Farewell to bicycles, trains, shuttles, long walks... maybe

November 16, 2006

Advanced with Sally assisted by Lindsey

1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL and 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn for follower (inside turn) – leader takes a big step towards follower on 7 (not sure if it’s really needed though) – R hand on follower’s R shoulder ideally and possibly L hand on follower’s L shoulder
1,2,3,5,6,7 the idea here is to let follower step back on 1 with hands on follower’s shoulders (although there is no need for any type of lead until 6) – lead follower into free traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn [note: the tendency here was for the follower to travel quite a bit, which doesn’t make the next move any easier – possibly the lead could be modulated to minimize traveling by the follower]
1,2,3,5,6,7 rotating cross body lead end with open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to a single stationary clockwise turn and leader turns full counterclockwise [note: perhaps this would work better if leader and follower turns simultaneously?] with R-L resting on leader’s R shoulder briefly and L-R tossed up in air [note: apparently this works better if the toss happens when leader is more than 3/4 done with the turn] and end with crossed hold R-R on top
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower into triple stationary touch-and-go turn (clockwise)
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R hat for follower and L-L on leader’s R shoulder with Mambo basic start – leader does double stationary clockwise turn (first turn demonstrated looked like a hook turn)
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL start with R hand on follower’s back and lead follower to 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn with L hand on follower’s R shoulder (ending on her L shoulder) [note: follower’s turn starts on 6, not 5]
1,2,3,5,6,7 offer R hand in front for R-R connection and lead follower into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn with leader turning full counterclockwise and bringing R-R down to under L arm (eventually)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower’s R arm under leader’s L arm and start leading follower to walk around leader in clockwise direction
1,2,3,5,6,7 continue leading follower to walk around leader in clockwise direction and end with leader turning 1/2 counterclockwise to get back to open position

I thought my performance in the class was quite ragged. Doing a double turn after leading a triple turn was a big trouble spot although not the only one.

Mark substituted for Chris for the Intermediate class. During the second hour, I mostly paid attention to the beginner class taught by Jane with help from Stephanie (and briefly taking a part in the class when Jane decided to take a part of the follower with her male students).

It feels as if I have done little in last few weeks to expand my repertoire of turn patterns. I have been too harried, tired, sleepy, etc. to concentrate on practicing and absorbing learned patterns. I guess I could always go back to my notes and practice them later, but that would be possible only if I have time. Meanwhile it sometimes seems as if I am forgetting more things than learning them. Now and then, I would remember a pattern in between dances, but then I sometimes would forget about them again during next set of dances. Maybe this feeling of stagnation or even regression is common; several people including Sergio complained of them in past few weeks.

I think I danced with more beginners than I typically do. I don't really know if it benefits either me or them - in a sense that I am unsure of practically everything in general but especially lately. Perhaps I was trying to escape doldrums of dancing with same people all the time - even though the dances with those same people generally ends up being the best dances anyhow. In many ways, I rather enjoyed my dances tonight more than I did for last several Thursdays. This may have been due to being a bit carefree and not worrying too much about being in control - let some rough edges show and avoid being clinical and so on.

After a dance, I found myself in front of Sergio (looking a bit scruffy and in between leading Lindsey in many dizzying ways) and Cyrille (seemingly recovered from a recent bug and also in between giving his dance partners fabulous cardiovascular exercises) each holding a bottle of San Miguel. Cyrille motioned to ask if I was going to get one. I said yeah and blocked Sergio's movement towards the bar so that I could get one for myself. I returned with a bottle in hand. Clink. Clink. Clink. Glug. Instant party! Then Lindsey and Nicola came over, and Nicola asked us why we weren't dancing to break up the powwow.

Silliness galore - The winner has to be either Zhenzhi's secret handshake or my lame effort to imitate one of Sergio's shine involving a kick, which drew laughter from Lindsey because it apparently made me look like a little dog. I tried to see if I could see it but the reflective surface on the wall was not good enough to give me a full view of the farce. Something Ivan did might qualify as well although I am unsure if it qualifies more as intentional or unintentional comedy. Perhaps not having written (or started on?) two assays at midnight (15 hours before they are due) with only one hour of sleep previous night… Or some people talking about this blog in eBay (don't ask because I don't know what that is about either).

After today, I am going to try to reduce (and probably will succeed in) amount of bicycle riding I do. Maybe I should start talking to people about Bachata next Tuesday too. The number of people I have spoken to in person can be counted with one hand. I've been letting Vishal do all the talking. I suppose I might be more inspired if there was any evidence that people are more likely to come if I talked to them in person - although I suppose it sometimes works if I put a heavy personal pressure on them (which I hate doing). There are a couple of people I could work on. Sean would be one logical target. Also I think I could try to make it a personal challenge to induce Sergio to take part in a class. That would be a coup - an amusing one.