Rousing from slumber

September 10, 2007

Let’s just say I had time to kill and not a lot of ideas. In any case I thought it might be interesting to see how I would view these classes now after a long break from it. Apparently Joe was away last week visiting New York – buying new music and taking classes with Eddie Torres, etc. The teaching line-up today was Joe, Dani and Olga.

Intermediate with Joe

1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL switch to R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 connect L-L over R-R open break into simple Copa fake
1,2,3,5,6,7 Mambo jazz into 1 1/2 outside turn (travelling clockwise) L-L high and touch-and-go low for R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns around about 1/2 counterclockwise with R-R connected throughout (ahead on 1 and over lead’s head on 2,3) and L-L for shoulder drop-catch of sort (needs to step forward on 1) – leader is positioned behind and to right of follower by 3 – lead follower to 1 1/2 clockwise turn ending with L-L hat for leader

Here we ended with getting back to closed hold. I think something more might have been planned but it was not revealed. A good one to practice could be a CBL with keeping L-L connection throughout and with free R hand going behind follower’s back first then over follower’s head as leader turns full counterclockwise on the spot to get back to open L-L hold

1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL switch to R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 connect L-L over R-R open break into Copa start with both connections going over and leader overtaking on 2,3 – turn slightly towards follower (swivel clockwise) on 5 with L-L going to leader’s shoulder for touch-and-go during leader turning counterclockwise on 6,7 on L foot with R-R temporarily high to face follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 reconnect L-L over R-R open break and get behind follower (follower does not turn – very similar to Sergio’s routine from the last On2 class) – follower is moved to R on 5 with leader doing a hook step on 5 – leader moves ahead of follower from her L side on 6,7
1,2,3,5,6,7 did a simple half clockwise turn on 1,2,3 with R connecting with both of follower’s hands and going over lead’s head – sway on 5,6,7 (remember that follower’s on L-R-L for 5-6-7 so lead to R-L-R from lead’s perspective)

The pace of the class was for me very relaxed. However, I doubt anyone else in the class would have used the same word. It could have been useful to get a practice a faster music but then again only with very few of the followers there. I wasn’t paying much attention to other leads, but I suspect many found the material challenging enough with slowed music. Some of the followers were often omitting some basic steps and guilty of backleading. Other major deficiencies noted were slow follow responses and turns. Most were overly tense or stiff although this is not necessary a bad thing at this point. Probably at least half the followers probably did not know how to count the beats in the music – to me this is the biggest weakness of running many classes simultaneously. Basically a typical Salsa class one might see in London and elsewhere.

There were a few faces I had not seen in a long time tonight – Serena and Kate (and Kate’s friend). What a surprise! Kate and her friend were both home abroad – I think Romania and Russia (Far East). Neither apparently went out dancing in 2 months or so. It was exciting to see them back nevertheless. Summer break is finally ending, and the scene should become lively again - although I suppose there are people moving away for school (Hayden, Polly, Andrea) or work (Mimi) also. Hopefully there will be some influx of already experienced newcomers too - like the one expected from California. In any case the social for Monday seemed to remain the weakest among all Club Salsa nights dedicated for Salsa.

No On2 class today - Sergio's vacationing abroad. Will there be one next week? I'll have to gauge the interest level - if I could get myself inspired enough.