June 29, 2007
The dinner at Charlie Chan was something of a complaint-fest ranging from tardiness, wine choice and Wimbledon. The jazz band added to the nice ambiance. Other memorable things included gawking at a striking 40-year old at the nearby table, seaweed, fortune teller and a little bit of dancing before leaving.
The music at the Fountain Inn was more Techno-like - not as good as jazz of two weeks ago but perhaps better than funk of last week. Cyrille tried to use his charm to bring everyone to Salsa dancing, but his effort failed - a rarity - he couldn't believe it. Getting Sergio did not seem like a sure thing either.
I was parked on the other side of Parkers Piece. On the walk there, we ran into a few people we know. We ended up giving a ride to Club Salsa for a couple, who live in the same building. All these people took the coach from Stansted. The guy spoke Spanish with Sergio upon learning their birthplace.
The arrival time at Club Salsa was somewhere between 11:30 and midnight. Our arrival prompted some people to stay a bit longer. No sign of Johnny, Serap and company - I think Jane might have substituted for them but I'm not sure. Otherwise, there were not very many people from Sergio or Cyrille's dance circle.
I generally liked the music especially later on. Probably the worst call was the too-fast too-long song near the very end, but it was more notable for there being a good number of nice calls. Two nice endings in a row for Vishal…
Perhaps the most notable thing was the large number of occasions when the three of us took new or unusual dance partner to the floor. I try to dance with many people, but seeing Cyrille and especially Sergio doing the same was striking. Usually I would dance with someone, and then Cyrille and/or Sergio would follow suit. However, sometimes the lead was taken by Cyrille or Sergio too. I thought we were something of a triple-threat - maybe me playing the part of a scout or a herald, Sergio playing the part of a guru, and Cyrille playing the part of - I don't know - a charmer? "Hot French guy"? I don't know. I'm just making this up on the fly.
I wouldn't try to compare tonight to last Friday except to say that it was fun in a different manner.
Something about an empire
June 28, 2007
Intermediate/Advanced with Sally and Chris
1,2,3,5,6,7 open hold CBL inside turn for follower (1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn)
1,2,3,5,6,7 double right turn for leader (3 o’clock turn followed by hook turn – R-L over leader’s head – switch ending with R-R at about shoulder level)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break(?) connecting L-L underneath and lead follower straight forward on 2,3 with R-R over leader’s head (leader turns about 1/4 clockwise) – lead follower to 1 1/2 counterclockwise travelling turn with L-L (keep it straight extended away from follower) with leader turning counterclockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader continues to turn until reaching CBL position (should be done by 2 without too much difficulty) – allow follower to step forward on 5 and lead her straight back on 6 to turn full counterclockwise for follower (this could be done with switch to R-L early or late – I liked late switch rather than the early switch taught in the class) to end with R-L wrap in CBL position
1,2,3,5,6,7 mambo jazz start – allow forward to step forward on 5 and then lead her straight back again on 6 for full counterclockwise turn for follower the same way using L-R to end back in same wrap position
1,2,3,5,6,7 mambo jazz start – lead follower into 1 1/2 clockwise travelling turn to unwrap ending with leader turning counterclockwise (leader facing away from follower)
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns further 1/2 counterclockwise and reconnect L-L to lead follower into stationary clockwise turn
Some like Rajiv, Zern, Pauline and Andrea were at the class. Cyrille arrived at a funny time – after most of the class was done. Rajiv led the early party to the Sauce for drinks. Chatting away and getting distracted left and right, Cyrille and Zern led the stragglers. I ended up bringing a chair between couches occupied by Andrea and Rajiv. When Sergio and Natalie arrived, I stood up and chatted with Sergio and Cyrille.
I ended up having three opportunities for dancing Salsa On2 tonight mostly with unexpected partners. I found any practice dancing On2 to be more stimulating compared to most On1 dances. In fact, I was getting rather antsy and arguably a bit disinterested as the evening progressed until a couple of opportunities for On2 came up. I think I was more engaged with a series of On1 dance afterwards although the songs being more familiar and easy on the ears must have helped – as well as more space – and nice dance partners too of course. The social dance part of the evening closed with Sergio reminding me about how to prepare follower for a turn and with one more On2 practice.
I learned of a couple of upcoming changes. At Sauce, Andrea talked about an upcoming change of career and address for her coming up in September. During a nice low-key and chatty dance, Sam mentioned that she is going to have a change of address, which I imagine would not improve her commute. I don’t think there were any planetary collisions (not my words – convergence is not collision) but the absence of a need for safety dance afterwards was brilliant.
Intermediate/Advanced with Sally and Chris
1,2,3,5,6,7 open hold CBL inside turn for follower (1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn)
1,2,3,5,6,7 double right turn for leader (3 o’clock turn followed by hook turn – R-L over leader’s head – switch ending with R-R at about shoulder level)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break(?) connecting L-L underneath and lead follower straight forward on 2,3 with R-R over leader’s head (leader turns about 1/4 clockwise) – lead follower to 1 1/2 counterclockwise travelling turn with L-L (keep it straight extended away from follower) with leader turning counterclockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader continues to turn until reaching CBL position (should be done by 2 without too much difficulty) – allow follower to step forward on 5 and lead her straight back on 6 to turn full counterclockwise for follower (this could be done with switch to R-L early or late – I liked late switch rather than the early switch taught in the class) to end with R-L wrap in CBL position
1,2,3,5,6,7 mambo jazz start – allow forward to step forward on 5 and then lead her straight back again on 6 for full counterclockwise turn for follower the same way using L-R to end back in same wrap position
1,2,3,5,6,7 mambo jazz start – lead follower into 1 1/2 clockwise travelling turn to unwrap ending with leader turning counterclockwise (leader facing away from follower)
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns further 1/2 counterclockwise and reconnect L-L to lead follower into stationary clockwise turn
Some like Rajiv, Zern, Pauline and Andrea were at the class. Cyrille arrived at a funny time – after most of the class was done. Rajiv led the early party to the Sauce for drinks. Chatting away and getting distracted left and right, Cyrille and Zern led the stragglers. I ended up bringing a chair between couches occupied by Andrea and Rajiv. When Sergio and Natalie arrived, I stood up and chatted with Sergio and Cyrille.
I ended up having three opportunities for dancing Salsa On2 tonight mostly with unexpected partners. I found any practice dancing On2 to be more stimulating compared to most On1 dances. In fact, I was getting rather antsy and arguably a bit disinterested as the evening progressed until a couple of opportunities for On2 came up. I think I was more engaged with a series of On1 dance afterwards although the songs being more familiar and easy on the ears must have helped – as well as more space – and nice dance partners too of course. The social dance part of the evening closed with Sergio reminding me about how to prepare follower for a turn and with one more On2 practice.
I learned of a couple of upcoming changes. At Sauce, Andrea talked about an upcoming change of career and address for her coming up in September. During a nice low-key and chatty dance, Sam mentioned that she is going to have a change of address, which I imagine would not improve her commute. I don’t think there were any planetary collisions (not my words – convergence is not collision) but the absence of a need for safety dance afterwards was brilliant.
On2 on track
June 25, 2007
Gym shorts were fine. I'm less sure about football jersey though. We are now up to eight - with one person being away - thanks in part to someone taking a facebook plunge.
The format was similar to last week - isolations, footwork and partner work taking up about a third of the time each - if anything partner work as usual gets the least amount of coverage. Intensity of each of the sessions was higher than last week - especially footwork. Footwork and partner work portions are still review for me - some of the spins are getting pretty close to the level of intensity reached near the end of the spring sessions. Some of the footwork exercises were new, but they were more of an exercise rather than a shine and probably not worth recording.
Sergio was worried about people "still" struggling with timing - I found his concern amusing because most people there tonight were either there for the first time or had only gone through one session. It's a problem that will be solved only with a lot of repetition - practices outside the official sessions will help a lot.
Some of the group headed for Club Salsa afterwards. Good times. I managed a pretty good On2 dance and even finished with a pretty good Bachata practice - I don't really get much of those - thanks to a request made by Rajiv. It seems dancing Salsa On2 has gone from more-than-two-disruptive-timing-mistakes-per-minute difficult and nerve-wrecking to "Hey! This is getting alright!" mostly mistake-free phase; it has taken over dozen dances over course of few months.
I picked up a copy of Latin Nation and perused through it after the social. The magazine now has listing of heat winners for the Latinfest dance competition. So one now can see Cyrille and Stephanie's name on print as the Cambridge heat winner now. In addition, I saw two other familiar names on the list of winners - Domenic (he won the heat at Bar Salsa) and Sasha (she won the heat at Guildford). It's a small world.
Gym shorts were fine. I'm less sure about football jersey though. We are now up to eight - with one person being away - thanks in part to someone taking a facebook plunge.
The format was similar to last week - isolations, footwork and partner work taking up about a third of the time each - if anything partner work as usual gets the least amount of coverage. Intensity of each of the sessions was higher than last week - especially footwork. Footwork and partner work portions are still review for me - some of the spins are getting pretty close to the level of intensity reached near the end of the spring sessions. Some of the footwork exercises were new, but they were more of an exercise rather than a shine and probably not worth recording.
Sergio was worried about people "still" struggling with timing - I found his concern amusing because most people there tonight were either there for the first time or had only gone through one session. It's a problem that will be solved only with a lot of repetition - practices outside the official sessions will help a lot.
Some of the group headed for Club Salsa afterwards. Good times. I managed a pretty good On2 dance and even finished with a pretty good Bachata practice - I don't really get much of those - thanks to a request made by Rajiv. It seems dancing Salsa On2 has gone from more-than-two-disruptive-timing-mistakes-per-minute difficult and nerve-wrecking to "Hey! This is getting alright!" mostly mistake-free phase; it has taken over dozen dances over course of few months.
I picked up a copy of Latin Nation and perused through it after the social. The magazine now has listing of heat winners for the Latinfest dance competition. So one now can see Cyrille and Stephanie's name on print as the Cambridge heat winner now. In addition, I saw two other familiar names on the list of winners - Domenic (he won the heat at Bar Salsa) and Sasha (she won the heat at Guildford). It's a small world.
Time for a break?
June 24, 2007
I arrived shortly before the end of the classes. The first people I talked with Sean and Roger - we all wondered how long it will be before SOS goes back to Mary Ward Hall. One of the spoken thought was that having the event at the hotel (even the nicer North hall) makes it less likely for many of the better dancers from showing up. It did seem like there were less than usual large number of superb followers. It seemed like such thought on other people’s mind too - Rico also wondered when SOS will be back to Mary Ward Hall. In a later conversation with Ed, the “JV” talk came up again. I don’t think this was one of the better SOS nights, but an even more troubling thought is that SOS also was not very good for pretty much all of April before improving in May (at least on the days I attended and not affected by Scala). Things have been generally poor after moving to the hotel (although I did enjoy the one 2 weeks ago) or so I have been told on days where I wasn’t here. What if these lesser nights become the norm for SOS? From the earliest part of the evening, things did not look very promising tonight, and many times during the evening I wondered if I would have been better off staying home tonight. This is not to say there were no good moments tonight, but that’s not really saying very much.
I ran into Domenic, who apparently came here for the first time in a very long time. He and I talked about a couple of dance competitions he is entering (as a semi-pro at Vauxhall and as a semi-pro/amateur at London Latinfest) as well as some TV dance program to be shown around Christmas time. Also we both agreed that the end of the Friday at Club Salsa was great fun – Domenic said he hadn’t had such great time in a long time. Too bad many of the people who made it fun won’t be back until September or October (yes, we talked about you).
My first dance was nice enough, and my second dance was even nicer – arguably my favorite dance of the evening and I was quite happy with it.
Things went downhill from there though. Convergence of a good song and a good dance partner did not happen for a long time. I suppose that’s bound to happen when both are in short supply. I don't recall needing to scramble to find a dance partner so much at SOS - if you didn't have a partner after about 5 seconds after the start of the new song, finding anyone at all let alone a good partner was very difficult.
I did enjoy the opportunity to dance to Aguardiente (Mark Dimond). I don’t think it’s a great song, but it still was a pleasant surprise. The dance was only okay though. Okay dances are okay - there were some awful ones tonight.
For next hour or so, there were only a few partners I connected very well with, and these dances were marred by the fact that the songs were rather dull. I skipped songs like Caballo Viejo. A version of Agua Limpia Todo was played too – I wasn’t completely won over it and I did not dance to it. There was a Cha Cha for which I wasn’t able to find a partner – I don’t think the song was so hot. I did not feel like dancing to a Bachata (a version of Lloraras).
I ran into Liam for the first time since the week after Brit Salsafest. Apparently tonight was the first time Liam went out for Salsa dancing since last time I saw him. He finally gave me most of the petrol money for the Blackpool drive.
During the last hour, there finally was a dance with a nice enough song and pretty good follower. The dance went quite well until I bumped into one of the neighboring dancers and drew a complaint and making me feel like an idiot.
Next to the last song was Philadelphia Mambo (Cal Tjader), but again the dance was just okay rather than great. I was too tired and too uninspired by the last song and my decision was to dance to it was probably a mistake. It was my third dance in a row – the first one was danced to a song I’m guessing as Salsa Romantica (Louie Ramirez), which was unremarkable at many levels but still okay.
Over the course of the evening, I fell close to losing all interest in the dance – wanting the dance to just end. By the end I was just too tired and too uninspired.
I thought I had a very good control of my lead for the first couple of dances (or at least I felt I did). However as not-so-great dances piled up, I became less sure of myself. Over the course of the evening, I had maybe 3-5 occasions where I longed for the dance to end soon and had to struggle mightily to not look bored – I might not have been successful in some cases. In many cases, I think I was bored with myself (an alternative is to say that I was bored with many of the songs).
Perhaps the problem was that I went out dancing too much this week. Perhaps the fact that it was unusually interesting and/or unusually good all week long (for me Tuesday and Friday especially) in Cambridge made this subpar London SOS outing seem worse than it really was. I hope things will get better soon. Meanwhile, it might be a good idea for me to take a little break until they get back to Mary Ward Hall – or perhaps find out when Amir is DJing in advance so that I would at least know that the percentage of good songs will be higher.
I arrived shortly before the end of the classes. The first people I talked with Sean and Roger - we all wondered how long it will be before SOS goes back to Mary Ward Hall. One of the spoken thought was that having the event at the hotel (even the nicer North hall) makes it less likely for many of the better dancers from showing up. It did seem like there were less than usual large number of superb followers. It seemed like such thought on other people’s mind too - Rico also wondered when SOS will be back to Mary Ward Hall. In a later conversation with Ed, the “JV” talk came up again. I don’t think this was one of the better SOS nights, but an even more troubling thought is that SOS also was not very good for pretty much all of April before improving in May (at least on the days I attended and not affected by Scala). Things have been generally poor after moving to the hotel (although I did enjoy the one 2 weeks ago) or so I have been told on days where I wasn’t here. What if these lesser nights become the norm for SOS? From the earliest part of the evening, things did not look very promising tonight, and many times during the evening I wondered if I would have been better off staying home tonight. This is not to say there were no good moments tonight, but that’s not really saying very much.
I ran into Domenic, who apparently came here for the first time in a very long time. He and I talked about a couple of dance competitions he is entering (as a semi-pro at Vauxhall and as a semi-pro/amateur at London Latinfest) as well as some TV dance program to be shown around Christmas time. Also we both agreed that the end of the Friday at Club Salsa was great fun – Domenic said he hadn’t had such great time in a long time. Too bad many of the people who made it fun won’t be back until September or October (yes, we talked about you).
My first dance was nice enough, and my second dance was even nicer – arguably my favorite dance of the evening and I was quite happy with it.
Things went downhill from there though. Convergence of a good song and a good dance partner did not happen for a long time. I suppose that’s bound to happen when both are in short supply. I don't recall needing to scramble to find a dance partner so much at SOS - if you didn't have a partner after about 5 seconds after the start of the new song, finding anyone at all let alone a good partner was very difficult.
I did enjoy the opportunity to dance to Aguardiente (Mark Dimond). I don’t think it’s a great song, but it still was a pleasant surprise. The dance was only okay though. Okay dances are okay - there were some awful ones tonight.
For next hour or so, there were only a few partners I connected very well with, and these dances were marred by the fact that the songs were rather dull. I skipped songs like Caballo Viejo. A version of Agua Limpia Todo was played too – I wasn’t completely won over it and I did not dance to it. There was a Cha Cha for which I wasn’t able to find a partner – I don’t think the song was so hot. I did not feel like dancing to a Bachata (a version of Lloraras).
I ran into Liam for the first time since the week after Brit Salsafest. Apparently tonight was the first time Liam went out for Salsa dancing since last time I saw him. He finally gave me most of the petrol money for the Blackpool drive.
During the last hour, there finally was a dance with a nice enough song and pretty good follower. The dance went quite well until I bumped into one of the neighboring dancers and drew a complaint and making me feel like an idiot.
Next to the last song was Philadelphia Mambo (Cal Tjader), but again the dance was just okay rather than great. I was too tired and too uninspired by the last song and my decision was to dance to it was probably a mistake. It was my third dance in a row – the first one was danced to a song I’m guessing as Salsa Romantica (Louie Ramirez), which was unremarkable at many levels but still okay.
Over the course of the evening, I fell close to losing all interest in the dance – wanting the dance to just end. By the end I was just too tired and too uninspired.
I thought I had a very good control of my lead for the first couple of dances (or at least I felt I did). However as not-so-great dances piled up, I became less sure of myself. Over the course of the evening, I had maybe 3-5 occasions where I longed for the dance to end soon and had to struggle mightily to not look bored – I might not have been successful in some cases. In many cases, I think I was bored with myself (an alternative is to say that I was bored with many of the songs).
Perhaps the problem was that I went out dancing too much this week. Perhaps the fact that it was unusually interesting and/or unusually good all week long (for me Tuesday and Friday especially) in Cambridge made this subpar London SOS outing seem worse than it really was. I hope things will get better soon. Meanwhile, it might be a good idea for me to take a little break until they get back to Mary Ward Hall – or perhaps find out when Amir is DJing in advance so that I would at least know that the percentage of good songs will be higher.
What an ending!
June 22, 2007
No Salsa until around 12:30. Dinner at Shiraz lasted til 11:30 - good food and nice perks but not a place to go for a quick meal. There was a lot of Salsa music played there too - circa Club Salsa or Po Na Na couple of years ago. The Fountain Inn was very smoky, and the music was not as good to my ears as the previous week - jazz and latin sound replaced with synthesizers and quasi-funk/techno with touch of hip hop maybe. The general aura of the place was less inviting so returning to familiar environs of Club Salsa was a relief even though it should have felt passé given this would have been my fourth time out here in five days, which is a lot.
The first half hour or so was merely okay. A bit crowded. Some like Pauline, Andrea seemingly had been there for a while and left around 1 or so. The guest teacher from the other Friday - I think his name was something like Domenic (many people, whom I have talked with, like his style or more specifically musicality of his dancing) - was there along with Johnny, Serap and Kate. The team contingent comprising of Agnes, Stephanie, Haihan and Zoon arrived minutes after I did. Steve and Natalia were there too.
It looked as if it was going to be an okay night but nothing special. This felt especially true when Vishal moved onto Reggaeton promotion for tomorrow and people started leaving. And then voila! Vishal started playing a really great set of music and there was decent amount of space on the dance floor all of sudden. I danced to songs like La Salsa Nunca Se Acaba (Susie Hansen), Arinanara, Caravan (latter two by Eddie Torres Mambo Kings Orchestra), and all of the sudden it was the end of the evening. Time just flew by - it was amazing. We were all talking about how great the end of the evening was - we in this case meaning people like Haihan, Agnes, Stephanie and Domenic. Johnny and Serap were there to the end too - I think I danced to Caravan with Serap and to Arinanara with Agnes.
One of the girls I danced with asked me about what one might do to get better. I think it's a tricky question to answer - aside from saying something like "You should work on getting your fundamentals right and then just practice a lot" there's no answer that fits everyone. Also almost everyone dislikes getting criticisms - even if they say they want an honest evaluation (forget about giving unsolicited advice if you don't want to make enemies - even a seemingly harmless comment could come back to haunt you). For absolute beginners, taking any drop-in classes in Club Salsa would seem to be a decent way to start, and private lessons probably will mean faster progress although it might be less cost-efficient for beginners. But how would one go about advising someone who has long enjoyed dancing at beginner, improver or even intermediate level and is thinking about ways to improve? Do they really need to know (or need to be reminded) that getting to next level requires putting in a lot of effort for a long time (for most typically many hours of instructions over months and years), and most people will lack desire, willpower, time, resources, money, etc. I think it's trickier for someone who long ago reached a comfort point and had not felt the need to improve for a very long time. A not-so-uncommon reaction to a difficult task is to quit - so telling them the truth means risking saying goodbye. Also it is not as if the reward for getting better is without negatives - being better than most people means there will be less number of people who would be able to dance with you at a comparable level. I probably could teach people to a pretty decent level if I tried (and there are some others in Cambridge who could do better job than me), but I doubt very much could be done unless the student is extremely motivated. To get to higher level, people eventually would have to reach out to instructors in other places like London or in other countries - there probably is no instructor that knows everything.
The evening ended with people outside the club chatting and still high from the nice end of the social dancing. I was mostly talking with Agnes, Stephanie and Haihan (all three of them will be flying to their home country on Saturday - we'll keep in touch one way or another) before we also started talking to another group of four people who were standing and talking next to us.
Oh, I almost forgot - it was a theme-party at Club Salsa tonight - beach party.
No Salsa until around 12:30. Dinner at Shiraz lasted til 11:30 - good food and nice perks but not a place to go for a quick meal. There was a lot of Salsa music played there too - circa Club Salsa or Po Na Na couple of years ago. The Fountain Inn was very smoky, and the music was not as good to my ears as the previous week - jazz and latin sound replaced with synthesizers and quasi-funk/techno with touch of hip hop maybe. The general aura of the place was less inviting so returning to familiar environs of Club Salsa was a relief even though it should have felt passé given this would have been my fourth time out here in five days, which is a lot.
The first half hour or so was merely okay. A bit crowded. Some like Pauline, Andrea seemingly had been there for a while and left around 1 or so. The guest teacher from the other Friday - I think his name was something like Domenic (many people, whom I have talked with, like his style or more specifically musicality of his dancing) - was there along with Johnny, Serap and Kate. The team contingent comprising of Agnes, Stephanie, Haihan and Zoon arrived minutes after I did. Steve and Natalia were there too.
It looked as if it was going to be an okay night but nothing special. This felt especially true when Vishal moved onto Reggaeton promotion for tomorrow and people started leaving. And then voila! Vishal started playing a really great set of music and there was decent amount of space on the dance floor all of sudden. I danced to songs like La Salsa Nunca Se Acaba (Susie Hansen), Arinanara, Caravan (latter two by Eddie Torres Mambo Kings Orchestra), and all of the sudden it was the end of the evening. Time just flew by - it was amazing. We were all talking about how great the end of the evening was - we in this case meaning people like Haihan, Agnes, Stephanie and Domenic. Johnny and Serap were there to the end too - I think I danced to Caravan with Serap and to Arinanara with Agnes.
One of the girls I danced with asked me about what one might do to get better. I think it's a tricky question to answer - aside from saying something like "You should work on getting your fundamentals right and then just practice a lot" there's no answer that fits everyone. Also almost everyone dislikes getting criticisms - even if they say they want an honest evaluation (forget about giving unsolicited advice if you don't want to make enemies - even a seemingly harmless comment could come back to haunt you). For absolute beginners, taking any drop-in classes in Club Salsa would seem to be a decent way to start, and private lessons probably will mean faster progress although it might be less cost-efficient for beginners. But how would one go about advising someone who has long enjoyed dancing at beginner, improver or even intermediate level and is thinking about ways to improve? Do they really need to know (or need to be reminded) that getting to next level requires putting in a lot of effort for a long time (for most typically many hours of instructions over months and years), and most people will lack desire, willpower, time, resources, money, etc. I think it's trickier for someone who long ago reached a comfort point and had not felt the need to improve for a very long time. A not-so-uncommon reaction to a difficult task is to quit - so telling them the truth means risking saying goodbye. Also it is not as if the reward for getting better is without negatives - being better than most people means there will be less number of people who would be able to dance with you at a comparable level. I probably could teach people to a pretty decent level if I tried (and there are some others in Cambridge who could do better job than me), but I doubt very much could be done unless the student is extremely motivated. To get to higher level, people eventually would have to reach out to instructors in other places like London or in other countries - there probably is no instructor that knows everything.
The evening ended with people outside the club chatting and still high from the nice end of the social dancing. I was mostly talking with Agnes, Stephanie and Haihan (all three of them will be flying to their home country on Saturday - we'll keep in touch one way or another) before we also started talking to another group of four people who were standing and talking next to us.
Oh, I almost forgot - it was a theme-party at Club Salsa tonight - beach party.
Bear necessities
June 21, 2007
I suppose after today Thursdays will settle into full summer mode sans University undergraduates. Probably a lot fewer high-powered dances too. Perhaps it will mean more excuse to go to London more regularly because I really doubt there will be many days like this in Cambridge anytime soon. It seemed like there were many disparate groups of people today – many unexpected. But then again, quite a few of the regulars were missing too – strange. It was an unusual day in many ways.
The evening began and ended the same way – with Cyrille and Sergio in my car. In between was a bit of a blur and full of unusual vibes. There was a lot of dancing too – so much so that I started feeling tired quite early in the evening. Fortunately for me, I caught a second wind, which lasted me until the end of the evening.
A night of dancing these days for me typically entails a dance followed by a break (and repeat) – meaning I dance at most for about half of the songs. I suppose on some days about a year ago (or is it more than that?), I sometimes danced non-stop basically taking any opportunity to dance as much as there was a dance partner available. I don’t think I stopped doing this because of aging (although who knows for certain). I think the bigger reason has been to avoid overheating and to avoid becoming soaking wet. Probably I expend more energy for each dance that I was doing when I was more of a beginner. In any case, I think ended up dancing more than 2/3 of the time tonight.
I only had one On2 dance – with Euvian for the first dance of the evening. It looked like Sergio was leading more practice, but I’m not absolutely sure – I was too busy dancing. Songs I danced to tonight include Mentirosa, Noche De Salsa, La Llave, Mambo Gallego, Merecumbe (Los Titanes), Mundy Baja, Otra Oportunidad, Trucutu, Mambo Mongo. A version of Muneca was played too, but I wasn’t able to dance to it.
One of the more odd conversation at the end of the evening involved associating people with cartoon characters. Initially I was assigned a character from a Disney movie – apparently also given to some Big Brother participant although I fail to see any connection there (I suppose the connection to the cartoon character is just as tenuous). Cyrille was initially a mouse character, which seemed to go over well enough. But then Sergio became one of the chipmunks; ergo Cyrille and I also had to be one as well – I got the leftover – arguably the most annoying one – the troublemaker. Apt? Perhaps so.
I was asked how to one might say, “I’m sleepy,” in my native tongue. I’m very sleepy right now – and I’m not especially sleep-deprived. Writing this blog is no help in this regard.
I suppose after today Thursdays will settle into full summer mode sans University undergraduates. Probably a lot fewer high-powered dances too. Perhaps it will mean more excuse to go to London more regularly because I really doubt there will be many days like this in Cambridge anytime soon. It seemed like there were many disparate groups of people today – many unexpected. But then again, quite a few of the regulars were missing too – strange. It was an unusual day in many ways.
The evening began and ended the same way – with Cyrille and Sergio in my car. In between was a bit of a blur and full of unusual vibes. There was a lot of dancing too – so much so that I started feeling tired quite early in the evening. Fortunately for me, I caught a second wind, which lasted me until the end of the evening.
A night of dancing these days for me typically entails a dance followed by a break (and repeat) – meaning I dance at most for about half of the songs. I suppose on some days about a year ago (or is it more than that?), I sometimes danced non-stop basically taking any opportunity to dance as much as there was a dance partner available. I don’t think I stopped doing this because of aging (although who knows for certain). I think the bigger reason has been to avoid overheating and to avoid becoming soaking wet. Probably I expend more energy for each dance that I was doing when I was more of a beginner. In any case, I think ended up dancing more than 2/3 of the time tonight.
I only had one On2 dance – with Euvian for the first dance of the evening. It looked like Sergio was leading more practice, but I’m not absolutely sure – I was too busy dancing. Songs I danced to tonight include Mentirosa, Noche De Salsa, La Llave, Mambo Gallego, Merecumbe (Los Titanes), Mundy Baja, Otra Oportunidad, Trucutu, Mambo Mongo. A version of Muneca was played too, but I wasn’t able to dance to it.
One of the more odd conversation at the end of the evening involved associating people with cartoon characters. Initially I was assigned a character from a Disney movie – apparently also given to some Big Brother participant although I fail to see any connection there (I suppose the connection to the cartoon character is just as tenuous). Cyrille was initially a mouse character, which seemed to go over well enough. But then Sergio became one of the chipmunks; ergo Cyrille and I also had to be one as well – I got the leftover – arguably the most annoying one – the troublemaker. Apt? Perhaps so.
I was asked how to one might say, “I’m sleepy,” in my native tongue. I’m very sleepy right now – and I’m not especially sleep-deprived. Writing this blog is no help in this regard.
Man of the moment
June 19, 2007
I was mildly surprised to find the door locked little past 7:30. Wasn't this supposed to start at 7:45? I was only slightly less surprised by the fact that I was first to arrive - with the second and third arriving within a minute after me. Before anyone else arrived, signs of people milling about inside was evident and we were downstairs after a moment. There was another guy besides Vishal, Danie, Tony and Daniella so technically I wasn't the first. After initial greeting, Tony said they were wondering if I would show up. Why wouldn't I? I also told Vish last night (I meant to tell him earlier but I forgot) that I would be here.
Vishal announced that this was the fourth time Tony came to Cambridge (meaning Club Salsa) - actually it's the fifth time. There has been a lot of turnover since the first time. I think Rajiv and Vishal and maybe Caroline are the only other constants for all five visits. Only two other people (Danie and Mark) have been here for at least four of five visits. Almost 30 people were there for the first class (Bachata level 2) including Gordon, William, Louise, Laura, Andrea, Melania. For the second hour, another 20+ people showed up including Kate and her friends.
The first hour of Bachata class covered materials such as -
Body movement exercises involving shoulders, chest, hip … also body rolls.
Modified basic steps including side-to-side basic with up-and-down movement (I found this one more confusing for some reason - down on even numbered steps), side-to-side basic with chest rolls (I found out near the end of the evening that this is a lot more interesting when done during close contact - chest forward on odd numbered steps), minimizing side-to-side movement during turns by going backwards on 2 (and on 6) instead of moving to side throughout, zig-zag type of forward-and-back basic, interrupted spot turn (turning on 1,2,3 and pausing on 5,6,7 while only moving (or swaying?) knees (?) from side-to-side.
Towards the end of the class, a couple of short easy-to-do turn patterns were thrown in. The first one was called feel-her-up - turn follower around on first 1,2,3 - get her hands down to leader's side during 5,6,7 - back up again during 1,2,3 - bring hands down to her waist during 5,6,7 - follower brings her hands to behind and around leader's neck with optional hair massage on 1,2,3, etc. The second was like a cuddle basic (similar to once rueda step) starting from crossed hold R-R on top - start follower to half turn on 1,2,3 - then do cuddles going back and forth for a while - end on 5,6,7 leading with L-L ending with L-L hat for leader on 7 or 8 followed by R-R hat for follower during next 1,2,3 side-to-side basic.
I wasn't sure if I was going to take part in the second hour's classes. I wasn't very keen on doing Reggaeton. There was no reason to join in on the beginner Bachata unless there was a men-shortage; there was one, so I did that instead.
One thing I had forgotten was that Tony tries a lot of humor during the class and does it quite effectively. The one about height disparity was one of the memorable ones - not the least because I was at one of the joke. Then again, I suppose I could say that I was target of many jokes tonight - fine by me. The curry joke tradition also lives on.
Near the end of the class (I actually thought the class had ended and stepped out for a few minutes), I spotted Ivan and Nina and went to chat with them briefly. Ivan has one of those special dispensations from Helen once again so he'll be out again one more time this week. We also touched briefly on Cuban Carnival and SOS before I realized that the Bachata class was not quite done and thus rushed to rejoin them.
A few more people showed up for the social afterwards - including some minor surprises like Haihan, Stephanie and Agnes - apparently Ivan was once again a big instigator.
Vishal was the main DJ for the first half - playing nice music - not too intense (e.g. choosing Los Titanes version of Merecumbe over Johnny Colon's version seemed very appropriate - and I would not be saying this most of the time) or strange but also not the type of songs that makes some eyes roll. Actually he almost played one of those, but I think I stopped him. This came about because I had a strong feeling that Daniella was going to get me for a dance to the next song (she had already agreed to dance with Haihan - a La 33 song) so I asked Vishal what was next. I thought the music was pleasant throughout.
Daniella and Tony had a surprise performance - Salsa rather than Bachata. The song was El Titere (by Louie Ramirez … I think this was the version with Ray De La Paz but I'm nowhere near certain). Tony was dressed with tails while Daniella was dressed as a showgirl. Very good performance - I thought it was easy to see the difference between professional performers as opposed to amateur ones. Some of the Cambridge amateurs now do better job with music interpretation, but there was additional level of polish evident in this performance.
I tried to dance with many people of different level of abilities although there never was much chance of dancing with everyone. I still ended up dancing twice with a few girls. I also somehow ended up dancing two Salsa and two Bachata with Daniella - the Bachata dances (last two songs of the evening) were particularly memorable (so… this is how it's danced close… nice, but it will definitely require some comfort level and practice to become decent).
Tony used the microphone rather liberally tonight. Using some distortion effect during the class was amusing - I could foresee Vishal abusing this in near future. He also used the microphone to some comical effects - mostly to put me (or my dance partner) in an amusing spotlight - I suppose it'll be talked about for a day or two. Perhaps he was trying to say my name many times over with correct pronunciation to adjust for previous mistakes. In any case, many people seemed to get a kick out of it. I think the favorite for many was the supposed battle or rivalry between Haihan and me (Haihan wasn't even aware it was happening and as far as I'm concerned, it's not a rivalry - I don't think there is much of a contest).
The social must have ended around midnight although things lingered on for a while - first with a photo session, talk of cowbells, handclaps and boogaloo inside followed by a gabfest outside including about a mission I am now entrusted with. I think there was a group of five of us standing outside for nearly half hour - the other four seemed to go on for a bit longer as I drove off. I think some of them were nowhere near ready for bed.
I was mildly surprised to find the door locked little past 7:30. Wasn't this supposed to start at 7:45? I was only slightly less surprised by the fact that I was first to arrive - with the second and third arriving within a minute after me. Before anyone else arrived, signs of people milling about inside was evident and we were downstairs after a moment. There was another guy besides Vishal, Danie, Tony and Daniella so technically I wasn't the first. After initial greeting, Tony said they were wondering if I would show up. Why wouldn't I? I also told Vish last night (I meant to tell him earlier but I forgot) that I would be here.
Vishal announced that this was the fourth time Tony came to Cambridge (meaning Club Salsa) - actually it's the fifth time. There has been a lot of turnover since the first time. I think Rajiv and Vishal and maybe Caroline are the only other constants for all five visits. Only two other people (Danie and Mark) have been here for at least four of five visits. Almost 30 people were there for the first class (Bachata level 2) including Gordon, William, Louise, Laura, Andrea, Melania. For the second hour, another 20+ people showed up including Kate and her friends.
The first hour of Bachata class covered materials such as -
Body movement exercises involving shoulders, chest, hip … also body rolls.
Modified basic steps including side-to-side basic with up-and-down movement (I found this one more confusing for some reason - down on even numbered steps), side-to-side basic with chest rolls (I found out near the end of the evening that this is a lot more interesting when done during close contact - chest forward on odd numbered steps), minimizing side-to-side movement during turns by going backwards on 2 (and on 6) instead of moving to side throughout, zig-zag type of forward-and-back basic, interrupted spot turn (turning on 1,2,3 and pausing on 5,6,7 while only moving (or swaying?) knees (?) from side-to-side.
Towards the end of the class, a couple of short easy-to-do turn patterns were thrown in. The first one was called feel-her-up - turn follower around on first 1,2,3 - get her hands down to leader's side during 5,6,7 - back up again during 1,2,3 - bring hands down to her waist during 5,6,7 - follower brings her hands to behind and around leader's neck with optional hair massage on 1,2,3, etc. The second was like a cuddle basic (similar to once rueda step) starting from crossed hold R-R on top - start follower to half turn on 1,2,3 - then do cuddles going back and forth for a while - end on 5,6,7 leading with L-L ending with L-L hat for leader on 7 or 8 followed by R-R hat for follower during next 1,2,3 side-to-side basic.
I wasn't sure if I was going to take part in the second hour's classes. I wasn't very keen on doing Reggaeton. There was no reason to join in on the beginner Bachata unless there was a men-shortage; there was one, so I did that instead.
One thing I had forgotten was that Tony tries a lot of humor during the class and does it quite effectively. The one about height disparity was one of the memorable ones - not the least because I was at one of the joke. Then again, I suppose I could say that I was target of many jokes tonight - fine by me. The curry joke tradition also lives on.
Near the end of the class (I actually thought the class had ended and stepped out for a few minutes), I spotted Ivan and Nina and went to chat with them briefly. Ivan has one of those special dispensations from Helen once again so he'll be out again one more time this week. We also touched briefly on Cuban Carnival and SOS before I realized that the Bachata class was not quite done and thus rushed to rejoin them.
A few more people showed up for the social afterwards - including some minor surprises like Haihan, Stephanie and Agnes - apparently Ivan was once again a big instigator.
Vishal was the main DJ for the first half - playing nice music - not too intense (e.g. choosing Los Titanes version of Merecumbe over Johnny Colon's version seemed very appropriate - and I would not be saying this most of the time) or strange but also not the type of songs that makes some eyes roll. Actually he almost played one of those, but I think I stopped him. This came about because I had a strong feeling that Daniella was going to get me for a dance to the next song (she had already agreed to dance with Haihan - a La 33 song) so I asked Vishal what was next. I thought the music was pleasant throughout.
Daniella and Tony had a surprise performance - Salsa rather than Bachata. The song was El Titere (by Louie Ramirez … I think this was the version with Ray De La Paz but I'm nowhere near certain). Tony was dressed with tails while Daniella was dressed as a showgirl. Very good performance - I thought it was easy to see the difference between professional performers as opposed to amateur ones. Some of the Cambridge amateurs now do better job with music interpretation, but there was additional level of polish evident in this performance.
I tried to dance with many people of different level of abilities although there never was much chance of dancing with everyone. I still ended up dancing twice with a few girls. I also somehow ended up dancing two Salsa and two Bachata with Daniella - the Bachata dances (last two songs of the evening) were particularly memorable (so… this is how it's danced close… nice, but it will definitely require some comfort level and practice to become decent).
Tony used the microphone rather liberally tonight. Using some distortion effect during the class was amusing - I could foresee Vishal abusing this in near future. He also used the microphone to some comical effects - mostly to put me (or my dance partner) in an amusing spotlight - I suppose it'll be talked about for a day or two. Perhaps he was trying to say my name many times over with correct pronunciation to adjust for previous mistakes. In any case, many people seemed to get a kick out of it. I think the favorite for many was the supposed battle or rivalry between Haihan and me (Haihan wasn't even aware it was happening and as far as I'm concerned, it's not a rivalry - I don't think there is much of a contest).
The social must have ended around midnight although things lingered on for a while - first with a photo session, talk of cowbells, handclaps and boogaloo inside followed by a gabfest outside including about a mission I am now entrusted with. I think there was a group of five of us standing outside for nearly half hour - the other four seemed to go on for a bit longer as I drove off. I think some of them were nowhere near ready for bed.
Here we go again with On2
June 18, 2007
The new location for the On2 session seemed nice and spacious. The sound system was rather crappy - very bass heavy. It also got rather warm. It was recommended that clothes like jeans be avoided (unless you feel safe to do splits wearing jeans?). I was the only one wearing a long-sleeved shirt - I probably should wear something shorter next time. Looking at the mirrors I thought I should get a haircut.
It was good to get more people involved - there were seven tonight. If we had remained the same small group, perhaps we could have moved faster and cover more new material. However, to make the On2 scene viable, even more people will need to be involved. This is so that there will be more opportunity for practice outside the classes. In my opinion (not having consulted with anyone else) having at least six leads and six followers would be nice. Even larger number of people would be good although I suppose having too many people would make it difficult to keep the instructions detailed and with a lot of feedback. It also probably would be better to get everyone started at once (and sooner the better) to avoid repeating same material for new people every time (with caveat that repetition could be beneficial too).
Perhaps over half of the two-hour session was spent on isolation exercise - it's still pretty tough to do and I suspect that it will be tough for a good long time before I won't feel completely useless or inept doing some of the exercises. Most of the rest of the time was spent on basic footwork and basic turns. Relatively short amount of time was spent with basic partner work. Doing isolation exercise with other people is nice because it helps with motivation. Same with footwork even though it was all review for me because it's rare that I would do this type of exercise for more than few minutes on a given day and it won't get done every day. Partner work was all review of things I have seen before although I did get one new detail about how to lead cross body (a subtle preparatory motion on 1).
Next session will be on Monday again from 7-9 PM. There is nothing concrete planned after that - although continuing with the same time slot is a strong possibility. I suspect that most people who might be interested know who to talk to - the best one of course is the person who's giving the instruction.
Rajiv and I were at Club Salsa for the social part - the classes were not done when I arrived even after a bit of driving back and forth I did for Cyrille.
The routine being taught by Joe for the intermediate class seemed a bit different than ones I have seen over past year - perhaps there was a bit of tweaking done to the 20-week syllabus.
There were some nice people to dance with - some unexpected. Probably the best description for my dancing form might be hyperactive - this might have much to do with the music (I have heard this CD before and did not like it very much.
My opinion of the songs I listened to for the second time did not change much - indifferent to slightly negative and possibly a little better second time around for some of the songs. Some of the songs I had not heard before later in the CD (~2 songs in track ~8 to 11 range) were alright.
I was wearing my glasses for a change - it became relavant on couple of occasions. It's not bad, but it's probably easier without it.
The new location for the On2 session seemed nice and spacious. The sound system was rather crappy - very bass heavy. It also got rather warm. It was recommended that clothes like jeans be avoided (unless you feel safe to do splits wearing jeans?). I was the only one wearing a long-sleeved shirt - I probably should wear something shorter next time. Looking at the mirrors I thought I should get a haircut.
It was good to get more people involved - there were seven tonight. If we had remained the same small group, perhaps we could have moved faster and cover more new material. However, to make the On2 scene viable, even more people will need to be involved. This is so that there will be more opportunity for practice outside the classes. In my opinion (not having consulted with anyone else) having at least six leads and six followers would be nice. Even larger number of people would be good although I suppose having too many people would make it difficult to keep the instructions detailed and with a lot of feedback. It also probably would be better to get everyone started at once (and sooner the better) to avoid repeating same material for new people every time (with caveat that repetition could be beneficial too).
Perhaps over half of the two-hour session was spent on isolation exercise - it's still pretty tough to do and I suspect that it will be tough for a good long time before I won't feel completely useless or inept doing some of the exercises. Most of the rest of the time was spent on basic footwork and basic turns. Relatively short amount of time was spent with basic partner work. Doing isolation exercise with other people is nice because it helps with motivation. Same with footwork even though it was all review for me because it's rare that I would do this type of exercise for more than few minutes on a given day and it won't get done every day. Partner work was all review of things I have seen before although I did get one new detail about how to lead cross body (a subtle preparatory motion on 1).
Next session will be on Monday again from 7-9 PM. There is nothing concrete planned after that - although continuing with the same time slot is a strong possibility. I suspect that most people who might be interested know who to talk to - the best one of course is the person who's giving the instruction.
Rajiv and I were at Club Salsa for the social part - the classes were not done when I arrived even after a bit of driving back and forth I did for Cyrille.
The routine being taught by Joe for the intermediate class seemed a bit different than ones I have seen over past year - perhaps there was a bit of tweaking done to the 20-week syllabus.
There were some nice people to dance with - some unexpected. Probably the best description for my dancing form might be hyperactive - this might have much to do with the music (I have heard this CD before and did not like it very much.
My opinion of the songs I listened to for the second time did not change much - indifferent to slightly negative and possibly a little better second time around for some of the songs. Some of the songs I had not heard before later in the CD (~2 songs in track ~8 to 11 range) were alright.
I was wearing my glasses for a change - it became relavant on couple of occasions. It's not bad, but it's probably easier without it.
Latin music everywhere
June 15, 2007
Eight people at Mai Thai for 8:40. I didn't have anything to do with organizing it - nothing to do with picking the restaurant or inviting people, which is just fine with me. I had a reasonable guess about who would be there (and I guessed correctly). I was last to arrive even though I was only about 10 minutes late. By entering via back entrance, I managed to take Mimi by surprise when I took the last open seat to her left. Seating arrangement in clockwise order starting from Mimi was Euvian, Natalie, Sergio (opposite Natalie), Rajiv, Cyrille, Zern (opposite me) and me.
The service at Mai Thai was a bit slow - it took a while to get our orders in and our food arrived nearly an hour after I arrived - around 9:40. People who ordered starters before everyone arrived sounded a little smug about having done so. Food was very good though or so said a number of people seated near me. The closest thing to a complaint came from Mimi who said there was too much chicken in her chicken salad. Because of fairly high level of background noise, I was limited to talking mostly to Mimi, Zern and to less degree Cyrille.
After settling the bill, we decided to stop by Fountain Inn for some drinks instead of heading directly for Salsa dancing. Funny thing was that Salsa followed us to Fountain Inn. There was a live DJ at the Fountain Inn, and about 10 minutes into our stay there he put on Acid by Ray Barretto. It was hilarious. Rajiv decided to dance with Euvian for this song. After couple more songs, the DJ put on something that sounded a bit like Merengue to me but to some others like Cumbia - this song led to Mimi leading Euvian to Cuban Salsa moves. During the course of a under an hour, there was another Salsa/Mambo (a bit fast) as well as Boogaloo/Cha Cha. Some people joked that we should bring some more dancers to this place another time. Haihan joined the group during this hour.
Between all that, we did not get to Club Salsa until nearly midnight - sans Natalie, who could not be convinced to come with us despite the presence of her favorite dance partner Rajiv being with us (he's the best!). The crowd at Club Salsa included Johnny, Serap, their new trainee (I should learn her name at some point) and their friends as well as Pauline (I realize that this isn't exactly her name, but there's no pressing need to correct it), Andrea, Lorraine and a good number of people whose names I have not learned, etc (I'm hoping to get off this name-fest phase of writing - it's getting gratuitous). Steve (one of nicest X-body lead tonight not already named) arrived even later than us - possibly with a friend I didn't recall seeing before.
The music bounced from typical to a bit hectic to nice and fairly mellow. Or maybe I decided to treat my dances as more relaxed affair after a somewhat hectic start. Euvian was put out of the action fairly early after getting stepped on by some guy. I didn't dance much with Mimi until much later although we managed to get a Cha Cha in at the end of the evening - I feel that I'm definitely getting fairly comfortable with Cha Cha doing simple and limited number of moves - definitely easier than Salsa/Mambo On2. Mimi said she prefers Cha Cha over Bachata - I agree (not saying I won't be at the Tony Lara thing). These days Cha Cha is often the highlight of an evening and not only because I think it's a stepping stone towards getting better dancing On2.
Eight people at Mai Thai for 8:40. I didn't have anything to do with organizing it - nothing to do with picking the restaurant or inviting people, which is just fine with me. I had a reasonable guess about who would be there (and I guessed correctly). I was last to arrive even though I was only about 10 minutes late. By entering via back entrance, I managed to take Mimi by surprise when I took the last open seat to her left. Seating arrangement in clockwise order starting from Mimi was Euvian, Natalie, Sergio (opposite Natalie), Rajiv, Cyrille, Zern (opposite me) and me.
The service at Mai Thai was a bit slow - it took a while to get our orders in and our food arrived nearly an hour after I arrived - around 9:40. People who ordered starters before everyone arrived sounded a little smug about having done so. Food was very good though or so said a number of people seated near me. The closest thing to a complaint came from Mimi who said there was too much chicken in her chicken salad. Because of fairly high level of background noise, I was limited to talking mostly to Mimi, Zern and to less degree Cyrille.
After settling the bill, we decided to stop by Fountain Inn for some drinks instead of heading directly for Salsa dancing. Funny thing was that Salsa followed us to Fountain Inn. There was a live DJ at the Fountain Inn, and about 10 minutes into our stay there he put on Acid by Ray Barretto. It was hilarious. Rajiv decided to dance with Euvian for this song. After couple more songs, the DJ put on something that sounded a bit like Merengue to me but to some others like Cumbia - this song led to Mimi leading Euvian to Cuban Salsa moves. During the course of a under an hour, there was another Salsa/Mambo (a bit fast) as well as Boogaloo/Cha Cha. Some people joked that we should bring some more dancers to this place another time. Haihan joined the group during this hour.
Between all that, we did not get to Club Salsa until nearly midnight - sans Natalie, who could not be convinced to come with us despite the presence of her favorite dance partner Rajiv being with us (he's the best!). The crowd at Club Salsa included Johnny, Serap, their new trainee (I should learn her name at some point) and their friends as well as Pauline (I realize that this isn't exactly her name, but there's no pressing need to correct it), Andrea, Lorraine and a good number of people whose names I have not learned, etc (I'm hoping to get off this name-fest phase of writing - it's getting gratuitous). Steve (one of nicest X-body lead tonight not already named) arrived even later than us - possibly with a friend I didn't recall seeing before.
The music bounced from typical to a bit hectic to nice and fairly mellow. Or maybe I decided to treat my dances as more relaxed affair after a somewhat hectic start. Euvian was put out of the action fairly early after getting stepped on by some guy. I didn't dance much with Mimi until much later although we managed to get a Cha Cha in at the end of the evening - I feel that I'm definitely getting fairly comfortable with Cha Cha doing simple and limited number of moves - definitely easier than Salsa/Mambo On2. Mimi said she prefers Cha Cha over Bachata - I agree (not saying I won't be at the Tony Lara thing). These days Cha Cha is often the highlight of an evening and not only because I think it's a stepping stone towards getting better dancing On2.
Pretty good for a pretty poor night
June 14, 2007
Intermediate/Advanced with Sally assisted by Charlotte
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL with 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn (inside turn) with leader turning counterclockwise (1 1/4) at the end
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to a stationary double clockwise turn (preparation for the turn might start as early as just prior to leader finishing his turn) with L-R high and R-L (reconnected fairly late) low to end in hammerlock position for follower (R-L behind follower's R waist)
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic first half then a slight twist to left (follower's right) on 5 for preparation and then lead follower into stationary counterclockwise turn (double turn) to get into a wrap with L-R low and R-L about shoulder level
1,2,3,5,6,7 mambo jazz and lead follower to turn 1/2 clockwise (between 4 and 5) and ending L-R high/shoulder level and R-L low and then lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn leading with L-R and ending with leader turning 1/2 counterclockwise for drop catch to end with R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turn 1/2 clockwise on 2 and connecting L-L while turning follower 1/2 clockwise to end in crucifix position - without too much arm movement (presumably using mostly good frame) lead follower to R on 5, L on 6 and full clockwise turn on 7
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns full turn (I was doing clockwise turn but one of the follower said I should be doing counterclockwise - I never checked to see which was the version Sally was doing, but I don't think it matter all that much) with L-L high and R-R temporarily disconnected low and reconnected - prepare follower to L on 5 and lead follower to turn full clockwise with leader also turning full (counterclockwise) at the same time
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa-like start and then fake and into a traveling counterclockwise turn for follower led with L-L
Early to the social part of the evening were Sergio, Natalie, Cyrille, Ivan, Haihan, Steve (?) and Isabelle. Late arrivals included Euvian, Nicola, Nina and Stephanie. Jane and Mark arrived for the second hour of classes. People taking classes for the first hour included Rajiv, William, Hayden, Steve and Andrea.
It looked grim for a while, and I thought I was headed for a hard landing. It took me a while to get started - in more than one way. The end of the evening was not particularly great either. However, somewhere in between, there were at least 3-4 quite good ones so it was not as bad as I feared.
I more or less confirmed my earlier guess about someone not being especially thrilled about dancing with me. I was also pleasantly surprised that another person might like dancing with me considerably more than I had expected and had assumed for a rather long time - I could be wrong about that though. I guess I have been noticing a good number of cases both ways. I suppose that sort of thing changes all the time too and will continue to do so - some in day-to-day basis.
How was my form tonight? I actually thought it was quite good - surprising to come to such conclusion considering this was one of the worst Thursdays in recent memory. For most subpar evenings, I could usually point out bunch of things I should have done better or differently, but at the risk of sounding pompous I have to say I did quite well - good control, sound fundamentals, patient and decent effort at engagement. This is unusual.
Miscellaneous. I talked to Ed about driving in London and such. Haihan will be here for a little more than a week before going home. Trying to remember routines from previous week seems fairly common nowadays. I cannot remember which one but either Ivan or Nina gave me a funny look in middle of their dance - I have no idea why but I think they were dancing On2 (and struggling a little doing it) at the time. Generally I am a little annoyed with the On2 situation - hopefully things will be right again soon.
I seemingly recognized all but a handful of the songs played tonight - not a problem since I don't feel sick of any of them yet. Songs played included Anunciado Clasificada, Mentirosa, Soledad, Malaguena Salerosa (no dance), Noche de Salsa (not 100% sure but danced to something like it), Merecumbe (Johnny Colon - Jane), Rumbon Melon (no dance once again), Mujer Erotica (Nicola), La Llave (not sure but probably dance), Anacaona (no dance), El Menu (probably no dance), El Tornillo de Guillo, Me Libere (dance).
Intermediate/Advanced with Sally assisted by Charlotte
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL with 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn (inside turn) with leader turning counterclockwise (1 1/4) at the end
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to a stationary double clockwise turn (preparation for the turn might start as early as just prior to leader finishing his turn) with L-R high and R-L (reconnected fairly late) low to end in hammerlock position for follower (R-L behind follower's R waist)
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic first half then a slight twist to left (follower's right) on 5 for preparation and then lead follower into stationary counterclockwise turn (double turn) to get into a wrap with L-R low and R-L about shoulder level
1,2,3,5,6,7 mambo jazz and lead follower to turn 1/2 clockwise (between 4 and 5) and ending L-R high/shoulder level and R-L low and then lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn leading with L-R and ending with leader turning 1/2 counterclockwise for drop catch to end with R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turn 1/2 clockwise on 2 and connecting L-L while turning follower 1/2 clockwise to end in crucifix position - without too much arm movement (presumably using mostly good frame) lead follower to R on 5, L on 6 and full clockwise turn on 7
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns full turn (I was doing clockwise turn but one of the follower said I should be doing counterclockwise - I never checked to see which was the version Sally was doing, but I don't think it matter all that much) with L-L high and R-R temporarily disconnected low and reconnected - prepare follower to L on 5 and lead follower to turn full clockwise with leader also turning full (counterclockwise) at the same time
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa-like start and then fake and into a traveling counterclockwise turn for follower led with L-L
Early to the social part of the evening were Sergio, Natalie, Cyrille, Ivan, Haihan, Steve (?) and Isabelle. Late arrivals included Euvian, Nicola, Nina and Stephanie. Jane and Mark arrived for the second hour of classes. People taking classes for the first hour included Rajiv, William, Hayden, Steve and Andrea.
It looked grim for a while, and I thought I was headed for a hard landing. It took me a while to get started - in more than one way. The end of the evening was not particularly great either. However, somewhere in between, there were at least 3-4 quite good ones so it was not as bad as I feared.
I more or less confirmed my earlier guess about someone not being especially thrilled about dancing with me. I was also pleasantly surprised that another person might like dancing with me considerably more than I had expected and had assumed for a rather long time - I could be wrong about that though. I guess I have been noticing a good number of cases both ways. I suppose that sort of thing changes all the time too and will continue to do so - some in day-to-day basis.
How was my form tonight? I actually thought it was quite good - surprising to come to such conclusion considering this was one of the worst Thursdays in recent memory. For most subpar evenings, I could usually point out bunch of things I should have done better or differently, but at the risk of sounding pompous I have to say I did quite well - good control, sound fundamentals, patient and decent effort at engagement. This is unusual.
Miscellaneous. I talked to Ed about driving in London and such. Haihan will be here for a little more than a week before going home. Trying to remember routines from previous week seems fairly common nowadays. I cannot remember which one but either Ivan or Nina gave me a funny look in middle of their dance - I have no idea why but I think they were dancing On2 (and struggling a little doing it) at the time. Generally I am a little annoyed with the On2 situation - hopefully things will be right again soon.
I seemingly recognized all but a handful of the songs played tonight - not a problem since I don't feel sick of any of them yet. Songs played included Anunciado Clasificada, Mentirosa, Soledad, Malaguena Salerosa (no dance), Noche de Salsa (not 100% sure but danced to something like it), Merecumbe (Johnny Colon - Jane), Rumbon Melon (no dance once again), Mujer Erotica (Nicola), La Llave (not sure but probably dance), Anacaona (no dance), El Menu (probably no dance), El Tornillo de Guillo, Me Libere (dance).
Merely fabulous
June 10, 2007
Hmm. I was expecting there to be many more Cambridge folks at SOS. No one showed up unless I count Vera, with whom I had a very nice dance with tonight.
SOS was held at the north hall of Royal Sonesta Hotel once again. Apparently they will continue to hold the event at the same room (definitely much better than the south hall) for next few weeks (apparently Mary Ward Hall is being used for exams?).
I arrived very early and had the option of taking part in the class. I did not. I just could not be bothered. So I watched.
Level 4 shine
7 R foot overtake L
1 turn 1/4 clockwise with L foot crossing over R
2 R foot to side (back)
3 weight transfer to L foot
5 R foot toe behind L
6 (or is it 7?) R foot back to original spot as on 2
7& shoulder shimmy (isolation move)
1,2,3 basic keeping feet where there were for 7
Level 3 shine (I only caught the last 2 measures)
1 turn 1/4 clockwise with L foot crossing over R (the part before was grapeviney stuff)
2,3 suzy Q
4 small kick with R foot
5,6 suzy Q
7 small kick with R foot
1,2,3 drop down with knees apart and come up back
5,6,7 back basic
Level 4 partner work (beginning bit) – Tamambo with Eva?
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R double clockwise turn for follower with R-R ending elbow-to-elbow with both fingers pointing up
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start with L-L connection made above R-R and with L-L at follower’s face level on 3 and with follower led immediately into ~1 1/4 to 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn on the spot with leader moving into (or more like behind) follower’s spot to end with R-R in hammerlock position (follower’s spin starts on 4 and finishes on 5 maybe? and leader is now positioned slightly to R of follower to make room for next part) and follower is led into CBL-like finish to end with L-L hammerlock position with leader positioned ~CBL position at the end – it seemed challenging but I couldn’t decide who had the worse task – leader or follower?
Level 3 partner work (rough outline of the starting bit) – Mauro with name unknown
1,2,3,5,6,7 high cross pass ending with leader turning clockwise to face follower and switching to R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 I think it was a windmill (down to up) lead (after open break) to get follower to turn 1 1/2 counterclockwise with leader turning counterclockwise at the end and switching to L-R (or was it a double switch?)
After a toilet break, I got into a conversation with Amir and then with Helen and stopped paying attention to the class material. Apparently Amir is DJing about twice per month at SOS now with caveat that he doesn’t know very long in advance when and whether he is DJing. I learned that mandatory education in the UK is only until age of 16! I did not know that! I also learned a little about difference between sixth form colleges and vocational colleges. Aiste was there too – apparently only her second time at SOS and I saw her on both occasions although I never got around to asking her for a dance either time. On the other hand, I did get around to asking the female instructor for the level 3 class – I had been waiting for it for 4 weeks.
My form for the night? I’m not sure. It seemed pretty good, but it might be better to say that conditions were great - I had very many fabulous partners to dance with tonight, music was good and at decent volume, and space was never a problem. Arguably I never felt as good at SOS this year as I did tonight. Okay, there was a beginner who couldn’t keep time, but it wasn’t awful. There was a beginner for a Cha Cha, but it’s not like I’m an expert on Cha Cha. Just the fact that I managed to get Cha Cha practice on both opportunities was an improvement over previous occasions. I think the second one (with the beginner) had some transitions. A few amusing occasions involved an On2 dancer asking me for a dance because she mistakenly thought I danced On2 – I did not realize that she was looking to dance On2 until after the dance was over. Also after my last dance of the evening, my partner confessed (?!) that she doesn't know how to dance On2 (My reply was, “But I was dancing On1!” – at least I think I was. It would be very scary if I were somehow dancing more or less On2 (I really don’t think I was) because that would mean I was dancing On6 – another scenario just as bad might be that I was off time a lot maybe switching back and forth although I don’t think I was). On the other hand, I was definitely confused with my timing initially with Helen right after coming off from dancing Cha Cha.
Songs played tonight included Los Rumberos (dance with the woman who had a baby last year), Siguelo (Helen) followed by Que Se Sepa (very amusing – possibly caused by my conversation earlier with Amir, no dance), Anacaona (no dance but only because I was asked for a song previous to this one and felt too warm - there were a few of those tonight), Hong Kong Mambo (dance), La Llave (dance – was it with a Chinese woman?), Pa Los Bravos (no dance), Amor Perfecto (Vera). I think I would have enjoyed dancing to at least 70-80% of the songs if it weren’t for the room being a bit too warm – it was only marginally less warm today than last weekend.
Hmm. I was expecting there to be many more Cambridge folks at SOS. No one showed up unless I count Vera, with whom I had a very nice dance with tonight.
SOS was held at the north hall of Royal Sonesta Hotel once again. Apparently they will continue to hold the event at the same room (definitely much better than the south hall) for next few weeks (apparently Mary Ward Hall is being used for exams?).
I arrived very early and had the option of taking part in the class. I did not. I just could not be bothered. So I watched.
Level 4 shine
7 R foot overtake L
1 turn 1/4 clockwise with L foot crossing over R
2 R foot to side (back)
3 weight transfer to L foot
5 R foot toe behind L
6 (or is it 7?) R foot back to original spot as on 2
7& shoulder shimmy (isolation move)
1,2,3 basic keeping feet where there were for 7
Level 3 shine (I only caught the last 2 measures)
1 turn 1/4 clockwise with L foot crossing over R (the part before was grapeviney stuff)
2,3 suzy Q
4 small kick with R foot
5,6 suzy Q
7 small kick with R foot
1,2,3 drop down with knees apart and come up back
5,6,7 back basic
Level 4 partner work (beginning bit) – Tamambo with Eva?
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R double clockwise turn for follower with R-R ending elbow-to-elbow with both fingers pointing up
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start with L-L connection made above R-R and with L-L at follower’s face level on 3 and with follower led immediately into ~1 1/4 to 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn on the spot with leader moving into (or more like behind) follower’s spot to end with R-R in hammerlock position (follower’s spin starts on 4 and finishes on 5 maybe? and leader is now positioned slightly to R of follower to make room for next part) and follower is led into CBL-like finish to end with L-L hammerlock position with leader positioned ~CBL position at the end – it seemed challenging but I couldn’t decide who had the worse task – leader or follower?
Level 3 partner work (rough outline of the starting bit) – Mauro with name unknown
1,2,3,5,6,7 high cross pass ending with leader turning clockwise to face follower and switching to R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 I think it was a windmill (down to up) lead (after open break) to get follower to turn 1 1/2 counterclockwise with leader turning counterclockwise at the end and switching to L-R (or was it a double switch?)
After a toilet break, I got into a conversation with Amir and then with Helen and stopped paying attention to the class material. Apparently Amir is DJing about twice per month at SOS now with caveat that he doesn’t know very long in advance when and whether he is DJing. I learned that mandatory education in the UK is only until age of 16! I did not know that! I also learned a little about difference between sixth form colleges and vocational colleges. Aiste was there too – apparently only her second time at SOS and I saw her on both occasions although I never got around to asking her for a dance either time. On the other hand, I did get around to asking the female instructor for the level 3 class – I had been waiting for it for 4 weeks.
My form for the night? I’m not sure. It seemed pretty good, but it might be better to say that conditions were great - I had very many fabulous partners to dance with tonight, music was good and at decent volume, and space was never a problem. Arguably I never felt as good at SOS this year as I did tonight. Okay, there was a beginner who couldn’t keep time, but it wasn’t awful. There was a beginner for a Cha Cha, but it’s not like I’m an expert on Cha Cha. Just the fact that I managed to get Cha Cha practice on both opportunities was an improvement over previous occasions. I think the second one (with the beginner) had some transitions. A few amusing occasions involved an On2 dancer asking me for a dance because she mistakenly thought I danced On2 – I did not realize that she was looking to dance On2 until after the dance was over. Also after my last dance of the evening, my partner confessed (?!) that she doesn't know how to dance On2 (My reply was, “But I was dancing On1!” – at least I think I was. It would be very scary if I were somehow dancing more or less On2 (I really don’t think I was) because that would mean I was dancing On6 – another scenario just as bad might be that I was off time a lot maybe switching back and forth although I don’t think I was). On the other hand, I was definitely confused with my timing initially with Helen right after coming off from dancing Cha Cha.
Songs played tonight included Los Rumberos (dance with the woman who had a baby last year), Siguelo (Helen) followed by Que Se Sepa (very amusing – possibly caused by my conversation earlier with Amir, no dance), Anacaona (no dance but only because I was asked for a song previous to this one and felt too warm - there were a few of those tonight), Hong Kong Mambo (dance), La Llave (dance – was it with a Chinese woman?), Pa Los Bravos (no dance), Amor Perfecto (Vera). I think I would have enjoyed dancing to at least 70-80% of the songs if it weren’t for the room being a bit too warm – it was only marginally less warm today than last weekend.
... and people are getting ready to leave
June 8, 2007
A rather large group gathered at Club Salsa in what was another large set of farewell for many people. Cyrille will be back Monday. Zhenzhi will be back in about a month. Agnes will be back in about 4 months. Stephanie will be around for several more days but then she will be gone for most of summer too. Others who did not make it tonight because their exams are not over yet presumably will be gone most of the summer too. Others like Euvian and Zern seemed set to do some traveling too. Also it feels as if Sam is not really here thanks in large part to her grueling commute, which may lead to her not really being here at all. (While I don't necessarily want her to move, it may not be so bad if she did. After all I seem to see Natalie more often than I do Sam now despite the fact that Natalie lives much further away.) Even among the ones who are not students, people I know best (e.g. Cyrille and Mimi) all talk of leaving soon. I can't stay here forever either, and I really should do something about it too.
Many of the people had become accustomed to dancing with large amount of space, so tonight’s conditions were something of a surprise for them. It was more crowded tonight than it had been for last several Fridays. Whenever a new couple entered the dance floor, Agnes became flustered and wore an expression that said, “Please no more! The space is tight as it is!” Zhenzhi apparently left some blood on the floor – I think someone stepped on her toes. Stephanie needed an emergency outfit repair – fixed with safety pin provided by Jane. Sam wasn’t feeling well – recovering from flu as well as the commute. I got a cigarette burn on my finger thanks in part to some guy holding his cigarette below his waist; I suppose no one will be allowed to smoke in public space in less than a month so all annoyances related to smoking may become history soon. Among people I socialize with in England, I only know of one or two people who smoke regularly so the change should be almost completely positive.
Johnny and Serap invited a guest teacher from London for tonight’s class, and he stayed until fairly late to dance with many people. The guy was notable for his height and for strong emphasis on dancing to the music. I thought he either knew the music very well or was able to anticipate different changes to the music better than everyone else in the premise. It was nice to see – I recall seeing him dance with Serap, Isabelle, and Johnny and Serap’s trainee among others. It made for an interesting contrast to some turn-pattern crazy displays (sometimes all over in timing) also observed among some other people. I also talked to Johnny briefly about the UK Congress in particular regarding organizing group passes.
Miscellaneous items. I met Spyros and learned that he has taken over Jamil’s spot at Wolfson College. I reserved some studio time. Vishal chose the song Alabanciosa as the birthday dance song instead of Merecumbe, which was used last three or so occasions. Participants included the guest teacher, Richard, William, Cyrille, Zern and Vishal. The best part for me was that I managed to cue A Man’s World as the next song (although I couldn’t control how the song was finished). Some of the conversation topics during the evening: Spanish, wine, things to do with and how to make a library, Xenbar and dance of course. Stephanie, Zhenzhi, Agnes, Cyrille, Zern and Rajiv were talking about staying up longer until Cyrille would have to take off for his flight. I suppose I could have stayed with them longer especially considering I won’t see some of them for a while, but I couldn’t get myself into it.
Tonight’s music. Early on, it included some unusual choices like Chivirico Davila, which is very different from a typical Vish fare. Heck, even if I put that on, it would be considered weird. The next song was of similar mode but unfamiliar to me. Fortunately, my partner and I survived both songs without the dances becoming a gigantic mess. Most of what followed was energetic fare – both familiar and unfamiliar. Familiar songs like Un Verano En Nueva York or Merecumbe (Los Titanes version tonight) or Vasos de Colores were almost invariably fast intense fare. Most unfamiliar songs were also generally high-energy fare. I don’t think Vishal likes subtlety – he almost always chooses turbo-charged and aggressive over relaxed. It made for a welcome and almost too-late change when songs at the other extreme end of the spectrum (e.g. nearly catatonic Fragile (one of many versions) came on followed by La Llave). Not counting Salsathon, which I prefer not to dance to, the only familiar sounding medium speed fare was Me Libere. It was almost a relief when Reggaeton came on although a switch to heavy dose of bland Salsathon afterwards was not – most of our little group seemed to not treat it as Salsa. I did dance Salsa to Get It On.
Agnes wanted to request La Salsa Se Nunca Acaba. I suggested that Vishal probably would play it without it being requested. I was wrong. Oh well. Maybe I should make a request in advance for next Friday. How about Arinanara by Eddie Torres Mambo Kings Orchestra?
My dancing form for the evening. A little schizophrenic. Up and down. More often on the aggressive side – I can’t decide whether that is good, okay or bad.
A rather large group gathered at Club Salsa in what was another large set of farewell for many people. Cyrille will be back Monday. Zhenzhi will be back in about a month. Agnes will be back in about 4 months. Stephanie will be around for several more days but then she will be gone for most of summer too. Others who did not make it tonight because their exams are not over yet presumably will be gone most of the summer too. Others like Euvian and Zern seemed set to do some traveling too. Also it feels as if Sam is not really here thanks in large part to her grueling commute, which may lead to her not really being here at all. (While I don't necessarily want her to move, it may not be so bad if she did. After all I seem to see Natalie more often than I do Sam now despite the fact that Natalie lives much further away.) Even among the ones who are not students, people I know best (e.g. Cyrille and Mimi) all talk of leaving soon. I can't stay here forever either, and I really should do something about it too.
Many of the people had become accustomed to dancing with large amount of space, so tonight’s conditions were something of a surprise for them. It was more crowded tonight than it had been for last several Fridays. Whenever a new couple entered the dance floor, Agnes became flustered and wore an expression that said, “Please no more! The space is tight as it is!” Zhenzhi apparently left some blood on the floor – I think someone stepped on her toes. Stephanie needed an emergency outfit repair – fixed with safety pin provided by Jane. Sam wasn’t feeling well – recovering from flu as well as the commute. I got a cigarette burn on my finger thanks in part to some guy holding his cigarette below his waist; I suppose no one will be allowed to smoke in public space in less than a month so all annoyances related to smoking may become history soon. Among people I socialize with in England, I only know of one or two people who smoke regularly so the change should be almost completely positive.
Johnny and Serap invited a guest teacher from London for tonight’s class, and he stayed until fairly late to dance with many people. The guy was notable for his height and for strong emphasis on dancing to the music. I thought he either knew the music very well or was able to anticipate different changes to the music better than everyone else in the premise. It was nice to see – I recall seeing him dance with Serap, Isabelle, and Johnny and Serap’s trainee among others. It made for an interesting contrast to some turn-pattern crazy displays (sometimes all over in timing) also observed among some other people. I also talked to Johnny briefly about the UK Congress in particular regarding organizing group passes.
Miscellaneous items. I met Spyros and learned that he has taken over Jamil’s spot at Wolfson College. I reserved some studio time. Vishal chose the song Alabanciosa as the birthday dance song instead of Merecumbe, which was used last three or so occasions. Participants included the guest teacher, Richard, William, Cyrille, Zern and Vishal. The best part for me was that I managed to cue A Man’s World as the next song (although I couldn’t control how the song was finished). Some of the conversation topics during the evening: Spanish, wine, things to do with and how to make a library, Xenbar and dance of course. Stephanie, Zhenzhi, Agnes, Cyrille, Zern and Rajiv were talking about staying up longer until Cyrille would have to take off for his flight. I suppose I could have stayed with them longer especially considering I won’t see some of them for a while, but I couldn’t get myself into it.
Tonight’s music. Early on, it included some unusual choices like Chivirico Davila, which is very different from a typical Vish fare. Heck, even if I put that on, it would be considered weird. The next song was of similar mode but unfamiliar to me. Fortunately, my partner and I survived both songs without the dances becoming a gigantic mess. Most of what followed was energetic fare – both familiar and unfamiliar. Familiar songs like Un Verano En Nueva York or Merecumbe (Los Titanes version tonight) or Vasos de Colores were almost invariably fast intense fare. Most unfamiliar songs were also generally high-energy fare. I don’t think Vishal likes subtlety – he almost always chooses turbo-charged and aggressive over relaxed. It made for a welcome and almost too-late change when songs at the other extreme end of the spectrum (e.g. nearly catatonic Fragile (one of many versions) came on followed by La Llave). Not counting Salsathon, which I prefer not to dance to, the only familiar sounding medium speed fare was Me Libere. It was almost a relief when Reggaeton came on although a switch to heavy dose of bland Salsathon afterwards was not – most of our little group seemed to not treat it as Salsa. I did dance Salsa to Get It On.
Agnes wanted to request La Salsa Se Nunca Acaba. I suggested that Vishal probably would play it without it being requested. I was wrong. Oh well. Maybe I should make a request in advance for next Friday. How about Arinanara by Eddie Torres Mambo Kings Orchestra?
My dancing form for the evening. A little schizophrenic. Up and down. More often on the aggressive side – I can’t decide whether that is good, okay or bad.
School's almost over...
June 7, 2007
It was an odd day. Exams are over for some, but not for others. Stephanie was there. Mark, Haihan and Agnes were not. Jane, Richard, Isabelle, Thomas and Rajiv were. Zhenzhi, Sean, Sam, Zoon and Phyllis were not. Nina was. Ivan wasn’t. Cyrille was. Mimi wasn’t. Lindsey was there early but left early too. Nicola arrived later and stayed til later. Natalie was there for the lesson but did not stay afterwards. Louise was there from start to the end. Charlotte, Annette, Hayden, William, Clara, Steve, Sarah, Adam, Caroline, Heinz, Euvian, Zern, blah, blah, blah. A notable new person was named Laura – I think I might have danced with her before at LeL though so she’s not entirely new.
Intermediate with Sally assisted by Charlotte
1,2,3,5,6,7 touch-and-go double turn for follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 drop L-L to get R-R on top, Copa start, lead follower into clockwise turn (lead presumably comes on 4) to end L-L behind follower’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start with leader overtaking and moving into follower’s previous space and doing a 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn with L-L kept low and switching to R-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start getting free L hand on follower’s shoulder (on her leading side) and lead follower into clockwise turn to get L-L behind follower’s R waist again
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL and lead follower to 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn with leader turning counterclockwise start ~7
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L hat for leader and simple CBL ending with L-R hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower to overtake on leader’s R side with L-R high and slightly to L of leader – lead follower to leader’s L side behind leader on 5 and lead follower straight back getting L-R behind follower’s L waist (this seemed like a risky move and liable to hurt a follower who does not know this move)
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower to stationary double turn with L-R initially going down before coming up
My dancing form seemed decent. Merecumbe (Johnny Colon) – pretty good overall with only a few glitches. Mujer Erotica – slowed things down and seemingly to good effect. Mundy Baja (El Gran Combo – as opposed to a different version I heard last Sunday) – a bit spin-heavier than usual and seemingly no complaints. Of course my impression or interpretation could be way off. I give myself some congratulations for passing up on songs like El Quinto De Beethoven (Cesta All-Stars – a bit too nutty for Cambridge) or Sun Sun Babae (Tito Rodriguez Jr – I really could do without those 6+ silent pauses). I imagine I’ll get another opportunity for Rumbon Melon and My Favorite Things. Other songs included Pico Swing, another version of Muneca, La Llave (first song), Noche De Salsa (3rd song?), and good number of songs I don’t know (there are plenty of those of course),
Things I might need to watch out for. I suspect that I am still not always spot on in positioning my hands and holding it stable to keep follower’s stable during multiple spins. Some people seem to spin away without problem but perhaps they are doing well in spite of me rather than because of anything I do – I’m guessing I don’t interfere but probably do not provide whole lot of support either. I may also need to try to do better moving out of the way when leading follower into a traveling turn – some of the times follower trips over my feet might be happening because I am not giving them enough room.
As far as quantity and complexity of moves is concerned, the difference between a rather large number of people in and outside the team or San Miguel group does seem like very much sometimes. How is it in terms of quality of lead? Musicality? (I’ve only begun to scratch the surface and plenty of people still ignore it.) Other factors like confidence or the way they carry themselves? I wonder how things would be if personal histories and friendships were not factors. If for example 20 or so upper-level followers in London no one has seen were thrown in lot with top 10 leads from tonight, would the pecking order be different than it is? Would things be different if the followers came from Los Angeles?
It was an odd day. Exams are over for some, but not for others. Stephanie was there. Mark, Haihan and Agnes were not. Jane, Richard, Isabelle, Thomas and Rajiv were. Zhenzhi, Sean, Sam, Zoon and Phyllis were not. Nina was. Ivan wasn’t. Cyrille was. Mimi wasn’t. Lindsey was there early but left early too. Nicola arrived later and stayed til later. Natalie was there for the lesson but did not stay afterwards. Louise was there from start to the end. Charlotte, Annette, Hayden, William, Clara, Steve, Sarah, Adam, Caroline, Heinz, Euvian, Zern, blah, blah, blah. A notable new person was named Laura – I think I might have danced with her before at LeL though so she’s not entirely new.
Intermediate with Sally assisted by Charlotte
1,2,3,5,6,7 touch-and-go double turn for follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 drop L-L to get R-R on top, Copa start, lead follower into clockwise turn (lead presumably comes on 4) to end L-L behind follower’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start with leader overtaking and moving into follower’s previous space and doing a 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn with L-L kept low and switching to R-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start getting free L hand on follower’s shoulder (on her leading side) and lead follower into clockwise turn to get L-L behind follower’s R waist again
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL and lead follower to 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn with leader turning counterclockwise start ~7
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L hat for leader and simple CBL ending with L-R hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower to overtake on leader’s R side with L-R high and slightly to L of leader – lead follower to leader’s L side behind leader on 5 and lead follower straight back getting L-R behind follower’s L waist (this seemed like a risky move and liable to hurt a follower who does not know this move)
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower to stationary double turn with L-R initially going down before coming up
My dancing form seemed decent. Merecumbe (Johnny Colon) – pretty good overall with only a few glitches. Mujer Erotica – slowed things down and seemingly to good effect. Mundy Baja (El Gran Combo – as opposed to a different version I heard last Sunday) – a bit spin-heavier than usual and seemingly no complaints. Of course my impression or interpretation could be way off. I give myself some congratulations for passing up on songs like El Quinto De Beethoven (Cesta All-Stars – a bit too nutty for Cambridge) or Sun Sun Babae (Tito Rodriguez Jr – I really could do without those 6+ silent pauses). I imagine I’ll get another opportunity for Rumbon Melon and My Favorite Things. Other songs included Pico Swing, another version of Muneca, La Llave (first song), Noche De Salsa (3rd song?), and good number of songs I don’t know (there are plenty of those of course),
Things I might need to watch out for. I suspect that I am still not always spot on in positioning my hands and holding it stable to keep follower’s stable during multiple spins. Some people seem to spin away without problem but perhaps they are doing well in spite of me rather than because of anything I do – I’m guessing I don’t interfere but probably do not provide whole lot of support either. I may also need to try to do better moving out of the way when leading follower into a traveling turn – some of the times follower trips over my feet might be happening because I am not giving them enough room.
As far as quantity and complexity of moves is concerned, the difference between a rather large number of people in and outside the team or San Miguel group does seem like very much sometimes. How is it in terms of quality of lead? Musicality? (I’ve only begun to scratch the surface and plenty of people still ignore it.) Other factors like confidence or the way they carry themselves? I wonder how things would be if personal histories and friendships were not factors. If for example 20 or so upper-level followers in London no one has seen were thrown in lot with top 10 leads from tonight, would the pecking order be different than it is? Would things be different if the followers came from Los Angeles?
Finally happening?
June 7, 2007
It's something that had been talked about for some time now. It's closer than ever to actually happening, but will it really happen? Time will tell. Will it work? I have no idea.
Some tidbits. Movement & Footwork (1.5 hr). Partnerwork (1.5 hr). In principle not a drop-in class.
It's something that had been talked about for some time now. It's closer than ever to actually happening, but will it really happen? Time will tell. Will it work? I have no idea.
Some tidbits. Movement & Footwork (1.5 hr). Partnerwork (1.5 hr). In principle not a drop-in class.
Goose egg
June 4, 2007
I think it would be fair to say that a large part of the blame goes to me. After all I doubt that Vishal would have switched the CDs the way he did if I were not there.
I must have arrived around 10:20. It wasn’t very crowded by the time I got there. Joe and Olga were just about to leave. The music was a familiar but pleasant-enough sounding Vishal fare.
While I was standing around looking for a suitable person to dance with Vishal decided to phase out El Pito (version by Isidro Infante). El Pito has been played in Cambridge for a long time. The original El Pito is a boogaloo by Joe Cuba Sextet – so one would probably dance Cha Cha to the original song. I think the version by Sonora Carruseles probably was also played to death in Cambridge. Cyrille does not think much of the Isidro Infante version, and I recall Joe saying the same a little over a year ago – I don’t know about others. In my opinion the Isidro Infante version released in 2005 in my opinion is quite fun and better than the version by Sonora Carruseles.
The new CD started with six songs I did not recognize – I think one of the songs might have been a version of Mi Mujer Es Una Bomba by Oscar D’Leon except mangled to a point where it was difficult to recognize it. I guess the good news was that none of the songs were songs I was already sick and tired of. What's the bad news? I don’t think I would want to hear any of the six songs ever again. My feeling was that the music was generally complicated without being sublime and difficult to dance to and without a big payoff for dancing to the music - I don't think they would have been good whether I was dancing with a beginner or with a Salsa Goddess. The seventh song was El Pito by Isidro Infante. I mentioned that I rather like this song – in moderation. Unfortunately, everyone was gone by this point and I never really got into dancing mood once I got on the dance floor.
I suppose it's always tricky thing trying to play a song no one heard before. Even with best DJs in London, it is rare that I like more than half of the songs I hear for the first time. Oh well. I wonder if I'm having disproportionate influence in the scene. I also wonder if I start some DJing again - probably occasional Mondays if nothing else to keep myself from getting too rusty.
How I might grade my dancing form tonight? Poor or incomplete.
I think it would be fair to say that a large part of the blame goes to me. After all I doubt that Vishal would have switched the CDs the way he did if I were not there.
I must have arrived around 10:20. It wasn’t very crowded by the time I got there. Joe and Olga were just about to leave. The music was a familiar but pleasant-enough sounding Vishal fare.
While I was standing around looking for a suitable person to dance with Vishal decided to phase out El Pito (version by Isidro Infante). El Pito has been played in Cambridge for a long time. The original El Pito is a boogaloo by Joe Cuba Sextet – so one would probably dance Cha Cha to the original song. I think the version by Sonora Carruseles probably was also played to death in Cambridge. Cyrille does not think much of the Isidro Infante version, and I recall Joe saying the same a little over a year ago – I don’t know about others. In my opinion the Isidro Infante version released in 2005 in my opinion is quite fun and better than the version by Sonora Carruseles.
The new CD started with six songs I did not recognize – I think one of the songs might have been a version of Mi Mujer Es Una Bomba by Oscar D’Leon except mangled to a point where it was difficult to recognize it. I guess the good news was that none of the songs were songs I was already sick and tired of. What's the bad news? I don’t think I would want to hear any of the six songs ever again. My feeling was that the music was generally complicated without being sublime and difficult to dance to and without a big payoff for dancing to the music - I don't think they would have been good whether I was dancing with a beginner or with a Salsa Goddess. The seventh song was El Pito by Isidro Infante. I mentioned that I rather like this song – in moderation. Unfortunately, everyone was gone by this point and I never really got into dancing mood once I got on the dance floor.
I suppose it's always tricky thing trying to play a song no one heard before. Even with best DJs in London, it is rare that I like more than half of the songs I hear for the first time. Oh well. I wonder if I'm having disproportionate influence in the scene. I also wonder if I start some DJing again - probably occasional Mondays if nothing else to keep myself from getting too rusty.
How I might grade my dancing form tonight? Poor or incomplete.
We are big fans
June 3, 2007
I think it was Friday when Cyrille asked me if I was going to SOS today. He said he wanted to dance with Sasha again. Who doesn't? On our drive there, I warned him that I don't always see Sasha at SOS - certainly not every week and probably not even once a month.
Thus it was a somewhat of surprise - a very pleasant one I might add - when we entered the north side of Royal Sonesta Hotel (where SOS was moved to once again for reasons I never bothered to find out) and spotted Sasha at the far corner. So with Cyrille in tow I walked over to say hello to Sasha and her Flemish friend Lise, whom I had met and danced couple of times at Scala last weekend.
Naturally the topic of conversation drifted to On2 and about where Sasha (and Lise too it turned out) learned Salsa. I say naturally only because the only time I ever danced Salsa On2 in London was with Sasha. Anyhow the place turned out to be Guildford where there was some big-name teacher whose name I did not catch but Cyrille recognized. Apparently the Salsa scene is quite good in Guildford, and they suggested that we could visit this Friday for some big event being organized in Guildford. Remembering that we have some other obligation (which presumably will be revealed in good time), we expressed regret at not being able to go.
Apparently it was first time at SOS for Lise, and I ended up having my (and her) first dance with her - On2 no less. So I can now say that I had more than one Salsa dance On2 in London. Hooray. I thought I was decent given my limited repertoire. Over the course of the evening, two Cha Cha were played, and I managed to get dance for one of them. More On2 practice - good news all over! I tried to find someone for the second Cha Cha for some time but no luck.
The room was very warm and crowded. It was not quite the sauna level steamy hot as it had gotten in the south side of the hotel, but it certainly did not make for an optimal dancing condition. It also seemed like there was a bit of an imbalance and excess men compared to women - or at least such opinion was expressed to me by two different guys including Cyrille. My guess is that the numbers were very close to even, but that there might have been more men standing around rather than dancing compared to a more typical SOS evening.
A side note. I'm usually not in the habit of watching other people dance at SOS (although I suppose I did watch Ania last time - and I guess I also watched Eva briefly this evening along with Sasha - which in turn led to talk about Neeraj - really getting off topic here), but I spotted a really stylish Japanese lead tonight and pointed him out to Cyrille. I ended up talking to the Japanese guy briefly - alas he said he's going back to Asia shortly. Probably the biggest name among out-of-town guests I spotted visiting SOS tonight was Emma Moore.
Music was alright considering that Amir was not the DJ. Only about 1/3 of the songs made me not want to dance, and luckily I avoided dancing to pretty much all of them. On the other hand, I danced to at least 90% of the songs which sounded good to me. Cyrille was less lucky - he got stuck dancing to several lame songs.
The only time I was put in a bad position because of the song was when I finally got around to dancing with Sasha - supposedly On2. I knew I was in trouble as soon as I heard the beginning of the song. I should and perhaps might have begged to dance On1 except Sasha said, "You have to dance On2. This is perfect for it." Perhaps - but I also had some fantastic time dancing On1 to this song. Anyhow, it was a disaster and it was all my fault. I was terrible and was trying things I had no business leading given I really had no idea what I was doing. I was off time so often. It was ridiculous, and I thought I was quite decent earlier with Lise and with Cha Cha. In any case, I'm really hoping that help in on the way - less than a week away.
At the end of the evening (11 because of change of venue), the four of us got around to talking again. I noted that I never saw Cyrille dancing with Sasha. Sasha was like, "Yeah! What happened?" "Well... Next week." "You'll be in France next week!" "Oh yeah." "Too bad about this Friday." "We'll have to think about going to Guildford sometime." "I suppose I'm probably here next week. What about you?" "Well, it would depend on my ride."
On the drive back, the subject of Guildford came up again, and I was surprised when I heard the instructor's name again from Cyrille. I must have misheard it because I recall saying something like, "I don't remember that name," when Sasha or Lise named him. The instructor? Marchant Birch! Now it made perfect sense that Cyrille responded, "You are so lucky." I completely agree - Salsa dancers living in Guildford (tsk. tsk.) indeed are very lucky. We agreed that we definitely should try to make it to one of big events at Guildford sometime even if it's quite far away - only 20 minutes off M25 (haha).
I think it was Friday when Cyrille asked me if I was going to SOS today. He said he wanted to dance with Sasha again. Who doesn't? On our drive there, I warned him that I don't always see Sasha at SOS - certainly not every week and probably not even once a month.
Thus it was a somewhat of surprise - a very pleasant one I might add - when we entered the north side of Royal Sonesta Hotel (where SOS was moved to once again for reasons I never bothered to find out) and spotted Sasha at the far corner. So with Cyrille in tow I walked over to say hello to Sasha and her Flemish friend Lise, whom I had met and danced couple of times at Scala last weekend.
Naturally the topic of conversation drifted to On2 and about where Sasha (and Lise too it turned out) learned Salsa. I say naturally only because the only time I ever danced Salsa On2 in London was with Sasha. Anyhow the place turned out to be Guildford where there was some big-name teacher whose name I did not catch but Cyrille recognized. Apparently the Salsa scene is quite good in Guildford, and they suggested that we could visit this Friday for some big event being organized in Guildford. Remembering that we have some other obligation (which presumably will be revealed in good time), we expressed regret at not being able to go.
Apparently it was first time at SOS for Lise, and I ended up having my (and her) first dance with her - On2 no less. So I can now say that I had more than one Salsa dance On2 in London. Hooray. I thought I was decent given my limited repertoire. Over the course of the evening, two Cha Cha were played, and I managed to get dance for one of them. More On2 practice - good news all over! I tried to find someone for the second Cha Cha for some time but no luck.
The room was very warm and crowded. It was not quite the sauna level steamy hot as it had gotten in the south side of the hotel, but it certainly did not make for an optimal dancing condition. It also seemed like there was a bit of an imbalance and excess men compared to women - or at least such opinion was expressed to me by two different guys including Cyrille. My guess is that the numbers were very close to even, but that there might have been more men standing around rather than dancing compared to a more typical SOS evening.
A side note. I'm usually not in the habit of watching other people dance at SOS (although I suppose I did watch Ania last time - and I guess I also watched Eva briefly this evening along with Sasha - which in turn led to talk about Neeraj - really getting off topic here), but I spotted a really stylish Japanese lead tonight and pointed him out to Cyrille. I ended up talking to the Japanese guy briefly - alas he said he's going back to Asia shortly. Probably the biggest name among out-of-town guests I spotted visiting SOS tonight was Emma Moore.
Music was alright considering that Amir was not the DJ. Only about 1/3 of the songs made me not want to dance, and luckily I avoided dancing to pretty much all of them. On the other hand, I danced to at least 90% of the songs which sounded good to me. Cyrille was less lucky - he got stuck dancing to several lame songs.
The only time I was put in a bad position because of the song was when I finally got around to dancing with Sasha - supposedly On2. I knew I was in trouble as soon as I heard the beginning of the song. I should and perhaps might have begged to dance On1 except Sasha said, "You have to dance On2. This is perfect for it." Perhaps - but I also had some fantastic time dancing On1 to this song. Anyhow, it was a disaster and it was all my fault. I was terrible and was trying things I had no business leading given I really had no idea what I was doing. I was off time so often. It was ridiculous, and I thought I was quite decent earlier with Lise and with Cha Cha. In any case, I'm really hoping that help in on the way - less than a week away.
At the end of the evening (11 because of change of venue), the four of us got around to talking again. I noted that I never saw Cyrille dancing with Sasha. Sasha was like, "Yeah! What happened?" "Well... Next week." "You'll be in France next week!" "Oh yeah." "Too bad about this Friday." "We'll have to think about going to Guildford sometime." "I suppose I'm probably here next week. What about you?" "Well, it would depend on my ride."
On the drive back, the subject of Guildford came up again, and I was surprised when I heard the instructor's name again from Cyrille. I must have misheard it because I recall saying something like, "I don't remember that name," when Sasha or Lise named him. The instructor? Marchant Birch! Now it made perfect sense that Cyrille responded, "You are so lucky." I completely agree - Salsa dancers living in Guildford (tsk. tsk.) indeed are very lucky. We agreed that we definitely should try to make it to one of big events at Guildford sometime even if it's quite far away - only 20 minutes off M25 (haha).
A paradigm shift for Friday (or a passing fad?)
June 1, 2007
When Cyrille called to see if I was headed to Club Salsa (around 10:30), I did not bother asking who else was coming. I thought it would be better to keep expectations down and it would be more fun to have some surprises. The group that showed up included Cyrille, Zern, Euvian, Mimi and a few friends of Euvian and Zern including a French girl whom I apparently met before.
It was an okay night aside from seemingly running short of options quite early in the evening. One Cha Cha was danced with the girl Johnny is training - it took about half minute to switch her to On2 but there was no problem staying On2 once it was established. Overall control of lead, etc seemed to be in fairly good shape for me. I was using a very stiff frame when dancing with beginner/improvers - I think it might be a decent approach at least some of the time. No On2 dance with Mimi tonight - only about 2 2/3 (incl. Un Verano En Nueva York, which she claimed she disliked) with her in fact while Cyrille might have tripled that number.
Music was not bad. Good aspects included relative freshness of song selections and occasional and welcome slow or relaxed songs. Although Cyrille occasionally said he didn't like this or that song, he also indicated that he enjoyed the Friday atmosphere more lately especially compared to last year - more people there for dancing rather than heavy drinking, etc - generally a younger crowd too.
When Cyrille called to see if I was headed to Club Salsa (around 10:30), I did not bother asking who else was coming. I thought it would be better to keep expectations down and it would be more fun to have some surprises. The group that showed up included Cyrille, Zern, Euvian, Mimi and a few friends of Euvian and Zern including a French girl whom I apparently met before.
It was an okay night aside from seemingly running short of options quite early in the evening. One Cha Cha was danced with the girl Johnny is training - it took about half minute to switch her to On2 but there was no problem staying On2 once it was established. Overall control of lead, etc seemed to be in fairly good shape for me. I was using a very stiff frame when dancing with beginner/improvers - I think it might be a decent approach at least some of the time. No On2 dance with Mimi tonight - only about 2 2/3 (incl. Un Verano En Nueva York, which she claimed she disliked) with her in fact while Cyrille might have tripled that number.
Music was not bad. Good aspects included relative freshness of song selections and occasional and welcome slow or relaxed songs. Although Cyrille occasionally said he didn't like this or that song, he also indicated that he enjoyed the Friday atmosphere more lately especially compared to last year - more people there for dancing rather than heavy drinking, etc - generally a younger crowd too.
A familiar CD or two
May 31, 2007
My old laptop sprang back to life, so I spent a little time playing with it. It's so old (5+ years) that I have no regret about getting a new one, but retrieving a small number of files I failed to back up was useful - more or less.
Between this and that, I only managed to get to Club Salsa shortly after 10. I was amused to hear a very familiar sounding CD - the one Vishal had been using a lot in recent months - the one with Micaela, Thinking Of You, Margarita, Montuno Street, Tambo, Temba Tumba Timba, Chin Chon Chow, etc. Apparently it was Sally's compilation - or so I learned when I suggested to Sally to skip the songs after Los Van Van in this particular CD.
Cyrille was a surprise no-show once again. Ivan arrived even later than I did. It felt like Ivan also left early, but perhaps it was no earlier than usual. Generally it felt like there was a relative shortage of leads tonight even though it's possible to say that there also was a good number of missing followers for reasons known and unknown to me. I thought I also thought pretty much everyone danced less than usual or perhaps practicing more instead of dancing. Sergio should be back in two weeks and might get some people to show up more consistently.
I danced a little over a dozen times with at least ten people. I was on a pretty good form - probably having a nice aftereffect of a decent Scala outing. No doubt things were also helped by my partners in seemingly receptive mood. I got one practice On2 - Cha Cha. I danced with Zhenzhi, and I thought we did quite well although the length of the song became a little problematic - I think it was the Wayne Gorbea song from the other day. The only time I came close to getting annoyed was when the old 40's or 50's version of Mambo Diablo came on, and there was no perfect dance partner available for the song. This CD probably contains La Pelota (Ray Barretto), Tumba Palo Cucuye (Wayne Gorbea), Pedregal (Justo Betancourt), Mambo Diablo (oldest of three Tito Puente versions I know of), Picadillo (Cal Tjader & Eddie Palmieri) among others. I had a dance with Sally near the end after spotting Zern dancing with her - I seem to recall seeing her dancing a lot more than usual tonight (I guess she was an exception to the trend I mentioned earlier).
I ran into yet another person from work - I didn't recognize him from either Salsa or work, but he apparently was not a first-timer.
My old laptop sprang back to life, so I spent a little time playing with it. It's so old (5+ years) that I have no regret about getting a new one, but retrieving a small number of files I failed to back up was useful - more or less.
Between this and that, I only managed to get to Club Salsa shortly after 10. I was amused to hear a very familiar sounding CD - the one Vishal had been using a lot in recent months - the one with Micaela, Thinking Of You, Margarita, Montuno Street, Tambo, Temba Tumba Timba, Chin Chon Chow, etc. Apparently it was Sally's compilation - or so I learned when I suggested to Sally to skip the songs after Los Van Van in this particular CD.
Cyrille was a surprise no-show once again. Ivan arrived even later than I did. It felt like Ivan also left early, but perhaps it was no earlier than usual. Generally it felt like there was a relative shortage of leads tonight even though it's possible to say that there also was a good number of missing followers for reasons known and unknown to me. I thought I also thought pretty much everyone danced less than usual or perhaps practicing more instead of dancing. Sergio should be back in two weeks and might get some people to show up more consistently.
I danced a little over a dozen times with at least ten people. I was on a pretty good form - probably having a nice aftereffect of a decent Scala outing. No doubt things were also helped by my partners in seemingly receptive mood. I got one practice On2 - Cha Cha. I danced with Zhenzhi, and I thought we did quite well although the length of the song became a little problematic - I think it was the Wayne Gorbea song from the other day. The only time I came close to getting annoyed was when the old 40's or 50's version of Mambo Diablo came on, and there was no perfect dance partner available for the song. This CD probably contains La Pelota (Ray Barretto), Tumba Palo Cucuye (Wayne Gorbea), Pedregal (Justo Betancourt), Mambo Diablo (oldest of three Tito Puente versions I know of), Picadillo (Cal Tjader & Eddie Palmieri) among others. I had a dance with Sally near the end after spotting Zern dancing with her - I seem to recall seeing her dancing a lot more than usual tonight (I guess she was an exception to the trend I mentioned earlier).
I ran into yet another person from work - I didn't recognize him from either Salsa or work, but he apparently was not a first-timer.
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