Expanding circle?

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.