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.