Going Cobo

April 19, 2007

I wonder if I should try Ballroom dancing again - as a change of pace.

I am a little bored listening to Salsa music. I suppose it does not help that there have been no new music added to my collection in about a month. One of the last CDs I received had a manufacturing error - the case and the CD said Tito Rodriguez, but the content was some Columbian band with heavy dose of accordion. Even with new CDs, I get tired of listening to it fairly quickly - maybe a dozen or few dozen listening in a course of 2-4 weeks. I am resorting to listening to old music again - opera, Brandenburg Concertos, etc. I will also give Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk a try.

I think I still am improving in Salsa dancing - On1 as well as On2. I am not sure if this does anything for me outside the Salsa world as it once did. I am not sure if I am very motivated to improve though. Old motivations like "I want to get better so I could dance with this person or that person" no longer exist. There is no one new I am dying to dance with On2 either.

I suspect that there is not a great deal of things I can learn from drop-in classes or workshops - at least not On1. I doubt going to London would make much difference. I am also fairly sure I will be proven wrong.

Plethora of factors led me to reach Club Salsa much earlier than usual. I spent extra time practicing On2 steps before Sally et al arrived.

Intermediate/Advanced with Sally and Chris

1,2,3,5,6,7 L-R hold - Copa start with leader overtaking and R hand ending on follower's back on 3 - leader is facing opposite direction by 5 and doing a hook step on 5 while leading follower forward (the direction she came from - essentially retracing her movement from 1,2,3 on 5,6,7) and moving out of the way to his left on 6 before getting back in front of follower on 7 with L-R over leader's L shoulder
1,2,3,5,6,7 bring L-R straight down on 1 and switch to R-R underneath (I used footwork technique suggested by Mario - see comment below - L foot behind R foot on 1 while bringing L-R down, R foot in place on 2 and L foot back to normal spot on 3 as L-R is switched between 2 and 3) - lead follower to a stationary clockwise turn (double turn was used for the class)

[comment: I recall doing a simpler version of this move with Mario and Susana last year with a simple Copa for the follower for the first 1,2,3,5,6,7 with leader turning 1/2 clockwise at the end to get to the same position to start the next 1,2,3 more or less the same way except with a movement to the left to get to open cross body position in order to lead a free traveling turn for follower for the finish]

1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL start with R-R draped over follower's head on 1 - make L-L connection in front and lead follower to 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn - leader ends with ~3/4 counterclockwise turn keeping L-L high
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower to another full counterclockwise turn (I believe her turn starts on 2) with leader turning a further 3/4 after leading this turn to get to CBL position again - lead follower to a traveling 1/2 clockwise turn for finish

[comment: I find leading any turn for follower during 1,2,3 On1 problematic - there never is enough opportunity to practice this sort of thing during social dancing anywhere. This one should be doable without needing or wanting a strong lead and thus might be worth trying out a few times in Cambridge even though it's difficult to foresee it working with most people.]

1,2,3,5,6,7 start with L-L and establish R-R fairly early and lead follower into a 1/2 counterclockwise turn on the spot into crucifix position on 1,2,3 - lead follower to R side on 5 (her footwork would be L foot crossing over R foot in front) then lead follower into a 1/2 counterclockwise turn to end facing the direction she started with (but now positioned slightly to L from her perspective) - leader has turned 1/4 to 1/2 clockwise while leading the second turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower straight back on 1,2,3 with L-L ending under leader's L arm but keeping the connection as well - step forward on 5 to lead follower forward and lead follower into traveling counterclockwise turn like normal CBL finish with leader turning full counterclockwise

Natalie made a surprise appearance towards the end of the first class and thus provided me and Cyrille with a fun challenge of bringing her up to date on the material in a very short amount of time.

After a brief footwork exercise On2, Cyrille, Zern and I headed to Sauce for a drink (plus cheesy chips for Zern). William joined us later as did Euvian and Mimi returning from some aerobic class or exercise they had been doing all week long. It felt great to see most of the gang again.

I started off dancing tonight with Mimi. First On1, then a couple of times On2 later in the evening and a confused one near the end (she thought we were doing On2 while I was doing On1 - quite awkward). I really should stick with On2 with Mimi most of the time. I think it gets better more I do it, and the second dance is usually better than the first. I thought I spotted Zern trying On2 at one point also.

I rather liked the way my dance to Mundy Baja went. There were other pretty good ones too. Some of the dances were influenced by having watched a Milton Cobo earlier in the day.

Agnes showed up, but I only danced with her once.

Once I get used to leading many multiple turns for a few dances, going back to leading only single turns is difficult. By the end of the evening, I moved to triples and quadruples. I think I did a triple myself once fairly well. I am not sure if I liked this very much.

Ivan says he will be ready with his baby in 9 months - maybe 6 months. This is a deliberate misquote.

Quote of the day makes a return - "I kissed a boy in the mouth once."

Oh. Hayden played the part of follower for the class - not sure about his motivation - not that it matters. I suppose he was okay as a follower, but he probably would need a lot more practice than he's likely to get if he wants to become a good follower (as opposed to playing follower to become a better lead). I wonder how good Lee is - he looks good but looking good isn't everything.