... 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.