Snow day

February 8, 2007

Intermediate with Sally and Chris

1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL end with L-R hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower in on 2,3 – preferably hook step on 5 and turn to bring follower around – no pause on 4 to make it smoother and for more turning (could think of this as linearized version of adios)
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL from closed hold and lead follower to 1 1/2 counterclockwise gradually coming down follower’s L arms to get hold of R-L during follower’s turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 pause on 1,2 (it would appear that a braking and bringing connections down works as preparation step) and lead follower to stationary clockwise turn (double, triple, quadruple, whatever) bringing R-L down to get R-L behind follower’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start bringing all connection pointing forward for follower (with L-R going over) – lead follower to full counterclockwise turn with L-R ending across follower’s stomach – switch to R-R and offer L low (I think the position is more like leader being behind follower rather than in reverse CBL-like position)
1,2,3,5,6,7 something of a mirror image Copa (involves 1/2 counterclockwise turn for follower – lead starts with R-R going down first then up and over leader’s head and L hand ending on follower’s back) – lead follower to walk around leader clockwise – keep R arm straight up
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns full counterclockwise and connect R-R and bring follower on R side with counterclockwise turn (1 1/2) with R-R ending behind follower’s neck
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic on 1,2,3 (no Mambo jazz) while making L-L connection in front – lead follower into full clockwise turn on 4 (and landing on 5) – lead follower straight back led with R-R on 6,7 with leader taking follower’s previous space (where she was on 5) and turning to face follower (leader can turn counterclockwise and switch low from L-L to L-R … if L-L is high, could potentially end with a hat)

The first class seemed quieter than it had been for past several weeks. Not many people showed up after the classes also. It probably was caused by combination of aftereffects of Brit Salsafest (and having to catch up with school, work and what not) and poor weather - there was considerable accumulation of snow. I whacked Sally’s face during one of the practices of the routine. Oops. Fortunately, this did not deter her from dancing with me later in the evening to Dame Cinco.

Upon his arrival rather late, Ivan exclaimed, “It’s so quiet! Where’s everyone?” I replied, “I guess it means you’ll be dancing with X a lot tonight,” Then again, I thought Ivan danced with surprisingly large number of people – at least 5 tonight altogether. I had danced with more people (8 at least), but that’s nothing unusual. Unless I’m occupied (by DJing for instance), I probably dance with more people than anyone else at most Salsa nights.

Nina and I came around to talk about Brit Salsafest a bit. She expressed an opinion that it would be great if someone (perhaps Sally) would teach Marchant Birch’s routine again. I think it was a really nice routine as well. I suspect that no one is going to teach the Marchant Birch routine exactly (to avoid charges of plagiarism if nothing else). I might try to demonstrate or practice the move with selected people. It shouldn’t be too bad – some people I danced with tonight including Jane recognized parts of Marchant Birch routine I was trying on her (with caveat that it did not work precisely – meaning it may not turn out to be easy to pull off – also it might be better to lead the “three!” counterclockwise turn without leader turning as well and keeping the connection in front of leader through the entire windmill-like lead to keep things under more control).

Of course, it sometimes takes a while to get used to and to perfect a routine. For instance, I think I am doing the Milton Cobo routine somewhat better than I was initially or after a week or so of trying. However, I don’t think it’s quite good enough yet – I think I probably am coming too close to crashing into my partner on 3 – enough to make my partner a little wary. I suspect that the biggest adjustment I need to make is to turn more into the follower on 1 so that it would be easier to turn away from her on 2 and get past and parallel to her on 3.

Generally I thought I was in a very good form. On at least couple of occasions, I came away thinking, “That was pretty darn good. I bet it looked pretty good and fit pretty well with the music.” I think I am making fairly good progress with leading multiple turns and with isolations over past couple of months although no doubt there still is plenty of room for improvement. No doubt having a lot of dancing done at Blackpool with many new people including some really good followers helped.