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.