Ready or not, 2007

January 4, 2007

…and I was just getting used to the idea that it's no longer the 19th century…

Quote of the day – “Our friend San Miguel will be there… He never lets us down…”

It cheered me up instantaneously.

Intermediate/Advanced with Sally

1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R prepare and lead follower into a double stationary clockwise turn ending with a neck wrap – connect L-L underneath after completion of her turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break (keeping follower comfortable though) and bring follower in on leader’s R side and use L-L to lead follower into 1 1/2 clockwise turn (not too much traveling) to bring follower’s L hand behind her R waist – leader turns clockwise to face follower while switching to R-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower to turn full clockwise (I think this turn might be happening on 2 and ending with follower landing on her R foot on 3 – I might want to test this idea later – in any case follower’s L hand ends in front of her R waist with her arm across her stomach) with leader getting behind follower – bring follower straight back with R-L going above follower’s head (this probably will mean follower is crouching a little) while leader goes around follower on her L side to end in open-like position
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-L arm lock (and release) while connecting L-R and getting into CBL position and using L-R to lead follower into hammerlock position (I’m guessing 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn for follower)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break then leader turns 1/4 to R (clockwise) and offer R hand in front of follower’s path and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn with switching of hands during middle of her turns while leader turns clockwise (R turn) – L-R is let go before follower starts turning of course
1,2,3,5,6,7 mambo jazz (leader is already in CBL position on 1 – free R hand on follower’s L shoulder) and lead follower into a wrap (L-L across follower’s stomach so it must be full counterclockwise turn for follower)
1,2,3,5,6,7 allow follower to step forward on 1 and turn her around on 2,3 with leader turning clockwise to face same direction as follower is while switching to R-L and lead follower into free 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn to end in closed hold for another CBL, etc

Both Cyrille and Rajiv were back from abroad. There also were a good number of people in the class despite my trepidations. Many people looked relaxed and recharged – Jane especially. She looked so cheerful, happy and energetic that I almost thought to call her Tigger. Happy happy joy joy. Richard must have overcome his back problem as he made his return to the class.

The hour between the class was spent at Sauce next door with me joining Cyrille, Rajiv, Sean and Mimi, who showed up near the end of the class. William got there ahead of us so we sat with him. Some other people (e.g. Zhenzhi) stopped by briefly too. I ended up mostly talking to Mimi, who was seated closest to me – at least after she finished appeasing a friend of hers using her new James Bond mobile phone about not having sent her a happy birthday text. I got to learn about lactose being used as a carrier for inhalants as well as process of making packaging to keep produce fresh using laser-prepared needles (to make micron-sized perforations - although I suspect there are other factors involved) among other things (e.g. family, finance, foreign languages and future prospects). Oh yeah – we talked about Salsa too.

When we returned to Club Salsa, we found a very large crowd – presumably international students. It was a little odd because they were not there to take classes. We learned later that they had booked the club for a private (but not exclusive) party later in the evening. Maybe Ivan knew something many of us didn’t.

The amount of time Sally spent DJing after the class was rather brief – maybe a little over a dozen songs. I only danced with five people, but they were all great. Combine it with my low expectations and not having had too many good nights in December, I was as content as a clam.

Even the cheesy music played for the private party people often resulted in silly fun. A classic example was when Nicola and Lindsey led a Conga line running all over the club. Another bit involved pseudo-folk dancing (arm-in-arm with a lot of partner switches) involving Mimi, Nicola, Lindsey, Cyrille, Sergio and me.

Even though we didn’t complete and gotten over the shenanigans until after 11:30, whole lot of us (joined by Sally, who had been hidden from our view chatting away in the corner after leaving the DJ booth) lingered on here and there and finally at the parking lot still talking about doing more stuff, etc. Breaking up was hard to do.

San Miguel wasn't needed after all.

Happy new year!