The straw that broke the camel's back

November 27, 2006

This was the ninth evening in a row involving some sort of dancing; I chose not to write a post about barn dancing on Saturday. I was not particularly enthusiastic about doing yet another Salsa night, but habit won out. It was a rather quiet night – probably not helped by last week and especially yesterday having been so busy.

The instructors today were Joe, Russell and Aiste.

Intermediate with Joe

Theme was called Copa fake – Copa anti-turn

1,2,3,5,6,7 crossed hold R-R on top – open break and bring follower in on R somewhat like Copa with connections together (about chest level and slightly to R of leader’s body) – lead follower back into 1 1/2 clockwise turn with a windmill-like lead (down and up) with leader turning 1/2 counterclockwise [I think follower’s footwork may involve making hooking turn step on 6 – but the lead for the turn supposedly comes on 4 – keep connections together as follower’s turn is led]
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower in on L side of leader with R-R draping over follower’s head – R-R will be let go and use L-L low to lead follower into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn with L-L ending behind follower’s R waist – get free R hand on follower’s L shoulder [this is a Copa fake - see below for a practice from a different easier angle]
1,2,3,5,6,7 use palms of L-L to help lead follower to twist properly on 1 and on 3 – lead follower forward on 5 with free R hand and lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn (minimize traveling) with L-L coming up after completion of follower’s first turn … see couple of options next
option 1 Joe’s version – overtake on R side while getting back into closed hold and move around follower on her R side to change follower’s line during next 1,2,3 [some people referred to this as around-the-world] – finish with simple CBL finish on 5,6,7 or one can keep turning as a unit indefinitely
option 2 a version I was trying out a little … I think it’s a reasonable alternative worth practicing given an opportunity – leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise and end with L-L above leader’s L shoulder – bring L-L down while doing L foot cross over behind R foot on 1, then move to L on 2,3 to make a lane for follower while switching to R-L then lead follower into one of many possible versions of 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn or full traveling counterclockwise turn into wrap, etc.

practice of Copa fake above from a different easier angle - crossed hold R-R on top
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break facing follower and bring follower in on R side with R-R draped over follower’s head – keep follower moving in the same direction and use L-L low to lead follower into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn so that L-L ends behind follower’s R waist

open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 start with standard Copa start and lead follower immediately back into 1 1/2 clockwise turn (on 4) with lead coming from R-L low with L-R high simply keeping follower in place and not traveling too much – L-R preferably goes over leader’s head immediately after completion of follower’s turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower in on leader’s R side (somewhat like leader’s back side with leader also turning almost 1/2 counterclockwise maybe?) – lead follower forward on 5 and into what amounts to be a simple CBL finish with L-R briefly raised and leader facing away from follower line with R-L behind leader’s L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower forward (with leader facing direction follower is headed) and into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn with leader moving into the line with clockwise turn with free L hand going over and switching to L-R … there are couple of options here
option 1 – by next 1,2,3 leader make enough of clockwise turn to get into CBL position and finish with simple CBL
option 2 – by next 1,2,3 leader turns enough to end facing away from follower with another switch to end with R-R or R on follower’s R wrist connection – lead follower forward on 5 and into 1 1/2 free counterclockwise traveling turn with leader turning clockwise and getting back into closed hold

I left after a little under an hour. I need more sleep. I won't say that I will try to cut down on how often I go out dancing - I've said it too many times without sticking to it. I probably could do some serious re-write of the Pasion de Invierno (such horrible unsatisfactory writing!), but I probably won't do that either. I'm spending way too much time on this…