrille difficult to lead. We also talked about possibility of going to the Scala this Saturday.
Eventually the music ended and I went back to work. I will worry about Bachata but not until tomorrow.
After rushing through work and not really finishing it, I headed home a little after 8 for a meal before heading of to Club Salsa to check out the competition.
I did make a perfunctory effort to find a dance partner for the competition by trying to get in touch with 3 people (and succeeding with only 1). I failed. No big deal. In the back of my mind, I thought it is always possible to just pick a random person as a partner at the last minute if I felt inspired enough.
Dance competitions do not interest me very much for variety of reasons. Perhaps I care least about the fact the quality of the dance is judged by some arbitrary onlooker(s) using some arbitrary definition. For example, Cristian (tonight's judge) would have looked for a number of factors possibly including difficulty of moves, quality of partner-work executions, stylistics or artistry, musical interpretation, showmanship, shines (if any), etc. There might be other things he might have looked for as well as overlooked. He might place greater importance on some things over others. Almost certainly his opinions would not be identical to mine. This of course applies to anyone - the judge could be Ivan, Sally, Johnny, Serap, Joe Davids, Sergio, Cyrille, Rhona, Helen, the Salsa team, Frankie Martinez, Eddie Torres, etc. Different people will have different standards, and standards change over time too.
Perhaps the most intriguing part of entering competitions for me is the preparation. Thus far Salsa dancing involved practicing routines taught in class during the class, using the material learned in class during social dancing and experimenting and playing with things I learned in class or by accident while social dancing (aside from a very small amount of practices outside the class (e.g. working on body isolations, spins, shines by myself for a minute or two occasionally or reviewing turn patterns with random available person after a class). A concerted practice for a performance or competition offers interesting possibilities (some of which I might not realize until I actually do one).
I arrived after 9 PM. It was a little on the quiet side. Vishal was suffering from a hangover. I guess he partied too hard last night.
More people arrived after me. I had not seen Zern in a while (he has different regular nights also) - he entered the competition with Euvian and made it to the next round. Cyrille also arrived later - still smarting from his hand injury.
Stephanie was there too. She has become a real revelation. In addition to having improved her technique and style, she also developed a quite a taste for (or strong opinions about) music. Everyone has different taste of course, but in my book she has a very good ear. Long time ago when she first danced with me, she declared that I can dance with her anytime (or something like that -- at least that's how recall it). Back then, I thought was she was pretty good but I would not have gone as far as to return the compliment. Probably the best thing about her was that she was happy to dance with me. Now she's simply great period - and I am thrilled that she is still happy to dance with me (at least when she likes the song) - and not just once a night either. You never know how people will turn out in a relatively short amount of time.
Stephanie was a last second participant of the Salsa competition - she says she dislikes competitions but she was dragged into one twice in a row now. This time, William was her partner. They made it to next round too.
I didn't enter. I wasn't inspired enough.
Near the end of the evening, Zern and Cyrille talked themselves into leading each other. I decided that it would be fun to join in. Zern's a little easier to lead than Cyrille. Zern said he also found Cyrille difficult to lead. We also talked about possibility of going to the Scala this Saturday.
Eventually the music ended and I went back to work. I will worry about Bachata but not until tomorrow.
Pair of reunions
October 13, 2006
When I arrived around 10:20 PM, I saw that Mimi was there. My instant thought was that it's a great evening already. When was the last time I saw her? Two months ago? [note added later: It was a little over 5 weeks ago.] For the past two weeks, I was tempted to call her to say I missed her or to ask when I would get to see her again. I thanked Cyrille for waking her from her slumber and talking her into coming tonight – I probably would have broke down at some point but possibly not for another week. Funny thing is that she told me that she never sees me at Club Salsa anymore – this is because we inconveniently have picked different nights of the week as our regular Salsa night(s).
A little later in the evening, an even bigger surprise sprung up on me in the form of Tamaryn. Have I ever seen her at Club Salsa before? I’m not sure. How long has it been? Almost a year?! [note added later: It was in early November last year at the Grad Pad.] I tried get in touch with Sergio to let him know – but it didn’t work. In any case, I was thrilled to see her again and danced with her as often as possible – although I also somehow ended up talking myself out of a dance at one point (what was I thinking??). She talked about coming out dancing another time in near future – maybe it won’t take another 11+ months this time.
While I also danced with several others (as well as failing to ask several others I often dance with), my reunion with Mimi and Tamaryn kept me very occupied. I am unsure how I would have dealt with the evening if there were any more pleasant surprises. Who am I kidding? I probably would have coped just fine - probably.
I imagine Richard was happy to see Tamaryn also - we know each other all the way back from the CDC days, and presumably Richard and Tamaryn knew each other before I started attending the CDC Salsa classes in the Lent term 2005. In Mimi's case, Cyrille is always happy to see her; he probably danced with Mimi even more than I did (and I danced with Mimi more than usual tonight - possibly a record number with her).
Cristian tried to talk me into attending his Salsa competition. It's only 2 days away, and I don't have a dance partner. Hmm. If I were to do it, whom would I ask? I probably would not ask one of the Salsa team members (as they are or soon should be paired up). It would make sense to ask someone who would be here all three weekends - this probably rules out few more people. Heck, I'm not sure if I would want to stick around for 3 weekends rather than skipping over to London for SOS (although this weekend is looking increasingly impossible). I could also think of it in terms of how many people I can try to contact before the event (maybe 10 people, and half are with the team). Urgh. This is already more work than I'd like.
On a related topic, Cyrille mentioned that he's dropping out of the Salsa dance competition because he would not be here for the final third weekend. I tried to rankle him by saying something like, "So you were assuming that you will make the finals?" Kidding aside sifting through possible entrants, Cyrille would have been as good a candidate as anyone to make it to the finals.
I didn't dance any Merengue - possibly disappointing Cyrille by not doing so. I was dancing with Mimi when a token Reggaeton came on, and I invited Cyrille to the floor as I have even less idea of how to dance to Reggaeton. This somehow led to a small limbo session - perhaps done with slightly more enthusiasm than one or two others times I saw this being tried. Mimi tried to teach some line dance (which she learned in Mexico?) with limited success.
By the end of the evening, Mimi was too tired to ride her bicycle. Cyrille seemed pensive and talked about going to Spain for a day tomorrow - I'm guessing at least half in jest. I on my part was happy to have another pleasant Friday - no more Merengue/Bachata/Reggaeton than expected (and perhaps less than usual) and Salsa music seemed fine enough if not superlative.
Mishaps of the day - I shook hands with Cyrille - too firmly - twice. I squirmed in embarrassment as Cyrille cried out in pain.
Exchange of the day - "He always dances with good-looking girls." "It's probably good for business."
When I arrived around 10:20 PM, I saw that Mimi was there. My instant thought was that it's a great evening already. When was the last time I saw her? Two months ago? [note added later: It was a little over 5 weeks ago.] For the past two weeks, I was tempted to call her to say I missed her or to ask when I would get to see her again. I thanked Cyrille for waking her from her slumber and talking her into coming tonight – I probably would have broke down at some point but possibly not for another week. Funny thing is that she told me that she never sees me at Club Salsa anymore – this is because we inconveniently have picked different nights of the week as our regular Salsa night(s).
A little later in the evening, an even bigger surprise sprung up on me in the form of Tamaryn. Have I ever seen her at Club Salsa before? I’m not sure. How long has it been? Almost a year?! [note added later: It was in early November last year at the Grad Pad.] I tried get in touch with Sergio to let him know – but it didn’t work. In any case, I was thrilled to see her again and danced with her as often as possible – although I also somehow ended up talking myself out of a dance at one point (what was I thinking??). She talked about coming out dancing another time in near future – maybe it won’t take another 11+ months this time.
While I also danced with several others (as well as failing to ask several others I often dance with), my reunion with Mimi and Tamaryn kept me very occupied. I am unsure how I would have dealt with the evening if there were any more pleasant surprises. Who am I kidding? I probably would have coped just fine - probably.
I imagine Richard was happy to see Tamaryn also - we know each other all the way back from the CDC days, and presumably Richard and Tamaryn knew each other before I started attending the CDC Salsa classes in the Lent term 2005. In Mimi's case, Cyrille is always happy to see her; he probably danced with Mimi even more than I did (and I danced with Mimi more than usual tonight - possibly a record number with her).
Cristian tried to talk me into attending his Salsa competition. It's only 2 days away, and I don't have a dance partner. Hmm. If I were to do it, whom would I ask? I probably would not ask one of the Salsa team members (as they are or soon should be paired up). It would make sense to ask someone who would be here all three weekends - this probably rules out few more people. Heck, I'm not sure if I would want to stick around for 3 weekends rather than skipping over to London for SOS (although this weekend is looking increasingly impossible). I could also think of it in terms of how many people I can try to contact before the event (maybe 10 people, and half are with the team). Urgh. This is already more work than I'd like.
On a related topic, Cyrille mentioned that he's dropping out of the Salsa dance competition because he would not be here for the final third weekend. I tried to rankle him by saying something like, "So you were assuming that you will make the finals?" Kidding aside sifting through possible entrants, Cyrille would have been as good a candidate as anyone to make it to the finals.
I didn't dance any Merengue - possibly disappointing Cyrille by not doing so. I was dancing with Mimi when a token Reggaeton came on, and I invited Cyrille to the floor as I have even less idea of how to dance to Reggaeton. This somehow led to a small limbo session - perhaps done with slightly more enthusiasm than one or two others times I saw this being tried. Mimi tried to teach some line dance (which she learned in Mexico?) with limited success.
By the end of the evening, Mimi was too tired to ride her bicycle. Cyrille seemed pensive and talked about going to Spain for a day tomorrow - I'm guessing at least half in jest. I on my part was happy to have another pleasant Friday - no more Merengue/Bachata/Reggaeton than expected (and perhaps less than usual) and Salsa music seemed fine enough if not superlative.
Mishaps of the day - I shook hands with Cyrille - too firmly - twice. I squirmed in embarrassment as Cyrille cried out in pain.
Exchange of the day - "He always dances with good-looking girls." "It's probably good for business."
Yo-yo of an evening
October 12, 2006
Advanced with Sally
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL with 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn for follower (=inside turn … best technique for this move always uses a slight downward lead on 5) end with L-R high for…
1,2,3,5,6,7 high preparation (keeping L-R no lower than shoulder level at any point) and lead follower to triple stationary clockwise turn with leader turning 1/2 counterclockwise for drop catch – end with R-R on R side of leader
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower in on R side with R-R going straight up (think of it as making a large circular clockwise motion along follower’s line from leader’s perspective – at times Sally thought I was rushing a little at the beginning and end up having to pause whereas the lead probably should be continuous) to lead follower into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn with R-R ending at about leader’s shoulder for a drop catch (as leader turns slightly – really no more than ~1/4 turn to face away from follower’s line as leader’s feet need not have turn at all from 1 to 7) to get to L-R behind leader’s back
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and Copa with L-R used to lead follower into Copa position (downward lead) with free L hand resting on follower’s hip to indicate Copa turn – leader then turns 1 1/4 counterclockwise (I suppose 2 1/4 is possible and may be worth trying at some point perhaps with a slow song) to face away from follower and again and offer R for R-R connection (I suspect this would be tough for many follower’s to catch R-R)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break again and bring follower on R side again with R-R going all the way over follower’s head (watch my elbow!) and down a ways with L-L connection made in front – lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn bringing R-R together with L-L (I think this needs a touch-and-go) then bringing follower into crucifix position
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to a stationary clockwise turn (1 1/2, 2 1/2, 3 1/2 whatever)
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L on top of R-R open break and bring follower in on L side with full counterclockwise turn (some traveling involved) in 2,3 with R-R resting on follower’s shoulder and L-L in front of follower – I think Sally called for 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn touch-and-go
It was a yo-yo sort of evening. I was in rather low spirits and was quite convinced that it wasn’t going to be a good night of dancing for me at the start. And then Sally’s class started and I wondered why I worried. It was all very fine. Then it all ended, and I was back where I started. Why? Maybe because I think that this might be as good as it gets.
A very surprising participant in Sally's class made the usual ratio for the advanced class even more skewed than usual. I asked him whether he was there to teach the class - nope, he was taking the class - perhaps as a lark. Followers have much more work on this routine (although looking back, I see that leaders have some turns as well - perhaps it's because turns have become no more difficult than walking) while leader focuses mostly on leading well. It seemed like Sally was emphasizing technique more than usual tonight.
A couple of people I haven't seen in a while were back. The last time I saw Cyrille was for the SOS trip more than 10 days ago. I had not seen Zhenzhi since Newmarket almost 4 weeks ago. Cyrille showed me where he cut back of his hand while dancing - I had never considered nooks and crannies as dangerous spots before. Zhenzhi has new dance shoes - what is with shoes being such a big topic lately (e.g. at the londonsalsa.co.uk forum)? Cyrille also talked about entering Cristian's Salsa competition - a minor surprise.
I left after the class for a quick bite and minor chores at home. By the time I returned (the second class had not ended yet), more people had gathered. Cyrille was nowhere in sight though. Sergio was also absent. Sergio presumably will return to Bethesda for several months for his research while Cyrille talks about wanting to go back to France soon. I am not looking forward to these eventualities and also was reminded of people who were not there.
There were many people on the dance floor tonight. At times, it was crowded enough to feel like a Friday.Almost all of the team girls were there whereas barely over half of the team guys were there. Apparently all but two members of the new team were there, but I have not met two of the leads yet. I met one of the new leads from Singapore - the new team has 3-people strong Singapore contingent (out of 14) all studying similar topic. Apparently the team practices started yesterday and they have yet to make arrangement on pairings. I only recall seeing Mark among leads dance tonight - but then again I was doing even less looking or talking than usual (and I could easily have missed two others because I didn't know them).
My dances were fine. I think I was leading much more multiple spins than I have been doing in recent days. Perhaps I was trying to make up for Cyrille's absence. Or perhaps it was some desperate attempt to generate extra energy or excitement - it seemed mildly successful at best. I had a lot of dances with many good dance partners, some brand new, so I should be happy. In fact I wondered if I danced too much and not socialize enough.
Factoid of the day - I was told tonight that in Spain, people give two kisses at the end of each dance. That would be difficult to do in Cambridge especially when DJs are fusing songs - Sally never fuses songs of course although she did play one El Gran Combo medley track.
Speaking of DJing, Sally in my opinion might be the best at picking a new danceable song in Cambridge right now. I think she played some Hector Lavoe songs (with or without Willie Colon?) including some I didn't recognize. Vishal talked about wanting to focus on DJing more and managing the club less. Cristian will be the main DJ tomorrow, but Vishal still wants me to play in the future (we agreed on not tomorrow though). I also meant to talk to some people about Tony (regarding how I might want to format the class, etc) but it completely escaped my mind while I was there tonight.
Passing thought of the day (because I didn't converse enough to find something interesting enough to be considered for the quote of the day) - "He got a lot more than he bargained for. She looks like a handful. Poor guy."
I can dance a little now so I am still in one piece. Sergio made a comment like this once to me at the Rocket - it wasn't quite so bad though.
Advanced with Sally
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL with 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn for follower (=inside turn … best technique for this move always uses a slight downward lead on 5) end with L-R high for…
1,2,3,5,6,7 high preparation (keeping L-R no lower than shoulder level at any point) and lead follower to triple stationary clockwise turn with leader turning 1/2 counterclockwise for drop catch – end with R-R on R side of leader
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower in on R side with R-R going straight up (think of it as making a large circular clockwise motion along follower’s line from leader’s perspective – at times Sally thought I was rushing a little at the beginning and end up having to pause whereas the lead probably should be continuous) to lead follower into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn with R-R ending at about leader’s shoulder for a drop catch (as leader turns slightly – really no more than ~1/4 turn to face away from follower’s line as leader’s feet need not have turn at all from 1 to 7) to get to L-R behind leader’s back
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and Copa with L-R used to lead follower into Copa position (downward lead) with free L hand resting on follower’s hip to indicate Copa turn – leader then turns 1 1/4 counterclockwise (I suppose 2 1/4 is possible and may be worth trying at some point perhaps with a slow song) to face away from follower and again and offer R for R-R connection (I suspect this would be tough for many follower’s to catch R-R)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break again and bring follower on R side again with R-R going all the way over follower’s head (watch my elbow!) and down a ways with L-L connection made in front – lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn bringing R-R together with L-L (I think this needs a touch-and-go) then bringing follower into crucifix position
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to a stationary clockwise turn (1 1/2, 2 1/2, 3 1/2 whatever)
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L on top of R-R open break and bring follower in on L side with full counterclockwise turn (some traveling involved) in 2,3 with R-R resting on follower’s shoulder and L-L in front of follower – I think Sally called for 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn touch-and-go
It was a yo-yo sort of evening. I was in rather low spirits and was quite convinced that it wasn’t going to be a good night of dancing for me at the start. And then Sally’s class started and I wondered why I worried. It was all very fine. Then it all ended, and I was back where I started. Why? Maybe because I think that this might be as good as it gets.
A very surprising participant in Sally's class made the usual ratio for the advanced class even more skewed than usual. I asked him whether he was there to teach the class - nope, he was taking the class - perhaps as a lark. Followers have much more work on this routine (although looking back, I see that leaders have some turns as well - perhaps it's because turns have become no more difficult than walking) while leader focuses mostly on leading well. It seemed like Sally was emphasizing technique more than usual tonight.
A couple of people I haven't seen in a while were back. The last time I saw Cyrille was for the SOS trip more than 10 days ago. I had not seen Zhenzhi since Newmarket almost 4 weeks ago. Cyrille showed me where he cut back of his hand while dancing - I had never considered nooks and crannies as dangerous spots before. Zhenzhi has new dance shoes - what is with shoes being such a big topic lately (e.g. at the londonsalsa.co.uk forum)? Cyrille also talked about entering Cristian's Salsa competition - a minor surprise.
I left after the class for a quick bite and minor chores at home. By the time I returned (the second class had not ended yet), more people had gathered. Cyrille was nowhere in sight though. Sergio was also absent. Sergio presumably will return to Bethesda for several months for his research while Cyrille talks about wanting to go back to France soon. I am not looking forward to these eventualities and also was reminded of people who were not there.
There were many people on the dance floor tonight. At times, it was crowded enough to feel like a Friday.
My dances were fine. I think I was leading much more multiple spins than I have been doing in recent days. Perhaps I was trying to make up for Cyrille's absence. Or perhaps it was some desperate attempt to generate extra energy or excitement - it seemed mildly successful at best. I had a lot of dances with many good dance partners, some brand new, so I should be happy. In fact I wondered if I danced too much and not socialize enough.
Factoid of the day - I was told tonight that in Spain, people give two kisses at the end of each dance. That would be difficult to do in Cambridge especially when DJs are fusing songs - Sally never fuses songs of course although she did play one El Gran Combo medley track.
Speaking of DJing, Sally in my opinion might be the best at picking a new danceable song in Cambridge right now. I think she played some Hector Lavoe songs (with or without Willie Colon?) including some I didn't recognize. Vishal talked about wanting to focus on DJing more and managing the club less. Cristian will be the main DJ tomorrow, but Vishal still wants me to play in the future (we agreed on not tomorrow though). I also meant to talk to some people about Tony (regarding how I might want to format the class, etc) but it completely escaped my mind while I was there tonight.
Passing thought of the day (because I didn't converse enough to find something interesting enough to be considered for the quote of the day) - "He got a lot more than he bargained for. She looks like a handful. Poor guy."
I can dance a little now so I am still in one piece. Sergio made a comment like this once to me at the Rocket - it wasn't quite so bad though.
Glutton for punishment
October 11, 2006
The Tony Lara Bachata event is more or less set. Details (tentative) as written below.
Tuesday 21st November 2006
Bachata classes with special invited teachers
Tony Lara & Daniela De Francesco (Bari, Italy)
Intermediate Bachata 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Beginner/Improver Bachata 8:45 PM - 9:45 PM
No advanced booking required. Tony's Bachata instruction DVDs (vols. 1-3) will be available for sale. For more info, visit http://www.ilovebachata.com
Dancing til late with DJ Tony and guest DJs.
£5 per class.
--
Let's see how much beating I take this time around. If you have suggestions, let me know as nothing except for the date is set in stone at this point. I'll start working on fliers after Monday.
The Tony Lara Bachata event is more or less set. Details (tentative) as written below.
Tuesday 21st November 2006
Bachata classes with special invited teachers
Tony Lara & Daniela De Francesco (Bari, Italy)
Intermediate Bachata 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Beginner/Improver Bachata 8:45 PM - 9:45 PM
No advanced booking required. Tony's Bachata instruction DVDs (vols. 1-3) will be available for sale. For more info, visit http://www.ilovebachata.com
Dancing til late with DJ Tony and guest DJs.
£5 per class.
--
Let's see how much beating I take this time around. If you have suggestions, let me know as nothing except for the date is set in stone at this point. I'll start working on fliers after Monday.
Misquotapalooza
October 9, 2006
Intermediate with Joe
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R hold prepare and lead follower into stationary double clockwise turn ending with pizza waiter position for both
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and Copa start but follower is asked to stay in place while leader occupies her previous place and spins clockwise to do effectively a drop catch to end R-R by leader’s R waist – leader is facing away from follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 check follower over L on 1 and turn around on 2,3 with R-R raised to just above follower’s head and L-L connection made low (follower may have started turning clockwise a little by 3) – leader is stepping forward starting on 5 and moving around follower in clockwise fashion while follower is led to turn more or less on spot clockwise with L-L raised (but not really above follower’s head) and R-R lowered – a possible position on 8 is that leader has effectively turned around full clockwise while being positioned behind follower while follower has turned around about 1 1/4 clockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 follower is led to complete her clockwise turn to make it effectively a double turn starting from previous 3 – I think the main lead must come from R-R low to complete this turn (I found it a little tricky after the class when trying to lead it with people outside the class) ending with L-L hold only – 5,6,7 is basic, which is a possible source of confusion – in class followers were suggested to do a kick shine on 5,6,7 followed by CBL with turn and a hat finish
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-R hold prepare and lead follower to double turn with leader turning 1/2 clockwise for drop-catch to end R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower in making L-L connection and R-R going over follower’s head – R-R is brought straight up and down along follower’s line from 5 to 6 while L-L is left in place in front while waiting for R-R to meet it and L-L and R-R together or L-R/L is used to lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn (something like a windmill motion) with leader (optionally) turning clockwise at the same time
1,2,3,5,6,7 break back and toss follower’s hand up in the air so that she goes into diving position and with hands on follower’s waist lead follower to free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn – leader can turn too
I'm dispensing with simple moves like CBL at the beginning and end. All notes are liable to have mistakes (as is the case always) and are likely to be gibberish for most readers.
Ivan made a surprise appearance – maybe he’s trying to build up his stamina. He gave me the skinny on the results of the team trials – congratulations to the seven couples who made the team. I was delighted to hear about friends who made the cut and also look forward to seeing some new members. No names here arguably for privacy reasons (although I suppose no one would care) but more because I don't know the names of all of the leads. Ivan seemed pretty excited about guiding the new team.
I think I saw the Penguin – not completely sure if it was a single specific shine with a signature arm/hand motion or a shine with dozen variations with similar footwork with or without what I thought might be the defining arm/hand motion.
The music was quite nice early in the evening. I’m not sure if Joe picked all of the early songs. Gordon picked out Merecumbe (was it Los Titanes version again? it wasn’t Johnny Colon – at this time I don’t have any versions of this song) as a song he liked except he wanted it played faster. Many people have difficulty with slow songs for some reason.
Apparently my quote of the day from Thursday was not verbatim accurate. Oh well. I did say that my memory is not perfect (whose is?).
New and probably inaccurate quote of the day – “I like to mix it up and try different nights.”
It’s like box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get. It’ll always be up and down depending on who’s there and who’s not. I suppose the biggest constant for different nights and venues might be the DJ – with caveat that the DJ situation on Fridays seems quite fluid these days.
I would rate my form tonight as fine but not exceptional – missing an element or two. There were plenty of good dances though. Maybe I’m a little spoiled by having too many highly memorable nights recently. That could become problematic because not every night can be unusual or exceptional. At least I still feel like I can see tangible progress from a month to next if not every other week or so. Now that I said it, all may go wrong now of course.
Apparently SOS yesterday was very crowded but not necessarily because of unusual number of exceptional dancers according to two independent sources. That’s a first – and hopefully not something that will become typical. I had briefly entertained the idea of going to to SOS yesterday after having tried to talk myself out of it for most of the week. Maybe I’ll go next week, but I also could foresee taking a 3-week break as a possibility.
Vishal seemed more serious about possibility of organizing a coach for the next Scala all-nighter on Oct 21. Apparently he will act as one of the DJs that night, so I suppose he has extra incentive to organize something. It may all come down to organizing car-share in the end however. I don't know what to think of Scala. Their floor is not great and the floor layout is not to my liking. There is also the question of whether it will be too crowded or too sparse. Music at least should have decent variety and proper sound quality. So…should I stay home or should I go?
RE: iDJ Tony. A date has been suggested but confirmation is taking a very long time.
Quote of the day "for real" - "I'm going to play one more song then call it a night… No. He just bought a beer. I'll play two more songs."
Disclaimers make a comeback - I don't carry a tape recorder around. Also short term memory is the first to go. Senility is setting in. Quotes may not be exact.
Intermediate with Joe
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R hold prepare and lead follower into stationary double clockwise turn ending with pizza waiter position for both
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and Copa start but follower is asked to stay in place while leader occupies her previous place and spins clockwise to do effectively a drop catch to end R-R by leader’s R waist – leader is facing away from follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 check follower over L on 1 and turn around on 2,3 with R-R raised to just above follower’s head and L-L connection made low (follower may have started turning clockwise a little by 3) – leader is stepping forward starting on 5 and moving around follower in clockwise fashion while follower is led to turn more or less on spot clockwise with L-L raised (but not really above follower’s head) and R-R lowered – a possible position on 8 is that leader has effectively turned around full clockwise while being positioned behind follower while follower has turned around about 1 1/4 clockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 follower is led to complete her clockwise turn to make it effectively a double turn starting from previous 3 – I think the main lead must come from R-R low to complete this turn (I found it a little tricky after the class when trying to lead it with people outside the class) ending with L-L hold only – 5,6,7 is basic, which is a possible source of confusion – in class followers were suggested to do a kick shine on 5,6,7 followed by CBL with turn and a hat finish
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-R hold prepare and lead follower to double turn with leader turning 1/2 clockwise for drop-catch to end R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower in making L-L connection and R-R going over follower’s head – R-R is brought straight up and down along follower’s line from 5 to 6 while L-L is left in place in front while waiting for R-R to meet it and L-L and R-R together or L-R/L is used to lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn (something like a windmill motion) with leader (optionally) turning clockwise at the same time
1,2,3,5,6,7 break back and toss follower’s hand up in the air so that she goes into diving position and with hands on follower’s waist lead follower to free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn – leader can turn too
I'm dispensing with simple moves like CBL at the beginning and end. All notes are liable to have mistakes (as is the case always) and are likely to be gibberish for most readers.
Ivan made a surprise appearance – maybe he’s trying to build up his stamina. He gave me the skinny on the results of the team trials – congratulations to the seven couples who made the team. I was delighted to hear about friends who made the cut and also look forward to seeing some new members. No names here arguably for privacy reasons (although I suppose no one would care) but more because I don't know the names of all of the leads. Ivan seemed pretty excited about guiding the new team.
I think I saw the Penguin – not completely sure if it was a single specific shine with a signature arm/hand motion or a shine with dozen variations with similar footwork with or without what I thought might be the defining arm/hand motion.
The music was quite nice early in the evening. I’m not sure if Joe picked all of the early songs. Gordon picked out Merecumbe (was it Los Titanes version again? it wasn’t Johnny Colon – at this time I don’t have any versions of this song) as a song he liked except he wanted it played faster. Many people have difficulty with slow songs for some reason.
Apparently my quote of the day from Thursday was not verbatim accurate. Oh well. I did say that my memory is not perfect (whose is?).
New and probably inaccurate quote of the day – “I like to mix it up and try different nights.”
It’s like box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get. It’ll always be up and down depending on who’s there and who’s not. I suppose the biggest constant for different nights and venues might be the DJ – with caveat that the DJ situation on Fridays seems quite fluid these days.
I would rate my form tonight as fine but not exceptional – missing an element or two. There were plenty of good dances though. Maybe I’m a little spoiled by having too many highly memorable nights recently. That could become problematic because not every night can be unusual or exceptional. At least I still feel like I can see tangible progress from a month to next if not every other week or so. Now that I said it, all may go wrong now of course.
Apparently SOS yesterday was very crowded but not necessarily because of unusual number of exceptional dancers according to two independent sources. That’s a first – and hopefully not something that will become typical. I had briefly entertained the idea of going to to SOS yesterday after having tried to talk myself out of it for most of the week. Maybe I’ll go next week, but I also could foresee taking a 3-week break as a possibility.
Vishal seemed more serious about possibility of organizing a coach for the next Scala all-nighter on Oct 21. Apparently he will act as one of the DJs that night, so I suppose he has extra incentive to organize something. It may all come down to organizing car-share in the end however. I don't know what to think of Scala. Their floor is not great and the floor layout is not to my liking. There is also the question of whether it will be too crowded or too sparse. Music at least should have decent variety and proper sound quality. So…should I stay home or should I go?
RE: iDJ Tony. A date has been suggested but confirmation is taking a very long time.
Quote of the day "for real" - "I'm going to play one more song then call it a night… No. He just bought a beer. I'll play two more songs."
Disclaimers make a comeback - I don't carry a tape recorder around. Also short term memory is the first to go. Senility is setting in. Quotes may not be exact.
4 Merengues, 2 Bachatas and 1 Reggaeton later, I'm still feeling fine
October 6, 2006
Playlist
Soledad - La 33 (1)
Mi Bajo Y Yo - Oscar D'Leon (2)*
Brujeria - El Gran Combo
Barreras Ninguna - Jimmy Bosch
Lindo Yambu - Cheo Feliciano
1-800-Quiereme - Luisito Rosario (3)
El #100 - Tito Puente
Playa No More - Crystal Sierra (4)
Es La Musica - Massimo Scalici
You Rock My World - Michael Jackson (Berna Jam Rmx) (5)
Y Eso Duele - Gilberto Santa Rosa (-4%)
Ven Tu - Dominic Marte
Ojos Chinos - El Gran Combo
Para Ochun - Hector Lavoe (6)*
Caravan - Pucho and His Latin Soul Brothers (-4%) (7)
break
Aprieta - Joe Cuba Sextette (8)*
Songo Soron - Isidro Infante (9)*
Soy El Rey - Pete Rodriguez (10)
(1) I was a little late - in part because I was working on reorganizing my CD collection to fit the new case. Vishal was nowhere to be seen. Johnny played two songs including Esta Cobardia - Frankie Ruiz. I raised the volume and changed the light setting as preferred by Vish.
(2) The new organization is causing a minor havoc (just because it's new and big and cannot be moved around or be held in my hand). It would have been more interesting to play this song much later (for example after Cristian arrived). As it was, it was a little too fast at this time. I originally had You Rock My World on cue.
(3) Some girl asked for Reggaeton already! She threatened to leave in 20 minutes if Reggaeton was not played. Even Vishal would not play Reggaeton until 11 at the earliest and usually not until after midnight.
(4) I'm thinking that it's one of those nights. Lowering standard way down. Vishal played the same track about 30 minutes later.
(5) Vishal finally comes in and utters, "You've changed your mind about what to play. This is good. Commercial Salsa is what the Friday crowd wants." Ummm. Yeah. If so, I'm going to run out of songs very quickly. Besides, I'm not that interested in playing a lot of commercial Salsa. I might add that Michael Jackson probably made no money on this remix.
(6) Vishal comes in and says, "People don't like long songs (like this)". The song is a shade over 6 minutes. He considers taking over, and I talk him into letting me play one more.
(7) I danced to this one. It was not the smartest decision because it was my first dance and this song was very fast even slowed down. I think I was just trying my best to keep up with the song and doing rather little with it. Oh well.
(8) Some Merengue and Salsa later, I decide to start off with a Cha Cha. Big problem. Only half the sound is audible. Vocals section for example was completely missing. I could hear everything using the headphones but the speakers are not translating. Bloody hell!
(9) I meant to play El Pito but I was too stunned by the previous song debacle that I played the wrong song. It really didn't matter considering the crowd. I thought they rather liked it.
(10) Cristian comes into the DJ booth with his CD collection and asks, "Did Vish tell you?" No he did not. But I don't mind. This crowd is not for me, and I think I want to dance a bit tonight rather than DJ. The debacle with the speakers made me lose interest a great deal too.
17 Songs. 15 Salsa. 1 Bachata. 1 Cha Cha. 4 new songs.
There was a birthday but no birthday dance. Yup. That kind of night. Perhaps some people were saving themselves for an early morning session tomorrow. There was a short stretch where the dance floor was full for some songs here and there but it never stayed that way. Vishal ended up playing only one Reggaeton the whole night, which meant more Merengue than usual. Maybe a little more Salsa than usual later in the evening too.
Highly unusual night of dancing for me. My first dance was to Caravan as I mentioned earlier. Things settled down afterwards as songs simply became bland. Over the course of the evening, I must have danced at least 4 Merengue, 2 Bachata and 1 Reggaeton as well as whole lot of Salsa (compared to usual Fridays). A number of records were broken. It was very good for me.
One of the dances led to me getting scratched in my forehead with a fingernail. She came by later to examine the damage etc and said, "I hope your wife doesn't get upset about it." What? No worries there. The comment was downgraded to "girlfriend." Laughter. I looked at the damage next morning and exclaimed, "I look like Harry Potter!"
Overheard comment of the day (possibly misheard) - "He's going to break your heart."
Here's a fairly recent write-up on the topic on londonsalsa.co.uk. One view among many.
[Added 5 days later - My first instinct was to say along the lines of "Because he has no heart?" or "What about his heart?" I thought it may be too flippant so I went against stating such reactions. I'm still not sure if this is okay, but my mind kept wandering back - so there you go.]
Advice of the day for leads - especially ones with fairly large repertoire of moves. Start the dance slow. Gradually build it up. This is true even if you know your dance partner very well. Do this especially for first dance with a partner for the night. Do this especially if you are dancing with someone you never danced with. Do this even if this is your second, third or tenth dance with the same person that evening. I think it's important to build comfort level between you and your partner. Build your partner's confidence for herself and her confidence in you. Don't try to fit everything into one dance. There's no shame in repeating moves. Even advanced leads have finite number of moves. Eventually, you'll run out. There's no hurry. These are kind of things I have heard a number of times (and even wrote about once - using Susana Montero and SuperMario's LDA class on dancing etiquette as an excuse). Robert Charlemagne is another advocate of this type of approach.
I ended up dancing until nearly 2. There was a bit of snafu at closing time, which led to us being stuck downstairs for maybe 20 minutes or so. The evening ended with a little excursion involving sightseeing a windmill.
Playlist
Soledad - La 33 (1)
Mi Bajo Y Yo - Oscar D'Leon (2)*
Brujeria - El Gran Combo
Barreras Ninguna - Jimmy Bosch
Lindo Yambu - Cheo Feliciano
1-800-Quiereme - Luisito Rosario (3)
El #100 - Tito Puente
Playa No More - Crystal Sierra (4)
Es La Musica - Massimo Scalici
You Rock My World - Michael Jackson (Berna Jam Rmx) (5)
Y Eso Duele - Gilberto Santa Rosa (-4%)
Ven Tu - Dominic Marte
Ojos Chinos - El Gran Combo
Para Ochun - Hector Lavoe (6)*
Caravan - Pucho and His Latin Soul Brothers (-4%) (7)
break
Aprieta - Joe Cuba Sextette (8)*
Songo Soron - Isidro Infante (9)*
Soy El Rey - Pete Rodriguez (10)
(1) I was a little late - in part because I was working on reorganizing my CD collection to fit the new case. Vishal was nowhere to be seen. Johnny played two songs including Esta Cobardia - Frankie Ruiz. I raised the volume and changed the light setting as preferred by Vish.
(2) The new organization is causing a minor havoc (just because it's new and big and cannot be moved around or be held in my hand). It would have been more interesting to play this song much later (for example after Cristian arrived). As it was, it was a little too fast at this time. I originally had You Rock My World on cue.
(3) Some girl asked for Reggaeton already! She threatened to leave in 20 minutes if Reggaeton was not played. Even Vishal would not play Reggaeton until 11 at the earliest and usually not until after midnight.
(4) I'm thinking that it's one of those nights. Lowering standard way down. Vishal played the same track about 30 minutes later.
(5) Vishal finally comes in and utters, "You've changed your mind about what to play. This is good. Commercial Salsa is what the Friday crowd wants." Ummm. Yeah. If so, I'm going to run out of songs very quickly. Besides, I'm not that interested in playing a lot of commercial Salsa. I might add that Michael Jackson probably made no money on this remix.
(6) Vishal comes in and says, "People don't like long songs (like this)". The song is a shade over 6 minutes. He considers taking over, and I talk him into letting me play one more.
(7) I danced to this one. It was not the smartest decision because it was my first dance and this song was very fast even slowed down. I think I was just trying my best to keep up with the song and doing rather little with it. Oh well.
(8) Some Merengue and Salsa later, I decide to start off with a Cha Cha. Big problem. Only half the sound is audible. Vocals section for example was completely missing. I could hear everything using the headphones but the speakers are not translating. Bloody hell!
(9) I meant to play El Pito but I was too stunned by the previous song debacle that I played the wrong song. It really didn't matter considering the crowd. I thought they rather liked it.
(10) Cristian comes into the DJ booth with his CD collection and asks, "Did Vish tell you?" No he did not. But I don't mind. This crowd is not for me, and I think I want to dance a bit tonight rather than DJ. The debacle with the speakers made me lose interest a great deal too.
17 Songs. 15 Salsa. 1 Bachata. 1 Cha Cha. 4 new songs.
There was a birthday but no birthday dance. Yup. That kind of night. Perhaps some people were saving themselves for an early morning session tomorrow. There was a short stretch where the dance floor was full for some songs here and there but it never stayed that way. Vishal ended up playing only one Reggaeton the whole night, which meant more Merengue than usual. Maybe a little more Salsa than usual later in the evening too.
Highly unusual night of dancing for me. My first dance was to Caravan as I mentioned earlier. Things settled down afterwards as songs simply became bland. Over the course of the evening, I must have danced at least 4 Merengue, 2 Bachata and 1 Reggaeton as well as whole lot of Salsa (compared to usual Fridays). A number of records were broken. It was very good for me.
One of the dances led to me getting scratched in my forehead with a fingernail. She came by later to examine the damage etc and said, "I hope your wife doesn't get upset about it." What? No worries there. The comment was downgraded to "girlfriend." Laughter. I looked at the damage next morning and exclaimed, "I look like Harry Potter!"
Overheard comment of the day (possibly misheard) - "He's going to break your heart."
Here's a fairly recent write-up on the topic on londonsalsa.co.uk. One view among many.
[Added 5 days later - My first instinct was to say along the lines of "Because he has no heart?" or "What about his heart?" I thought it may be too flippant so I went against stating such reactions. I'm still not sure if this is okay, but my mind kept wandering back - so there you go.]
Advice of the day for leads - especially ones with fairly large repertoire of moves. Start the dance slow. Gradually build it up. This is true even if you know your dance partner very well. Do this especially for first dance with a partner for the night. Do this especially if you are dancing with someone you never danced with. Do this even if this is your second, third or tenth dance with the same person that evening. I think it's important to build comfort level between you and your partner. Build your partner's confidence for herself and her confidence in you. Don't try to fit everything into one dance. There's no shame in repeating moves. Even advanced leads have finite number of moves. Eventually, you'll run out. There's no hurry. These are kind of things I have heard a number of times (and even wrote about once - using Susana Montero and SuperMario's LDA class on dancing etiquette as an excuse). Robert Charlemagne is another advocate of this type of approach.
I ended up dancing until nearly 2. There was a bit of snafu at closing time, which led to us being stuck downstairs for maybe 20 minutes or so. The evening ended with a little excursion involving sightseeing a windmill.
School’s back in session
October 5, 2006
Advanced with Sally
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL and 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn for follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 open hold – leader turns 1/2 clockwise into open CBL position and lead follower into full traveling counterclockwise turn with hands/connections by follower’s shoulders in a wrap
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare on 1,2,3 (keeping follower looking ahead rather than turning around – don’t pull follower back – also I think twist especially on 1 is superfluous and possibly destabilizing) and lead follower forward on 4 into 2 1/2 counterclockwise over and under turn with L-R ending behind follower’s L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break to bring follower in and let follower unwrap with 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn (I think Sally may have asked for 2 1/2 but for social dancing purposes, 1 1/2 may be nicer and gives follower a minor reprieve) – leader turns away from follower in clockwise turn and switching to R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower in on leader’s R side with R-R going over follower’s head and L-L connection made briefly in front – use R-R to lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn with free L hand on follower’s L shoulder to stop follower from overturning
1,2,3,5,6,7 this is tricky – follower is turning on 2,3 (there is no usual 1,2 preparation (?) – leader is somehow supposed to convey that a quick turn is being led here using R-R positioned to R and perhaps also with L hand being where it is as twin signals – not sure if this works easily – I have tried leading similar move but with a full turn starting on 3 rather than 2 … taken from LDA 3.3) for 1 1/2 stationary clockwise turn with R-R over and under to get R-R in front of follower’s stomach and to her L waist – hmm… I wonder if the turn could be started on 3 with follower landing forward on 5 with leader absorbing momentum – in any case follower is led straight back either on 5,6,7 (or perhaps 6,7 could work as well) with leader stepping into follower’s space and turning clockwise to face follower and switching to L-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower in into closed hold and move as unit full clockwise (Sergio in a conversation over dinner called this a spot turn)
1,2,3,5,6,7 continue turning as unit clockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 finish with CBL (somewhat like Dile que no might work)
Some comments from Sally included bits like do not pull follower back (during the preparatory part for the third measure) and excellent control but try to add more feeling (for the last maneuver ... I would say that adding feeling is easier with music and while in flow with the dance).
Sergio had suggested having a dinner after the class, so I met him at Chez Gerald at 9 to make full use of a £15 voucher he had. Nice meal. Better French Fries compared to McDonalds. I’m glad I didn’t ask for ketchup. One major topic was about challenges and possible approaches to teaching leading and following technique. Others included benefits and detriments of having structure (e.g. lines). We made it back shortly after 10.
The club was in full swing when we were back. School’s back in session! Notable returnees (who had been missed for few months) included Agnes, Mark and Nina. It was very lively.
I was somewhat surprised that Cyrille didn’t show but learned that he apparently cut his hand and was in a hospital getting treatment until 4 in the morning(?!).
Quote of the day 1 – “Please don’t quote me.”
Hmm. Let me see. I think that this was the second time you asked not to be quoted. Perhaps this really quote-worthy but it’s my blog so I can do whatever I want – as long as it doesn’t cause trouble. For whatever it’s worth, I hear such sentiment often and have heard it for so long that I almost think I could get away with repeating Homer Simpson and say “You’ve said it so many times that it’s lost all its meaning.” – except that I am still very flattered especially coming from someone so fabulous.
Quote of the day 2 – “It’s nice and peppy … in a good way … not the way donkey climbs either.”
Slightly unexpected. Mambo Of The Times – Joe Cuba Sextet.
Hmm… I just remembered that there were so many great people to dance with yet so little time that I didn’t even get a chance to ask at least 3 people I meant to ask. Yet at a later point I jokingly told Sergio that I might have to start leading him.
An interesting dance or two involved using almost nothing but a very high level of tension to have a fairly pleasant dance.
Pretty good music, especially early on until the beginning of Salsa Romantica, etc. overdose towards the end. Shakira (lambada-zouk?) was a surprise.
Apparently the Penguin is ready and was used. I missed it. Too busy dancing most of the time.
There was also a talk of SOS (and I thought I was going to try to cut down on SOS). I also forgot to get back to some people on this topic. Maybe tomorrow.
Advanced with Sally
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL and 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn for follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 open hold – leader turns 1/2 clockwise into open CBL position and lead follower into full traveling counterclockwise turn with hands/connections by follower’s shoulders in a wrap
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare on 1,2,3 (keeping follower looking ahead rather than turning around – don’t pull follower back – also I think twist especially on 1 is superfluous and possibly destabilizing) and lead follower forward on 4 into 2 1/2 counterclockwise over and under turn with L-R ending behind follower’s L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break to bring follower in and let follower unwrap with 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn (I think Sally may have asked for 2 1/2 but for social dancing purposes, 1 1/2 may be nicer and gives follower a minor reprieve) – leader turns away from follower in clockwise turn and switching to R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower in on leader’s R side with R-R going over follower’s head and L-L connection made briefly in front – use R-R to lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn with free L hand on follower’s L shoulder to stop follower from overturning
1,2,3,5,6,7 this is tricky – follower is turning on 2,3 (there is no usual 1,2 preparation (?) – leader is somehow supposed to convey that a quick turn is being led here using R-R positioned to R and perhaps also with L hand being where it is as twin signals – not sure if this works easily – I have tried leading similar move but with a full turn starting on 3 rather than 2 … taken from LDA 3.3) for 1 1/2 stationary clockwise turn with R-R over and under to get R-R in front of follower’s stomach and to her L waist – hmm… I wonder if the turn could be started on 3 with follower landing forward on 5 with leader absorbing momentum – in any case follower is led straight back either on 5,6,7 (or perhaps 6,7 could work as well) with leader stepping into follower’s space and turning clockwise to face follower and switching to L-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower in into closed hold and move as unit full clockwise (Sergio in a conversation over dinner called this a spot turn)
1,2,3,5,6,7 continue turning as unit clockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 finish with CBL (somewhat like Dile que no might work)
Some comments from Sally included bits like do not pull follower back (during the preparatory part for the third measure) and excellent control but try to add more feeling (for the last maneuver ... I would say that adding feeling is easier with music and while in flow with the dance).
Sergio had suggested having a dinner after the class, so I met him at Chez Gerald at 9 to make full use of a £15 voucher he had. Nice meal. Better French Fries compared to McDonalds. I’m glad I didn’t ask for ketchup. One major topic was about challenges and possible approaches to teaching leading and following technique. Others included benefits and detriments of having structure (e.g. lines). We made it back shortly after 10.
The club was in full swing when we were back. School’s back in session! Notable returnees (who had been missed for few months) included Agnes, Mark and Nina. It was very lively.
I was somewhat surprised that Cyrille didn’t show but learned that he apparently cut his hand and was in a hospital getting treatment until 4 in the morning(?!).
Quote of the day 1 – “Please don’t quote me.”
Hmm. Let me see. I think that this was the second time you asked not to be quoted. Perhaps this really quote-worthy but it’s my blog so I can do whatever I want – as long as it doesn’t cause trouble. For whatever it’s worth, I hear such sentiment often and have heard it for so long that I almost think I could get away with repeating Homer Simpson and say “You’ve said it so many times that it’s lost all its meaning.” – except that I am still very flattered especially coming from someone so fabulous.
Quote of the day 2 – “It’s nice and peppy … in a good way … not the way donkey climbs either.”
Slightly unexpected. Mambo Of The Times – Joe Cuba Sextet.
Hmm… I just remembered that there were so many great people to dance with yet so little time that I didn’t even get a chance to ask at least 3 people I meant to ask. Yet at a later point I jokingly told Sergio that I might have to start leading him.
An interesting dance or two involved using almost nothing but a very high level of tension to have a fairly pleasant dance.
Pretty good music, especially early on until the beginning of Salsa Romantica, etc. overdose towards the end. Shakira (lambada-zouk?) was a surprise.
Apparently the Penguin is ready and was used. I missed it. Too busy dancing most of the time.
There was also a talk of SOS (and I thought I was going to try to cut down on SOS). I also forgot to get back to some people on this topic. Maybe tomorrow.
It's gotta be the shoes (maybe)
October 2, 2006
Intermediate with Joe
1,2,3,5,6,7 crossed hold R-R on top – lead follower to stationary clockwise turn with L-R to L and repositioned so that follower’s arm is over leader’s arm and essentially behind leader’s L waist on 7 and R-L at about leader’s forehead level (leader’s forearm is just above leader’s eyebrows) on 8 – leader could be doing a preparatory type of movement on 5,6,7 (facing R, then L, then R)
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns clockwise under R-L with L-R tending to go higher behind leader’s back on 1,2,3 – 5,6,7 was a filler in place
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start (in this case meaning open break then R-L going over follower’s head) then lead follower to Copa turn (counterclockwise) letting go L-R and stopping follower after full counterclockwise turn with hands on both of follower’s shoulder
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare follower on 1,2,3 (I believe letting her step forward on 1) and lead her to overall 1 1/2 clockwise stationary turn – leader can turn on the spot as well – and get back to closed hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R hold with L-L connection in anticipation for Copa – Copa start followed by a fake so that follower is led into a 1 1/2 clockwise traveling (minimize traveling by bringing R-R back close to leader’s body on 6) somewhat like reverse cross body with L-L high and going over and behind leader’s head and R-R going around (in clockwise motion – the movement of R-R is in front of follower on 5 then brought back towards leader on 6 and continue moving in clockwise motion at follower’s waist level to move follower into a new lane at level with (and probably not quite behind leader) – R-R is more or less disconnected by 8 and leader’s R hand is probably on follower’s L hip/waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 bring follower forward around leader (behind leader seems more or less accurate) l,2,3 with L-L being brought low - lead an over and under for a 1 1/2 clockwise turn for follower with follower’s L hand ending behind her R waist – leader can do a swivel turn on 7 and switch to R-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa and free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn for follower
There were more men than women at the intermediate class once again. Joe played the part of follower. In many ways, I found him to be the most challenging follower for me to lead – at times a source of physical pain.
The club hour was on the quiet side. Not horrible, but a bit sparse. I had a myriad of dances at many levels - all quite fine.
Probably the most interesting dance I had tonight was with Sam – thanks to a grand convergence of planets. Kidding. I think it was because we were feeling the music in a similar way while being familiar enough with each other’s tendencies and having tons of space at the same time. In short, good luck. Within a minute of starting it was pretty clear that it was going to be a very good dance. Sam thought the dance worked nicely because the music was good. I’m less convinced that this song (not familiar to me) is inherently fantastic (for one thing – it felt a bit disco, which in my opinion is generally bad – although it’s possible that I will dance to it again and end up getting more nice and interesting results), but I was able to ride her enthusiasm for this song for this particular dance. I was surprised – in a good way of course – because it seemingly came out of nowhere and was heads and shoulders above all my previous dances with her. Maybe it was because of the shoes. It apparently looked pretty good to others according to reactions and comments glimpsed and gathered during and afterwards. The bad news is that many of my next dances with Sam may seem pedestrian by comparison because of increased expectations. The good news is that dances of similar caliber probably will happen again now and then when conditions are right.
Adam earlier in the evening had offered to videotape me dancing (apparently the one he recorded a while ago of me and Mimi was too dark to see much of anything and was not kept), and I suspect this one might have been a good one for recording. Oh well. You just never know when lightning will strike. Okay, enough with boring wordy analysis...
There isn't all that much else to write about. I almost forgot about the Cuban night starting tomorrow - not sure if I'll make an appearance. If so I probably should stick to Rueda or something like that. No tangible update on the Tony front.
Intermediate with Joe
1,2,3,5,6,7 crossed hold R-R on top – lead follower to stationary clockwise turn with L-R to L and repositioned so that follower’s arm is over leader’s arm and essentially behind leader’s L waist on 7 and R-L at about leader’s forehead level (leader’s forearm is just above leader’s eyebrows) on 8 – leader could be doing a preparatory type of movement on 5,6,7 (facing R, then L, then R)
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns clockwise under R-L with L-R tending to go higher behind leader’s back on 1,2,3 – 5,6,7 was a filler in place
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start (in this case meaning open break then R-L going over follower’s head) then lead follower to Copa turn (counterclockwise) letting go L-R and stopping follower after full counterclockwise turn with hands on both of follower’s shoulder
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare follower on 1,2,3 (I believe letting her step forward on 1) and lead her to overall 1 1/2 clockwise stationary turn – leader can turn on the spot as well – and get back to closed hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R hold with L-L connection in anticipation for Copa – Copa start followed by a fake so that follower is led into a 1 1/2 clockwise traveling (minimize traveling by bringing R-R back close to leader’s body on 6) somewhat like reverse cross body with L-L high and going over and behind leader’s head and R-R going around (in clockwise motion – the movement of R-R is in front of follower on 5 then brought back towards leader on 6 and continue moving in clockwise motion at follower’s waist level to move follower into a new lane at level with (and probably not quite behind leader) – R-R is more or less disconnected by 8 and leader’s R hand is probably on follower’s L hip/waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 bring follower forward around leader (behind leader seems more or less accurate) l,2,3 with L-L being brought low - lead an over and under for a 1 1/2 clockwise turn for follower with follower’s L hand ending behind her R waist – leader can do a swivel turn on 7 and switch to R-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa and free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn for follower
There were more men than women at the intermediate class once again. Joe played the part of follower. In many ways, I found him to be the most challenging follower for me to lead – at times a source of physical pain.
The club hour was on the quiet side. Not horrible, but a bit sparse. I had a myriad of dances at many levels - all quite fine.
Probably the most interesting dance I had tonight was with Sam – thanks to a grand convergence of planets. Kidding. I think it was because we were feeling the music in a similar way while being familiar enough with each other’s tendencies and having tons of space at the same time. In short, good luck. Within a minute of starting it was pretty clear that it was going to be a very good dance. Sam thought the dance worked nicely because the music was good. I’m less convinced that this song (not familiar to me) is inherently fantastic (for one thing – it felt a bit disco, which in my opinion is generally bad – although it’s possible that I will dance to it again and end up getting more nice and interesting results), but I was able to ride her enthusiasm for this song for this particular dance. I was surprised – in a good way of course – because it seemingly came out of nowhere and was heads and shoulders above all my previous dances with her. Maybe it was because of the shoes. It apparently looked pretty good to others according to reactions and comments glimpsed and gathered during and afterwards. The bad news is that many of my next dances with Sam may seem pedestrian by comparison because of increased expectations. The good news is that dances of similar caliber probably will happen again now and then when conditions are right.
Adam earlier in the evening had offered to videotape me dancing (apparently the one he recorded a while ago of me and Mimi was too dark to see much of anything and was not kept), and I suspect this one might have been a good one for recording. Oh well. You just never know when lightning will strike. Okay, enough with boring wordy analysis...
There isn't all that much else to write about. I almost forgot about the Cuban night starting tomorrow - not sure if I'll make an appearance. If so I probably should stick to Rueda or something like that. No tangible update on the Tony front.
That’s that and it’s over and done with
October 1, 2006
It is finally the last of anticipated days of this week. Cyrille called in the middle of the afternoon to say that he’ll head to London early and meet us at SOS. Sergio and I took the train for 8 PM arrival. Liam was probably on the next train.
Cyrille was highly impressed with SOS as expected. By my standards, it was somewhat on a weak side – possibly because of there being a big surplus of men. While there were some usual good people to dance with, it felt like one had to be quick about getting a dance partner lest you miss out on all of the okay followers. I’m sure most women were not complaining though.
Music was okay but perhaps subpar in a sense that I only liked 2-3 songs at most.
I’m recognizing and being recognized by a lot of people. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. I wonder again if I would be better off coming less often.
Highlight of the day #1. This involved dancing with someone I could not agree upon timing with. At one point, she asked if I was dancing cross body on 1 and I replied that I was trying (if she would allow me). Later she claimed that she thought I was trying to dance on-2. That might make sense – maybe. Even now, I’m not sure what really happened there.
Highlight of the day #2. This also involved dancing with someone I could not agree upon proper timing. The big difference was that in this case, the issue was that there was absolutely no framework for an argument. No lead-follow agreement of any sort. Every move was a challenge and tug-of-war. After a while, I was so flabbergasted that I was completely amused and was made quite cheerful.
I don’t know. What does it mean when the highlights are disastrous dances?
Quote of the day 1 – “She likes chicken.
Quote of the day 2 – “We were equally matched in strength.”
Quote of the day 3 – “She’s equally dangerous with her kicks.”
No harm done - at least for me. My voice is still normal.
A memorable exchange – “Had I known that, I would have been tempted and thought about it for a second.” “I thought about it for more than a second.”
Ancient quote of the day – “So that I could learn more moves I cannot use. Why not?”
Sergio recalled that I wrote something like this on his sign-up sheet for on-2 class he was trying to organize about a year and half ago.
Okay. This week is over. Tonight was something of an anticlimax - probably caused by too high expectations. There’s nothing more to look forward to. Maybe that’s a good thing. I have now been in the UK for exactly three years.
Random phrases and ideas: Miss England. (Not a) Barbie doll. Arm wresting. Paella. A New York weekend. A football game at Manchester or West Ham or Bourdeaux. Hitting four corners of Cambridge.
It is finally the last of anticipated days of this week. Cyrille called in the middle of the afternoon to say that he’ll head to London early and meet us at SOS. Sergio and I took the train for 8 PM arrival. Liam was probably on the next train.
Cyrille was highly impressed with SOS as expected. By my standards, it was somewhat on a weak side – possibly because of there being a big surplus of men. While there were some usual good people to dance with, it felt like one had to be quick about getting a dance partner lest you miss out on all of the okay followers. I’m sure most women were not complaining though.
Music was okay but perhaps subpar in a sense that I only liked 2-3 songs at most.
I’m recognizing and being recognized by a lot of people. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. I wonder again if I would be better off coming less often.
Highlight of the day #1. This involved dancing with someone I could not agree upon timing with. At one point, she asked if I was dancing cross body on 1 and I replied that I was trying (if she would allow me). Later she claimed that she thought I was trying to dance on-2. That might make sense – maybe. Even now, I’m not sure what really happened there.
Highlight of the day #2. This also involved dancing with someone I could not agree upon proper timing. The big difference was that in this case, the issue was that there was absolutely no framework for an argument. No lead-follow agreement of any sort. Every move was a challenge and tug-of-war. After a while, I was so flabbergasted that I was completely amused and was made quite cheerful.
I don’t know. What does it mean when the highlights are disastrous dances?
Quote of the day 1 – “She likes chicken.
Quote of the day 2 – “We were equally matched in strength.”
Quote of the day 3 – “She’s equally dangerous with her kicks.”
No harm done - at least for me. My voice is still normal.
A memorable exchange – “Had I known that, I would have been tempted and thought about it for a second.” “I thought about it for more than a second.”
Ancient quote of the day – “So that I could learn more moves I cannot use. Why not?”
Sergio recalled that I wrote something like this on his sign-up sheet for on-2 class he was trying to organize about a year and half ago.
Okay. This week is over. Tonight was something of an anticlimax - probably caused by too high expectations. There’s nothing more to look forward to. Maybe that’s a good thing. I have now been in the UK for exactly three years.
Random phrases and ideas: Miss England. (Not a) Barbie doll. Arm wresting. Paella. A New York weekend. A football game at Manchester or West Ham or Bourdeaux. Hitting four corners of Cambridge.
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