Mambo City

January 22, 2007

An e-mail from Sergio talked about today being Jane’s birthday. This sounded familiar although I am unsure where or from whom I heard this from. Sergio wondered if he should try to go tonight. I replied that there should be fairly large number of people from the team (by the way, my predictions were mostly but not entirely correct) and that Vishal probably would make a special effort at DJing with such a crowd.

I also said, “I thought everyone had their birthdays on Fridays. I guess sometimes it happens on Thursdays or Wednesdays. I didn’t think it would ever happen on a Monday.” I was rather pleased – after all I am a staple on Mondays and this would take no effort at all on my part – although I must also say that I also was trying to keep a low expectation and to be ready for anything – possibly even a horror of an evening.

Despite hurrying, I wasn’t able to leave work until after 7:30 and I was nearly half an hour late.

Joe Intermediate

CBL – open up shoulder on 2 for a more effective start and communication of lead (or intention) – instead of having far apart and flat (pointing perpendicular to the follower’s line), get feet (esp. L feet) pointing towards the direction follower will be traveling towards by 3 – use shoulders to help with the lead (and leverage) – when switching hands, get R-R established first and by 6

crossed hold L-L on top
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower to leader’s R side (about 1/8 turn for follower as opposed to 1/4 turn more appropriate for Copa – lead is with R-R during 1,2,3) – lead follower forward into a Copa fake and into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn and moving along to a point behind leader (on his L side now) 7 (and 8??) with lead for the turns coming from L-L high with R-R kept low and intact for a wrap and released only after follower is led to leader’s L side (L-L goes over leader’s head as leader’s eyes (and head) turns from leader’s R side where follower was during 3 to 7 or so to leader’s L side by 7 or 8 or so
1,2,3,5,6,7 use proper tension etc to lead follower forward on 1 and continue lead her to overtake and turn 1/2 on 2,3 so that follower is now facing leader (and essentially back to position at previous 1) – windmill type of lead to a double clockwise turn (under-over-and under) and switch to R-L (leader could do a swivel turn here but I think simply getting the follower to do a double turn to get her L hand behind her R waist will be a pretty big challenge – I haven’t managed it thus far – on the other hand, I have been using this maneuver with a single turn finish for 1-2 months now)

Simple finish used for the class was to get follower to do a 1 1/2 (early) traveling counterclockwise turn with R-L lead kept low and ending with a closed hold

crossed hold L-L on top
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL and lead follower into Jesus check or crucifix (keep top of follower’s fingers at about her shoulder level – this means the distance between her hands and her shoulder could be very short – about a hand length)
1,2,3,5,6,7 allow follower a slight step forward and to L on 1 (it helps to dip both connections slightly on 1) – best steps for leader is cross behind R foot on 1 – all this works as preparatory step for follower – lead follower to 1 1/2 over and under turn (clockwise stationary) with L-L to get follower’s L hand behind her R waist – leader does a swivel turn on 7 – switch to R-L and switch back to L-L on 1
1,2,3,5,6,7 into CBL (using the opening of shoulder maneuver to help follower propel forward on 3 with rocking step) – lead follower forward on 5 and tightly into L-L and lead follower to unwind counterclockwise 1 1/2 starting from 6 with L-L starting low and ending high

A simple finish would entail doing a L-L hat for leader and finish with CBL… another option is to do a 360 turn on 1,2,3 as a unit (leader should start this turn on 7 with R foot going across) – footwork demonstrated was something like a hook with L foot on 1 followed by in place steps on 2,3 as rest of the body catches up – finish with launching follower across her line on 5,6,7 (finishing with closed hold make the move rotational rather than linear)

Smiley Jane arrived towards the end of the first hour of classes. During a brief lull when I was without a partner, I went to greet her and wish her happy birthday. I also voiced my earlier thought about no one else celebrating his or her birthday on a Monday at Club Salsa. She replied that everyone used to do it on Fridays but that it’s always packed and thus not usually very fun. Besides – she wanted to celebrate it on her real birthday. I thought, “Very sensible.”

With likes of Euvian and Anastasia in the class as well as Jane who joined during the second half, the classes were more enjoyable than it was for most of December and January – even if greater part of it was mostly a review of things I knew fairly well.

I was a little surprised that by the end of the class, Sergio was the only one amongst people I had expected to show up among the CBL crowd. I was thinking that people like Phyllis, Sam and Richard surely would show up. I was less sure about Ivan, but he was one of the first to arrive after the end of the classes. Later I asked Ivan, “Does [you being here tonight] mean that you won’t be here Thursday night?” He replied, “I got a special dispensation for tonight.” I guess that means he’s allowed to go out twice this week. How special! Some people took a little longer to arrive, but it ended up being a pretty good group. There were a couple of surprise no-shows, but I am sure there were good reasons.

Some of the songs Vishal played were completely new to Club Salsa to the best of my knowledge. Among others, African Fantasy by Bobby Montez was played – I didn’t remember the song title or the artist until after it was over, but I did recognize it instantly as something familiar and knew that I had to dance to it. Despite it being a little too fast, it was great. The only regret was that the next song was Japan Mambo by Tito Puente and I had to sit that one out because I expended too much effort for African Fantasy. Incidentally, African Fantasy is in my collection (in fact, I had the CD with me tonight along with couple other CDs) – I simply had dared not play it (and Vishal now beats me to it). Japan Mambo on the other hand is not in my collection – high on my wish list but not a super-high priority item given that I already have so many unused “Mambo” for Fridays. At one point in the evening, 6-10 songs, which Vishal probably would call Mambo (most of which I did not recognize), were played consecutively.

For Jane’s birthday dance, she danced with Sean, Richard, Ivan and… Sergio. In a conversation later Sergio commented that he doesn't like birthday dances. He added that the only worse thing is to be stared at for not participating in the birthday dance. He also commented that I hadn’t participated. I gave a meek excuse that I was busy taking photos of the dance (and probably blinding the dancers with all the flashing). In fact, the only complaint I could make is that red eyes (and white eyes) are all too common with my new camera – it was never a problem with my big old SLR.

Later in the evening, one of my dance partners commented that I looked happy. I think my partner at the time might have been Zhenzhi but I am not entirely sure. In any case, I was quite happy. The music was a pleasant surprise. I had danced (mostly pretty well) with all girls I named above and more (I had not danced with Jane and maybe Sam when the comment was made, but that’s nitpicking - I danced with both subsequently). I think I had waited for some of the dances I had tonight for almost a year. I was asked for a dance at the beginning of the evening – it is always nice when it happens. I also danced with someone who was essentially a complete beginner (a check for community service). It felt as if I was at a nice friendly Salsa venue in a different city.