Workshop with Latin Collective

February 25, 2007

I was not especially keen on doing this, but Vishal tried hard to rope me in. I went in with "I don't care one way or the other - I will stay if the numbers are not skewed" attitude. Otherwise, I would have gone to London.

Men's Turn Combination Level 1 - Tiz

2 o'clock right turn
left turn (with stylization option - lifting L foot or slight hop on 2)
half right and half left (with stylization option involving R arm in front on 1 and L arm in front on 5)
full right spin followed by full left spin

Men's Turn Combination Level 2 - Tiz

double right turn (2 o'clock turn followed by hook turn)
double left turn (left turn start - prepare on 4 and spin 1 1/2)

One hour of it was a useful exercise. I also tried couple of full double right spin followed by full double left turn.

On1 Pattern - Tiz & Aiste

The theme was wrap.

1,2,3,5,6,7 R-L open break into CBL and into wrap with traveling counterclockwise turn for follower (R-L across follower's stomach)
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare/accommodate and lead follower to 1 1/2 clockwise stationary turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 semi-open hold Copa with R-L going over (leader is turned about 1/4 counterclockwise on 3) - lead follower into full counterclockwise Copa turn with last second switch to L-L and with leader turning 3/4 counterclockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare/accommodate and lead follower into 1 1/2 clockwise stationary turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L hat for leader and basic (or leader could turn counterclockwise once or twice before doing the L-L hat
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL
1,2,3,5,6,7 semi-open open break into CBL and into wrap (lead with R-L - keep L-R high but this is not where the lead is coming from)
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower to L on 1 and back on 2,3 with leader getting in front and L-R now going low and R-L going high but above leader's L shoulder - lead follower into a stationary full counterclockwise turn into R-L wrap with leader also turning full counterclockwise and positioning himself into another wrap position (getting behind follower again)

An easy bit followed by a little tricky to lead move followed by another easy followed by fairly interesting move.

Food and drink break at the Sauce. At my table was Mimi, Cyrille, Zern, Euvian, Zhenzhi, Serena, Sebastian. I think there might have been one other, but I can't remember for sure (if so he sat quite far away from me). Also there were two others, who joined us later, but I had never seen them before. Mimi moved to a new place this morning. Zern talked about a couple of his fantasies. Sergio called to talk about doing some On2 exercise Tuesday.

On2 Partnerwork - Joe & Aiste

Basic footwork explained with explanation of the Conga pattern. Timing CD was used for practice. Not bad. I thought I did okay with the timing CD. I also tried leading the move with Aiste for 30 seconds to Periodico De Ayer immediately after the class, and she thought my timing was okay. I think (also according to Aiste) the tendency for many leads were to be early (starting the leads on 1 rather than on 2). I might have been better about this aspect than most although I did feel a bit shaky especially early on. After the class ended, I had full dance On2 with Zhenzhi - as long as I stuck to the material taught in class, I seemed in fairly solid footing. When I tried to improvise, it was hit or miss type of affair. I also had one other On2 practice with someone I hadn't seen before - tail end of Micaela by Sonora Carruseles - not bad at all.

Also done was CBL from closed hold (lead follower forward on 2)
Leading follower into stationary clockwise turn - start with in-place or slightly backwards step on 6 (prepare early on 7 getting to Pizza waiter position but turn lead does not come until 2?)
Leader's broken left turn upon completion of follower's turn
Something like open break on 6 (but not quite) to bring follower level by 7 with R-L hat for follower with R hand going to follower's back and lead follower to 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn (forward lead on 2 then start the turn signal after 2)

On1 Turn Patterns with Shines - Joe & Aiste

1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL low cross pass
1,2,3,5,6,7 The stomach move
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL open
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower to free clockwise turn with free R hand on follower's R wrist (held by L-R) with leader also turning full counterclockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 bunny hop basic
1,2,3,5,6,7 sliding doors shine

I guess many people are still unaccustomed to incorporating shine into social dancing so this might have been worthwhile for them - especially with additional styling component added.

In summary, there was nothing groundbreaking for me, but at least three of the segments were of reasonable use for me. I certainly never practice turns and spins for a whole hour, and it also gave me time to digest and incorporate partially Sergio's suggestions into turning exercises. Having the On2 session led to me actually dance to a whole song On2 (perhaps that could be considered a breakthough on second thought) - without going completely nuts to boot. The first On1 turn pattern class gave me one or two options to work on. For me the pace could have been made faster, but it was a big class with wide degree of experience and skill.

Other notable things included my third time dancing to El Cantante by Hector Lavoe (the 10 1/2 min long song) - this time, rather large number of people danced to it from start to the end unlike last time I played it at Club Salsa. Joe brought along a guest along with Tiz and Aiste (Danie also taught beginners) - I did not have a hint about which one she was until the On2 class (although I did notice her earlier because of her height). During the On2 class, I noticed that she had rock-solid tension (probably the way Joe likes it) without being stiff. I was impressed enough to wait unusually (for me anyway) long time to ask her for a dance during the next break (Periodico De Ayer - Hector Lavoe) and also after the completion of the class. I told Cyrille that he should ask her for a dance, but I don't think he did.

Tomorrow's lineup is Adam Leilani, Russell and Danie. Joe is branching out quite a bit on Mondays. Adam is a pretty good dancer, and I suspect he would introduce something different compared to Joe or Tiz - it could be interesting.