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...