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.