Curiosity got the cat

May 30, 2006

Well… I did say I was tempted to try out the taster classes at the Latin Dance Academy if nothing else to assess my level. I left work at 5 PM to drive to the Cambridge train station (in part to figure out parking and ticket purchase logistics). I took the 5:45 PM non-stop train to Kings Cross, and Northern line to Camden Town. I arrived at Cecil Sharp House at 6:55 PM. Not bad, but I don’t think I would be too thrilled about doing this regularly. I paid for the 3.2 and the 3.3 taster class saying that I’ll see what happens after that. My expectation based on course description only was that I had 99% chance for finding 3.2 within my level, 51% chance for finding 3.3 within my level, and <5% chance for finding 4 within my level.

I recognized SuperMario and Susana Montero – I have seen them before at Brit Salsafest, at SOS (for Susana Montero) and at Scala (for SuperMario). The third founder Shaan was new to me. Some of the students in attendance were recognized from various London venues and were of wide variety of levels in ability.

3.2 minimum requirement – Shaan and Helen

1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL with 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn for follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader’s pivot clockwise turn and lead follower for a double stationary clockwise turn ending with leader turning 1/2 counterclockwise for drop catch to connect R-R by leader’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward with R-R going over follower’s head and connect L-L in front of follower and lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise (or was it clockwise? – I suppose it doesn’t matter too much) traveling turn

3.2 end point
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L hat for leader and simple CBL ending with open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start (but not NY style – L-R going over follower’s head and positioned in front of follower and R-L then R on follower’s leading R hip/waist for Copa lead) more of reverse CBL position on 4) and lead follower into Copa 1 1/2 turn with L-R low so that L-R ends behind follower’s L waist and leader is positioned to R of follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 offer R in front of follower’s face to reconnect R-L while getting into CBL position and lead follower into traveling 1 1/2 clockwise turn with both hands coming together eventually
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start like last time but with R hand ending on follower’s leading R shoulder this time – lead follower into traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise Copa turn with L-R high (lead is with R hand once again)

Pretty easy. I suspect that I wasn’t always spot on with my footwork but I would imagine that I would not be challenged greatly by the 3.2 level class. Taking the class would not be completely useless but only for fairly minor adjustments. On to the level 3.3 taster class…

3.3 minimum requirement - Susana and Mario
Essentially identical to all of 3.2 with minor adjustments

Okay. I think I could do 3.3. At one point, leaders were asked to lead the routine blindfolded. This was fun – I sometimes do this for fun during club dancing at Club Salsa – only when it’s not crowded of course – so this did not faze me very much. I am not 100% certain that they would take me (more like 90% sure about it because of possible faultfinding with my footwork).

3.3 end point
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL and 2 1/2 traveling clockwise turn for follower (lead for turns come on 5.5 and 6.5) and leader gets ready for clockwise turn early
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader’s pivot turn followed by double stationary turn for follower ending with leader turning 1/2 counterclockwise with L-R positioned for drop catch but not dropped (in all cases, leader is turning while follower is not quite done turning to borrow time)
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader steps to L (cross behind R) on 1 with L-R lowered below hip level, on 2 and 3 leader steps across to L to get to open CBL position while L-R is switched to R-R and then R-R goes over follower’s head as was done for 3.2 minimum requirement end and connecting L-L in front of follower and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling turn (probably counterclockwise)

Hmm. That was interesting. The first two bars were a little awkward but I could fudge it more or less. The third bar was very foreign, and I would need some practice to get this right. This pretty much rules out trying for level 4. Incidentally, they apparently are not taking any students for level 4 at this time (except for some people at performer level?? - this wasn't completely clear to me). Several couples from their regular classes were apparently deemed okay, but apparently SuperMario, Susanna Montero, Shaan and co. decided that they wanted a larger pool of people to catch up first.

At the end of the class, Susana Montero watched students in the level 3.3 taster class dance the minimum requirement part. Afterwards I stood around while she was giving assessment to everyone else. When my turn came, the assessment I received was pretty much as expected – some comment about footwork but otherwise fine for 3.3. Supposedly they are completely honest to people about their current capabilities and what they can expect to get out of the course. They are apparently keeping a cap of 15 couples for the class, and it’s not full at this point.

Couple of people from the level 3.3 class (some of whom had taken 3.1 and 3.2) opted to do the level 4 taster class as well, and one newcomer joined them for the taster. I only watched the beginning bit for minimum requirement. I only watched the beginning bit.

4 minimum (incomplete as I left early)
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL and 2 1/2 traveling clockwise turn for follower (lead for turns come on 5.5 and 6.5)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring L-R across body far to right (so that leader and follower are almost back-to-back) and lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn (as if this is normal CBL with 1 1/2 turn) with L-R ending in neck wrap for follower and leader getting into CBL position (open is okay) and connect R-L in front of follower
1,2,3 lead follower forward turning 1/2 clockwise [this was followed by bringing follower back … leader would do a turn as well but I left before I was able to figure out exactly what was happening]

Around this point, some of the other spectators decided to head back to the tube station, and I decided to join them. Some of the people were from outside London although not quite as far away from London as Cambridge. One person was in Cambridge prior to the time when Salsa became “big” (i.e. before Club Salsa opened – an interesting definition of Salsa becoming “big” – then again, I don’t have any experience of way things were before Club Salsa).

Pros:
#1 - This class will be with fairly large number of committed people of good ability.
#2 - This class represents a new trend for UK and it might be fun to be part of the vanguard. (with apologies to T and his exclusive group and other similar outfits)
#3 - Teaching should be good - they are considered as good as any in the UK.

Cons:
#1 - Travel time. This is by far the worst problem (see below).
#2 - Cost. The lessons here cost more than at Cambridge or at SOS, and travel costs even more than the lessons.
#3 - Six weeks probably will not be the end of the story (and isn't this blog supposedly about learning Salsa in Cambridge?).

I suppose 15 couples do not constitute a small class, but it should be better than most available. For a while Joe’s classes on Mondays were smaller, but it has grown quite a bit since. Thinking about it more, the thought of having 15 good followers to practice with sounds great - that never happens in Cambridge or even at SOS for that matter. The starting time of 8:15 PM for 3.3 is more convenient than say 7 PM for 3.2 as far as my work is concerned. It would also mean another late dinner and a need for heavy-duty snack. Is 6 weeks enough time to make a big difference? I suppose I will have several days to mull over about taking this course.

Travel back to Cambridge was fine until I arrived at Kings Cross whereupon I learned of schedule changes due to engineering work. It looked like I would need to take a bus between Stevenage and Royston. What actually happened was worse – the train was full, and there was insufficient bus space in Stevenage. Thus I stood in cold for over 10 min in Stevenage waiting for another bus. Upon arrival at Royston, we learned that there was no train to Cambridge. I waited another 20-30 min for another bus. It was 12:55 AM when my bus arrived in Cambridge – over 2 hours after departing from Kings Cross.

Salsa con coco

May 29, 2006

I was a little bored with the shine and warm up segment – because so many people are relatively new (less than 10 people have attended more than half of Joe’s classes since the beginning and I am the only one who did not miss a single lesson) – so I decided to warm up on my own. This is becoming pretty typical now for me in Cambridge. I was doing some shoulder isolation exercise when Vishal asked for a short word.

Apparently, some people noticed that I am using more people’s name in this space according to Vishal. Duh. This should have been pretty obvious to anyone who visits this website of course. Regular visitors (quite a number of you out there) would have noticed this was done gingerly and with open deliberation. Vishal said that he does not read the blog (I’m sure he is too busy and often I wish he would read it – By the way, I enjoyed Vishal’s DJ work tonight – I think he plays more interesting things when he plays longer sets and puts his mind into it), so I suppose he was just making sure there was nothing he should worry about. I assured him that I am using my best judgment. In fact in some cases, I was under an impression that some people liked the publicity.

I am and will continue to be very careful about what I write here. I use people’s name only when I am pretty certain that they would be okay with it - my understanding is that most people don't care one way or the other. If I have inkling that there is a potential for embarrassment, etc., I would either not write about it or make it anonymous. I don’t see why anyone should get upset about things being written about me and my friends if we don't mind and if I don't write about anyone who feels sensitive about their privacy. I write what I write to help me remember nice memories of dances, conversations and friends. Anyone can tell me anytime, “Hey! Don’t put this in your blog,”

Intermediate with Joe Davids

R-R low first L-L high next
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start bringing L-L around high and R-R to follower’s leading R waist – Copa turn (full counterclockwise) for follower with L-L low (over and under) to wrap (L-L is at follower’s R waist) with leader positioned slightly to R of follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 forward together on 1 (use forearm if needed) and bring follower around 1/2 clockwise with L-L in front of follower in pizza waiter position with leader in CBL position – lead follower into 1 1/2 clockwise turn over and under with leader moving into follower’s previous position with swivel turn on 7 after making sure to watch L-L is getting to the desired position (behind follower’s back R waist) and turn 3/4 clockwise and switch to R-L (leader is positioned slightly to L of follower this time)

variation for first hour
1,2,3,5,6,7 forward together on 1 and bring follower around 1/2 counterclockwise with R-L low (leader is in essentially reverse CBL position) lead follower into 1 1/2 overall free counterclockwise turn while leader moves into follower’s space with 3/4 turn counterclockwise and finish with simple CBL

variation for second hour
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower back on 1 and switch to L-L while getting into CBL position – bring follower forward and lead follower forward on 5 and into 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn with L-L coming up after follower is through the first turn and get into tight closed hold with R hand firmly on middle of follower’s back
1,2,3,5,6,7 around the world – lean or step backwards … follower is walking forward at all times
1,2,3,5,6,7 Dile que no finish

It looked like quite a few regulars were missing tonight because of Scala last night. According to Joe, they had a record attendance of 1603. Good for Joe and good thing I did not go – it would have been a nightmare trying to find space to dance!

In any case, I was guessing that my streak of nice night of dancing on Mondays was going to end, and I said so to a friend I was sitting next to. However even as I was saying this, I noticed that there was reinforcement tonight. I asked, “Who are those people?” The answer I received helped explain a few things – no need to disclose them here. To keep things short, the streak is still alive; it was another fun night.

Towards the end of the evening, I witnessed a pretty spectacular and scary-looking dip demonstration. After seeing this, Luis commented, “Hey! You better hurry up and start teaching. Soon there will be no room left.” Oh, only if I had any ambition about teaching. There are enough people teaching already, and I have so much to learn still.

Nickname of the day – Izzy. I apologize for the accidental kick once again.

Quote of the day 1 – “If it weren’t for the fact that you have been friendly toward me for so long, I would never ask you for a dance again.”

Quote of the day 2 – “You picked the craziest song possible to dance with me.”

Final thought. If I am using other people’s name, perhaps I need to make my name public as well to the same extent (i.e. make my first name available somewhere in the blog). I will have to give this more thought.

And then there was none

May 28, 2006

As more time passed, Scala looked more attractive. It will be tiring, but maybe I could make it easier by spending less time - maybe take Sergio's idea and get there around 1 AM and stay for 2-3 hours or so. Workload is ridiculously light and with no immediate prospect of "improving." Thus I thought I would go with lightest prompting.

Finally a little after 5 PM, I received text (an hour old message - I get poor reception at work) and a voice message from Sergio asking whether I had made up my mind - he hasn't either. I call back to say that I haven't made up my mind but that I probably would go only if there are other people interested. At this point Sergio still wasn't sure as he was tired from a long walk, and he asked whether I had been in touch with Cyrille. Cyrille had not, and I suspected that he would be interested in seeing all of Scala and thus would probably want to get there fairly early. Sergio told me he'll get back to me in about half an hour.

I decided to head home thinking that I probably will go to Scala. When I get there, I decide to text Cyrille to see what his plan is. Cyrille's reply is a surprising - he says he's not going and that he's too tired. I had to do a double take to notice that this message came from Cyrille, not Sergio. Shortly thereafter Sergio calls to say that he will keep the evening low key and will pass. He too is surprised by Cyrille - both of us thought he was very gung ho about going to Scala last time we saw him. After hanging up, I briefly consider going by myself. I had worked myself into getting excited about the trip - it might be fun to catch up with some people there. In the end, I allowed the excitement pass and decided to do something else instead.

I was going to do something "fun," but it didn't happen. There were some forgotten things I thought of doing at work. I need to find a way to be able to spend more time doing more intense and useful things at "work."

Free Salsa lesson with Johnny & Serap this Tuesday courtesy of BBC

May 28, 2006

Johnny & Serap are organizing a free Salsa lesson on Tuesday evening 30th May at Club Salsa from 5 PM to 6 PM. This is being done apparently because BBC wants to record some footage of their Salsa lessons in order to encourage people to be more active. No details on lessons were available, but I presume the format will be either similar to their Friday lessons or will be scaled down a little.

By the way, I checked the Club Salsa website to see if there was any announcement about this and found something else (see below), which may explain early time slot for the Johnny & Serap thing.

---

30 May
11 Jul Singles Events
Tuesday 30 May 2006 19:00 - 23:00
Tuesday 11 July 2006 19:00 - 23:00

Singles Functions© through its Parties4Singles© is coming to Club Salsa, the Number 1 Salsa Club in Cambridge, to host a singles' Salsa and Merengue Dance Class Party. The class will enable everyone to dance with each other - a good way of getting to know one another and making friends! This is a great event for singles to meet and make friends.

There will be a Live DJ and dance instructors will be on hand to guide people through the basic steps.

Singles Functions takes over the whole venue for this event. This is a stylish and trendy Salsa club in the heart of Cambridge.

Get up close and personal as you swing your hips in style.

Sessions:
Sessions are held throughout the event and you can sign-up to as many as you wish. All you have to do is go to the sign-up station and you will be entered into a session and given a card displaying the time of the session you are in.

Two left feet:
A professional salsa teacher will take you through the basics and you will soon feel like you have been doing it for years.

Choose your partner:
Each session typically has around 20 people and you are encouraged to dance with different partners to allow you to meet as you dance and have fun.

Massaging:
After the event you can send messages to other guests through our first rate messaging system!

We're providing exclusive use of the Salsa Club filling it with local singles. We will hold basic salsa and merengue dance classes alongside a Live DJ. You will not only have the opportunity to learn to salsa but hopefully meet the person of your dreams...

Venue Information:
From Cambridge rail station its a short walk up the road.

Dress Code:
Dress smart - make first impressions count.
Strictly no sportswear, caps or trainers.
Smart denim is allowed.

Online Price: £20.00
Limited ticket availability.
Book Online Here for 30 May
Book Online Here for 11 July
Info: Call 0870 042 3000
9am to 10pm Mon to Fri
You must book online.
No door tickets sold!

If you play a song and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?

May 26, 2006

Playlist

Segment 1

Mambo Cambio de Swing - Cachao (+5%) (1)*
Ave Maria Lola - Sonora Carruseles
Suelta el Bongo - La 33
Etnia - Grupo Niche
Mirandote - Frankie Ruiz*
Ven Morena - Oscar D'Leon*
La Cartera - Orchestra Harlow
Quitate la Mascara - Ray Barretto
Sigo Cambiando - Jimmy Bosch (2)*
La Isla California - Tabaco Y Ron
Nada de Ti - Eddie Palmieri (3)
Mala Mujer - Luisito Rosario (4)

Serap took over and played 10-12 songs, including one Bachata. She seems to prefer soft songs with gentle percussion section. A few gaffes, including a sudden loss of sound less than 10 seconds after she took over, prompted her to ask me to stick around for half dozen songs as a helping hand, so this was not much of a break for me. Serap seemed most disappointed about a second gaffe where she started a song, stopped it by mistake and then skip to another track, which she didn't want. Unfortunately, the next track wasn't particularly good. For the first 3-4 songs, she tried to get me to have an opinion on her choices. Whenever I said something that might have been construed as being negative (e.g. it's not very fast - which I did not mean as a negative comment), she chose something different. After a little while, I simply declined to make an opinion because I generally did not have enough information to make an informed judgement. When I play a song, I would have listened to the song at least 3 or 4 times and usually would have made sure that the song is fairly easy to dance to without too many transitions, etc. Even then I am not completely certain about how well a song would be received the first time - the first song I played tonight being a good example.

Different DJs have different styles in choosing songs. I usually try to think of songs to play in my head one song in advance. In other words, song #1 would be being played, song #2 is already cued, and I would try to think of song #3 to play while song #1 is still being played. Sometimes I would be pretty sure about the song #3 while sometimes I would have two or more options for #3, and I would make a final decision if I have time to see how song #2 is being received. I have not found it useful to try to think beyond it; I have tried it before and the result was not very good probably because I was being too inflexible. Vishal probably thinks of next song to play with anywhere from 30 second to 1.5 min before the end of current song - this could explain why he has so limited repertoire. Serap's style was to put a song on, then sample through a large number of songs (generally listening to the beginning of the song only) before choosing. At one point, she went through so many songs in two different CDs before deciding that she almost did not have a song ready - it would have been amusing (albeit cruel) to see what would have happened if I did not tell her that she had very little time (~30 seconds) to decide at one point tonight.

After Serap had about six songs under her belt, I decided to leave her alone (shortly after Sergio arrived). Johnny seemed to take over my position soon afterwards (I'm not sure though). Her earlier selections were fairly adventurous (i.e. I did not recognize the songs), and I would have preferred to dance to those because her later selections were straight out of Vishal's closet. In fact, one of her songs (La Brujeria by Gran Combo) was played again later by Vishal about 1 1/2 hours later. A similar thing happened last week where Vishal played Mandali by Africando about 3 hours after I played it as my second song. Serap told me that she was avoiding playing songs I like to play. I would have preferred if she played those so I could dance to them!!!

Segment 2

1-800-Quiereme - Luisito Rosario
Me Prendiste Velas - Oscar D'Leon (5)
Nina Y Senora - Tito Puente (6)*
Picadillo - Tito Puente
El #100 - Tito Puente (7)

Vishal took over and played 4 songs. The first song was J. Lo (third Friday in row where this was his opening track!!!). Next two were Merengue. Fourth was Salsa. Sergio tells me to go back to the DJ booth. Of course, it's not like he's going to dance a lot tonight…

Segment 3

El Todoporedoso - Hector Lavoe*
Anacaona - Cheo Feliciano
Salsa Y Control - Lebron Brothers
La Familia - Ray Barretto
Abran Paso - Orchestra Harlow (8)
La Pantera Mambo - La 33
Vibe Mambo - Tito Puente (9)*
Hacha Y Machete - Hector Lavoe (10)

Vishal took over again. He played couple of Bachata including Lamento Boliviano, which was requested by Euvian earlier but I couldn't find the time to play it. I only played 25 songs tonight - all Salsa. Of 25 songs, 7 (marked with *) were played for the first time by me; Of 7, up to 6 may be new for Club Salsa on Fridays (I am pretty sure someone played Mirandote. I know Ivan has played Nina Y Senora on a Thursday in April and he probably played Sigo Cambiando at some point). Many of these "new" songs were recognized by some people (ones I don't recall seeing before - then again, they seemed to recognize a lot of songs including ones Serap played and I did not recognize).

(1) Wow. Practically no one was willing to dance to this. That was uncomfortable. The three or four couples I saw dancing were on-5, on-6, etc. I would have thought that this would have been an easy one. This changes my plan dramatically for next several songs. I also would judge that no one leftover needs slow songs.
(2) Somewhere around this time, some random woman came by and said I had good taste in music. I'm not doing anything special - no pandering and no boundary pushing.
(3) This is not a strong night. Exams seem to be keeping a lot of people away directly and indirectly.
(4) Serap comes to the DJ booth. She apparently talked to Vishal about DJing last week. This is a surprise. She wants to take over right away. Okay. Whatever! I'm beyond disliking surprises at this point.
(5) A string of 6-8 people came by in rapid succession to request a Merengue or two during next couple of songs. Bloody hell! I said I'd oblige but also mention that Saturday is much better Merengue night. Of course, there are not very many Salsa dancers tonight (again presumably because of the exams).
(6) Sergio liked this one. I think Ivan likes it too. People at Club Salsa tonight in general were lukewarm about it. Oh well. That was about what I expected.
(7) I was going to play something else, but not many people were dancing. If you play a song and there's no one to hear it, does it make a sound? I looked for Vishal in the previous song to ask for a Merengue CD. Instead of simply lending me a CD, Vishal took over.
(8) Dance floor was okay for a while but is beginning to lose steam.
(9) I had something else (more modern) on, but Vishal told me to play just two more songs while saying that there were practically no Salsa dancers left. No disagreement here. There were not many to begin with, and the cavalry never arrived.
(10) I might as well put on a song I would like to dance to as the last song, right? Danie was available for a request in advance.

Like a typical Friday these days, dancing was sporadic. I think I might have danced with 6 people. Most of the rest of the evening was spent hanging out with a small group consisting of Sergio, Cyrille and Euvian with Sergio making more efforts to coach people on basics and body movement. I still have yet to get that mirror. At one point, Cyrille exclaimed, "After 3 years, I'm relearning basic!" It made me do a quick count of how long I have been doing this - 1 year and 8 months. It seems like awfully long time. Tonight it was Cyrille who was the big pusher for going to Scala. We'll see. I would prefer to concentrate on work, but work is so dysfunctional right now.

Just another Thursday

May 25, 2006

“Hey! That’s a nice shirt! What’s the occasion?” asked Vishal.

“Thanks. Nothing special. I’ve been wearing another shirt just like this but with different color. I had this for quite some time but never got around to wearing it.”

“It must be the color. It really suits you.”

Hmm. I would have thought a new haircut would be more noticeable than a rather ordinary shirt.

Final exams really seem to be keeping a lot of people away although several missing people from the usual Thursday crowd are no longer in school. Mimi for one wasn’t here because she was not feeling particularly well, and she won’t be around as she’ll be in HK for ~10 days. I suppose knowing it meant that there was one less reason to sneak a look at the stairs.

Halley's comet comes around only every 76 years, and I missed it last time around. It was not very bright in 1986 of course. However, how in the world did I miss Hale-Bopp especially with everyone around joking about it all the time? Inconceivable! It would have been much easier than lying down in frozen ground looking for shooting stars.

About half of the followers for the advanced class were recruited from intermediate class. Once invited up, can they be un-invited assuming they would want to stay? Who knows?

Advanced with Sally with Chris

1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL end open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead double turn with R-L pulling down the zipper to get R-L behind follower’s back R waist and switch to L-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa fake with L-L getting brought up (rather reminiscent of Sergio’s version from several weeks ago) – open break and Copa position with R hand on follower’s R shoulder – instead of Copa, lead follower forward and into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn – get R arm over L-L at the end and connect R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 in place CBL start and lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn getting R-R behind follower’s neck (consider it neck wrap?)
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower forward on 1 and turn follower 1/2 clockwise on 2,3 while leader steps back cross behind on 1 and step to R on 2,3 to get into CBL like position but still facing follower – windmill lead for 1 1/2 traveling turn for follower (getting follower to move forward while turning was tricky) ending with R-R elbow lock (very much like a position from Tony & Daniela last month)
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start on 1,2,3 – leader does hook turn for 1 1/2 clockwise turn initially with R-R high and into open reverse cross body position (reconnect L-L by leader’s L side)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward while flicking follower’s hands and get behind and around follower – bring follower backwards with hands on hips/waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 reconnect L-L and Mambo jazz – bring follower forward stepping on 5 and 7 (leader’s footwork involves crossing behind on 1 and on 7) keeping the same frame
1,2,3,5,6,7 forward and turn follower 1/2 counterclockwise and switch to R-R – lead follower back into free traveling clockwise turn

Some footwork, turn, shine and shoulder movement drills were done sporadically especially in between classes before Chris recruited me for the beyond beginner class during the second hour. Who knew this would be a perfect occasion for nipple pinching? I suppose it helped that I was not a moving target.

Dancing afterwards was a little on quiet side but was surprisingly fine. A bystander commented, "It's probably easier for you to get dances because you're much better than me." True - up to a point - but leads regardless of abilities must try to get as much practice as possible, and this takes asking people (indiscriminately and taking full advantage of other people from class they attended) for dance.

Sergio made a surprise appearance so I got to show off my success with newfound ability to do some shoulder isolation movement. He returned the favor by showing off some fancy footwork, which makes mine look pedestrian by comparison. I think he was trying to talk me into going to Scala.

As I was getting ready to leave, Vishal asked me, "So are you going to be here tomorrow?" while making a vinyl record spinning motion. I replied, "Sure, as long as you want me to keep doing it."

Salsa dance schools sprouting up in London

May 25, 2006

Latest trend in London these days is a move towards Salsa instruction in a studio setting rather than in clubs. Instead of drop-in classes, the new studio classes offer a series of classes lasting 5-6 weeks. Two groups to watch in particular are Latin Dance Academy (headed by SuperMario, Susana Montero and others) and Alchemy Dance Academy (headed by Marchant Birch). Alchemy Dance Academy has only on-2 advanced classes scheduled, so it's beyond me for now. Latin Dance Academy has been offering taster classes for May (one more week left) and has 6-week courses slated to start on 6-7 June, 18-19 July, 29-30 August, 10-11 October, 21-22 November at 6 different levels (1, 2, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 4). Very tempting - if nothing else to try a taster class or two for self-assessment.

Improving steadily or am I?

May 22, 2006

Three two-hour class format was used today; this is to be the new format.

Hour 1 Intermediate with Joe Davids

R-R hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and somewhat like Copa-like start with R-R high but continue smoothly leading follower around counterclockwise (for total of 1 1/2 turn) with R-R coming down (pulling the zipper) between 5 and 6 (to place follower’s R hand behind follower’s back L waist) while stepping into space vacated by follower on 6 and turning 3/4 to catch follower’s L hand at chest level (L hand is a little contorted with back of the hand pointing R and palms of fingers pointing toward lead) by 8
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring L-L around high in counterclockwise motion on 2,3 and windmill lead down and up forward along follower’s line on 5,6 to lead follower 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn and leader turn around in a manner similar to previous move and reconnect L-L (same hold as previous)
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower to into broken left turn (leader’s L hand rolls around from top in something like a counterclockwise motion) – bring follower forward and stepping slightly to her right on 5, then lead broken left turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader does pivot turn to get into CBL position with L-L low – I decided that L-L can be disconnected and brought up to shoulder for closed hold using an old Nelson Batista move, which was talked about by Joe Davids couple of months ago. Joe wasn’t teaching this version, and he was highly amused when he saw me doing this and made some pointers for refinement (for example, there’s no need to crouch down – just flick it using upper R arm) – finish with simple CBL finish

[note: L-L can be at just above shoulder level to end resting on shoulder for the last pivot turn. I should try practicing both versions in coming weeks.]

Hour 2 Intermediate with Joe Davids

1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and somewhat like Copa-like start with R-R high but continue smoothly leading follower around counterclockwise (for total of 1 1/2 turn) with R-R coming down (pulling the zipper) between 5 and 6 so that it ends behind follower’s back L waist – stay in CBL position
1,2,3,5,6,7 Mambo jazz, lead follower into full counterclockwise turn keeping R-R in place throughout and leading with L-L only – step to L with R foot on 7 to get around
1,2,3,5,6,7 temporarily get around and bring L-L down (not straight down – in fact take L-L far behind follower before bring it down so minimize discomfort for follower) to follower’s back R waist for what I jokingly refer to as straightjacket position and come back to original position for back basic on 5,6,7
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic and lead follower into broken left turn (free turn)
1,2,3,5,6,7 pivot turn to get into CBL and finish with simple CBL finish

Maybe I should start leading broken left turn more regularly. I bet everyone will like that!

Shine (name?)
1,2,3,5 basic
6 L foot slightly to R
7 R foot toe (no weight) forward - crossed behind L
8 R foot slightly back and transfer weight
1 L foot back crossed in front of R
2 R foot slightly back
3 L foot toe (no weight) back - crossed in front of R
4 L foot slightly forward
5 R foot forward crossed behind L
6 L foot slightly forward
7 R foot forward crossed behind L
8 bunny hop with L foot
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic

The class was decent sized although slightly smaller than last week – because of exams, etc according to Joe (I suppose all of the University students were missing). Dancing afterwards was fine for me although representation from the usual suspects was fairly light - Cyrille was the only familiar one among the leads in class. Was dancing fine in spite of there being fewer hard-core people (or perhaps more importantly fewer hard-core leads) or because of it? Who knows?

Uh oh - another long slump?

May 21, 2006

Not so long ago, I stated that I think I understand Ivan better. Today I think I might be able to say I understand Sergio’s modus operandi (for not dancing very much) better. I think I could see myself doing the same if I were in the same position. But I am not – I still have ways to go and a great deal to learn about dancing Salsa.

When I arrived at Mary Ward House and saw the sign "SOS moved to Royal Sonesta Hotel - South side," I thought about going back. I never had good luck dancing at the south side room. One of these days, I'll turn around and go home if I see that sign.

There was no reason to ask about taking level 4 shine because Leon was there (Mauro's shines and partner work is plenty interesting - they are like level 3 1/2). Leon apparently heard only this morning (became this afternoon later in his public announcement) about Mary Ward House being unavailable because of some filming work.

I sat around waiting for others to arrive - I arrived quite early. As expected, Johnny, Serap, Vera and few others from Cambridge filed in. Only yesterday, Vera and I were saying that we'll probably run into each other sooner or later - it took less than 24 hours. Vera asked, "Did you bring Sergio with you?" I replied, "No, he decided to do some work instead."

Shine with Mauro

1,2,3,5 broken left turn (more like Sergio’s version than Joe Davids)
6 slide forward L and R foot toe behind L foot (turning about 45 degree to L)
7 R foot slide back and L foot toe in front of R foot (like bunny hop)
1,2,3,4 heel heel toe then R foot cross over L foot
5 L foot cross over R foot
6 R foot heel
7 L foot heel
8 R foot toe
1 L foot slide wide L
2 R foot in place or slightly to R and L foot cross over in front of R foot
3 R foot slightly to R and L foot come around and cross over behind R foot
5,6,7 R foot to L, then slide wide R, then slide behind L foot (similar to half-flare motion) followed by basic Mambo

Partner work with Mauro & Eva (level III SOS)

1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL end in semi-open position (L-R hold only)
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa-like start with L-R going around and over follower and with R hand on follower’s R waist (or top of hip) – then instead of Copa, get around follower from behind and into CBL position (R-L connection can be made briefly at waist but not essential) while getting follower back to face the way she was facing on 1
1,2,3,5,6,7 Mambo jazz and lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn (L-R high) with leader turning 1/2 clockwise for slam dunk or drop pass to connect R-R at leader’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 This kind of move is why I am not a fan of Mauro’s “surprise” moves – they may be doable but only with partners who know what’s going on. Otherwise, it can be problematic and could easily hurt the follower. I hardly ever dance with anyone who is likely to follow this move, so it is useless for now. I didn’t bother trying this move with anyone during club hours because most of my partners were not connecting with me very well. I did try it with Vera (who attended the level 4 class and thus did not see this coming), and it caused her a little discomfort (hopefully nothing serious). Ouch. I can very well imagine hearing the words, "Hey! I like Vera. I would like you to keep her in one piece. Thank you very much," come tomorrow at Club Salsa. Anyway, here is what is next… open break and bring follower forward with R-R going over follower on 3 … so far no problem … bring R-R down on 4 to turn follower full clockwise with R-R ending in front of her L waist by 5 (leader’s R foot cross over behind L foot on 5), then bring R-R back and up on 6 for follower to turn around and do 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader’s pivot turn while connecting L-L (I like this part a lot so I should try to find another way to get into this position) to get into CBL position – then lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn with R-R low and L-L high (so R-R ends behind follower’s L waist)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and into Copa-like position again (just like in the second bar), then instead of Copa, get around follower from behind and into CBL position with R-R briefly disconnected and reconnected in a simple manner by follower’s L (front) waist while getting follower back to face the way she was facing on 1 (L-L is kept relatively high throughout)
1,2,3,5,6,7 in place CBL step and lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn with L-L high

This could be followed by L-L hat and CBL or around-the-world type of move (somewhat akin to rotating CBL).

Dancing was again uneven – to a point of being extremely disappointing. Speaking only of dances with non-Cambridge people, I think I had only one (maybe two) dance, which I think was enjoyed by both me and my partner. There were three or four dances, which I felt was more or less okay but not great for me (and I suspect was just okay for my partners as well). There were two fairly sloppy dance, which I enjoyed anyway mostly because of nice rapport with my partner. Maybe three to five dances were something of a chore for me but seemed to be enjoyed by my partner. Pretty much everything else (including 4 dances with beginners!) was annoying, tortuous, nightmarish or hellish for me; I don't really know how it was for my partner. I don’t ever recall dancing with so many raw beginners at SOS; I have had dances with complete beginners only once or twice at SOS in all my previous trips combined. When was the last time I had three disappointing Salsa nights in a row? This is horrible especially considering that my goal has been to become a very good social dancer and be able to have good time dancing Salsa with most people. I am also seriously wondering if I am getting worse in some important ways despite or because of accumulation of (imperfect?) moves and technique. Actually, the trouble could be that I know just enough to know and be annoyed by many imperfections of my dance partners while I don’t know enough to make my dances exceptional for followers without serious flaws in technique (at least by my standards). Heck, after a deflating night like tonight, I would be happy if better followers I danced with found me at least tolerable if not decent.

A scary thought. I’m beginning to recognize quite a large number of regulars in the London scene. More I dance (and supposedly improve), fewer and fewer of these familiar faces remain as people I would ask for a dance without reservation. Meanwhile, there have been precious few new interesting partners and a whole lot of unimpressive to terrible dances when I pick partners more or less at random. I really hope that this was caused by the location - SOS being held at the South hall of the hotel.

"Random" overheard conversation.

X (concerned) - "You look so thin!"

Y - "It must be these pants."

It reminded me of a conversation from recent past. Don't ask me why, but I find them fascinating.

A - "I love the way her skirt moves when she spins!"

me - "Are you having skirt envy?"

A - "No. I never wear skirts."

Guildhall redux

May 20, 2006

I checked the time – 7 PM. My landlady had just come down to ask me if I was heading downtown and if she could hitch a ride with me. She was meeting some friends who lived off Mill Road. I said, “Sure. Give me 5 minutes.” I was running a little late, but I wasn’t too worried – If I miss part of the lessons, it’s no big deal, and there is a very good chance that the classes will start late. Remembering what had happened last time, I became even more relaxed once I got into my car, and I ended up dropping off my landlady on Mill Road instead of closer to town center as she originally asked. On the way, she talked about how nice it is to live in Cambridge as well as about various “rough parts” of Cambridge. Whatever – I’ve seen worse.

I arrived at Guildhall around 7:20 PM. The classes had not started yet, so I went over to a friendly looking corner with new kids like Cyrille and Wayan and old hands like Rajiv and people in between for a friendly chat. Some choice excerpts…

As soon as Agnes saw me, she demanded, “Do you remember my name now?” Yes, of course. I even remember her telling me her name – somehow my mind changed her name soon afterwards to Grace (the two names do have some similarities), and then I started referring to her as Grace to other people like Johnny & Serap. Interestingly after I told her this story, someone else chimed in, “That makes a lot of sense now. I remember long time ago you telling me that your name is Agnes, and I thought ‘That doesn’t sound right.’” High comedy. I had no idea that I had such a high credibility that I would be considered a bigger expert in remembering Agnes’s name than Agnes herself. I took the opportunity to learn names of other people in the group – unfortunately I forgot some of them within couple of minutes.

X – “So I’ve been hearing a lot of this guy Sergio. Who is he?”

Me (rolling my eyes and looking at Rajiv before turning to X) – “Sergio was at Club Salsa last Friday so you should have seen him.”

X – “What does he look like?”

I started to describe Sergio’s appearance. Z chimes in with more physical details and his tendencies as a dancer and leader.

Me – “I think you danced with him last Friday.”

X – “Ohhhhhhh! I think I know now. Was he wearing white?”

Me – “I don’t remember. He often wears white. I think he might show up tonight. I tried to talk him into coming. I’ll introduce you two.”

This leads to a small debate about leading within our subgroup.

After a while, class started. I glanced at the instructors and turned to Rajiv, “Hey. Isn’t that Tiz?” Rajiv nodded to confirm. Hmm. Déjà vu. Where's Osbanis? The very first part of the class is a short body movement exercise. Hands on waist and move shoulders without moving elbows. I turned to Rajiv again to indicate ‘We’ve seen this before’. Chest next, followed by hips, whole body while crouching and neck last. A bit pointless except as an introduction with possibly a follow-up in mind…

Men and women were separated. Tiz demonstrated spinning exercise level 1 and 2. I briefly glanced to see what the women were doing – shines. I thought about giving myself a challenge of learning both men and women’s shine at the same time. However, Nikki was already half-way into the footwork and then my phone rang. By the time I returned, Tiz had begun his shine while Nikki was incorporating arm movements. Oh well. There goes my short-lived idea…

men’s shine - Tiz
1,2,3 basic
5,6,7 back on 5 and slide forward on 6,7 turning 1/4 clockwise
1,3,5,7 pushing off against the ground while the other foot slides off the ground – this was one of the latest exercise Sergio was trying to get me to practice… L foot pushes into ground as R foot is led to slide back and pushed off the ground … effect is R foot off the ground on 1/2, L foot on 3/4, R foot on 5/6 and L foot on 7/8
1 L foot cross over in front of R foot
3 R foot cross over behind L foot to normal standing position
5,6,7 turn 3/4 clockwise (weight on R foot?)
1,2 basic
3 R foot like bunny hop except off the ground (bringing R foot crossed over in front of L at about knee level) – and back on ground on 4
5,7 pachanga with a small hop
1,2,3 basic ending with L foot back
5 R foot kick to L
7,8 slide slightly forward
1 in place – catch a football with chest
2 seat down
3 hips back
5,6,7 down and up

This went on for a while in order to accommodate most people.

Partner work – Tiz and Nikki

1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL with 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn for follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break – exchange places with high cross pass L-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break – L-R around high for Copa – R hand on follower’s trailing L shoulder – free 1 1/2 counterclockwise Copa turn for follower (not much of a lead but more of a signal so fair bit of Copa familiarity is needed for this move)
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL
1,2,3,5,6,7 I think this qualifies as a Copa fake – an interesting one – open break followed by L-R high as a Copa start but continue on with the turn – on 5, L-R is down to shoulder level pointing forward along follower’s line – on 6, L-R is going up and around as follower and leader initiates the turn simultaneously (follower counterclockwise and leader clockwise) – finish turn on 7 and into something of CBL position by 8 – finish with CBL next

In the middle of the Copa sequence, I turned to Mark and said, “It’s a Copa. This is getting really predictable. I guess having done hundreds of lessons has its benefits. Hmm. I bet I could count the number of lessons I had thus far.” Mark replied, “Yeah, I know. Just don’t try to think about how much money was spent on those lessons.”

Cool down exercise happened around 9:45 PM. Sergio and Natalie arrived around this time just in time to hear Natalie’s favorite (Acid) and to reminisce about the old CDC days.

No Rueda lessons. Oh well. Apparently Osbanis and Iris had to postpone at the last minute. They’ll be here in July maybe?

Dancing was uneven for me. With some people, it was much more enjoyable than usual – in some cases thanks to some adjustments. It was a very up and down kind of night for me. For much of the night, inspiration was lacking (or to put it another way, I felt bankrupt of ideas). I even started one dance with Mambo basic for the first 20-30 bars – although this turned out a lot more amusing with comments like “I bet you won’t be able to beat me in this game” and “That was cruel!” To make up for the torture, I gave her an idea for ‘revenge’; it turned out much better than I had any right to.

The evening ended with some people milling around a bit – making plans for the future, etc. while some wanting to leave while others lingered. Among others, I learned that Emmanuel College is nicknamed Emma (gender reversal?) and that my landlady is not alone in thinking of Cambridge as a "dangerous" place.

Hey Mister Deejay, put a record on…

May 19, 2006

Playlist
Los Rumberos – Markolino Dimond (-5%) (1)
Ave Maria Lola – Sonora Carruseles
Mandali – Africando
Chiquilla Ideal – Manny Oquendo*
La 33 – La 33
Con Tabaco Y Ron – Tabaco Y Ron
Tu Eres – Frankie Ruiz*
Mi Rico Mambo – Luisito Rosario (-2.5%)*
Mi Mujer Es Una Bomba – Oscar D’Leon (2)
Que Bonito Es Sonar – Jimmy Bosch*
Salsa Y Sabor – Tito Puente (-5%)*
1-800-Quiereme – Luisito Rosario
Nada De Ti – Eddie Palmieri

break. Vishal kicked off with J. Lo – just like last week. Contigo was played among others (all Salsa) for ~25 min. I had one dance during the break.

La Quiero – Dominic Marte (3)
Mambo – Cachao
Descarga Moderna – Ray Barretto (-5%)
Es La Musica – Massimo Scalici
El Pito – Isidro Infante
Descarga Cache – Cache*
El Avion De La Salsa – Jimmy Bosch (4)*
Tumbando Cabeza – Tabaco Y Ron
Pantera Mambo – La 33
Get It Up – Eurocuban Project (5)
Esto Es Guaguanco – Cheo Feliciano (6)

break. Vishal played one Merengue, Lamento Boliviano and others for ~30 min. I had two dances during this break. Vishal finished with an 8+ min long song.

Babarabatiri – Tito Puente (7)
Hong Kong Mambo – Tito Puente
Machito Forever – Tito Puente (-2%) (8)*
Cachondea – Fruko Y Sus Tesos (-3%) (9)*
Hacha Y Machete – Hector Lavoe (10)*
Mi Gente – Hector Lavoe (11)*
Periodico De Ayer – Hector Lavoe (12)*
Ven Tu – Dominic Marte (13)
Merengue track #1 from Vishal (14)
Hablame – Frankie Ruiz
Anacaona – Cheo Feliciano (15)

* Denotes songs I never played at Club Salsa before. Nine out 36 or 25%. Not bad. Not bad at all!

(1) I meant to play Sabroson (a new song). Poor start. Oh well. Johnny was playing relatively fast songs for his practices, which made this error (compounded by slow speed) even worse. I was keeping the volume relatively low, which prompted Vishal to step in and raise it while saying, "People will go home if it's too quiet."
(2) Vishal came by to talk about switching (already!?!?) saying something about people complaining. I asked if anyone complained tonight. He replied, “No.” This is very annoying. Let’s see if this continues – I have been hearing this same @^*% for about a month. It would seem I was spared of this comment last week only because of staff shortage problem. One of these days, I’ll try using this comment back at Vishal to bow out or take a break from DJing. As far as I am concerned, the only perk for DJing is being able to influence music selection here, hopefully in a lasting manner. Vishal stopped by couple of songs later (or possibly the next song) to comment, “Nice music.” Stick and carrot.
(3) I inherited an overcrowded dance floor from Vishal. I don't like overcrowded dance floor - not all the time anyway. I decided to kill the party with a Bachata (followed by what some might consider heavy Mambo).
(4) Guaguanco. This received a weak reception. I probably should have stuck to Mambo. Maybe this is what I get for listening to Vishal asking for less Mambo.
(5) Ho hum. I might want to try playing this earlier in the evening instead.
(6) Strong reception once again. Definitely a keeper.
(7) I told Vishal that he left me with a very long song. He replied that I could fade out in the middle of it. I did not. Vishal came back much later looking slightly concerned (possibly because the floor was relatively empty) and he suggested that maybe I should play something slow and build it up. I said I'll deal with it.
(8) Three Tito Puente in a row - none of them slow and this one is quite fast. It went just dandy although I couldn’t find a decent starting cue point – I ran out of time after trying to (and failing to) figure out someone’s query about a song I supposedly played earlier in the evening. This song left some people hanging because of lack of obvious percussion. Others like Wayan loved it.
(9) I originally thought, "Go slower." Then, I said to myself, "What the heck. Go fast again." Luis said to me at the end of the song, "I want more songs like that!"
(10) I never tried playing Hector Lavoe before. For all I know, no one has done this before in Club Salsa. I didn’t know what to expect. A large group including Luis recognized it and loved it (even though it was nothing like the previous song).
(11) I had been hesitant to play Hector Lavoe. No more hesitation.
(12) Let's hit them with more of the same again. The same group is still dancing after over 15 minutes of La Voz.
(13) At the end of last song Luis went, "Merengue next!" He heard this song (Bachata) being played next, nodded in approval and went right back to dancing.
(14) This one was in part because of Vishal's recommendation - he might have heard Luis's outburst earlier. I wasn't really sure about it one way or the other. Not sure about the result either.
(15) I considered among others Otra Oportunidad and Thinking of You, but then I thought, “Why would I want to play something Vishal is likely to play, especially as the final song?” I guess I was going by the approach "When in doubt, play something Vishal will not play."

36 songs total – 33 Salsa, 2 Bachata, 1 Merengue. Vishal played one more Bachata and one more Merengue, so Bachata wins over Merengue once again. Even sans any major mistakes (like two from last week) and with a fabulous third set, I would rate this slightly below last week’s DJing. I still would rate this the best of my DJ work where I had three sets with two breaks in between (as opposed to being able to jam for much longer stretches of time).

I had one more dance after the third set – for a grand total of 4. DJing and dancing really don’t mix very well, especially done the way it was done tonight with multiple pointless short breaks putting me off. Vishal played Mandali again after I was done as well as a few alright songs (incl. a Ran Kan Kan cover) to which I did not dance. Instead I spent rest of the time watching or goofing around with people like Sally, Lindsey, Wayan, Cyrille, Rajiv and Vera. Closing time was 2:10 AM.

What’s there to gossip about?

May 18, 2006

For now, division of intermediate and advanced class was self-selected. After a slight hesitation, I joined the advanced class.

Advanced with Sally

1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL ending with almost side-to-side (like start of Guapea)
1,2,3,5,6,7 twist (in and out) and bring follower in for around the world [note: Sally is probably getting tired of correcting my technique – too Tango-like – on this move]
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL with high cross pass would work (but this was done slightly differently)
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader’s pivot turn with switch to R-R and into CBL position – bring follower forward while getting R-R over follower’s head and connecting L-L on 5 and lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn with both hands up
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader’s pivot turn followed by hook turn – first turn with both hands up and second turn with L-L down so that L-L ends behind leader’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 disconnect and reconnect L-L in front while R-R hat for follower – lead follower into triple turn with L-L (probably start on 3)
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL and full counterclockwise turn with shoulder stop for follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower into 1 1/2 clockwise stationary turn with L-L and with leader turning full clockwise on 7 with L-L down and ending behind leader’s back R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 reconnect R-R in front and into CBL and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn so that R-R ends behind follower’s back L waist (R-R down and turned counterclockwise to lead this)
1,2,3,5,6,7 reconnect L-L in front and into CBL and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn with all connections intact (L-L beginning to be placed around and ending behind her R back waist)
1,2,3,5,6,7 get around follower in front and get follower into straighjacket position and into CBL and finish with simple CBL finish with all connection intact
1,2,3,5,6,7 Mambo jazz lead for follower (L foot forward along her line on 1 for leader’s styling) – disconnect R-R and lead follower into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn with L-L low ending with closed hold (followed by another CBL)

It has been a while since I felt like I had a workout during a class. It was fun practicing with people who were not completely overwhelmed by the material.

Dancing was good – some were fun, some were lovely, some were amusing, some were crazy, some were out of control – they were all good.

In my spin-fest with Jane, I think I led my first quadruple spin in 6 beats. I’m sure it was tiring for her, and I was getting dizzy just watching her spin and spin. Jane told me that Mark destroyed soles of her shoes recently by leading her to do a great deal of multiple spins.

Sergio suggested after closing time that I should put more gossip in this blog. Yeah right. I dare not. Besides, what’s there to gossip about? :)

By the way, I seem to be getting used to having Sergio around – for a little while, I was so in awe of things he does that I might have been getting too stunned to dance with confidence when he was around. Last Friday was fine, and so was tonight.

No Bachata workshop in June… Maybe October?

May 17, 2006

I told Tony that we'll pass on his June tour, which was prompted by invitations to teach for all-day events on successive weekends. I needed a break anyway, so this is something of a relief. October is a possibility.

On a related note, Tony asked for a copy of my little write-up for him and Claudia (which was posted at Club Salsa for his third visit). He might be using parts of it for his biography.

A short break from a Salsa break

May 15, 2006

Latin Collective – Intermediate with Joe Davids

R-R hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break into Copa fake (keeping R-R in hand-of-god like position on 3) and into reverse CBL-like position by 3 and windmill lead (starting far in front of follower’s line and making a windmill motion in clockwise motion from leader’s perspective – going down and up) to lead follower into a traveling 1 1/2 clockwise turn

option 1
finish with leader turning 1/4 counterclockwise and releasing R-R from leader’s R neck and reconnect L-R underneath …
1,2,3,5,6,7 …as leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise as early as 8… and into CBL in place (no forward step on 1) and finish with simple CBL finish

option 2
finish with leader turning 1/4 counterclockwise and releasing R-R for a drop catch and reconnecting with L-R at waist level
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break followed by L-R toss and reconnecting with R-R or simpler yet getting follower’s R forearm with R hand – lead follower forward on 5 and into free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn – end with closed hold for…
1,2,3,5,6,7 simple CBL

entry variation 1
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL ending with leader turning 1 1/4 counterclockwise and switching to R-R

Latin Collective – Improver with Joe Davids

R-R hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break into Copa fake (keeping R-R in hand-of-god like position on 3) and into reverse CBL-like position by 3 (follower is slightly turned already on 3) and lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn with follower’s R hand coming down between 5 and 6 (or follower is nearly done with her first turn) so that it ends behind follower’s L waist

option 1
involves switching of R-R to L-R shortly before follower’s R hand is brought down (straight down) between 5 and 6
1,2,3,5,6,7 forward on 1 and into CBL position – L-R is led down and forward along follower’s line on 5 for free 1 1/2 clockwise traveling (short distance) turn

option 2
involves staying with R-R for bringing follower’s R hand down between 5 and 6 – getting follower’s R hand placed behind her back L waist and with leader turning 1/2 counterclockwise with R-R released and reconnecting with L-R with leader facing away from follower’s line (R foot would cross over in front of L foot while leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise on 7)
1,2,3,5,6,7 towards the follower on 1 (involves a further 1/4 turn) and into CBL position (another 1/4 turn here) and lead follower into free 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn as was done in option 1

variation 1
on second 1, L foot can cross behind R foot instead

variation 2
on second 5,6,7 step into follower’s space and turn 3/4 clockwise to get back to facing follower (closed hold end would be good)

We had another massive class. Unfortunately, about 1/2 of the students struggled mightily with the first class (intermediate level) and then struggled mightily with the second class (improver level) as well. I am one of the best lead among the students for either class, and I find improver class material interesting if not challenging - at least when trying to execute the moves with people who are struggling mightily. Best students are generally the ones who show up regularly - no surprise there. I don’t think I will ever bother to find out but I probably could have done better job as a follower for tonight’s classes than approximately one third to two third of the followers who took part in the class. For whatever its worth after seeing the turnout, Joe announced that he and his team will switch to format of three classes of two hours starting next week. I am going to miss taking the improver classes. I already miss having smaller classes with better overall standard of students.

Dancing afterwards was surprisingly good – well beyond expectations. I’m just speaking for myself though, and I may be merely experiencing feeling of irrational exuberance (even though I was feeling rather somber most of the evening).

This is getting really old, but Contigo made its return after a brief absence on Saturday (of course for all I know it could have been played before 11:30 PM at the Rocket although this is doubtful). Joe Davids became the fifth DJ in Cambridge to play the song after the song made its debut 12 days ago. The other five in order are Sally (once), me (once), Vishal (four times including once in Peterborough) and Chris (once). When it rains… I pledge not to talk about this any more, except to note that a person who arguably is as responsible as anyone for this phenomenon has yet to hear it played.

Lastly I told Vishal that we should skip Tony's June tour because of combination of scheduling difficulties and school being out of session. It may help if I become much better at dancing Bachata before trying to promote another event.

A roadblock and a steaming-hot Rocket

May 13, 2006

With a pair of giggling Swedish girls in back seat and with Cyrille in the second car with two passengers of his own including the kid with the super energy (whose name I re-learned is Wayan), we departed from Club Salsa at 9:05 PM. Traffic on M11 was initially very light, and I was pleased to see that the construction work between exit 9 (A11) and exit 8 (Stansted) finally was completed. The delightful pair in the back amused themselves chatting away at times and singing along to Salsa songs I was playing on my iPod (sometimes following the percussion, sometimes singing lyrics, and once translating the lyrics to Swedish and singing in Swedish). I at one point laughing quipped, “I’m going to have a lot of fun writing about this in my blog.” Despite some early pre-journey trepidation, the trip was looking quite pleasant.

And then we hit the worst traffic jam ever I have seen in the UK; I spent approximately one hour in crawling along between exit 7 (Harlow) and exit 6 (M25). First we feared that there was a serious accident. About an hour later, I saw that the cause was simply more roadwork, which caused a three lane road to merge into a single lane. I had originally thought that we would be at the Rocket by no later than 10:30 PM. By the time I got past the jam (and Cyrille caught up with my car), it was nearly 11 PM. Rest of the drive was smooth, except that I missed my final turn into Holloway Road (followed by turning onto a one-way street, which forced me into making a 5 minute detour). By the time we hit the Rocket (sans the Swedish pair who took a short failed detour to meet a friend at a nearby bar), it was almost 11:30 PM.

Rajiv had been waiting for us for a long time; he and his date (just kidding – I mean his tenant – mmm… too formal – friend – too vague – I give up for now) had been there since 9 PM (and suffered a wrist injury). He greeted us saying, “You took your time getting here,” looking somewhat nonplussed. I explained the traffic situation, to which he replied, “Ouch.” The floor looked quite packed; approximately 400 people were in attendance. Unfortunately, the upstairs room was still closed (soundproofing work was apparently not completed yet). Worse, the room was hot and humid and the AC was not coping with warmer outside temperature (compared to last time) and larger number of people. After a desperately needed urinal break, we braved the sauna called the Rocket and started dancing.

Aside from the temperature, dancing was good if not consistently spectacular. Speaking only of dances with strangers, only one dance was a pure delight. One dance with a partner who was at least my equal if not better was just okay. Every other dance was with people around my level or below and was of various qualities – tolerable to pretty good. Unfortunately, the days of dancing with Londoners and thinking that every dance or every other dance was either really good or spectacular appear to be no more. I am sure I am making mistakes all the time (and I probably overestimate my abilities in many ways as well as underestimate others), but I seem to find faults with my dance partners a lot more than I used to. And really good dance partners are very popular – no surprise there. I feel as if I am just close enough to getting pretty good but then again, I am sure pretty much everyone thinks that – I probably will reach another point where I think I am doing great again only to go back to thinking that I need to get a little better once again the following week. Still, it was a nice opportunity for more practice – better than Cambridge mostly because of sheer quantity of available decent if not transcendental dance partners.

At several points in the evening, I would have loved to stopped and tell Vishal (who wasn’t there), “See what they are playing here!” Then again, I suppose he might have done the same to me with some other songs that were played. By the way, I counted 13 people with Cambridge connections tonight.

There was only one showcase – an interesting one albeit a mostly gymnastics and light martial arts demonstration rather than a dance. I liked slow motion-like aspect of their acrobatic movements the most. The demonstration ended with one of the performers destroying a light fixture – the ceiling was not high enough.

It was nice to get an unexpected Cambridge discount from Joe, but better would have been the room upstairs being available and better temperature control. I plan on asking about these two factors next time. I am convinced that the temperature in particular was a major factor in the way some dances were danced. I also suspect that with better temperature control, the floor would have been more packed much of the time.

Six of us stayed til closing time. Our departure was further delayed by one factor after another, including a flirting episode involving our Swedish guest. I wondered briefly whether she would rejoin us (despite an earlier conversation about the Swedish Salsa scene dominated by Latin men who like to treat the Salsa scene as a meat market – and how as a veteran of the scene, they were no longer bothered or fazed. Cambridge scene demonstrates more gentility on the whole.). After guiding Cyrille to M11, I sped away to arrive in Cambridge by 4:30 AM.

Also as we were departing, Cyrille asked me whether I would be interested in buying his ticket to the UK Salsa Congress. Apparently he has a scheduling conflict. I said I will think about it – it’s a tempting offer.

Meanwhile, I now get a break of one day away from Salsa on Sunday. I will try to have at least two days off during the week next week, but the weekend has the Guildhall on Saturday and arguably the best SOS option for the month of May.

Nice set except for couple of disasters

May 12, 2006

Playlist

Culebra – Grupo Niche (-5%)
El Pito – Sonora Carruseles (-5%)
Nunca Que Quedas – Frankie Ruiz (-5%)
Quizas – N’Klabe
Soledad – La 33
Acabo de Llegar – Tabaco Y Ron
1-800-Quiereme (remix) – Luisito Rosario (1)
El Swing de Fruko – Fruko Y Sus Tesos
Barbaratiri – Tito Puente
La Familia – Ray Barretto
Barreras Ninguna – Jimmy Bosch
La Isla California – Tabaco Y Ron
Mi Gente – Oscar D’Leon
Ven Tu – Dominic Marte
No Me Resigno – Toque D’ Keda
Mambo – Cachao
Descarga la Moderna – Ray Barretto (-5%) (2)
Merengue track 3 from Vishal’s CD
Es la Musica – Massimo Scalici
Celia Y Tito – Isidro Infante
El Preso – Fruko Y Sus Tesos
Picadillo – Tito Puente
Pantera Mambo – La 33
You Rock My World – Michael Jackson (Berna Jam Salsa remix)

break (Vishal played J. Lo, Africando, and probably Marc Anthony among others – all Salsa - for ~20 min)

Una Amor de Noche – N’Klabe (3)
Medicina No – Jimmy Bosch
Get It Up – Eurocuban Project
Esto Es Guaguanco – Cheo Feliciano
Tumbando Cabeza – Tabaco Y Ron
#100 – Tito Puente (4)
Estoy Caliente – Tabaco Y Ron
Lamento Boliviano – Toque D’ Keda (5)
La Guarachera de Cuba – Mercado Negra (Raul rmx)
A Gozar Con Mi Combo – Cachao (6)
Hablame – Frankie Ruiz
Indestructible – Ray Barretto (-3.5%)
Me Prendiste Velas – Oscar D’Leon
Otra Oportunidad – Jimmy Bosch
Ran Kan Kan – Tito Puente (live version) (7)

aftermath (Vishal played among others Contigo and Lady. Nominally, Vishal still has my Cache CD so I did not play it as part of my set).

(1) Big oops. I accidentally started playing another song on top of it, then I switched to the wrong song before switching back.
(2) Even bigger oops. I accidentally ejected the CD right after the song started and caused another big confusion lasting about 10-15 seconds. Some people thought there was a catastrophic equipment failure. Vishal came by to say not to play another Mambo – maybe play a Merengue next. There was a very healthy number of people dancing to this song. It’s a bona fide hit in my opinion.
(3) I was thinking Bachata, but Vishal asked for Salsa instead.
(4) Someone wanted to dance with me before she left so I put this track on with intention of playing the next track on the Tito Puente CD. Vishal sort of took over the situation and got Danie to switch over to the next song on the Tabaco Y Ron CD instead – fortunately the Tabaco Y Ron song was okay.
(5) Do over. Even though the last song was okay, it really didn’t flow with where I was hoping to go.
(6) I tried to get opinion on this song from few people. Johnny & Serap thought it was nice (once bass was turned down a little). Sergio thought it was too mellow. Too mellow is often used by Sergio to describe songs I like.
(7) I was dancing to this when Vishal made adjustments to the sound nearly half dozen times, which I found annoying. Oh well.

This was a much better set than last week – arguably the best yet. The only real competition was that unusual night 3-4 weeks ago with ridiculous number of excellent dancers. The numbers were respectable tonight but not fantastic yet things went quite well – aside from the two major accidents mentioned above. I think I like the results of no pre-planning (or at least no pre-set playlist in writing). Pre-planned list from last two weeks were counterproductive because it made me less flexible.

I only had five dances with two people. No complaints whatsoever though - they were all very good. In fact, given that I was prepared not to dance at all tonight, I thought it was fabulous. I would have loved to dance with few other people who were there, but there’s nothing new in that. I was very busy DJing, and most people had gone home by the time I was done. [The 20 min or so break is pretty useless for getting dances in my opinion.]

By the time I left, Vishal had played only one more Merengue, so the balance up to that point was 3 Bachata and 2 Merengue. There was a request for Bachata (I took about 20 min to supply two in row), Merengue, Oscar D’Leon (taken with Mi Gente), Marc Anthony (twice? – I thought Vishal played one for her, but she may not have recognized it). I thought the person who requested Marc Anthony looked horrified when I told her that I did not have any of his songs. For my part, I played 39 songs – 3 Bachata, 1 Merengue and 35 Salsa.

One more day to go before I get a break.

Here there everywhere nowhere

May 11, 2006

Intermediate with Sally

R-R hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and exchange places via L side followed by hook turn with L-R high (something like LA-fied version of Evelyn)
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R hat for follower while getting into CBL position and connect L-L in front – lead follower into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 Sombrero-finish-like start (preferably with R-R underneath L-L at the start) and into CBL position – connect with L-R in front and lead 1 1/2 clockwise turn ending in a wrap
1,2,3,5,6,7 bring follower forward and across to left side and lead follower into backwards spin using L-R for leading the spin (leader stays facing the same direction the whole time) – offer R at R waist to attempt to reconnect R-R if follower is not too disoriented
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and toss R-R outwards (to R) and reconnect R-L – lead follower forward and into full traveling counterclockwise turn with R-L low for a wrap – switch to L-L at the last moment
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower forward on 1 and back on 2 while leading to help turn follower 1/2 clockwise on 2,3 while leader also turns 1/2 clockwise and reconnect with R-R at leader’s R waist – lead follower forward and into free 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn ending in closed hold (or at least R hand solidly on middle of follower’s back) in CBL position
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower forward on 1 while moving towards follower – turn around as a unit 1/2 counterclockwise on 3 and finish with simple CBL finish

It sounded like Sally is planning on dividing the intermediate class during the first hour with the more difficult class being a by-invitation-only type of class. I wasn’t completely sure when this new arrangement will start but it sounded like it’ll happen soon – possibly even next week.

Possibly because I opted to do warm-up on my own somewhat hidden from the class, Sally joked that maybe I should lead the cool-down one of these days. I don’t think I’m ready for giving instructions and leading anything like it would mean I won’t be able to have an exercise at as high intensity as I feel like.

I wasn't watching the warmup today, but I am guessing that the body movement part was omitted as it was last week.

The club was much cooler than last night, and music was to my liking. Julian the Duke’s compilation CD was used heavily; I think at least 3 tracks were used from it including you-know-which. Chris, who was more involved at the DJ booth tonight, made some nice selections. I only cringed once - when a Cha Cha Cha track was speeded up abruptly after the start of the song. Vishal stopped by at one point to compliment Chris for his DJ work while imploring me to go easy on “Mambo” tomorrow.

There was a rare on-1 dancing sighting on the dance floor. Possibility of on-2 class was briefly discussed.

Dancing was fine. I thought I was under scrutiny because of the comment from October but maybe I was imagining it. I'm spending about half the time working on basics and recently learned or adapted techniques. For better or worse, it's still mostly practice practice practice. Speaking of practice, the most interesting dance was with an improver (but with experience in other dances incl. Tango) with sound timing and definite tension and with whom I was able to lead pretty much all moves I know (including some moves that people with years of experience don't get).

There were more talks about the trip to the Rocket - this time with Cyrille. For the outgoing trip, we may have two drivers and no passengers - it seems a little excessive. Some will be in London at the start of the day (and some at the end as well).

Two more days before the break…

Maybe I should stop worrying and learn to love the bomb

May 10, 2006

Perhaps if I keep this up, maybe I’ll get sick of Salsa so that I will end up taking a small sabbatical and/or cut down for real. Getting into fourth Salsa day in a row (and looking at three more days of the same), I feel as if I might be suffering from a burnout. Combined with stuffy condition at Club Salsa and less than thrilling music (particularly early on), I felt very uninspired to dance. Everyone has different taste in music, and what I like certainly isn’t liked by everyone or for that matter probably by more than half of the Salsa crowd. Cristian unfortunately seems to be following Vishal’s steps in using DJ tricks such as fusing songs, mixing songs and scratching. Music selections became a little more interesting later as most people departed. This is getting a little overdone, but Vishal played Contigo once again (as well as Pantera Mambo) – perhaps this is a sign of homogenization. Incidentally, Contigo is now available as a part of a DJ Julian the Duke compilation CD from Mr. Bongo for those who are interested in purchasing a copy for her/himself. [Perhaps, it would have been better if I contacted interested people individually but this felt inappropriate.] I ended up giving lift home for couple of people after closing time. I thought it was not yet midnight (I wasn’t keeping track of time because I let my battery run out of my mobile phone), but it was nearly 1 AM. As I dropped them off, they departed with the words, “See you tomorrow!” Nice … and a little depressing at the same time.

Quote of the day: “I’m not your mommy.”

It can be hazardous trying to talk with a great deal of background noise

Does he ever take a break?

May 10, 2006

Hi Hon [a different take on my name... I don't think it's short for Honey...]

Just got back home and want to say thank you for inviting us we had loads of fun.

I will be over again June from the 15th – 27th if you are interested in doing something, check out my dates on http://www.djtony.it/tour3.htm

Thx again

iDJ Tony
www.djtony.it

--

The only possible days are Sundays, right? I don't know if this is going to work. Should I give it a try?

... and dancers with passion and sabor :)

May 9, 2006

I think I understand Ivan a little better now. Given similar circumstances, I could easily choose to do as he does. It would be so easy and pleasant – why take the hard road? Then again, I am a bit of a masochist and I am still learning.

I had missed my chance to see Pete’s band Cambiando on numerous occasions in the past. I thought this would be as good a time as any to see them for the first time. I arrived around 8:45 PM in the middle of their first set. The band sounded quite good – considerably better than the only other Salsa band I heard live at PPAA in Portland, Oregon last June. Generally, I have found musicianship of bands in Cambridge superior to many bands I have listened to in larger cities in USA. Generally, dancing to the band was better than dancing to the recorded music tonight – with caveat that the DJ work was extremely basic and with a minor complaint that the endings of the songs played live were a bit abrupt and lacked flourish.

I held out from dancing for a while until I was asked first – something like a repeat of Sunday. I guess I was amusing myself and staying relaxed knowing that if I waited long enough, someone will drag me to the dance floor. I suppose it’s like a new game – one I’m sure I’ll get tired of fairly soon.

There were not many really superb dancers, but there were plenty of fun people to dance with nevertheless. Superb dance partners are fun because of possibility of having more sophisticated and rich complex dances. Less experienced dance partners can be fun often because it’s easier to delight them with surprises and challenges – provided that they enjoy surprises and challenges.

Having just one or two amazing dance partners who are several levels better than everyone else can be jarring. The situation is not unlike when I try dancing while DJing or after I am done DJing - it's difficult to hit full stride. When I dance with the amazing ones who can follow everything I can lead, often I’m too stunned and do not feel ready to take full advantage of the situation. It’s not exactly intimidation, but after doing a series of simple things (nothing wrong with this approach by the way), I might try something that nearly never works with most people. If my dance partner follows and executes the move effortlessly, I would be delighted, thrilled and surprised – and at the same time, my mind would go blank as I struggle and fail to think of other interesting moves to try because of the excitement. Even though my memory is pretty good, it’s easier to recall challenging moves to try to practice in between dances when there is less urgency. This is not a complaint; it’s a great pleasure dancing with superb partners – it would be great if I could dance with them more and even better if I can find and develop comfort level more quickly.

Cuban style dancers were predominant tonight, and my idea that I was pretty good interacting with Cuban style dancers took a small beating tonight. I better amend my assessment to something like, “I can lead people who dance predominantly Cuban style assuming they are very experienced and/or have some familiarity with CBL style.” Another possibility is that I have had less practice dancing with Cuban style dancers recently. More I learn, less I know.

I solved the mystery of the dancer with great deal of sabor and élan from Ljubljana. It’s always fun solving the identities of friendly lurkers in cyberspace. Now if I can figure out the identity of my biggest fan.

Some people were trying to get me to go to Club Salsa tomorrow night. Although it's very doable (especially because I don't have much to do at work this week), I'm leery of going out for Salsa 7 days in a row.

Evening ended with a chat with Pete downstairs. Many topics were touched upon including about some people I danced and chatted with earlier and about the upcoming Guildhall event. An amusing exchange at the end came about when Sean briefly joined us and Pete had difficulty remembering his name. I said in jest to Pete, “You have no trouble remembering my name. Of course, I’m very memorable.” Pete laughed and replied, “Yeah, but that’s because you’re famous… Or maybe I should say infamous.” I am that – a lightning rod for controversy – an amusing cautionary tale to others with blogs. By the way, may I read yours if you’re reading mine?

Word of the day: Butterfly. No. Not me.

Yikes! Salsa everywhere all the time

May 8, 2006

Intermediate with Joe Davids

crossed hold R-R on top
1,2,3,5,6,7 small preparation for a single clockwise turn for follower with both connections intact – at the end R-R starts swinging underneath L-L in counterclockwise motion (also referred to as windmill) with R-R ending in hand of God position – L-L is briefly disconnected and reconnected underneath R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 pivot turn with L-L low and ending behind leader’s back L waist and R-R kept in hand of God position and ending over and behind leader’s R neck during 1,2,3 – Matrix move on 5,6,7 – R-R is disconnected first and back of R arm is used to roll follower’s L arm (first disconnecting L-L) around in full counterclockwise motion ending low and L arm rolling follower’s R arm ending high – leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise and L-R is dropped from the neck for slam dunk thus ending with R-L/R
1,2,3,5,6,7 Rumba preparation for R-L/R double clockwise turn for follower (single turn works fine too)
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa (I plan to play with Sergio method for leading this move) starting with R-L/R low with L hand on follower’s R hip to signal free 1 1/2 Copa turn (leader turns 1/4 clockwise on 3 while getting L hand on follower’s hip and leader turns 3/4 clockwise to get back to closed hold position on 6,7)
1,2,3,5,6,7 get back to closed hold and finish with CBL

Improver/Intermediate with Joe Davids

1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL with low cross pass ending with leader facing follower with L-R behind leader’s back R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 use free R hand for windmill move and bring R-R into pizza waiter position for follower for a stationary clockwise turn for follower ending with leader turning 1/2 counterclockwise and drop catch to end with L-R behind leader’s L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn on leader’s L side (follower is led to start turning on 3 for this move) – leader can optionally turn counterclockwise on 7,8
1,2,3,5,6,7 get back to closed hold and finish with CBL

Pretty big class once again. There was a bit a shortage of leaders for the first class. Two levels of classes were taught in two one-hour segments. I suspect that they will change to three two-hour classes if the attendance stays at this level.

I was a little surprised to see that Rajiv showed up for the second class and not the first. I had been meaning to give him more information on Frankie Martinez’s body movement video ever since the topic came up last Thursday, and I suppose I had expected to see him around on either Friday or Sunday. He reminded me of the fact that the Latin Collective Salsa event at Rocket is held this weekend. This is ridiculous. Tuesday (tomorrow) is the CDC Salsa night with Cambiando. Rocket happens on Saturday – I guess I’ll see Rajiv and some of his friends there. On the whole I liked the Rocket more than Scala based upon my one visit each to both places. I found more room for dancing and nicer overall layout at the Rocket. Guildhall is next weekend. Too… much… Salsa. Speaking of Guildhall, getting Osbanis and Iris DeBrito for the Guildhall seems like quite a coup. If that does not interest Cuban and Rueda crowd (provided they are made aware of their participation), what would? While we were talking about Iris (whom Rajiv finds very intimidating for some reason – I have no idea why she would be), Rajiv also related his experience dancing with Janet Fuentes last October and about her making it difficult for Rajiv to dance CBL style – quite amusing.

I thought I was in pretty good form tonight – potentially at least. For some reason, I often have better luck with double turns on Mondays than on other nights at Club Salsa. I didn’t really get a chance to test it though. Too few good followers to dance with – no complaints whatsoever for those who were there – I adore them and they’re great and fun to dance with. I wouldn’t mind dancing with some of them all night long except … I’m not sure. Maybe I don’t want to have too much of good thing? Or play favorites too overtly? Oh. Hmm. Sigh. Oh I just remembered. There's that idea about trying to keep more people dancing longer too.

A funny thought just occurred to me. If there’s a choice between dancing with a set of gorgeous and accomplished dance partners and dancing with a mix of dance partners, some good some not so good some gorgeous some not as much, which would I or most people choose? I must have considered this kind of question before many times but it feels as if I’m viewing or reviewing this question with different or fresh perspective.

By the way, Vishal played Contigo again. That’s four nights in a row. It sounded fine this time. Warm-up track used by Joe had Beethoven (or was it Mozart? I'm not sure) piano piece in it - I suspect this is a blip rather than a trend.

Joe made a mention of a topic of discussion (regarding sequences or turn patterns) at Londonsalsa.co.uk forum. I knew all about the discussion even though I hadn’t participated in it. Between this and that, blogging and DJing, etc and etc, I feel like I’m becoming something of an ultimate outsider insider – or is that insider outsider?

A trip to Peterborough

May 7, 2006

It has been almost 2 1/2 years since I last visited Peterborough to start the process of obtaining a UK driving license. Even though I now am more familiar with English roads, I thought I would leave fairly early so that I would arrive while it was still light outside. Thus I arrived around 8:40 PM with minimal fuss – just circling around once before entering the market car park. If anything, walking on foot was more confusing than driving. The downtown seemed nearly deserted, and the Westside Bar was the only place with signs of some life or at least loud music.

I was far from fashionably late. The lessons apparently were over, and 6-8 couples were dancing. After greeting Louise at the door, I decided to keep a low profile and slunk to a table in rear of the dance floor to watch people dance. People who were dancing during the first hour were not spectacular but seemed pretty competent – no worse and probably better than many people who stay after classes for several dances on Wednesdays or Fridays at Club Salsa. While I was sitting around, I was entertaining thoughts like, “I could get up and start dancing but I am not at all certain I could do any more interesting things than people here are doing already.” Whether true or not, it seemed like a good idea to just sit around for a while, so I did.

Slowly, more people I recognized from Cambridge trickled in. Some started dancing. I waited. More people entered. I waited. More people started dancing as well. I waited. A flood of people including Sally, Chris, Lindsey, Chris and Vishal arrived. At this point, I thought that maybe I should go greet them. At this point, I was asked to a dance. So I started dancing.

After 2 or 3 dances, I finally got around to saying hello to Cambridge gang (I guess some of them live outside of Cambridge and even in Peterborough but I still think of them as Cambridge people). I somehow ended up starting a dance with Sally. I thought, “Hmm. This is nice. Unexpected but nice.” Unfortunately about a dozen measure into the dance, another nearby couple (who seemingly came out of nowhere) stepped on Sally’s foot (was it her left foot? I’m not sure). Darn. It wasn’t like the place was packed. The other couple was not particularly good at staying within their space, but it is my responsibility to keep my partner safe. To make matters worse, Sally was supposed to do a dance demonstration later tonight. Yikes.

I tried to dance and socialize with as many (new) people as possible. I’d guess I danced with somewhere between half to three-quarter of followers there. My feet weren’t working at their best, especially early on. Otherwise, it was okay.

There were dance performances by Lindsey and Chris and by Sally and Cristian. I thought Lindsey and Chris’s dance was quite good – there were some moments that seemed a little less than effortless and some places where a shine might have been more appropriate, but I thought it was extremely good performance overall for amateurs and with only few hours of practice; I recall seeing some paid performers who looked considerably worse. Chris did not seem especially pleased with the dance though – then again this is not a bad thing because it probably means he’s trying to set a high standard. Sally & Cristian’s performance was more polished, but they have been dancing for much longer time of course (although not together). To my relief, I didn’t notice Sally having any difficulty moving by the time for her dance with Cristian. What stuck out most about the second performance was the choice of music – blended from many songs including “Hotel California” by the Eagles and a Salsa track containing Frederic Chopin’s Etudes Op 10, no 12 in C minor.

Battle of the DJs was not really a battle or a competition. Both Cristian and Vishal ended up playing some new material – more so for Vishal. By the way, Vishal did play Contigo tonight, but I thought it sounded awful. Too much bass (was it the sound system or sound setting that was at fault?) and played too fast (I’m not completely sure about this). It did not sound like the same song that was played on Thursday or Friday. I wonder if Night in Tunisia could have been made to sound better than it did on Friday. Ditto for Alonzo.

I left around 11:45 PM because I want to get up reasonably early tomorrow. A pleasant evening overall.

A miserable failure

May 5, 2006

"You are very technical," said my dance partner at the end of the song. I did not reply, but I silently thought, "Not technical enough by a mile. I'm still fumbling around all the time with all aspects dancing" I don't even know what she meant by technical. Maybe it has to do with my insistence on staying in time to the music even if my dance partner have difficulty staying in time doing Mambo basic, stationary turns and simple cross body leads. In my mind, more I dance I notice more deficiencies in my dancing.

I suppose there were several nice dances, including some dances that I would rate as all-time best between certain dance partners and me. One dance in particular seemed to draw some gawkers and seemed to help make my dance partner popular and sought after for the rest of the evening. Although I never got to dance with her again (I was her first partner), she left tired and happy. That's good.

Whatever the circumstances (Some partner may accept an invitation to dance thinking, "I danced with this guy before. I think he was okay," and ending up thinking, "That was quite nice. He's better than I remembered." Some partner might think, "It's always nice dancing with him. At worst, it'll be good. At best, it'll be fantastic." Some partner might think, "I cannot believe he asked me to dance with him. He's so much better than me."), it's a nice and powerful feeling knowing (or at least deluding myself into thinking) that I am leaving positive impression on others.

Flip side of the coin is getting your dance partner feeling awful because the dance went poorly feels really awful - fortunately, this does not happen too often.

Most of the dances were fine if not ambitious or provocative. Even with a room full of excellent dance partners, really interesting dances or moments occur infrequently. Chance of having exhilarating dance does not seem to increase by dancing with more experienced or more skilled partners - having a willing accomplice for experiments and surprises is a better bet (at least for me). I recall Sergio saying the other day that he doesn't necessarily enjoy dances with more skilled partners more than dancing with "beginners." (The quotes are there because very few excellent lead in Cambridge dances with real beginners with exception of some but not all teachers.)

Why do people dance?

I guess there are many reasons. I don't know if I have any special overriding reason - it could come down simply to, "It seems like a good idea." I guess if I don't know myself, it would be harder to know reasons for others be it Ivan, Sergio, Rajiv, Sean, Chris, Drew, Richard, Cristian, Jay, Mauricio, Thomas, Gordon, John, Peter, Bodie, Troy, Jason, Sewell, Heinz, Cambiz, Luis, Nanak, Ash, Emmanuel, Theodore, Jin, Sanjay, Patrick, Adam, Mark, Enrico, Liam, Cyrille, Phil, Johnny, Serap, Mimi, Sam, Lindsey, Jane, Natalie, Isabelle, Phyllis, Agnes, Charlotte, Laura, Lorraine, Danie, Marie, Maritza, Caroline, Lizzie, Sarah, Louise, Sally, Diana, Cinzia, Annetta, Ariana, Yola, Zeynep, Zhenzi, Euvian, Angelique, Cristelle, Keira, Alison, Clare, Natasha, Michelle, Marian, Lynne, Helen, Rhona, Dee, Hannah, Josie, Eva, Olivia, Tamaryn, Vera, Lucie, Emily, Marianna, Nina, etc.

That was a bit gratuitous… Now, who's who and who did I forget?

DJing...

It was a failed experiment - a miserable failure. Classic songs simply fare poorly compared to newer songs in the minds of most people. For better or worse, I think one has to pick a spot to sneak in an old song. Having a pre-set playlist is bad idea too, especially if there is to be multiple switches between more than one DJ. In any case, I'm not sure if I like DJing every week.

An interesting side note is that Vishal might be less interested in playing Merengue on Fridays. At one point, it seemed like he was going to forego playing any Merengue before succumbing around 12:40 AM. Maybe he's trying to boost business for Saturday.

Acid - Ray Barretto (1)
Es La Musica - Massimo Scalici (-2%) (2)
Sin Ti - Oliver
Baila Andres - Mezcla Latina (-3%) (3)
Vivo Por Ella - El Rubio Loco
Que Te Pasa - Mario Crespo Martinez
Fragile - Massimo Scalici (4)
Get It Up - Eurocuban Project
With You (Contigo) - Cache (5)
El Pito - Isidro Infante
Amor De Una Noche - N'Klabe
Celia Y Tito - Isidro Infante (6)
Salsa Y Control - Isidro Infante
I Love Salsa - N'Klabe (-2%)
Pecado - Toque D' Keda
Summertime - Ray Barretto (7)
Descarga La Moderna - Ray Barretto (-5%) (8)

Vishal (4-6 Salsa)

Alonzo - Cal Tjader (9)
Abran Paso - Orchestra Harlow (10)
Bongo Loco - Lebron Brothers
Indestructible - Ray Barretto (-5%) (11)
Pa Que Afinquen - Cheo Feliciano (12)
Bailadores (-5%) - Joe Cuba Sextet (13)

(1) Pretty silly. Johnny used a counting track with Acid underneath as the final practice song.
(2) What the heck. I danced to this one.
(3) As well as this one.
(4) And this one. A lot of people danced to this even though my partner (and presumably others) had troubling hearing the beat to this one.
(5) I tried to dance to this one as well. No luck this time. It's popular enough. Vishal wants to borrow it for Battle of the DJs.
(6) I had a nice dance to this one.
(7) There were bunch of ballroom dancers.
(8) Not bad. Up to this point, I think there were no complaints. I was a little bored with Que Te Pasa maybe and Acid was silly.
(9) Possibly disastrous with some people. I am thinking I've lost touch. Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if there was no break. Who knows?
(10) Somewhat better, but I don't think this set is going to be good.
(11) Probably the best received of the second set.
(12) For whatever reason, tepid reaction.
(13) Ditto. At least I got to dance to it.

I asked Vishal to play "A Night in Tunisia" by Cal Tjader as request much later in the evening. It was okay but I thought it sounded pretty horrible with the Club Salsa sound system or setting Vishal was using.

The crowd tonight was pretty small. Maybe I'm giving Friday a bad name. We were done by 1:30 AM. My plan for DJing was probably ill-conceived, but a conventional playlist probably would not have made the evening much better. Hmm. What the heck am I saying? The second set was ill conceived given the composition of the crowd - I was just being pig-headed. By the way I noticed that half of the people tonight were ignoring the pace of music most of the time as I mostly stood around and not really seeking out dance partners.

I think I know more or less what to play to keep the crowd happy. I just don't think I could play that way week in and week out without getting completely bored.

p.s. This was meant to be a harsh negative review of my DJing and dancing. The DJing part remained more or less on original target, but dancing part ended up quite a bit more sugar-coated than originally intended.