December 30, 2006
I arrived around 8:45 or so. I didn’t think 7 PM start was very plausible. As expected, the DJ booth was on autopilot. Somewhat surprising was that the music wasn’t Salsa, Merengue or Bachata. The number of people was small, but it seemed reasonable to play Salsa.
Playlist
Mandali – Africando (1)
La Muy Muy – Roberto Torres
Trombon Criollo – Cachao (2)
Lovely Day – borrowed from Vishal’s CD (why not? it would be a long night)
Poinciana Cha Cha – Cal Tjader (3)
Sientate Ahi – Oscar D’Leon
Asuncion – Roberto Roena (4)*
Cuestion De Epoca – Celia Cruz & Jose Alberto “El Canario”*
Maria Cervantes – Grupo Latin Vibe (5)
Te Extrano – Toke D Keda
Culebra – Grupo Niche (-1%)
Hablame – Frankie Ruiz (-1%)
Mi Tierra – Gloria Estefan (-1%) (6)*
Lluvia – Eddie Santiago
Mala Mana – Roberto Roena (7)*
break #1 (starting with “better” Merengue)
Tu Son – Oscar D’Leon (8)
Meneame La Cuna – Roberto Torres*
Lindo Yambu – Cheo Feliciano
Soledad – La 33
Aguadilla – Ray Barretto
break #2 (Vishal started with a double dose of Playa No More. I commented/joked to him that the party doesn’t start officially until he plays that song.)
Ven Tu – Dominic Marte
Debo Pensar – Toke D Keda
Cucala – Celia Cruz
El Abaniquito – Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers
Cao Cao Mani Picao – Tito Puente
Ran Kan Kan – Tito Puente (Mambo Birdland live version)
Musica Ligera – Toke D Keda
No Hay Cama Pa’ Tanta Gente – El Gran Combo
break #3 (started off with Lamento Boliviano followed by hit parade of Salsa ending with Otra Oportunidad – you know, things like Me Libere, Cali Pachanguero, Caballo Viejo. Vishal also played Ave Maria Lola, Gotas De Lluvia, La Vida Es Un Carnival (probably), Sey, Contigo, Un Verano En Nueva York at other points this evening. Also Ping Pong, Lovely Day, Micaela (probably) – let’s say that Vishal had a very conventional day even by his usual standard – the only Salsa songs that he played tonight that I did not hear him play at least 30 times already were Gotas De Lluvia and Un Verano En Nueva York. Would it be accurate to say that Vishal stuck to the same 100 Salsa songs this year? Vishal did not play Lloraras, Que Buena Baila Usted, A El, Me Voy Pa’ Cali, Ojos Chinos, Brujeria, Pantera Mambo, Obsesion, La Rebelion, Yamulemau, El Pito, Perdoname, Lady, Aicha, Bailando.)
Prestame Tu Mujer – Ray Barretto
Caballero Y Dama – Celia Cruz & Willie Chirino
Dime Que Quieres – El Gran Combo
Vitamina – Sonora Carruseles
Merecumbe – Johnny Colon (9)
No Aguanto Mas – Celia Cruz & Johnny Pacheco (10)
Apretoncito – Toke D Keda
break #4 (This break felt a little longer. I think Vishal’s session ended with more romantic stuff.)
Amor De Una Noche – N’Klabe
Esas Lagrimas – Gilberto Santa Rosa (11)
La Llave – Grupo Latin Vibe
Idilio – Willie Colon
break #5 (or done for the rest of the evening, except for a one song request – see below. It started off with Merengue and then Reggaeton. I thought the Reggaeton segment was surprisingly small. Vish went back to Salsa and stayed with it for quite a while near the end – although most of the material was very familiar yet I don’t have good idea what most of them are because I never came across them in my Salsa searches.)
Muneca – Alfredo De La Fe (12)*
(1) I guess some people still dance to Sey when Vishal plays it later, but hardly anyone seems to dance when I play Africando.
(2) This one gets a “That’s a weird one” comment from Vish.
(3) Ditto.
(4) Requests for Merengue had begun already – actually even before I started playing. So here goes. I think Abit might have been the only one to dance to it.
(5) Complaints are supposedly mounting.
(6) Pandering. Would you believe that this was one of the first four Latin CDs I ever purchased? Yet I had never used it as DJ until now?
(7) Requests for Merengue were mounting again. Considering the fact that out of 1700+ songs I have categorized under Latin, only 3 are Merengue PLUS I have used one of them already means my options are limited. This one wasn’t popular either. Only Abit danced to it. Vishal ended it prematurely – saying that it’s not a good (read: popular) one. What else can one expect when I have only 3 songs – all obtained inadvertently.
(8) Okay. I’m going to get more serious now with DJing – not to say that I was playing all crap during the first stint.
(9) Vishal talked about taking over again just after I had this song cued. I asked to play this song with the idea that I would try to dance to it. When I started the song and then started looking for a prospective dance partner, I couldn’t find one so I trudged back to the DJ booth. There was another clamor for Merengue by now, so I played Merengue next before switching to Bachata again.
(10) This Merengue was supposedly a bit better. I note that this was the first Merengue I ever played – last week.
(11) A request around this point was for “commercial stuff.” It wasn’t Vish. Isn’t N’Klabe or Gilberto Santa Rosa about as commercial as it gets?
(12) I tried to make a Reggaeton request first, but Vishal didn’t want to play any more Reggaeton because he wanted to end the evening sooner rather than later. So I made a Salsa request instead hoping to get my third dance of the evening - I just couldn’t get inspired to dance to same old same old.
Total 40 songs. 5 Bachata. 3 Merengue. 1 Cha Cha. 31 Salsa. 4 new Salsa. 2 new Merengue. Oh... and that Lovely Day song.
I never really got into dancing mood – I didn’t dance with anyone between ~11 PM and close to 3 AM. Until near the very end, it looked like I was going to end with 2 dances followed by consecutive rejections or “not this song” by 3 people. There were few other occasions where I ended up not asking because the person I would have asked were nowhere to be found or already dancing with someone else or looked occupied with something or someone else. The final tally – I asked for a dance 8 or 9 times, and I got yes for an answer 4 times. Two of the dances were with people who still have difficulty keeping time to the music when left on their own.
I took a look at last year's post for New Years Eve party. Supposedly I danced very little last year too - only with 8 people (or only twice as many as tonight). A quick glance suggests that December in Cambridge was not great for Salsa last year either. January on the other hand was much better (even with a brief period of practicing instead of dancing to work on fixing how to lead cross body lead), so maybe it won't stay dire for so long. I should keep my expectations low, of course.
At least I got some socializing done. Umm… Right. I guess I did speak with Lindsey and Sam for over 30 seconds. Vishal and I also chatted throughout the evening – it was a long evening.
X-mas Scala with the San Miguel Gang
December 23, 2006
Vishal, Lourdes, Cyrille, Sergio and I made up the party gathered at the Club Salsa around 9:15 for Scala. Zhenzhi was supposed to join us but she decided that she couldn't make it after all (I learned the reason why next day - it was a little disconcerting and quite funny at the same time, and I'll refrain from stating it here). Danie went ahead earlier for her rehearsal. It took us a little while to get going, but Vishal did not take as long to get ready as the last time.
We almost left behind Lourdes; we found this out only after both cars were started up and came together at the Station Road ready to go. Both Vishal and I assumed that Lourdes was in the other car, and it's possible that we could have driven all the way to London without knowing better if Sergio had not suggested that we check and make sure she made it to Vishal's car. We all had a good laugh while Vishal went to retrieve Lourdes; Cyrille in particular voiced a spurring thought.
Originally, Cyrille was riding shotgun for Vishal while Sergio was doing the same in mine. I saw that Vishal's backseat was folded down and not ready for another passenger, so I moved my backpack into the trunk, which prompted Sergio to do the same with his freshly ironed shirt. Lourdes and Vishal arrived in the middle of this hubbub, and Lourdes ended up riding shotgun in my car. Otherwise, the highlight of the drive was being repeatedly offered crisps by Lourdes - she was carrying a lot of stuff (fruits and crisps as well as what looked like a blanket).
We acted as porters for Vishal, who had brought his DJ equipment with him because he found the system in the Glass Bar inadequate last time. I had no idea how much help I was being to him (and I hadn't fully realized the extent until we were ready to leave - see below). When we made our way to Vishal's DJ booth and took a look at the dance floor, Cyrille, Sergio and my reaction was that this could be a poor night - with mostly empty floor, which prompted an early buying of round of San Miguel by Sergio. Later Cyrille bought a second round of San Miguel - but I opted for a Coke next.
Tony was the first DJ up. I went and said hello to him, and he reminded me that I was supposed to have dinner with him tonight. I made the excuse of being needed as a guide, etc for Vishal. Oh well. I probably would have missed it anyway even if it were just me, Sergio and Cyrille. Likewise, the LDA social was another event I would have liked to go this evening.
While Sergio and I were watching the floor from the upper deck, Daniella (Tony's partner) found me for a chat and a dance - my first of the evening. I can't complain about such a start to a night of dancing. I guess it's more of a fringe benefit for having organized all those Bachata workshops because I imagine that she would have danced with me even if I were a piss poor dancer (and frankly I feel like I've been in a rut for some time now). Daniella now has a Reggaeton DVD by the way.
Unlike last few times, the AC was not powered high tonight. Despite thinness of crowd, I was perspiring a bit after just one dance. This resulted in a sequence where I would dance for a song then rest for anywhere from one to three songs thereafter. The long middle part of the evening was very up and down. Sergio commented later that I was dancing less than usual (Vishal on the other commented that he saw me dancing all the time).
The shows. The Samba Girls. After 20 seconds, I gave up and started scoping the field for prospective dance partner for the next song. Thumbs down from Cyrille and Sergio also. Laith Sami's massive (20 people) new group. I had essentially the front and center view seated - way too close. From where I was, I could see the individual dancers alright but watching the group as whole was challenging. Most notable was that Danie (Cambridge) was at the front and center of this performance for the most of the show. Sergio made a nice complimentary comment about how Danie did, but I will refrain from quoting him because it may not sound like a compliment when written down (I could see Ivan nod here in agreement). Lee and Shelley. Performance was done to Arrepientete by Ray Barretto. A stumble here (and maybe there) probably in part because of poor floor - they're certainly good even if I have seen them too many times to count.
Unlike in the past Scala, the dance floor did not get really crowded until past 1 AM, but it stayed that way until considerably later than in the past as well. Sometimes overcrowding made dancing difficult, but it worked out brilliantly at least one time precisely because my partner (a complete stranger) and I dealt it really smoothly (okay - at least by my standard).
Despite having several really nice dances over the course of the evening, I was a bit down and out towards the end. I felt a little better after I had a dance with Danie (Cambridge, not Italy), whom I hadn't danced with for what seemed like an eternity. In part because I was out of sorts at the time, the dance itself was nothing more than a standard and probably less intense than usual hello danc, but it still was nice - and relieving and liberating in a way.
Perhaps the best part of the evening happened after Vishal stopped by to suggest we leave in next 10 minutes or so. The DJ then played Viva Cepeda by Cal Tjader! I couldn't believe it - I had wanted to dance to this song badly for some time - Viva Cepeda (not sure if the DJ slowed it down?) is the song I have listened to the most using my iPod to date. I jumped up and grabbed some random girl for this dance immediately. I don't know if she appreciated the song or what I was trying to do with the song (but you know what? what I was doing might have been considered amateurish and uninteresting by a really good follower), but I liked it a lot. The DJ (Big Les) followed it up with Alonzo (also by Cal Tjader). This time I picked someone I knew from SOS. She was a better follower, but I did not enjoy the dance or the song as much as Viva Cepeda (maybe I would have enjoyed it more if my partner was less competent - I doubt it, but who knows for sure?). Next song was Salsa Y Control by Lebron Brothers, whom I like as well (probably not as much as Sergio) but it was time to go. I was drenched after dancing 3 songs in a row.
Lorraine joined us for the drive back. It turned out that Vishal was not going back to Cambridge - he and Danie were headed to Isle of Wight instead. It made for a somewhat tight squeeze in the backseat - Sergio and Cyrille both competed for shotgun with Cyrille deferring to Sergio eventually.
Despite there being a big group in the car (which tend to shut me up), I ended up conversing practically nonstop on the drive back - mostly with Sergio and Lorraine. Strictly Come Dancing was one of the topics. Later Sergio and I talked about Bachata (apparently Sergio had a spell of interest immediately after the last workshop, which faded quickly) and Salsa (specifically me feeling bogged down lately and him suggesting another session preferably with a suitable partner - finding one could be a challenge).
Dropping off people was a bit roundabout. I'll summarize by saying it involved going to Comberton, Hardwick, Chesterton, and Station Road, and it could and perhaps should have involved a side trip to Newmarket. Not my finest work. Oh well.
There might not be another post for a week because there's no Salsa event that appeals to me a great deal. So this might be a perfect opportunity to break the habit for those who are addicted and compelled to visit this blog every day (or more frequently).
Vishal, Lourdes, Cyrille, Sergio and I made up the party gathered at the Club Salsa around 9:15 for Scala. Zhenzhi was supposed to join us but she decided that she couldn't make it after all (I learned the reason why next day - it was a little disconcerting and quite funny at the same time, and I'll refrain from stating it here). Danie went ahead earlier for her rehearsal. It took us a little while to get going, but Vishal did not take as long to get ready as the last time.
We almost left behind Lourdes; we found this out only after both cars were started up and came together at the Station Road ready to go. Both Vishal and I assumed that Lourdes was in the other car, and it's possible that we could have driven all the way to London without knowing better if Sergio had not suggested that we check and make sure she made it to Vishal's car. We all had a good laugh while Vishal went to retrieve Lourdes; Cyrille in particular voiced a spurring thought.
Originally, Cyrille was riding shotgun for Vishal while Sergio was doing the same in mine. I saw that Vishal's backseat was folded down and not ready for another passenger, so I moved my backpack into the trunk, which prompted Sergio to do the same with his freshly ironed shirt. Lourdes and Vishal arrived in the middle of this hubbub, and Lourdes ended up riding shotgun in my car. Otherwise, the highlight of the drive was being repeatedly offered crisps by Lourdes - she was carrying a lot of stuff (fruits and crisps as well as what looked like a blanket).
We acted as porters for Vishal, who had brought his DJ equipment with him because he found the system in the Glass Bar inadequate last time. I had no idea how much help I was being to him (and I hadn't fully realized the extent until we were ready to leave - see below). When we made our way to Vishal's DJ booth and took a look at the dance floor, Cyrille, Sergio and my reaction was that this could be a poor night - with mostly empty floor, which prompted an early buying of round of San Miguel by Sergio. Later Cyrille bought a second round of San Miguel - but I opted for a Coke next.
Tony was the first DJ up. I went and said hello to him, and he reminded me that I was supposed to have dinner with him tonight. I made the excuse of being needed as a guide, etc for Vishal. Oh well. I probably would have missed it anyway even if it were just me, Sergio and Cyrille. Likewise, the LDA social was another event I would have liked to go this evening.
While Sergio and I were watching the floor from the upper deck, Daniella (Tony's partner) found me for a chat and a dance - my first of the evening. I can't complain about such a start to a night of dancing. I guess it's more of a fringe benefit for having organized all those Bachata workshops because I imagine that she would have danced with me even if I were a piss poor dancer (and frankly I feel like I've been in a rut for some time now). Daniella now has a Reggaeton DVD by the way.
Unlike last few times, the AC was not powered high tonight. Despite thinness of crowd, I was perspiring a bit after just one dance. This resulted in a sequence where I would dance for a song then rest for anywhere from one to three songs thereafter. The long middle part of the evening was very up and down. Sergio commented later that I was dancing less than usual (Vishal on the other commented that he saw me dancing all the time).
The shows. The Samba Girls. After 20 seconds, I gave up and started scoping the field for prospective dance partner for the next song. Thumbs down from Cyrille and Sergio also. Laith Sami's massive (20 people) new group. I had essentially the front and center view seated - way too close. From where I was, I could see the individual dancers alright but watching the group as whole was challenging. Most notable was that Danie (Cambridge) was at the front and center of this performance for the most of the show. Sergio made a nice complimentary comment about how Danie did, but I will refrain from quoting him because it may not sound like a compliment when written down (I could see Ivan nod here in agreement). Lee and Shelley. Performance was done to Arrepientete by Ray Barretto. A stumble here (and maybe there) probably in part because of poor floor - they're certainly good even if I have seen them too many times to count.
Unlike in the past Scala, the dance floor did not get really crowded until past 1 AM, but it stayed that way until considerably later than in the past as well. Sometimes overcrowding made dancing difficult, but it worked out brilliantly at least one time precisely because my partner (a complete stranger) and I dealt it really smoothly (okay - at least by my standard).
Despite having several really nice dances over the course of the evening, I was a bit down and out towards the end. I felt a little better after I had a dance with Danie (Cambridge, not Italy), whom I hadn't danced with for what seemed like an eternity. In part because I was out of sorts at the time, the dance itself was nothing more than a standard and probably less intense than usual hello danc, but it still was nice - and relieving and liberating in a way.
Perhaps the best part of the evening happened after Vishal stopped by to suggest we leave in next 10 minutes or so. The DJ then played Viva Cepeda by Cal Tjader! I couldn't believe it - I had wanted to dance to this song badly for some time - Viva Cepeda (not sure if the DJ slowed it down?) is the song I have listened to the most using my iPod to date. I jumped up and grabbed some random girl for this dance immediately. I don't know if she appreciated the song or what I was trying to do with the song (but you know what? what I was doing might have been considered amateurish and uninteresting by a really good follower), but I liked it a lot. The DJ (Big Les) followed it up with Alonzo (also by Cal Tjader). This time I picked someone I knew from SOS. She was a better follower, but I did not enjoy the dance or the song as much as Viva Cepeda (maybe I would have enjoyed it more if my partner was less competent - I doubt it, but who knows for sure?). Next song was Salsa Y Control by Lebron Brothers, whom I like as well (probably not as much as Sergio) but it was time to go. I was drenched after dancing 3 songs in a row.
Lorraine joined us for the drive back. It turned out that Vishal was not going back to Cambridge - he and Danie were headed to Isle of Wight instead. It made for a somewhat tight squeeze in the backseat - Sergio and Cyrille both competed for shotgun with Cyrille deferring to Sergio eventually.
Despite there being a big group in the car (which tend to shut me up), I ended up conversing practically nonstop on the drive back - mostly with Sergio and Lorraine. Strictly Come Dancing was one of the topics. Later Sergio and I talked about Bachata (apparently Sergio had a spell of interest immediately after the last workshop, which faded quickly) and Salsa (specifically me feeling bogged down lately and him suggesting another session preferably with a suitable partner - finding one could be a challenge).
Dropping off people was a bit roundabout. I'll summarize by saying it involved going to Comberton, Hardwick, Chesterton, and Station Road, and it could and perhaps should have involved a side trip to Newmarket. Not my finest work. Oh well.
There might not be another post for a week because there's no Salsa event that appeals to me a great deal. So this might be a perfect opportunity to break the habit for those who are addicted and compelled to visit this blog every day (or more frequently).
A foggy day, in London town
December 22, 2006
Playlist
Songorocosongo - Hector Lavoe (1)*
La Muy Muy - Roberto Torres
La Llave - Grupo Latin Vibe
Mambo Diablo - Tito Puente (70's version) (2)
Ave Maria Lola - Roberto Torres (3)*
Lindo Yambu - Cheo Feliciano
Me Dejo - Oscar D'Leon*
Un Alto En El Camino - Grupo Niche
Dime Que Quieres - El Gran Combo (4)*
Esas Lagrimas - Gilberto Santa Rosa
Caballero Y Dama - Celia Cruz & Willie Chirino
Mambo Gozon - Tito Puente (Mambo Birdland version) (5)*
Cucala - Celia Cruz & Johnny Pacheco (6)*
Un Apretoncito - Toke D Keda
No Aguanto Mas - Celia Cruz & Johnny Pacheco (7)*
El Cuarto - Eddie Palmieri (8)
Quitate La Mascara - Ray Barretto
Tu Son - Oscar D'Leon*
Me Desengano - Roberto Roena
No Critiques - Manny Oquendo & Libre
Y No Hay Mas Na' - El Gran Combo*
Disco Azucar - Los Van Van (9)*
Negro Esta Cocinando - Los Van Van
Musica Ligera - Toke D Keda
Te Extrano - Toke D Keda
Un Poquito Mas - Jimmy Bosch
Plastico - Willie Colon & Ruben Blades
Break
Vishal started with two Merengue (first was Suavemente). As he was readying to play his first Salsa, I teased him by asking, "What's next? Are you going to play Playa No More?" He replied, "I'll try not to." He ended up not playing Playa No More through the whole set! In fact, it was a pretty clean set and without many of his usual big hits. Probably the most predictable song was Lamento Boliviano by Toke D Keda as his last song.
Mambo City - Grupo Latin Vibe (10)*
La Palomilla - Joe Cuba Sextet
My Favorite Things - New Swing Sextet
Thinking Of You - Lenny Kravitz (11)
Amor De Una Noche - N'Klabe
Perdoname - Gilberto Santa Rosa (12)
(1) This song was under consideration for several months. Long and slow-paced, I wondered at one point if this was Cha Cha. I finally decided that it wasn't Cha Cha and gave it a try with intention of dancing to it to see how it worked. Pace was okay. There were some tricky parts as well as transition(s). So, do I play it again? I don't know.
(2) Four slow songs in a row. I danced to this one as well because I recalled some people voicing their dislike. It seemed fine with me; I think it must have been a general complaint against slow songs - many people get to a point where they find it more difficult to dance to slow songs rather than fast ones.
(3) Finally a medium-paced song. Last four songs were very slow, so it must have seemed very fast to Vishal. He asked, "Is this the original version of the song?" I replied, "I don't know. It's by Roberto Torres." He liked it. After all, pretty much everyone in the club danced to this song - presumably because of combination of familiarity and freshness.
(4) Vishal liked this one too and asked, "Who's the singer? Is it Frankie Ruiz?" I replied, "No. I don't know the singer, but it's by El Gran Combo."
(5) Vishal really liked this one and asked who it was once again.
(6) I think Mambo Gozon tired out everyone who was dancing. I should have played Bachata instead.
(7) I thought I would try my hand at playing some different Merengue. Only one couple danced to it. I told Shila, "I guess it means either it's not a good Merengue or there is not much interest in Merengue tonight."
(8) And you know what? Someone came and asked if I could play Merengue during this song. I told him that the song I played just before this one was a Merengue.
(9) At the start of No Critiques, Laura stopped by and asked if I had Los Van Van. I didn't feel like playing Temba, Tumba Y Timba again, so I asked her if she had a song she liked. The simplest way was for me to show her my list of Los Van Van songs. She recognized Disco Azucar and added "the second song in that CD" to make sure. I recognized Disco Azucar as one of the songs listed as some people's favorite Los Van Van. In any case, a lot of people liked this one (again in part because of it being a rare occasion to hear it), so I considered a few possibilities including La Sanduguera before settling on a safer choice.
(10) It looked like the end of the evening was nearing even before I got back. I guess I didn't stop it either. Perhaps the surprising thing is that it had lasted as long as it did given the number of people who showed up. I certainly wouldn't fault Vishal's playlist - it seemed quite nice to me.
(11) Back to the slow mood.
(12) Vishal announced that this would be the last song - he talked about closing early about 10 minutes prior to this. If this wasn't going to be the last one, I would have played Chan Chan next.
Total 33 songs. 29 Salsa. 3 Bachata. 1 Merengue. 11 new songs including 10 new Salsa.
It was another night where I danced with only 4 people. There isn't very much to write about because except for <10 song break, I was doing little but DJing - sometimes chatting with Vishal or Shila (who was hanging around near the DJ booth a lot as he has been doing a lot lately).
A heavy fog, which plagued Cambridge and a big region of the UK seemed to be getting lighter by the end of the evening. I had Ella and Louis singing in my head all day. Maybe the sun will be shining everywhere come tomorrow.
Playlist
Songorocosongo - Hector Lavoe (1)*
La Muy Muy - Roberto Torres
La Llave - Grupo Latin Vibe
Mambo Diablo - Tito Puente (70's version) (2)
Ave Maria Lola - Roberto Torres (3)*
Lindo Yambu - Cheo Feliciano
Me Dejo - Oscar D'Leon*
Un Alto En El Camino - Grupo Niche
Dime Que Quieres - El Gran Combo (4)*
Esas Lagrimas - Gilberto Santa Rosa
Caballero Y Dama - Celia Cruz & Willie Chirino
Mambo Gozon - Tito Puente (Mambo Birdland version) (5)*
Cucala - Celia Cruz & Johnny Pacheco (6)*
Un Apretoncito - Toke D Keda
No Aguanto Mas - Celia Cruz & Johnny Pacheco (7)*
El Cuarto - Eddie Palmieri (8)
Quitate La Mascara - Ray Barretto
Tu Son - Oscar D'Leon*
Me Desengano - Roberto Roena
No Critiques - Manny Oquendo & Libre
Y No Hay Mas Na' - El Gran Combo*
Disco Azucar - Los Van Van (9)*
Negro Esta Cocinando - Los Van Van
Musica Ligera - Toke D Keda
Te Extrano - Toke D Keda
Un Poquito Mas - Jimmy Bosch
Plastico - Willie Colon & Ruben Blades
Break
Vishal started with two Merengue (first was Suavemente). As he was readying to play his first Salsa, I teased him by asking, "What's next? Are you going to play Playa No More?" He replied, "I'll try not to." He ended up not playing Playa No More through the whole set! In fact, it was a pretty clean set and without many of his usual big hits. Probably the most predictable song was Lamento Boliviano by Toke D Keda as his last song.
Mambo City - Grupo Latin Vibe (10)*
La Palomilla - Joe Cuba Sextet
My Favorite Things - New Swing Sextet
Thinking Of You - Lenny Kravitz (11)
Amor De Una Noche - N'Klabe
Perdoname - Gilberto Santa Rosa (12)
(1) This song was under consideration for several months. Long and slow-paced, I wondered at one point if this was Cha Cha. I finally decided that it wasn't Cha Cha and gave it a try with intention of dancing to it to see how it worked. Pace was okay. There were some tricky parts as well as transition(s). So, do I play it again? I don't know.
(2) Four slow songs in a row. I danced to this one as well because I recalled some people voicing their dislike. It seemed fine with me; I think it must have been a general complaint against slow songs - many people get to a point where they find it more difficult to dance to slow songs rather than fast ones.
(3) Finally a medium-paced song. Last four songs were very slow, so it must have seemed very fast to Vishal. He asked, "Is this the original version of the song?" I replied, "I don't know. It's by Roberto Torres." He liked it. After all, pretty much everyone in the club danced to this song - presumably because of combination of familiarity and freshness.
(4) Vishal liked this one too and asked, "Who's the singer? Is it Frankie Ruiz?" I replied, "No. I don't know the singer, but it's by El Gran Combo."
(5) Vishal really liked this one and asked who it was once again.
(6) I think Mambo Gozon tired out everyone who was dancing. I should have played Bachata instead.
(7) I thought I would try my hand at playing some different Merengue. Only one couple danced to it. I told Shila, "I guess it means either it's not a good Merengue or there is not much interest in Merengue tonight."
(8) And you know what? Someone came and asked if I could play Merengue during this song. I told him that the song I played just before this one was a Merengue.
(9) At the start of No Critiques, Laura stopped by and asked if I had Los Van Van. I didn't feel like playing Temba, Tumba Y Timba again, so I asked her if she had a song she liked. The simplest way was for me to show her my list of Los Van Van songs. She recognized Disco Azucar and added "the second song in that CD" to make sure. I recognized Disco Azucar as one of the songs listed as some people's favorite Los Van Van. In any case, a lot of people liked this one (again in part because of it being a rare occasion to hear it), so I considered a few possibilities including La Sanduguera before settling on a safer choice.
(10) It looked like the end of the evening was nearing even before I got back. I guess I didn't stop it either. Perhaps the surprising thing is that it had lasted as long as it did given the number of people who showed up. I certainly wouldn't fault Vishal's playlist - it seemed quite nice to me.
(11) Back to the slow mood.
(12) Vishal announced that this would be the last song - he talked about closing early about 10 minutes prior to this. If this wasn't going to be the last one, I would have played Chan Chan next.
Total 33 songs. 29 Salsa. 3 Bachata. 1 Merengue. 11 new songs including 10 new Salsa.
It was another night where I danced with only 4 people. There isn't very much to write about because except for <10 song break, I was doing little but DJing - sometimes chatting with Vishal or Shila (who was hanging around near the DJ booth a lot as he has been doing a lot lately).
A heavy fog, which plagued Cambridge and a big region of the UK seemed to be getting lighter by the end of the evening. I had Ella and Louis singing in my head all day. Maybe the sun will be shining everywhere come tomorrow.
Just us maniacs guarding the fort
December 21, 2006
Intermediate with Chris with help from Sally
1,2,3,5,6,7 one up, one down R-L led double clockwise stationary turn for follower with R-L ending behind follower’s L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start with L-R connection coming late around 3 with both connections towards the direction follower came from, hold follower in position with leader stepping into follower’s previous space on 5 and then turning 1/2 counterclockwise with R-L low (I suppose this could be made more challenging by making it 1 1/2 turn)
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-R hat for follower and get into CBL position and keep L-R behind follower’s neck and lead follower into 1 1/2 unwinding clockwise turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start again with L-R going over – bring follower forward on leader’s R with leader doing a hook step on 5 – leader steps forward on 6,7 while follower comes forward and turns 1/2 (clockwise?) at the same time
1,2,3,5,6,7 another Copa start (somewhat unusual in that leader’s body is positioned away from follower on 1) – on 5, keep follower in place while leader does 1 1/2 clockwise hook turn keeping L-R low and with multiple-switch of hands to end in R-R [an alternative I was playing with before Christ gave instructions for the class involved doing a simple open break and bringing follower forward on leader’s L side and leading 2 1/2 or even 3 1/2 counterclockwise turn]
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward on leader’s R side with R-R going over and L-L connection made in front – lead follower to continue forward and into full counterclockwise turn with L-L low and R-R ending in front of follower (or more over to her L)
1,2,3,5,6,7 allow follower to step forward on 1 and in place on 2,3 while leader steps in front of follower with 1/4 clockwise turn on 3 to get L-L behind follower’s R waist and with leader having gotten himself into CBL position and with R forearm on L-L – lead follower forward on 5 with L-L and use R forearm to lead follower to turn counterclockwise 1 1/2 starting on 6 with leader ideally walking clockwise 3/4 to face follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader walks and turns further 3/4 clockwise to get into CBL position again and do any old CBL finish with however many turns as desired
Denmark, Dubai, Germany, Malaysia, Norway, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and all over United Kingdom. People are scattered all over the world leaving Cambridge seemingly empty. I had hoped to get some practice with the whip but no luck tonight. Practicing related moves using lasso instead was not particularly successful either.
Ivan was acting goofier than usual. First he showed up very early because he misplaced an hour somewhere. He ended up doing some extra walk so that he could finish packing. Later when he wasn’t dancing (mostly with Jane tonight), he was often playing the role of joker while hanging out with Sergio, Cyrille and me.
Cyrille and Sergio were dancing a lot less than usual by their usual standard. I guess this does not mean much for Sergio, but it was pretty dramatic for Cyrille. It's not even Friday yet! I am not sure if Cyrille danced any more than Sergio did tonight; if he did, it was by no more than one or maybe two.
As for me, I was my usual self - whatever that means (I don't know either).
Intermediate with Chris with help from Sally
1,2,3,5,6,7 one up, one down R-L led double clockwise stationary turn for follower with R-L ending behind follower’s L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start with L-R connection coming late around 3 with both connections towards the direction follower came from, hold follower in position with leader stepping into follower’s previous space on 5 and then turning 1/2 counterclockwise with R-L low (I suppose this could be made more challenging by making it 1 1/2 turn)
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-R hat for follower and get into CBL position and keep L-R behind follower’s neck and lead follower into 1 1/2 unwinding clockwise turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start again with L-R going over – bring follower forward on leader’s R with leader doing a hook step on 5 – leader steps forward on 6,7 while follower comes forward and turns 1/2 (clockwise?) at the same time
1,2,3,5,6,7 another Copa start (somewhat unusual in that leader’s body is positioned away from follower on 1) – on 5, keep follower in place while leader does 1 1/2 clockwise hook turn keeping L-R low and with multiple-switch of hands to end in R-R [an alternative I was playing with before Christ gave instructions for the class involved doing a simple open break and bringing follower forward on leader’s L side and leading 2 1/2 or even 3 1/2 counterclockwise turn]
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward on leader’s R side with R-R going over and L-L connection made in front – lead follower to continue forward and into full counterclockwise turn with L-L low and R-R ending in front of follower (or more over to her L)
1,2,3,5,6,7 allow follower to step forward on 1 and in place on 2,3 while leader steps in front of follower with 1/4 clockwise turn on 3 to get L-L behind follower’s R waist and with leader having gotten himself into CBL position and with R forearm on L-L – lead follower forward on 5 with L-L and use R forearm to lead follower to turn counterclockwise 1 1/2 starting on 6 with leader ideally walking clockwise 3/4 to face follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader walks and turns further 3/4 clockwise to get into CBL position again and do any old CBL finish with however many turns as desired
Denmark, Dubai, Germany, Malaysia, Norway, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and all over United Kingdom. People are scattered all over the world leaving Cambridge seemingly empty. I had hoped to get some practice with the whip but no luck tonight. Practicing related moves using lasso instead was not particularly successful either.
Ivan was acting goofier than usual. First he showed up very early because he misplaced an hour somewhere. He ended up doing some extra walk so that he could finish packing. Later when he wasn’t dancing (mostly with Jane tonight), he was often playing the role of joker while hanging out with Sergio, Cyrille and me.
Cyrille and Sergio were dancing a lot less than usual by their usual standard. I guess this does not mean much for Sergio, but it was pretty dramatic for Cyrille. It's not even Friday yet! I am not sure if Cyrille danced any more than Sergio did tonight; if he did, it was by no more than one or maybe two.
As for me, I was my usual self - whatever that means (I don't know either).
Final thought of a bowl of petunias on its 300 mile fall to the ground
December 20, 2006
Only a handful of followers who start Salsa lessons make as rapid progress as Susie did in Cambridge; her attitude as much as her aptitude presumably made it possible. I imagine I would miss her good-nature more than her squeaks. Anyhow, when she asked me to be at Club Salsa for her last night in Cambridge, the choice wasn’t very difficult with a caveat that I half expected her not to show up. In fact the words, “Oh no, not again,” did pop up my mind as the social part of the evening went for a while with no signs of Susie – even though I never considered Susie an unreliable type. In Hokkien we might say she’s zai lah – or is that too strong? (Sorry, I don’t speak Mandarin or Cantonese let alone Hokkien.) Anyhow, she did show up and all ended well.
Otherwise, I danced with maybe four people and had some practice dancing Bachata. Considering that I don’t feel I’m getting enough substantive practice in partner work at normal speed for any dance lately, I’ll take whatever morsel I can get.
Musical selections tonight.
What was played – Lovely Day, Que Buena Baila Usted, Brujeria, Lloraras, Ave Maria Lola, La Pantera Mambo
What was not played - Me Voy Pa’ Cali, Me Libere, Thinking Of You, El Pito, Micaela, Lindo Yambu
Only a handful of followers who start Salsa lessons make as rapid progress as Susie did in Cambridge; her attitude as much as her aptitude presumably made it possible. I imagine I would miss her good-nature more than her squeaks. Anyhow, when she asked me to be at Club Salsa for her last night in Cambridge, the choice wasn’t very difficult with a caveat that I half expected her not to show up. In fact the words, “Oh no, not again,” did pop up my mind as the social part of the evening went for a while with no signs of Susie – even though I never considered Susie an unreliable type. In Hokkien we might say she’s zai lah – or is that too strong? (Sorry, I don’t speak Mandarin or Cantonese let alone Hokkien.) Anyhow, she did show up and all ended well.
Otherwise, I danced with maybe four people and had some practice dancing Bachata. Considering that I don’t feel I’m getting enough substantive practice in partner work at normal speed for any dance lately, I’ll take whatever morsel I can get.
Musical selections tonight.
What was played – Lovely Day, Que Buena Baila Usted, Brujeria, Lloraras, Ave Maria Lola, La Pantera Mambo
What was not played - Me Voy Pa’ Cali, Me Libere, Thinking Of You, El Pito, Micaela, Lindo Yambu
End of the year blues
December 18, 2006
Sean and Jamil were surprise participants of tonight’s class. Despite their presence, the crowd for tonight’s class was the smallest since mid-April. Presumably many people are away for the holidays.
The lineup once again was Joe, Tiz (again!) and Aiste.
Intermediate with Joe
Grapevine with heel-toe
1 L foot cross over R
2 R foot more or less in place or slightly back
3 L foot back to open
4 R foot in front on L on heel
5 R foot twist and slide slightly to R while L foot slides slightly back and to L
6 R foot back to open (slightly to L and back)
7 L foot cross over in front of R
8 R foot cross over in front of L – followed by Mambo basic
The main topic again was whip.
L-L behind follower’s R waist with free R hand on follower’s L shoulder by 3
1,2,3,5,6,7 rocking step start for follower on 1,2,3,5 using L-L for rocking step on 1 and 3 and R for leading follower forward on 5 into L-L followed by unwinding and downward lead with L-L to lead follower into double counterclockwise turn almost stationary with a 5-and and 6-and turning footwork
Two methods of getting into this position were practiced.
open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower into double one-up one-down clockwise turn with switching to L-L
open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower into a single clockwise turn with R-L low and L-R high with a switch late to L-L
Two methods for getting out of whipped (or lasso-ed) position were practiced.
double yo-yo
1,2,3,5,6,7 step with follower forward on 1 and turn her around 1/2 clockwise with L-L ending somewhat high and R hand flat on follower’s stomach – allow follower to step forward on 5, then lead follower to go back and into counterclockwise traveling turn while leader turns to his left (counterclockwise) as well while stepping into the space follower would have occupied if this were a simple yo-yo
[this was followed by a hat for follower with L-L and simple CBL]
another option
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower to step to L on 1 then keep a neutral lead (follower does a recovering step) while leader steps in front of follower (L-L is kept by leader’s waist on 3 as leader is now positioned directly in front of follower) – leader steps back and to L on 5 while brining follower forward on leader’s R and into a free traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn starting on 6
Other people in class included Lorraine and Marian. I have known Lorraine and Marian at least since October of 2004. I note that they along with Sean are the people I have known in Cambridge Salsa scene the longest aside from the instructors. Lorraine in fact assisted Mauricio for a while in fall/winter of 2004. I don’t know everyone’s name even though I have seen and danced with some people for many months.
Susie, Sam and Isabel made a surprise appearance with no boys in tow.
Susie said Wednesday is her last day in Cambridge – so I may end up making an effort to show up. Hmm. I thought she was leaving in February, but what do I know?
Sam and Isabel seemed a bit withdrawn, maybe resigned and seemed drawn to each other and little else. I thought I detected a hint of wistfulness or something like an end-of-the-year blues from them, but perhaps I’m merely projecting (or call it transference). Or a distorted view through kaleidoscope eyes. How about, “soaking up or getting drunk in each other’s company for the moment and/or for an illusion of eternity?” Is it too rambling and long-winded? They are not always nice to me but I find them strangely compelling – sort of like the Cambridge Salsa scene in general – enough for me to write even if I don’t think it’s always for the best. It didn’t seem like there was anything I could do – maybe accidentally setting myself on fire would have cheered or at least amused them. I could see that they could get annoyed with this, but who can tell how their minds work?
I have no idea why Vishal kept drifting towards playing crapola music. It was such a contrast to practice music being played by Joe like Asia Mood, My Favorite Things among other goodies. At one point, I had to tell him to play something more danceable. His answer was to play Contigo, Caballo Viejo, etc., which were overly familiar but an improvement nevertheless as far as I was concerned. I personally found it strange that he insisted on drifting towards stuff no one seemed interested in dancing (aside from Sam and Isabel – but they were a special case tonight). I suppose there are and always will be plenty of things about Vishal I won’t understand.
Later in the evening, more people came to fill up the club. Among familiar faces were John, Gordon and Shila. Even though they seemed like their normal selves more or less, the general mood remained lethargic. In fact, I found the atmosphere to become more surreal as minutes ticked by. By 11, the club was quite crowded yet no one was dancing, and Vishal was playing what-the-heck kind of music. It turned out that there was a farewell party for some Spaniards. I still didn’t get the choice of music for this party (aside from a song that supposedly was a request), but I suppose I know nothing.
Sean and Jamil were surprise participants of tonight’s class. Despite their presence, the crowd for tonight’s class was the smallest since mid-April. Presumably many people are away for the holidays.
The lineup once again was Joe, Tiz (again!) and Aiste.
Intermediate with Joe
Grapevine with heel-toe
1 L foot cross over R
2 R foot more or less in place or slightly back
3 L foot back to open
4 R foot in front on L on heel
5 R foot twist and slide slightly to R while L foot slides slightly back and to L
6 R foot back to open (slightly to L and back)
7 L foot cross over in front of R
8 R foot cross over in front of L – followed by Mambo basic
The main topic again was whip.
L-L behind follower’s R waist with free R hand on follower’s L shoulder by 3
1,2,3,5,6,7 rocking step start for follower on 1,2,3,5 using L-L for rocking step on 1 and 3 and R for leading follower forward on 5 into L-L followed by unwinding and downward lead with L-L to lead follower into double counterclockwise turn almost stationary with a 5-and and 6-and turning footwork
Two methods of getting into this position were practiced.
open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower into double one-up one-down clockwise turn with switching to L-L
open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower into a single clockwise turn with R-L low and L-R high with a switch late to L-L
Two methods for getting out of whipped (or lasso-ed) position were practiced.
double yo-yo
1,2,3,5,6,7 step with follower forward on 1 and turn her around 1/2 clockwise with L-L ending somewhat high and R hand flat on follower’s stomach – allow follower to step forward on 5, then lead follower to go back and into counterclockwise traveling turn while leader turns to his left (counterclockwise) as well while stepping into the space follower would have occupied if this were a simple yo-yo
[this was followed by a hat for follower with L-L and simple CBL]
another option
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower to step to L on 1 then keep a neutral lead (follower does a recovering step) while leader steps in front of follower (L-L is kept by leader’s waist on 3 as leader is now positioned directly in front of follower) – leader steps back and to L on 5 while brining follower forward on leader’s R and into a free traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn starting on 6
Other people in class included Lorraine and Marian. I have known Lorraine and Marian at least since October of 2004. I note that they along with Sean are the people I have known in Cambridge Salsa scene the longest aside from the instructors. Lorraine in fact assisted Mauricio for a while in fall/winter of 2004. I don’t know everyone’s name even though I have seen and danced with some people for many months.
Susie, Sam and Isabel made a surprise appearance with no boys in tow.
Susie said Wednesday is her last day in Cambridge – so I may end up making an effort to show up. Hmm. I thought she was leaving in February, but what do I know?
Sam and Isabel seemed a bit withdrawn, maybe resigned and seemed drawn to each other and little else. I thought I detected a hint of wistfulness or something like an end-of-the-year blues from them, but perhaps I’m merely projecting (or call it transference). Or a distorted view through kaleidoscope eyes. How about, “soaking up or getting drunk in each other’s company for the moment and/or for an illusion of eternity?” Is it too rambling and long-winded? They are not always nice to me but I find them strangely compelling – sort of like the Cambridge Salsa scene in general – enough for me to write even if I don’t think it’s always for the best. It didn’t seem like there was anything I could do – maybe accidentally setting myself on fire would have cheered or at least amused them. I could see that they could get annoyed with this, but who can tell how their minds work?
I have no idea why Vishal kept drifting towards playing crapola music. It was such a contrast to practice music being played by Joe like Asia Mood, My Favorite Things among other goodies. At one point, I had to tell him to play something more danceable. His answer was to play Contigo, Caballo Viejo, etc., which were overly familiar but an improvement nevertheless as far as I was concerned. I personally found it strange that he insisted on drifting towards stuff no one seemed interested in dancing (aside from Sam and Isabel – but they were a special case tonight). I suppose there are and always will be plenty of things about Vishal I won’t understand.
Later in the evening, more people came to fill up the club. Among familiar faces were John, Gordon and Shila. Even though they seemed like their normal selves more or less, the general mood remained lethargic. In fact, I found the atmosphere to become more surreal as minutes ticked by. By 11, the club was quite crowded yet no one was dancing, and Vishal was playing what-the-heck kind of music. It turned out that there was a farewell party for some Spaniards. I still didn’t get the choice of music for this party (aside from a song that supposedly was a request), but I suppose I know nothing.
Last SOS of 2006
December 17, 2006
Another trip to SOS alone – at least on the way to London. This time I tried to talk Sergio into going but he bowed out citing a cold. I took two books with me because I was nearly finished with one. I finished “Running With Scissors” by Augusten Burroughs on the way to London and started “Saturday” by Ian McEwen. I listened to Mongo Santamaria (Mambo Mongo) and Joe Cuba Sextet (Diggin’ The Most) on the way to London and Perez Prado (Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White) on the way back.
When I arrived around 8:15 PM, SOS was in the middle of the big mixer in a circle again. La Llave was used as the second song – not sure who chose it. The DJ was Amir. Among songs played during the social hours, Alabanciosa by Manny Oquendo, Esto Es Guaguanco by Cheo Feliciano and La Pelota by Ray Barretto were the only ones in my collection. Alabanciosa for me started out fantastic for me (I was dancing with Helen), but I ran out of steam by 2/3 way through the song. Esto Es Guaguanco was awful especially towards the end - I was struggling to stay in time and wondered why I played the song so often in the past. My partner struggled with pace of La Pelota (the fact that this song came on heels of a Cha Cha followed by Bachata didn't help matters). There were other songs I recognized as a different version of song I know (e.g. Avisale A Mi Contrario and a distant cousin of Ran Kan Kan) or have or I have heard previously without knowing the name or the artist. Two Cha Cha were played as well as one Bachata (the Bachata song came immediate after a Cha Cha around 10:15).
There was a performance by Tamambo and Miriam. It was essentially all shines with good deal of body isolations; Jane said on the train ride back that there was one cross body lead. The song used was Donde Estabas Tu, and my guess was that it was a version by Tito Rodriguez (at least the voice sounded like him – but I could be way off). I guess I didn’t mind too much about it taking time away from social dancing.
As for dancing, it was okay overall but I felt as if I was hitting another lull. Sometimes I would get bored doing the same things over and over again, then I would think of trying something different but usually end up not using them. I would reject some of these moves sometimes because I didn’t feel like giving my partner an unnecessary challenge or sometimes because it didn’t feel appropriate with the music (doing a move simply because I hadn’t used it already rather than have it come out spontaneously) or sometimes I just couldn’t be bothered period.
It’s rather sad and foolish that I build up expectations for one reason or another only to end up having a bland night because of sudden loss of inspiration when the evening starts off. While it was a fine night of dancing, mostly I felt bright moments only when I seemingly surprised my partner in a good way, which did happen sporadically with several partners over the course of the evening. Of course, surprising followers at SOS, especially the regulars, is a big challenge because there are tons of good leads there and not a small number of followers are used to dancing with pros and semi-pros. Heck, surprising people at Cambridge is a challenge especially if they get used to you – the only way out is to continually and rapidly improve. [Incidentally, adding more turn patterns to ones repertoire is overrated – improvements in technique, tension, musicality, improvisation, shines, isolations and developing a personal style are as important. Maybe there are other factors I am forgetting or have not recognized yet.] Wow – that’s some digression. Back to the start – I need to keep my expectations low – rock bottom.
There will be no SOS for next two weeks. So there won’t be very much to do in London aside from the Scala on the 23rd – I am far from convinced that there’s anything worthwhile between X-mas and New Year’s Day. Maybe I’ll get some work done that week.
Another trip to SOS alone – at least on the way to London. This time I tried to talk Sergio into going but he bowed out citing a cold. I took two books with me because I was nearly finished with one. I finished “Running With Scissors” by Augusten Burroughs on the way to London and started “Saturday” by Ian McEwen. I listened to Mongo Santamaria (Mambo Mongo) and Joe Cuba Sextet (Diggin’ The Most) on the way to London and Perez Prado (Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White) on the way back.
When I arrived around 8:15 PM, SOS was in the middle of the big mixer in a circle again. La Llave was used as the second song – not sure who chose it. The DJ was Amir. Among songs played during the social hours, Alabanciosa by Manny Oquendo, Esto Es Guaguanco by Cheo Feliciano and La Pelota by Ray Barretto were the only ones in my collection. Alabanciosa for me started out fantastic for me (I was dancing with Helen), but I ran out of steam by 2/3 way through the song. Esto Es Guaguanco was awful especially towards the end - I was struggling to stay in time and wondered why I played the song so often in the past. My partner struggled with pace of La Pelota (the fact that this song came on heels of a Cha Cha followed by Bachata didn't help matters). There were other songs I recognized as a different version of song I know (e.g. Avisale A Mi Contrario and a distant cousin of Ran Kan Kan) or have or I have heard previously without knowing the name or the artist. Two Cha Cha were played as well as one Bachata (the Bachata song came immediate after a Cha Cha around 10:15).
There was a performance by Tamambo and Miriam. It was essentially all shines with good deal of body isolations; Jane said on the train ride back that there was one cross body lead. The song used was Donde Estabas Tu, and my guess was that it was a version by Tito Rodriguez (at least the voice sounded like him – but I could be way off). I guess I didn’t mind too much about it taking time away from social dancing.
As for dancing, it was okay overall but I felt as if I was hitting another lull. Sometimes I would get bored doing the same things over and over again, then I would think of trying something different but usually end up not using them. I would reject some of these moves sometimes because I didn’t feel like giving my partner an unnecessary challenge or sometimes because it didn’t feel appropriate with the music (doing a move simply because I hadn’t used it already rather than have it come out spontaneously) or sometimes I just couldn’t be bothered period.
It’s rather sad and foolish that I build up expectations for one reason or another only to end up having a bland night because of sudden loss of inspiration when the evening starts off. While it was a fine night of dancing, mostly I felt bright moments only when I seemingly surprised my partner in a good way, which did happen sporadically with several partners over the course of the evening. Of course, surprising followers at SOS, especially the regulars, is a big challenge because there are tons of good leads there and not a small number of followers are used to dancing with pros and semi-pros. Heck, surprising people at Cambridge is a challenge especially if they get used to you – the only way out is to continually and rapidly improve. [Incidentally, adding more turn patterns to ones repertoire is overrated – improvements in technique, tension, musicality, improvisation, shines, isolations and developing a personal style are as important. Maybe there are other factors I am forgetting or have not recognized yet.] Wow – that’s some digression. Back to the start – I need to keep my expectations low – rock bottom.
There will be no SOS for next two weeks. So there won’t be very much to do in London aside from the Scala on the 23rd – I am far from convinced that there’s anything worthwhile between X-mas and New Year’s Day. Maybe I’ll get some work done that week.
A dash of Club Salsa and a dose of LeL
December 15, 2006
Several days ago, I told both Sally and Vishal that I would DJ for a short time at Club Salsa before heading to LeL for Sally’s X-mas party. Thus that’s exactly what I did.
Playlist at Club Salsa
La Muy Muy – Roberto Torres (1)*
Pachito Eche – Tito Puente & Celia Cruz
La Resbolosa – Ray Barretto
Don Goyo – El Gran Combo*
A El – Oscar D’Leon (2)
Mambo of the Times – Joe Cuba Sextet (3)
Mambo No 5 – Perez Prado (4)*
El Abaniquito – Pucho and His Latin Soul Brothers
Caballo Viejo – Roberto Torres (5)*
Caballero Y Dama – Celia Cruz & Willie Chirino
Otra Oportunidad – Jimmy Bosch
Usted Abuso – Celia Cruz & Willie Colon
Prestame Tu Mujer – Ray Barretto (6)
Felices Horas – Hector Lavoe
(1) The first song for the club hour was El Matrimonio by El Gran Combo because of a glitch. Hardly anyone danced to it though. La Muy Muy fared much better.
(2) The floor seemed to lose steam with Don Goyo and A El (I don’t think anyone danced to A El), so I decided to take a drastic action with big change of pace next.
(3) I thought it worked to get people’s attention so I decided to follow it up with another oddity.
(4) Vishal seemed scandalized. I thought many of the people there were getting a kick out of it and having fun.
(5) Vishal’s reaction was something along the lines of “That’s great. This is perfect. This is how it should be.” Come on. There is finite number of very popular songs, and it’s very easy to overuse them.
(6) Vishal asked, “Aren’t you going to Sally’s party?” I replied, “I’ll play one more song then go.”
Total 14 songs. 14 Salsa. 4 new songs.
It was extremely quiet when I arrived at Club Salsa, but it seemed to get better as evening went along. With luck, a big after-party people would have shown up after I left to make it worthwhile for Vishal.
Earlier in the day, I exchanged e-mails with Sergio and Cyrille and made reservations for them with Sally. Cyrille asked me when I planned to go to LeL. I said I probably will go around 11 after DJing at Club Salsa. I left Club Salsa shortly before 11, and arrived at LeL around 11:20.
Apparently Cyrille, Sergio and Mimi arrived merely minutes before my arrival. Cyrille commented that I must have been driving very fast. I was never very far from the speed limit. Those three apparently got together last night, but it had been a while for me with all three (I hadn't seen Sergio for 3+ weeks). Hmm. Maybe this helped to convince them to show up tonight – wishful thinking?
Sally seemed very glad to see us all. She had Cyrille take an imaginary photo of Sergio on her left and me on her right.
Mishap of the day – Mimi accidentally brought a mismatched pair of shoes – for the same foot. I don’t know if they both were for her left foot. She ended up dancing in her boots.
Santa Claus jokes are still prevalent.
Strangest tic of the day was Chris stomping his feet (presumably his left foot) loudly on 1 through large part of the evening. No idea why – maybe he was trying to shake the earth.
Although I only managed to hear 4 or 5 songs by the band (El Equipo), I thought they sounded quite good. Sergio liked them too. Gordon said they sounded fantastic. The songs they played included Descarga Cachao, Vamonos Pal Monte and a cha cha tune. One other person told me that the band was great also.
After the band finished playing, there was a performance given by Mark and Sam. It was essentially the same routine they did at the CDC Salsa social Pasion de Invierno. I think the performance tonight was executed just as well and probably done with more ease than at the CDC party. However, the novelty factor was missing because I knew all of the surprise elements. It’s a challenge, no? You learn or make a nice routine, but it quickly and continually loses freshness as you use it multiple times.
I’m not sure if there was a team performance. Because I had a very poor look at it last week, I was hoping to catch it tonight. I either missed it completely (although it did not sound that way in a conversation I had with Sally) or they did not repeat it tonight.
It was the busiest evening I have seen at LeL to date. I believe it was a highly successful party for Sally and company. However, because LeL is much bigger than Club Salsa, there always was decent amount of space for dancing. Nice.
Even though I was there for over two and half hours, it felt as if the party seemingly ended very quickly. I suppose time passed so fast because it was good. I had nice dances with Susie, Sam, Mimi, Nicola, Lindsey, Charlotte as well as at least three people I probably never danced with before. I’m guessing that the music started shortly after 9 and that the band started playing shortly after 9:30, so I probably missed close to half of the party. Presumably I would have danced with many more people if I arrived earlier.
I did notice that some of the people I danced with the most in Cambridge were missing – away for a vacation, etc. The most noticeable absentee otherwise was Rajiv, who’s also away on a vacation for among other things the Dubai Salsa congress. No Ivan either, but he’s probably allowed to go out once a week only [evil laughter].
It was nice to take a break away from the fishbowl, write things without worrying about consequences because it wasn’t going to be made public, etc. I guess I could call it a sabbatical. It was planned as a 4-part series. I guess I’ll save the last part for later.
Next up. SOS. I’ve been looking forward to it all week.
Several days ago, I told both Sally and Vishal that I would DJ for a short time at Club Salsa before heading to LeL for Sally’s X-mas party. Thus that’s exactly what I did.
Playlist at Club Salsa
La Muy Muy – Roberto Torres (1)*
Pachito Eche – Tito Puente & Celia Cruz
La Resbolosa – Ray Barretto
Don Goyo – El Gran Combo*
A El – Oscar D’Leon (2)
Mambo of the Times – Joe Cuba Sextet (3)
Mambo No 5 – Perez Prado (4)*
El Abaniquito – Pucho and His Latin Soul Brothers
Caballo Viejo – Roberto Torres (5)*
Caballero Y Dama – Celia Cruz & Willie Chirino
Otra Oportunidad – Jimmy Bosch
Usted Abuso – Celia Cruz & Willie Colon
Prestame Tu Mujer – Ray Barretto (6)
Felices Horas – Hector Lavoe
(1) The first song for the club hour was El Matrimonio by El Gran Combo because of a glitch. Hardly anyone danced to it though. La Muy Muy fared much better.
(2) The floor seemed to lose steam with Don Goyo and A El (I don’t think anyone danced to A El), so I decided to take a drastic action with big change of pace next.
(3) I thought it worked to get people’s attention so I decided to follow it up with another oddity.
(4) Vishal seemed scandalized. I thought many of the people there were getting a kick out of it and having fun.
(5) Vishal’s reaction was something along the lines of “That’s great. This is perfect. This is how it should be.” Come on. There is finite number of very popular songs, and it’s very easy to overuse them.
(6) Vishal asked, “Aren’t you going to Sally’s party?” I replied, “I’ll play one more song then go.”
Total 14 songs. 14 Salsa. 4 new songs.
It was extremely quiet when I arrived at Club Salsa, but it seemed to get better as evening went along. With luck, a big after-party people would have shown up after I left to make it worthwhile for Vishal.
Earlier in the day, I exchanged e-mails with Sergio and Cyrille and made reservations for them with Sally. Cyrille asked me when I planned to go to LeL. I said I probably will go around 11 after DJing at Club Salsa. I left Club Salsa shortly before 11, and arrived at LeL around 11:20.
Apparently Cyrille, Sergio and Mimi arrived merely minutes before my arrival. Cyrille commented that I must have been driving very fast. I was never very far from the speed limit. Those three apparently got together last night, but it had been a while for me with all three (I hadn't seen Sergio for 3+ weeks). Hmm. Maybe this helped to convince them to show up tonight – wishful thinking?
Sally seemed very glad to see us all. She had Cyrille take an imaginary photo of Sergio on her left and me on her right.
Mishap of the day – Mimi accidentally brought a mismatched pair of shoes – for the same foot. I don’t know if they both were for her left foot. She ended up dancing in her boots.
Santa Claus jokes are still prevalent.
Strangest tic of the day was Chris stomping his feet (presumably his left foot) loudly on 1 through large part of the evening. No idea why – maybe he was trying to shake the earth.
Although I only managed to hear 4 or 5 songs by the band (El Equipo), I thought they sounded quite good. Sergio liked them too. Gordon said they sounded fantastic. The songs they played included Descarga Cachao, Vamonos Pal Monte and a cha cha tune. One other person told me that the band was great also.
After the band finished playing, there was a performance given by Mark and Sam. It was essentially the same routine they did at the CDC Salsa social Pasion de Invierno. I think the performance tonight was executed just as well and probably done with more ease than at the CDC party. However, the novelty factor was missing because I knew all of the surprise elements. It’s a challenge, no? You learn or make a nice routine, but it quickly and continually loses freshness as you use it multiple times.
I’m not sure if there was a team performance. Because I had a very poor look at it last week, I was hoping to catch it tonight. I either missed it completely (although it did not sound that way in a conversation I had with Sally) or they did not repeat it tonight.
It was the busiest evening I have seen at LeL to date. I believe it was a highly successful party for Sally and company. However, because LeL is much bigger than Club Salsa, there always was decent amount of space for dancing. Nice.
Even though I was there for over two and half hours, it felt as if the party seemingly ended very quickly. I suppose time passed so fast because it was good. I had nice dances with Susie, Sam, Mimi, Nicola, Lindsey, Charlotte as well as at least three people I probably never danced with before. I’m guessing that the music started shortly after 9 and that the band started playing shortly after 9:30, so I probably missed close to half of the party. Presumably I would have danced with many more people if I arrived earlier.
I did notice that some of the people I danced with the most in Cambridge were missing – away for a vacation, etc. The most noticeable absentee otherwise was Rajiv, who’s also away on a vacation for among other things the Dubai Salsa congress. No Ivan either, but he’s probably allowed to go out once a week only [evil laughter].
It was nice to take a break away from the fishbowl, write things without worrying about consequences because it wasn’t going to be made public, etc. I guess I could call it a sabbatical. It was planned as a 4-part series. I guess I’ll save the last part for later.
Next up. SOS. I’ve been looking forward to it all week.
Well, this piece is called “Lick My Love Pump” (or more pretentious crap)
December 11, 2006
Intermediate with Joe
Whip and Yo-Yo
L-L behind follower’s R waist with free R hand on follower’s L shoulder
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead rocking step for follower on 1,2,3,5 then whip follower into double counterclockwise turn to end on check with follower to end her turn with step forward on 1 – L-L ends in front of follower’s R waist with her arm across her stomach – leader steps a bit to R on 7 to help with stability
1,2,3,5,6,7 allow follower to step forward on 1 with leader stepping forward to accommodate this movement, then lead her around 1/2 clockwise on 2,3 with switch to R-L in something of open CBL position but with leader also turning 1/2 counterclockwise and stepping forward somewhat along with the follower (without overtaking however) on 3, lead follower forward on 5 and into free 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn (yo-yo) – leader can make a clockwise turn and get back into closed hold for CBL next
How to get into the previous position
a trivial method
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower into full clockwise turn while keeping R-L low and switching to L-L
main method practiced
1,2,3,5,6,7 crossed hold R-R on top – open break and Copa-like start but with R-R going straight over the line rather than swerving in counterclockwise motion – lead is done with R-R on 1,2,3 – then with lead coming from L-L only, lead follower straight back into 1 1/2 clockwise turn keeping L-L low (downward movement rather than away movement so that there’s no traveling by follower) – R-R is used to give follower a haircomb with free R hand ending on follower’s L shoulder for rocking step
Other methods mentioned included using one-up one-down, over and under… also windmill is another possibility.
The lineup was Joe, Tiz (?!) and Aiste.
Smell the glove.
Intermediate with Joe
Whip and Yo-Yo
L-L behind follower’s R waist with free R hand on follower’s L shoulder
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead rocking step for follower on 1,2,3,5 then whip follower into double counterclockwise turn to end on check with follower to end her turn with step forward on 1 – L-L ends in front of follower’s R waist with her arm across her stomach – leader steps a bit to R on 7 to help with stability
1,2,3,5,6,7 allow follower to step forward on 1 with leader stepping forward to accommodate this movement, then lead her around 1/2 clockwise on 2,3 with switch to R-L in something of open CBL position but with leader also turning 1/2 counterclockwise and stepping forward somewhat along with the follower (without overtaking however) on 3, lead follower forward on 5 and into free 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn (yo-yo) – leader can make a clockwise turn and get back into closed hold for CBL next
How to get into the previous position
a trivial method
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower into full clockwise turn while keeping R-L low and switching to L-L
main method practiced
1,2,3,5,6,7 crossed hold R-R on top – open break and Copa-like start but with R-R going straight over the line rather than swerving in counterclockwise motion – lead is done with R-R on 1,2,3 – then with lead coming from L-L only, lead follower straight back into 1 1/2 clockwise turn keeping L-L low (downward movement rather than away movement so that there’s no traveling by follower) – R-R is used to give follower a haircomb with free R hand ending on follower’s L shoulder for rocking step
Other methods mentioned included using one-up one-down, over and under… also windmill is another possibility.
The lineup was Joe, Tiz (?!) and Aiste.
Smell the glove.
X-mas party at Club Salsa
December 8, 2006
Playlist
Ave Maria Lola – Sonora Carruseles
Me Voy Pa’ Cali – Oscar D’Leon
Brujeria – El Gran Combo
La Cartera – Orchestra Harlow
Ritmo Pa’ Borinquen – Grupo Latin Vibe*
El Pito – Isidro Infante
Suelta El Bongo – La 33
Usted Abuso – Celia Cruz & Willie Colon*
Pachito Eche – Tito Puente & Celia Cruz*
Caballero Y Dama – Celia Cruz & Willie Chirino*
break
No Hay Cama Pa’ Tanta Gente – El Gran Combo
Mi Gente – Oscar D’Leon
La Fiesta De Pilito – El Gran Combo
Vitamina – Sonora Carruseles
Merecumbe – Johnny Colon*
Musica Ligera – Toke De Keda
Salsa team performance break
El Abaniquito – Pucho and His Latin Soul Brothers
Cao Cao Mani Picao – Tito Puente*
Babarabatiri – Tito Puente (Live at Mamboland version)*
19 songs. 18 Salsa. 1 Bachata. 7 new songs.
And now for something different.
.
Playlist
Ave Maria Lola – Sonora Carruseles
Me Voy Pa’ Cali – Oscar D’Leon
Brujeria – El Gran Combo
La Cartera – Orchestra Harlow
Ritmo Pa’ Borinquen – Grupo Latin Vibe*
El Pito – Isidro Infante
Suelta El Bongo – La 33
Usted Abuso – Celia Cruz & Willie Colon*
Pachito Eche – Tito Puente & Celia Cruz*
Caballero Y Dama – Celia Cruz & Willie Chirino*
break
No Hay Cama Pa’ Tanta Gente – El Gran Combo
Mi Gente – Oscar D’Leon
La Fiesta De Pilito – El Gran Combo
Vitamina – Sonora Carruseles
Merecumbe – Johnny Colon*
Musica Ligera – Toke De Keda
Salsa team performance break
El Abaniquito – Pucho and His Latin Soul Brothers
Cao Cao Mani Picao – Tito Puente*
Babarabatiri – Tito Puente (Live at Mamboland version)*
19 songs. 18 Salsa. 1 Bachata. 7 new songs.
And now for something different.
.
December disruptions
December 7, 2006
Advanced with Chris and Sally
1,2,3,5,6,7 open hold – open break and bring follower to overtake on right side on 3 with hands together and bring follower around on 5,6 and finish with leading double clockwise turn for follower when she gets back approximately to the original position ending with R-L hammerlock (oh yeah!)
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-L hammerlock position with L-R connection intact in front – Copa start keeping connections intact – leader steps into follower’s previous spot with R-L going over to head to L side and use R-L to lead follower back into her original position (with 1/2 clockwise turn at the end to face leader – L-R is let go at least briefly)
1,2,3,5,6,7 not exactly an open break here but something of a preparation move – if anything both hands start to L on 1 – follower is brought forward on 2, 3 with slight perhaps <1/4 turn counterclockwise with leader turning <1/4 turn clockwise so that leader and follower are almost back to back with the connections in between heads of leader and follower – keep R-L neutral before letting go and use L-R to lead follower into multiple (2 1/2 should be doable) counterclockwise traveling turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-R hold – open break and bring follower in on L side with her turning 3/4 clockwise with leader turning 1/4 counterclockwise to face follower – leader should have moved enough here to be level with follower and make R hand visible to make R-L connection – lead follower to step to leader’s L on 5 (thus both hands to L) and lead follower to step to leader’s R on 6 then lead follower to get back to her original position with 1/4 turnaround counterclockwise (leader turns 1/4 clockwise to face follower as well) – follower’s footwork on 5 and 6 involves L foot cross over to her R on 5 (thus involving 1/4 turn to her R) and then R foot crossing over to her L with 1/2 counterclockwise turn on 6 then turning 1/4 clockwise on 7 while landing on her L foot on 7)
1,2,3,5,6,7 there might have been a simple CBL here
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL with full traveling clockwise turn for follower with switch from L-R to R-R to end in crucifix position (L-L connection is highly transitional here and could be considered decorative rather than functional in my opinion)
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower straight back on 1,2,3 (leader’s L foot crosses behind R foot on 1) – R-R passes leader’s head from his L side before getting back to the R side by 3 – lead follower to a double stationary clockwise turn (leading from behind leader’s head – leader looks over his R side to be sure this is done properly – the area between thumb and second finger is used for this lead – this whole bit is a little beyond me at this time) – with follower’s turn done leave follower’s R hand on leader’s R shoulder (eventually for a drop-catch?) before leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise to face follower
Every part was an intense exercise, no? In fact, Sally recommended that each individual part be practiced rather than the whole sequence.
There was a Cyrille sighting. He’s alive! Zern and Mimi (I think I’ll continue to misspell her name – by choice) showed up later too. Yay! No Sergio again though – I’ve heard that he injured his back from a secondhand source. I’ll have to send him a query. Richard's back seems have improved on the other hand. Whole lotta people are gone for the school break also. Boo! Everyone’s going to be gone for large chunk of the month. Ivan too was missing – I thought it was only the girls who’d tell me that they will see me on such and such days and not show up. I suppose I shouldn’t fault people for having life outside Salsa! Maybe some people were saving themselves for tomorrow night's big X-mas party tomorrow at Club Salsa.
Rather like last week, I danced with beginners a lot – mostly with Jane’s sisters’s group or with my distant work relations. I felt I was a bit sloppy and not quite right generally. Oh well. I suppose this is to be expected considering my general state. Maybe most of my partners did not notice.
Music. Sally played a version of Arinanara – more suitable for playing at Club Salsa than two versions of the song I have - by Joe Cuba (a bit fast) and by Tito Puente (a bit old sounding). Sally also played Merecumbe twice, and both times I was dancing with Mimi (I gave her a serious workout first time but went easy the second time). I thought Sally played Los Titanes version both times, but she thought they might have been different (supposedly she has three copies of the song). I didn’t think either version was by Johnny Colon, but who knows? In any case, I will almost certainly play the Johnny Colon version tomorrow, and I like Los Titanes version enough to not mind hearing it twice in one night. I mentioned to Sally that I will try to play Mambo No 5 (by Perez Prado not Lou Bega – damn any and all consequences), and she thought that Club Salsa might not be ready (of course I have been known to try to stretch the boundaries before). Mimi recognized and liked Perez Prado’s Mambo No 5, and that’s good enough for me (even if she won’t be there to dance to it). I also talked briefly about a song apparently called Hacha Y Machete (perhaps it has similar chord progression as the Hector Lavoe version but it sounds quite different in my opinion) with electric violin (but not by Susie Hansen) - Sally has played several times before.
Dancing ended a little after midnight with Zern, Cyrille and I (in that order) taking rapid turns dancing with Mimi to Contigo by Cache. Cyrille squeezed one more song out of Sally. Zern asked Mimi first then allowed Cyrille take over. This led to Cyrille dancing with her for a little while before I took over only to let Zern back in, etc. So it was like a spontaneous early birthday dance for Mimi but without the usual histrionics involved in public birthday dances - I don't think anyone went to overdrive.
Advanced with Chris and Sally
1,2,3,5,6,7 open hold – open break and bring follower to overtake on right side on 3 with hands together and bring follower around on 5,6 and finish with leading double clockwise turn for follower when she gets back approximately to the original position ending with R-L hammerlock (oh yeah!)
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-L hammerlock position with L-R connection intact in front – Copa start keeping connections intact – leader steps into follower’s previous spot with R-L going over to head to L side and use R-L to lead follower back into her original position (with 1/2 clockwise turn at the end to face leader – L-R is let go at least briefly)
1,2,3,5,6,7 not exactly an open break here but something of a preparation move – if anything both hands start to L on 1 – follower is brought forward on 2, 3 with slight perhaps <1/4 turn counterclockwise with leader turning <1/4 turn clockwise so that leader and follower are almost back to back with the connections in between heads of leader and follower – keep R-L neutral before letting go and use L-R to lead follower into multiple (2 1/2 should be doable) counterclockwise traveling turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-R hold – open break and bring follower in on L side with her turning 3/4 clockwise with leader turning 1/4 counterclockwise to face follower – leader should have moved enough here to be level with follower and make R hand visible to make R-L connection – lead follower to step to leader’s L on 5 (thus both hands to L) and lead follower to step to leader’s R on 6 then lead follower to get back to her original position with 1/4 turnaround counterclockwise (leader turns 1/4 clockwise to face follower as well) – follower’s footwork on 5 and 6 involves L foot cross over to her R on 5 (thus involving 1/4 turn to her R) and then R foot crossing over to her L with 1/2 counterclockwise turn on 6 then turning 1/4 clockwise on 7 while landing on her L foot on 7)
1,2,3,5,6,7 there might have been a simple CBL here
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL with full traveling clockwise turn for follower with switch from L-R to R-R to end in crucifix position (L-L connection is highly transitional here and could be considered decorative rather than functional in my opinion)
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower straight back on 1,2,3 (leader’s L foot crosses behind R foot on 1) – R-R passes leader’s head from his L side before getting back to the R side by 3 – lead follower to a double stationary clockwise turn (leading from behind leader’s head – leader looks over his R side to be sure this is done properly – the area between thumb and second finger is used for this lead – this whole bit is a little beyond me at this time) – with follower’s turn done leave follower’s R hand on leader’s R shoulder (eventually for a drop-catch?) before leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise to face follower
Every part was an intense exercise, no? In fact, Sally recommended that each individual part be practiced rather than the whole sequence.
There was a Cyrille sighting. He’s alive! Zern and Mimi (I think I’ll continue to misspell her name – by choice) showed up later too. Yay! No Sergio again though – I’ve heard that he injured his back from a secondhand source. I’ll have to send him a query. Richard's back seems have improved on the other hand. Whole lotta people are gone for the school break also. Boo! Everyone’s going to be gone for large chunk of the month. Ivan too was missing – I thought it was only the girls who’d tell me that they will see me on such and such days and not show up. I suppose I shouldn’t fault people for having life outside Salsa! Maybe some people were saving themselves for tomorrow night's big X-mas party tomorrow at Club Salsa.
Rather like last week, I danced with beginners a lot – mostly with Jane’s sisters’s group or with my distant work relations. I felt I was a bit sloppy and not quite right generally. Oh well. I suppose this is to be expected considering my general state. Maybe most of my partners did not notice.
Music. Sally played a version of Arinanara – more suitable for playing at Club Salsa than two versions of the song I have - by Joe Cuba (a bit fast) and by Tito Puente (a bit old sounding). Sally also played Merecumbe twice, and both times I was dancing with Mimi (I gave her a serious workout first time but went easy the second time). I thought Sally played Los Titanes version both times, but she thought they might have been different (supposedly she has three copies of the song). I didn’t think either version was by Johnny Colon, but who knows? In any case, I will almost certainly play the Johnny Colon version tomorrow, and I like Los Titanes version enough to not mind hearing it twice in one night. I mentioned to Sally that I will try to play Mambo No 5 (by Perez Prado not Lou Bega – damn any and all consequences), and she thought that Club Salsa might not be ready (of course I have been known to try to stretch the boundaries before). Mimi recognized and liked Perez Prado’s Mambo No 5, and that’s good enough for me (even if she won’t be there to dance to it). I also talked briefly about a song apparently called Hacha Y Machete (perhaps it has similar chord progression as the Hector Lavoe version but it sounds quite different in my opinion) with electric violin (but not by Susie Hansen) - Sally has played several times before.
Dancing ended a little after midnight with Zern, Cyrille and I (in that order) taking rapid turns dancing with Mimi to Contigo by Cache. Cyrille squeezed one more song out of Sally. Zern asked Mimi first then allowed Cyrille take over. This led to Cyrille dancing with her for a little while before I took over only to let Zern back in, etc. So it was like a spontaneous early birthday dance for Mimi but without the usual histrionics involved in public birthday dances - I don't think anyone went to overdrive.
Thoughts from Singapore
December 6, 2006
I suppose people who check this site from Singapore (Susana Montero's favorite Salsa city as I noted in an old post) knows about this already, but I liked reading this so much that I had to provide the link for the UK folks.
Collection of essays on Salsa dancing (check it out if you are bored and have a lot of time - oh wait, both must be true since you're checking my blog)
I believe the author is one of the teachers of a couple of Salsa dancers many of us know in Cambridge. It appears to me that combining Salsa and blogging is very common among Singaporeans (wink).
Some excerpts I particularly liked (taken from couple of different assays) -
Salsa places great emphasis on individual style and creativity.
New styles are vigorously praised, and yet, they are furiously replicated.
This, however, is encouraged by the stars and the organizers behind the salsa festivals: imitation implies that the dancer is famous, and this ensures that he does not run out of business because his idols will pay to see him dance and teach.
[There are many other good parts I liked and others will agree with, but I think it's better to read the whole thing, and I'm not willing to reprint her essays - at least not without permission.]
I suppose people who check this site from Singapore (Susana Montero's favorite Salsa city as I noted in an old post) knows about this already, but I liked reading this so much that I had to provide the link for the UK folks.
Collection of essays on Salsa dancing (check it out if you are bored and have a lot of time - oh wait, both must be true since you're checking my blog)
I believe the author is one of the teachers of a couple of Salsa dancers many of us know in Cambridge. It appears to me that combining Salsa and blogging is very common among Singaporeans (wink).
Some excerpts I particularly liked (taken from couple of different assays) -
Salsa places great emphasis on individual style and creativity.
New styles are vigorously praised, and yet, they are furiously replicated.
This, however, is encouraged by the stars and the organizers behind the salsa festivals: imitation implies that the dancer is famous, and this ensures that he does not run out of business because his idols will pay to see him dance and teach.
[There are many other good parts I liked and others will agree with, but I think it's better to read the whole thing, and I'm not willing to reprint her essays - at least not without permission.]
It's a hard life but someone's gotta live it
December 4, 2006
Again I wasn’t sure about Salsa tonight in part because of exhaustion and not feeling particularly well. However, I did tell couple of people that I would be there so there I was.
Vishal made a surprise announcement that Joe was stuck in a bad traffic on M11 and was expected to be either very late or be a no show. Russell arrived by his himself fortunately. Thus the class was divided into two with Russell taking the improver/intermediate class and Vishal and Susie taking the beginners. Susie was asked to help at the last minute, and she told me later that she enjoyed it very much despite feeling that she didn’t know enough. As for me, I don’t think I could have done it tonight had Vishal asked me.
Improver with Russell
The first hour was a little too Cuban for my taste although it did offer something new. The second hour was alright and was useful because it made it easier for me to dance with several people in the improver class later in the evening.
The gimmick here is that leader uses his left hand only.
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to a single stationary clockwise turn with L-R
1,2,3,5,6,7,1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower to R and lead her to walk around or promenade around leader during 5,6,7,1,2,3 (simple counterclockwise walkaround without a turn) and finish with leading follower to a stationary clockwise turn on final 1,2,3
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower into Copa-like position on 3, but as in more Cuban movement allow follower to step back on 5 before leading follower back to original position with 1/2 clockwise turn to face leader again (perhaps I will change my mind later but this bit seems a little too Cuban for my taste) – leader’s L forearm of L-R connection is placed on follower’s back of neck to lead this movement
1,2,3,5,6,7 into CBL position while keeping L-R high and far away – this supposedly helps prevent follower from doing counterclockwise traveling turn – and lead follower into 1/2 clockwise traveling turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns full clockwise on 1,2,3 leaving follower’s R hand on leader’s L shoulder initially with the aim of getting it placed on the R shoulder after the completion of the turn – leader’s neck goes underneath the arm on 5 to get follower’s R hand back to the L side possibly followed by a body roll as R is dropped down to reconnect L-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 I think this might have been a simple Copa with challenge of using just L-R once again
second hour
1,2,3,5,6,7 crossed hold R-R on top – lead follower into stationary clockwise turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 standard Copa from crossed hold L-L on top and R ending on follower’s shoulder before leading follower’s Copa turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L hat for leader while getting into CBL ending back with R-R hold with L-L underneath once again
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower to stationary clockwise turn ending with toss of R-R to get R-R on top again
1,2,3,5,6,7 an odd Copa – starts out with open break and with R-R going over and L-L leading follower forward on 2 – the movement for follower is somewhat more like CBL rather than Copa but that’s not quite right either – follower takes a big step forward with L foot on 2 while leader makes a similar step with R foot and follower’s R foot trails along on 3 to end in something like Copa position – end with crucifix position on 3, then lead follower straight back on 5 (leading a turn is apparently a possibility as well but it wasn’t covered) with leader doing a hook turn – end with R-R on top again probably
1,2,3,5,6,7 the odd Copa again (rather like open break CBL but with forward movement by follower on 2, which is the unusual bit) and in continuation and in same direction lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn
Mondays as club night has not been bustling, but tonight was alright with me. Although it does not bring out the best of Cambridge, I would have considered dances with at least eight different people as being quite useful experience – fun, learning and or helpful. People do get better, and if I can help, why not? And I do all this because I am such a genuinely super duper nice person :p
Again I wasn’t sure about Salsa tonight in part because of exhaustion and not feeling particularly well. However, I did tell couple of people that I would be there so there I was.
Vishal made a surprise announcement that Joe was stuck in a bad traffic on M11 and was expected to be either very late or be a no show. Russell arrived by his himself fortunately. Thus the class was divided into two with Russell taking the improver/intermediate class and Vishal and Susie taking the beginners. Susie was asked to help at the last minute, and she told me later that she enjoyed it very much despite feeling that she didn’t know enough. As for me, I don’t think I could have done it tonight had Vishal asked me.
Improver with Russell
The first hour was a little too Cuban for my taste although it did offer something new. The second hour was alright and was useful because it made it easier for me to dance with several people in the improver class later in the evening.
The gimmick here is that leader uses his left hand only.
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to a single stationary clockwise turn with L-R
1,2,3,5,6,7,1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower to R and lead her to walk around or promenade around leader during 5,6,7,1,2,3 (simple counterclockwise walkaround without a turn) and finish with leading follower to a stationary clockwise turn on final 1,2,3
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower into Copa-like position on 3, but as in more Cuban movement allow follower to step back on 5 before leading follower back to original position with 1/2 clockwise turn to face leader again (perhaps I will change my mind later but this bit seems a little too Cuban for my taste) – leader’s L forearm of L-R connection is placed on follower’s back of neck to lead this movement
1,2,3,5,6,7 into CBL position while keeping L-R high and far away – this supposedly helps prevent follower from doing counterclockwise traveling turn – and lead follower into 1/2 clockwise traveling turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns full clockwise on 1,2,3 leaving follower’s R hand on leader’s L shoulder initially with the aim of getting it placed on the R shoulder after the completion of the turn – leader’s neck goes underneath the arm on 5 to get follower’s R hand back to the L side possibly followed by a body roll as R is dropped down to reconnect L-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 I think this might have been a simple Copa with challenge of using just L-R once again
second hour
1,2,3,5,6,7 crossed hold R-R on top – lead follower into stationary clockwise turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 standard Copa from crossed hold L-L on top and R ending on follower’s shoulder before leading follower’s Copa turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L hat for leader while getting into CBL ending back with R-R hold with L-L underneath once again
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower to stationary clockwise turn ending with toss of R-R to get R-R on top again
1,2,3,5,6,7 an odd Copa – starts out with open break and with R-R going over and L-L leading follower forward on 2 – the movement for follower is somewhat more like CBL rather than Copa but that’s not quite right either – follower takes a big step forward with L foot on 2 while leader makes a similar step with R foot and follower’s R foot trails along on 3 to end in something like Copa position – end with crucifix position on 3, then lead follower straight back on 5 (leading a turn is apparently a possibility as well but it wasn’t covered) with leader doing a hook turn – end with R-R on top again probably
1,2,3,5,6,7 the odd Copa again (rather like open break CBL but with forward movement by follower on 2, which is the unusual bit) and in continuation and in same direction lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn
Mondays as club night has not been bustling, but tonight was alright with me. Although it does not bring out the best of Cambridge, I would have considered dances with at least eight different people as being quite useful experience – fun, learning and or helpful. People do get better, and if I can help, why not? And I do all this because I am such a genuinely super duper nice person :p
A trip better and worse than it may sound
December 3, 2006
A solo trip to SOS because I felt like it. I hoped to catch their lessons for a change. I failed to make it. I had a look at their level 3 and level 4 classes for last 10-15 minutes or so. Level 3 looked easy. Level 4 looked doable in class settings with slow songs – I think the instructors were Alex Amoroso and Kat Wiklund.
There were not many Cambridge-based people – no surprise. Only Johnny and Serap and later Liam, who looked very ill; he was not a happy camper during the return trip.
I have written some months ago that I thought I was better than average at SOS. I wonder if I had overestimated myself back then or there were many bad leaders back then.
I am guessing that I am not done improving. Helen thought or at least said so at least in terms of smoother lead. It is probably true whether she meant it or not (and in any case she wouldn’t have said such thing if she wanted to discourage me from asking her for a dance – after all, I’m not paying her or anything – unless she was using reverse psychology – I am impossible… a miserable skeptic, no?).
Although there were no dances that wowed me, there were no dances that left me feeling disappointed or inadequate either. This is not to say that most dances were mistake-free but merely that I was able to maintain good connections with everyone. Probably the word control describes tonight’s dances best. Steady is another good one. Of course I might consider these statements absurd in another six months.
Aside from the first two songs (Swing La Moderna by Ray Barretto and No Critiques by Manny Oquendo and Libre) and one or two other song later in the evening (I can’t remember which one they were… nothing particularly interesting), all songs played were not something I knew very well. Most were fairly bland, which might explain partly why so many dances felt more technically well done rather than joyful.
I think this might have been the first time at SOS when no one declined me for a dance – although upon thinking more there was one case where I accidentally asked someone who had already said yes to someone else. Law of averages? Luck? Good choice? Does this sound like I am bragging? Maybe I should try only asking the haughty and difficult-looking women next time? I don't know.
I am thinking about writing less. Or at least avoid writing for writings sake. Or maybe give myself a time limit on writing. Or perhaps publishing less. It's something I've been thinking about, especially since around the "camel" post. We’ll see.
A solo trip to SOS because I felt like it. I hoped to catch their lessons for a change. I failed to make it. I had a look at their level 3 and level 4 classes for last 10-15 minutes or so. Level 3 looked easy. Level 4 looked doable in class settings with slow songs – I think the instructors were Alex Amoroso and Kat Wiklund.
There were not many Cambridge-based people – no surprise. Only Johnny and Serap and later Liam, who looked very ill; he was not a happy camper during the return trip.
I have written some months ago that I thought I was better than average at SOS. I wonder if I had overestimated myself back then or there were many bad leaders back then.
I am guessing that I am not done improving. Helen thought or at least said so at least in terms of smoother lead. It is probably true whether she meant it or not (and in any case she wouldn’t have said such thing if she wanted to discourage me from asking her for a dance – after all, I’m not paying her or anything – unless she was using reverse psychology – I am impossible… a miserable skeptic, no?).
Although there were no dances that wowed me, there were no dances that left me feeling disappointed or inadequate either. This is not to say that most dances were mistake-free but merely that I was able to maintain good connections with everyone. Probably the word control describes tonight’s dances best. Steady is another good one. Of course I might consider these statements absurd in another six months.
Aside from the first two songs (Swing La Moderna by Ray Barretto and No Critiques by Manny Oquendo and Libre) and one or two other song later in the evening (I can’t remember which one they were… nothing particularly interesting), all songs played were not something I knew very well. Most were fairly bland, which might explain partly why so many dances felt more technically well done rather than joyful.
I think this might have been the first time at SOS when no one declined me for a dance – although upon thinking more there was one case where I accidentally asked someone who had already said yes to someone else. Law of averages? Luck? Good choice? Does this sound like I am bragging? Maybe I should try only asking the haughty and difficult-looking women next time? I don't know.
I am thinking about writing less. Or at least avoid writing for writings sake. Or maybe give myself a time limit on writing. Or perhaps publishing less. It's something I've been thinking about, especially since around the "camel" post. We’ll see.
Topsy turvy Friday
December 1, 2006
This week certainly is turning out to be a rather strange one. Because of Theodore’s Salsa party with a live band (Robert Pla and his Salsa ensemble), I expected a quieter than normal night. However, if I were to believe what Vishal heard from someone who apparently went first to the concert only to leave fairly early, not many people went to it. Who knows? Maybe some people opted not to go to either event because they figured that neither event would be well attended. I’m just speculating here with no solid information.
Playlist
La Llave – Grupo Latin Vibe (1)
Amame – El Gran Combo*
Sientate Ahi – Oscar D’Leon
Sin Sentimientos – Grupo Niche (2)
Como Lo Hacen – Frankie Ruiz
Soledad – La 33
Miye Na We – Africando (3)
Amor De Una Noche – N’Klabe
Pa’ Los Bravos – Grupo Latin Vibe (4)*
Suavemente – Elvis Crespo (5)
Te Extrano – Toke De Keda
Crisis De Identidad – Jimmy Bosch (6)*
Viva Puente – El Gran Combo (7)
El Cuarto Del Tula – Grupo Latin Vibe (+4%) (8)*
Descarga Cachao – Cachao (9)*
El Abaniquito – Pucho and His Latin Soul Brothers (10)*
Asia Mood – Tito Puente (11)
break
Senora – Dominc Marte (12)
Tocate – Toke De Keda (13)
Que Buena Baila Usted – Oscar D’Leon (14)
Temba, Tumba Y Timba – Los Van Van
El Preso – Fruko Y Sus Tesos
Me Libere – El Gran Combo (15)
Idilio – Wille Colon
Lindo Yambu – Cheo Feliciano
Etnia – Grupo Niche
Lloraras – Oscar D’Leon
Me Voy Pa Cali – Oscar D’Leon (16)*
Bailando – Frankie Ruiz
Ojos Chinos – El Gran Combo
La Fruta Bomba – Fruko Y Sus Tesos
Arinanara – Joe Cuba Sextet (-4%) (17)*
(1) I talked about doing this last week. Chances are high that I will play something different as the opening number next week – assuming I will DJ that event. One never knows what will happen. It is dependent upon Vishal’s whim.
(2) I am having serious reservations about tonight’s crowd already. I could feel that I am going to end up in a rut.
(3) It’s still going poorly. I am more and more convinced that Africando is passé. It’s probably a little better when someone else like Vishal plays it because I am as likely to dance to Africando as any song Vishal is likely to play.
(4) Vishal offers to make me a Merengue CD as he suggests that I play Merengue next. I don’t have a good feeling about it, but I don’t really have any other bright ideas.
(5) Vishal’s Merengue. Not an instant hit although it looked like it might be popular for the last 30 seconds or so, which wasn’t good enough for me to keep going with it.
(6) I had a lot of difficulty picking something at this spot. I doubt that I would have been happy with anything I chose at this point. I think it would have helped if I felt free to play a classic old track or something jazzy somewhat earlier in the evening. I felt that I needed to escape generally too sugary songs up to this point, but I couldn’t find a good way with the music I had and the crowd I had.
(7) This was better even if the dance floor stayed fairly quiet.
(8) This probably wasn’t good despite the fact that it got the dance floor fairly busy. Essentially this was in response to a request. Some random guy asked for a song by someone named Roberto Torres – I never heard that name in Salsa before (or if I did, I didn't remember it). He then named a song (I’m guessing by this Torres guy). I told him I never heard of the song either (I don't think there is a single song title I know without knowing the artist's name or album title as well), and he somehow got the impression that I didn’t know any of the songs by their name in my CD collection. Anyhow, I told him to make another suggestion, and he came up with Buena Vista Social Club (which in my opinion simply demonstrates that he really didn’t know very much about Latin music or Salsa songs or that he thought I knew next to nothing). As I got ready to play this song, I told the guy that I am playing it as something of an experiment even though some people might kill me for playing it. Still it gave me an excuse to play this song for better or worse. In the middle of the song I thought (or imagined) I overheard Gordon say, “This is terrible!” The request guy left shortly thereafter.
(9) The last song gave me another conundrum – what to play next? My thought was to keep it somewhat Cuban yet danceable for … hopefully anyone. The reaction from Vishal was something like, “Please no Mambo.” Sometimes I wonder if Vishal pigeonholes everything he doesn’t like into the category of Mambo. I also wonder if he dislikes the idea of more people learning to like what he considers Mambo as much as he dislikes hearing “Mambo” being played. Another possibility is that Vishal may be bored of playing Salsa (because he has been listening to it for so long practically every day) – perhaps he’s happier playing R & B, various fusions involving Reggaeton including Salsathon (and perhaps hoping for a someone to invent a new genre which he might call Cubathon or Cubanthon). More than anything else he’s probably bored of sitting still while the song is played from the beginning to the end. This song by the way is categorized as Descarga to the best of my knowledge.
(10) This on the other hand probably is Mambo – originally from the 40’s or 50’s and re-recorded in this decade. It was very popular by tonight’s standard. Then again, in my opinion many things can be considered Mambo –Vitamina by Sonora Carruseles, Brujeria and Me Libere by El Gran Combo or El Preso by Fruko Y Sus Tesos, but I don’t know if Vishal would consider them Mambo.
(11) I think this also could be called Mambo. This too was popular. I had another Tito Puente cued, but Vishal took over to play … yes you’ve guessed it – Playa No More.
(12) It just never got very popular tonight. I came back to the DJ booth after couple of dances with Serap and couple of other dances besides. One of the other dances was with a minor (who was accompanied by her mother presumably). Earlier in the evening I saw her and thought she could spin reasonably well, but I soon found out that she wasn’t a natural at following. Oh well. In any case, the club was getting quieter rather than more crowded. Sally, Lindsey and Nicola were sighted briefly during my first set but they did not stay long. Also the mystery guy from last Friday was back, and I had a good look at him on the dance floor. At initial glance, I thought he looked poised and was leading large repertoire of moves comfortably and with good control. However upon closer look (about third or fourth time around), I realized that he had a critical flaw – he wasn’t stay on time even when dancing with followers who are perfectly capable of doing so. Oh well. I was a bit disappointed. Sorry if I raised anyone’s expectations high without good reason. Of course not everyone insists on staying on time. Also people do learn to dance on time if they make an effort.
(13) There was a girl who asked for Reggaeton. She had made a request like this once before without me being able to accommodate her. Because I now have some Reggaeton and because there were not many Salsa dancers (or just people in general), I decided to play one. However, playing a Bachata followed by a Reggaeton was a perfect way to cause another mass exodus from the dance floor and the premise as whole. She seemed pretty appreciative that I played this Reggaeton and said that she liked the variety of songs today as she left shortly thereafter. Who knows if she was being frank but there’s no real point to overanalyze it. It’s also possible she was referring to the variety provided by combined work of Vishal and me rather than only me.
(14) There’s hardly anyone left. I think it's going to be the worst Friday ever.
(15) Vishal makes a request to keep playing music like this. That’s easy especially if you are willing to play the same songs every week. I think I will do it anyway to keep Vishal’s ears happy. Also there’s little point in wasting new interesting song if it looks like no one will enjoy it.
(16) Hey! A perfect opportunity to play this song! I still can count it as a new song! Some time during this stretch, there was a guy who asked about bunch of Merengue artists and songs (Wyando or some such was mentioned). Ashrafi also came by to ask for some Merengue later but not now.
(17) Another useful testing opportunity! Because Vishal came to take over with less than 30 seconds, I was able to play this and test it out to see how it works for dancing. I think it worked okay at this speed – still fast but many people should be able to cope with it. Sound (volume and balance) for this song is a tricky issue though.
Total 33 songs. 2 Bachata. 1 Merengue. 1 Reggaeton. 29 Salsa. 8 new (*) songs. Best new song in my opinion was El Abaniquito. Although many people danced to El Cuarto Del Tula, I have my doubts about it working as anything but a rare novelty. Arinanara might be worth playing again to a bigger crowd.
When I finished with DJing, I didn't think I was going to stay long. In fact after midnight or so, I was expecting Vishal to call it a night at any moment. Somehow things went on without anyone leaving after El Preso or thereabout to Arinanara. Interestingly there was fairly large influx of people after ~1 AM (or shortly after I finished DJing) so that by 2 AM, there were twice as many people in the premises compared to shortly after midnight. That was really weird. One of the people who arrived late was Zern, who came with some of his pals after a birthday party. Cristian also made an appearance twice (very early and very late) in the course of the evening.
As for me, I was ready to leave when someone I knew (a housemate of a colleague from work as well as a friend of a friend and a friend of a friend of another colleague) stopped for a late practice. She like many others arrived around 1 AM. She has had only 5 lessons under her belt and knows only the basic steps, simple turns on the spot and cross body lead. I ended up dancing with her and giving her practice until after 2 AM.
[note added later: I did a little research on Roberto Torres. Indeed he sang an old Club Salsa favorite, Caballo Viejo. I think it has been a while since it was played. Also it might be the only Roberto Torres song in anyone's regular rotation of songs - correct me if I am wrong.]
This week certainly is turning out to be a rather strange one. Because of Theodore’s Salsa party with a live band (Robert Pla and his Salsa ensemble), I expected a quieter than normal night. However, if I were to believe what Vishal heard from someone who apparently went first to the concert only to leave fairly early, not many people went to it. Who knows? Maybe some people opted not to go to either event because they figured that neither event would be well attended. I’m just speculating here with no solid information.
Playlist
La Llave – Grupo Latin Vibe (1)
Amame – El Gran Combo*
Sientate Ahi – Oscar D’Leon
Sin Sentimientos – Grupo Niche (2)
Como Lo Hacen – Frankie Ruiz
Soledad – La 33
Miye Na We – Africando (3)
Amor De Una Noche – N’Klabe
Pa’ Los Bravos – Grupo Latin Vibe (4)*
Suavemente – Elvis Crespo (5)
Te Extrano – Toke De Keda
Crisis De Identidad – Jimmy Bosch (6)*
Viva Puente – El Gran Combo (7)
El Cuarto Del Tula – Grupo Latin Vibe (+4%) (8)*
Descarga Cachao – Cachao (9)*
El Abaniquito – Pucho and His Latin Soul Brothers (10)*
Asia Mood – Tito Puente (11)
break
Senora – Dominc Marte (12)
Tocate – Toke De Keda (13)
Que Buena Baila Usted – Oscar D’Leon (14)
Temba, Tumba Y Timba – Los Van Van
El Preso – Fruko Y Sus Tesos
Me Libere – El Gran Combo (15)
Idilio – Wille Colon
Lindo Yambu – Cheo Feliciano
Etnia – Grupo Niche
Lloraras – Oscar D’Leon
Me Voy Pa Cali – Oscar D’Leon (16)*
Bailando – Frankie Ruiz
Ojos Chinos – El Gran Combo
La Fruta Bomba – Fruko Y Sus Tesos
Arinanara – Joe Cuba Sextet (-4%) (17)*
(1) I talked about doing this last week. Chances are high that I will play something different as the opening number next week – assuming I will DJ that event. One never knows what will happen. It is dependent upon Vishal’s whim.
(2) I am having serious reservations about tonight’s crowd already. I could feel that I am going to end up in a rut.
(3) It’s still going poorly. I am more and more convinced that Africando is passé. It’s probably a little better when someone else like Vishal plays it because I am as likely to dance to Africando as any song Vishal is likely to play.
(4) Vishal offers to make me a Merengue CD as he suggests that I play Merengue next. I don’t have a good feeling about it, but I don’t really have any other bright ideas.
(5) Vishal’s Merengue. Not an instant hit although it looked like it might be popular for the last 30 seconds or so, which wasn’t good enough for me to keep going with it.
(6) I had a lot of difficulty picking something at this spot. I doubt that I would have been happy with anything I chose at this point. I think it would have helped if I felt free to play a classic old track or something jazzy somewhat earlier in the evening. I felt that I needed to escape generally too sugary songs up to this point, but I couldn’t find a good way with the music I had and the crowd I had.
(7) This was better even if the dance floor stayed fairly quiet.
(8) This probably wasn’t good despite the fact that it got the dance floor fairly busy. Essentially this was in response to a request. Some random guy asked for a song by someone named Roberto Torres – I never heard that name in Salsa before (or if I did, I didn't remember it). He then named a song (I’m guessing by this Torres guy). I told him I never heard of the song either (I don't think there is a single song title I know without knowing the artist's name or album title as well), and he somehow got the impression that I didn’t know any of the songs by their name in my CD collection. Anyhow, I told him to make another suggestion, and he came up with Buena Vista Social Club (which in my opinion simply demonstrates that he really didn’t know very much about Latin music or Salsa songs or that he thought I knew next to nothing). As I got ready to play this song, I told the guy that I am playing it as something of an experiment even though some people might kill me for playing it. Still it gave me an excuse to play this song for better or worse. In the middle of the song I thought (or imagined) I overheard Gordon say, “This is terrible!” The request guy left shortly thereafter.
(9) The last song gave me another conundrum – what to play next? My thought was to keep it somewhat Cuban yet danceable for … hopefully anyone. The reaction from Vishal was something like, “Please no Mambo.” Sometimes I wonder if Vishal pigeonholes everything he doesn’t like into the category of Mambo. I also wonder if he dislikes the idea of more people learning to like what he considers Mambo as much as he dislikes hearing “Mambo” being played. Another possibility is that Vishal may be bored of playing Salsa (because he has been listening to it for so long practically every day) – perhaps he’s happier playing R & B, various fusions involving Reggaeton including Salsathon (and perhaps hoping for a someone to invent a new genre which he might call Cubathon or Cubanthon). More than anything else he’s probably bored of sitting still while the song is played from the beginning to the end. This song by the way is categorized as Descarga to the best of my knowledge.
(10) This on the other hand probably is Mambo – originally from the 40’s or 50’s and re-recorded in this decade. It was very popular by tonight’s standard. Then again, in my opinion many things can be considered Mambo –Vitamina by Sonora Carruseles, Brujeria and Me Libere by El Gran Combo or El Preso by Fruko Y Sus Tesos, but I don’t know if Vishal would consider them Mambo.
(11) I think this also could be called Mambo. This too was popular. I had another Tito Puente cued, but Vishal took over to play … yes you’ve guessed it – Playa No More.
(12) It just never got very popular tonight. I came back to the DJ booth after couple of dances with Serap and couple of other dances besides. One of the other dances was with a minor (who was accompanied by her mother presumably). Earlier in the evening I saw her and thought she could spin reasonably well, but I soon found out that she wasn’t a natural at following. Oh well. In any case, the club was getting quieter rather than more crowded. Sally, Lindsey and Nicola were sighted briefly during my first set but they did not stay long. Also the mystery guy from last Friday was back, and I had a good look at him on the dance floor. At initial glance, I thought he looked poised and was leading large repertoire of moves comfortably and with good control. However upon closer look (about third or fourth time around), I realized that he had a critical flaw – he wasn’t stay on time even when dancing with followers who are perfectly capable of doing so. Oh well. I was a bit disappointed. Sorry if I raised anyone’s expectations high without good reason. Of course not everyone insists on staying on time. Also people do learn to dance on time if they make an effort.
(13) There was a girl who asked for Reggaeton. She had made a request like this once before without me being able to accommodate her. Because I now have some Reggaeton and because there were not many Salsa dancers (or just people in general), I decided to play one. However, playing a Bachata followed by a Reggaeton was a perfect way to cause another mass exodus from the dance floor and the premise as whole. She seemed pretty appreciative that I played this Reggaeton and said that she liked the variety of songs today as she left shortly thereafter. Who knows if she was being frank but there’s no real point to overanalyze it. It’s also possible she was referring to the variety provided by combined work of Vishal and me rather than only me.
(14) There’s hardly anyone left. I think it's going to be the worst Friday ever.
(15) Vishal makes a request to keep playing music like this. That’s easy especially if you are willing to play the same songs every week. I think I will do it anyway to keep Vishal’s ears happy. Also there’s little point in wasting new interesting song if it looks like no one will enjoy it.
(16) Hey! A perfect opportunity to play this song! I still can count it as a new song! Some time during this stretch, there was a guy who asked about bunch of Merengue artists and songs (Wyando or some such was mentioned). Ashrafi also came by to ask for some Merengue later but not now.
(17) Another useful testing opportunity! Because Vishal came to take over with less than 30 seconds, I was able to play this and test it out to see how it works for dancing. I think it worked okay at this speed – still fast but many people should be able to cope with it. Sound (volume and balance) for this song is a tricky issue though.
Total 33 songs. 2 Bachata. 1 Merengue. 1 Reggaeton. 29 Salsa. 8 new (*) songs. Best new song in my opinion was El Abaniquito. Although many people danced to El Cuarto Del Tula, I have my doubts about it working as anything but a rare novelty. Arinanara might be worth playing again to a bigger crowd.
When I finished with DJing, I didn't think I was going to stay long. In fact after midnight or so, I was expecting Vishal to call it a night at any moment. Somehow things went on without anyone leaving after El Preso or thereabout to Arinanara. Interestingly there was fairly large influx of people after ~1 AM (or shortly after I finished DJing) so that by 2 AM, there were twice as many people in the premises compared to shortly after midnight. That was really weird. One of the people who arrived late was Zern, who came with some of his pals after a birthday party. Cristian also made an appearance twice (very early and very late) in the course of the evening.
As for me, I was ready to leave when someone I knew (a housemate of a colleague from work as well as a friend of a friend and a friend of a friend of another colleague) stopped for a late practice. She like many others arrived around 1 AM. She has had only 5 lessons under her belt and knows only the basic steps, simple turns on the spot and cross body lead. I ended up dancing with her and giving her practice until after 2 AM.
[note added later: I did a little research on Roberto Torres. Indeed he sang an old Club Salsa favorite, Caballo Viejo. I think it has been a while since it was played. Also it might be the only Roberto Torres song in anyone's regular rotation of songs - correct me if I am wrong.]
Talk to the hand
November 30, 2006
Advanced with Sally
crossed hold R-R on top
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead double turn (not touch-and-go) for follower with leader turning 1/2 counterclockwise [note: Sally suggests keeping the elbow down to avoid isolating/tensing shoulders]
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward into crucifix position on 3 – leader moves in on follower’s L side bringing follower’s L hand behind her R waist and with 1/2 counterclockwise (traveling) turn to face follower with switching of connection to R-L behind follower’s R waist and connecting L-R to R of follower’s face
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare (if there’s time) and lead follower into double stationary clockwise swapsi turn starting on 3 to get L-R behind follower’s L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa fake – open break and Copa fake and lead follower into 1 1/2 (or perhaps 2 1/2) traveling counterclockwise turn with – leader moves into follower’s previous spot with counterclockwise turn (1 1/2 optional – for now, only if the song is very slow and conditions are optimal) to face the follower with L-R over leader’s L shoulder
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and Copa-like start (with L-R going over) – leader steps across follower’s line (about her position on 1) with switching to R-R on 5, then lead follower into stationary counterclockwise turn (essentially broken left turn for follower)
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L over R-R – open break and Copa with L-L going over
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L hat for leader and free R over L-L to make R-R connection underneath and into CBL and 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn for follower with leader turning full counterclockwise on 6 to end facing follower
Weird night. No Sergio. No Cyrille. No Nina. Perhaps too many special events being scheduled are to blame although that does not explain Sergio, Cyrille or Nina. There's Theodore's party, Cristian's party, pair of Vishal's Club Salsa parties, Sally's party all in December. And these are following footsteps of Tony Lara (pretty successful) and Pasion de Invierno (wildly successful) last week.
I started the evening by dancing with three or so absolute beginners in a row (on top of cool-down rotating dances with the same). Some like Ivan (Tango obligations), Agnes and Stephanie (presumably coming from some other party or dinner) were fairly late in arriving, but they stayed until the bitter end - around midnight.
My dances (or my leads) were generally more stretching-the-boundary affair again whether I was giving myself severe restrictions with beginners or using take no prisoners approach with pretty much everyone else. My partners and I dealt with more collisions than usual, often involving Ivan – some were my fault (in a sense that I sometimes left very small margin for error) but probably not all.
Apparently Jane’s sister was there tonight. I’m pretty sure I danced with her although I was not certain which one she was; just to be safe I danced with everyone who was in her group. I also took part in absolute beginner class earlier in the evening - keeping people there on their toes and making things as challenging as best I could while staying within confines of material taught in the class. I also used Jane's comment about talking with hands to communicate leads to an extreme and found that many of the people in the class were up to the challenge (I was quite impressed!) and seemed to enjoy it.
Quote of the day – “Do this… Ooh! I’m so pretty!”
Vain or lippy? Whatever it was, there was plenty of screwball dialogue in tonight’s banters.
Advanced with Sally
crossed hold R-R on top
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead double turn (not touch-and-go) for follower with leader turning 1/2 counterclockwise [note: Sally suggests keeping the elbow down to avoid isolating/tensing shoulders]
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward into crucifix position on 3 – leader moves in on follower’s L side bringing follower’s L hand behind her R waist and with 1/2 counterclockwise (traveling) turn to face follower with switching of connection to R-L behind follower’s R waist and connecting L-R to R of follower’s face
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare (if there’s time) and lead follower into double stationary clockwise swapsi turn starting on 3 to get L-R behind follower’s L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa fake – open break and Copa fake and lead follower into 1 1/2 (or perhaps 2 1/2) traveling counterclockwise turn with – leader moves into follower’s previous spot with counterclockwise turn (1 1/2 optional – for now, only if the song is very slow and conditions are optimal) to face the follower with L-R over leader’s L shoulder
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and Copa-like start (with L-R going over) – leader steps across follower’s line (about her position on 1) with switching to R-R on 5, then lead follower into stationary counterclockwise turn (essentially broken left turn for follower)
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L over R-R – open break and Copa with L-L going over
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L hat for leader and free R over L-L to make R-R connection underneath and into CBL and 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn for follower with leader turning full counterclockwise on 6 to end facing follower
Weird night. No Sergio. No Cyrille. No Nina. Perhaps too many special events being scheduled are to blame although that does not explain Sergio, Cyrille or Nina. There's Theodore's party, Cristian's party, pair of Vishal's Club Salsa parties, Sally's party all in December. And these are following footsteps of Tony Lara (pretty successful) and Pasion de Invierno (wildly successful) last week.
I started the evening by dancing with three or so absolute beginners in a row (on top of cool-down rotating dances with the same). Some like Ivan (Tango obligations), Agnes and Stephanie (presumably coming from some other party or dinner) were fairly late in arriving, but they stayed until the bitter end - around midnight.
My dances (or my leads) were generally more stretching-the-boundary affair again whether I was giving myself severe restrictions with beginners or using take no prisoners approach with pretty much everyone else. My partners and I dealt with more collisions than usual, often involving Ivan – some were my fault (in a sense that I sometimes left very small margin for error) but probably not all.
Apparently Jane’s sister was there tonight. I’m pretty sure I danced with her although I was not certain which one she was; just to be safe I danced with everyone who was in her group. I also took part in absolute beginner class earlier in the evening - keeping people there on their toes and making things as challenging as best I could while staying within confines of material taught in the class. I also used Jane's comment about talking with hands to communicate leads to an extreme and found that many of the people in the class were up to the challenge (I was quite impressed!) and seemed to enjoy it.
Quote of the day – “Do this… Ooh! I’m so pretty!”
Vain or lippy? Whatever it was, there was plenty of screwball dialogue in tonight’s banters.
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