October 27, 2007
I arrived at the Chilford Hall around 11:40 after getting lost a bit in Linton. A printed map would have saved me a little trouble all day. Even then I only missed the first set of classes. Not surprisingly the schedule changed once again. In the first hour, I could have taken Intro to On2 (Oh So Salsa), Improver/Intermediate Cross Body On1 (Emma substituting for Moe), Beginner/Improver Cross Body On1 (Mauricio) or Basics (Pure Salsa – Charlotte)
The second hour choices were Basic Moves (Pure Salsa – Charlotte), Cross Body On1 Intermediate/Advanced (Oh So Salsa), Cuban Improver/Intermediate (Moe Flex), Cha Cha all Levels (Mauricio Reyes). I opted for Cuban with Moe.
Cuban basic (L in place, R to 2 o’clock, L together, R cross over L, L back, R together – for lead… mirror image for follower)
Dile Que No
Simple turn (prep on 7) for follower on 1,2,3 (clockwise)
Sombrero after Dile Que No
Enchufe
“Arm twisty move”
- 1,2,3,5,6,7 R-L drape follower’s head on R side with L-R straightened to keep her from turning prematurely, then lead her to stationary clockwise turn
- 1,2,3,5,6,7 L-R straight initially then arm lock over from outside, lower neck/head and slide L-R over head and down the back of lead to L waist (this bit is pretty neat, but what comes afterwards is anticlimactic)
- 1,2,3,5,6,7 … involved getting behind follower with counterclockwise turn with R-L going over follower’s head – follower’s arms are crossed in front of her stomach…
- 1,2,3,5,6,7 followed by something kitschy and clockwise turn for follower
During lunch, Mauricio gave truncated version of Musical Timing. I wasn’t paying deep attention but presumably the best part was the video of different musical instruments being played in typical Salsa timing.
The first afternoon classes were Body Movement for Beginner/Improvers (Pure Salsa – who?), Cross Body on 1 Intermediate/Advanced (Emma and Mushi), Cross Body On1 Improver/Intermediate (Oh So Salsa), and Rueda (Moe). I opted for Emma & Mushi for the same reason I used throughout the day – they were from furthest away and thus least accessible.
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL with leader doing hook turn and switching to R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break into crucifix – weight on R on 5 weight on L on 6 and sending follower forward
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns under L-L clockwise switching to R-L low (in class the inition clockwise turn was half until 3 and with hook turn on 5 for another half whereas I found myself doing full turn by 3 and doing a hook step on 5) – lead follower to free travelling 1 1/2 counterclockwise travelling turn to leader’s R side with leader turning another 1/2 clockwise to face the follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 collect follower on her way back on 2,3 to leader her into 1 1/2 standing travelling counterclockwise turn with L-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break into CBL with L-R toss switch to L-L and lead follower to 1 1/2 travelling counterclockwise turn with leader stepping to R on 7
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader continue to turn 1/2 counterclockwise with L-L extended to far left on 2 and barely clear follower to head on 3 to lead her into a full counterclockwise turn – stop her on 5 like a preparation and turn her into clockwise turn (double if possible)
The next hour offered Turn Pattern for Beginner/Improver (Pure Salsa), Men’s Styling (Mushi), Lady’s styling (Emma). I had taken Mushi’s class at Brit Fest almost 2 years ago so I knew that wasn’t going to be my cup of tea. I was sitting on the stage next to the biggest floor and chatting with Emma and Lindsey when the classes were divided. It turned out that Emma’s class started with about half hour of talking, so I felt rather comfortable staying where I was and listen for lecture part before departing shortly after the actual exercise started. The first thing Emma said was that no men picks someone as a dance partner because she styles well. This is ABSOLUTELY true. We don’t mind styling and might admire it a bit if it doesn’t interfere with our leads and if it looks good. Otherwise we are mostly annoyed with it – at least during the partner work segment. Also what appears to be styling is most often sound and clean basic.
The options for the last hour was Intro to Bachata (Pure Salsa), Cross Body On1 Intermediate/Advanced (Moe), Cross Body On1 Improver/Intermediate (Pure Salsa), Bachata (Mauricio). After a short internal debate between Mauricio and Moe, I opted for Moe once again.
1,2,3,5,6,7 Basic open
1,2,3,5,6,7 Basic into tight closed and fool around
1,2,3,5,6,7 continue to fool around but into CBL ending in open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to full clockwise turn with leader turn half counterclockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 bring hands down leader’s side one by one (L first with body/hip movement to that side on 1 and 3 and R next with movement to the same side on 5 and 7)
1,2,3,5,6,7 switch to L-L/R-R or something like it – lead follower to CBL move (I was using forward on 5 with R-R underarm but I don’t think that was how Moe was doing it) finish with L-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL (open break start?) and lead follower into wrap (L-L across follower’s stomach)
1,2,3,5,6,7 after allowing follower forward on 1, turn her around on 2,3 with leader turning 1/2 clockwise and positioned to L of follower side to side and lead follower to free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 360 CBL ending with L-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to a double turn with leader turning 1/2 counterclockwise and switching to R-R (like slam dunk)
1,2,3,5,6,7 bring follower forward with R-R going over and L-L connection made in front and lead follower to travelling counterclockwise turn into wrap (L-L across follower’s stomach)
1,2,3,5,6,7 switch both connections and lead follower to 1 1/2 stationary turn ending with R-L behind follower’s back
1,2,3,5,6,7 hand flick move followed by … turn for follower? I forget… Hand flicks trip me up.
I went to work to set things up for about half hour before picking up people back in Cambridge for dinner. After picking up Cyrille and Zhenzhi, we waited for Sebastian in his own car to catch up. It looked like Zern might beat us to the restaurant, but it did not happen. Even if he had, he would have been delayed by having to change, etc in his car after his Water Polo tournament. The restaurant by the way was The Three Tuns in Great Abington. Food was decent. Cyrille apparently liked their wine, but I did not have any.
We did not arrive until 9:30. First person I spotted was Sam, who was outside – not smoking but on the phone (incidentally the frequency of dances with her is seemingly becoming rarer than planetary collisions). Inside Moe was still leading the Rueda. Liam, who caught a ride with Rajiv instead and called Cyrille while we were still eating, found our group as Cyrille, Zern and Zhenzhi were going through the registration process.
I’ll start with the song selections by Mauricio – they were not as nice to my ears as his selections from the UK Congress. A few gems here and there, but too many lowbrow stuff made the better selections seem worse than they were.
Solo Se Que Tiene Nombre De Mujer (Angel Canales) – This was one of my two favorite songs I heard at the UK Congress. I’m not sure if I heard it for the first time then but it certainly was the first time I realized what the song was based on the familiarity of lead vocals and lyrics. My other favorite from the UK Congress as I mentioned on the drive back was Ublabadu by Fania All Stars with Hector Lavoe on vocals. I scanned the crowd for a prospective partner (preferably someone from outside Cambridge) before settling on Steph for the first high-energy dance of the evening for me.
Clasiquiendo Con Ruben (Afro Cuban All Stars) – I’m fairly sure this song has been played in Cambridge - most likely by Sally. It’s good, but not played every week (this by the way is a very good thing in my opinion - never overplay anything - even the best songs), like Noche De Salsa (Louie Ramirez & Ray De La Paz). I got a good outside partner for this one.
Besitos De Coco (Azabache) – I am 95% sure this song was played tonight. It’s fine, and I hadn’t heard it played before elsewhere.
Not sure… maybe Esta Cobardia (Frankie Ruiz) – It’s okay.
Que Bueno Baila Usted (Oscar D’Leon) – I think this was the fourth song of the evening. It’s fine, but it has been overplayed for at least 2-3 years (somewhat less so recently). I think I skipped it as I usually do these days.
Mentirosa (Louie Ramirez & Ray De La Paz) – No complaints.
La Lucha (La Excelencia – version feat. Shanny) – I have played this a few times It’s okay to dance to but nothing special.
La Salsa Nunca Se Acaba (Susie Hansen) – I know this one has a good number of fans in Cambridge. At least 3 different Cambridge DJs can be expected to play it often. I heard it Friday night too.
Hong Kong Mambo (extended version of Tito Puente) – I prefer the original version.
Show Me (Alex Wilson) – I’ve heard it twice, and I was tired of it after one hearing.
Mario (Africando) – This song is somewhat bland and lasts forever – 8 minutes and 38 seconds and felt twice as long. I think it was the second song of the evening – bad start. I did not dance to it and I am glad I skipped it. I did not realize how long the song was because it was the first time I heard it - I had heard of this song on the net with some people saying good things about it, but it obviously did not work for me.
Some Vish classics with fusing of songs, etc – I think this went on for about 3 songs. The latter two songs were real Vish classics of the blandest kind. I would have hated it. I was dancing with a beginner too. It would have been a disaster except she was pleasant and seemed to be having a good time, which made a world of difference.
Valio La Pena (Marc Anthony) – It’s decent for Marc Anthony. Like Salsa Nunca Se Acaba, I can expect to hear it from many different DJs in Cambridge.
Sun Sun Babae (version? possibly Tito Rodriguez except the Tito Rodriguez (Sr) I have is quite fast) - It was one of good versions in any case.
Emma & Mushi performance (actually Salsology Co) seemed more or less identical to the one from the Scala earlier this year – same costume too. It was alright as far as performances go. This was followed by Moe leading a line dance to the entire room for three songs. I decided to sit out after about a song and a quarter – I recall checking the time and seeing that it was midnight. Somewhere around there, Sally received a bouquet of flowers.
Aside from a few dances, I did not particularly enjoy myself until after midnight. There must have been around 12-20 decent followers from outside the Cambridge scene, and most of dances with them happened after midnight because I only knew a handful by their face. I did not get a chance to dance with all of them either (including Moe’s partner for his instructions and the pair from the Salsology Co.), but I’m guessing I still managed better than most others. Because the instances of Cambridge folks dancing with followers from the outside scene was rather rare, it was a bit tricky to spot decent outside followers until the crowd thinned out a little. I would guess that other than me Mark (a.k.a. Marx) was better than most others at overcoming shyness or whatever, and Ivan, Cyrille and Liam all ventured out a bit or knew the outsiders, but primarily I was looking at whom the good leads (including in some cases the DJ Mauricio) from elsewhere were dancing with. For me, they were like lifesavers – people who travel long distances for Salsa are there to dance with new people, etc rather than – something else (I don’t know what). Aside from Steph and Zhenzhi, all of my dances tonight were singletons, and I did not come close to dancing with everyone from the Cambridge scene. Then again, I had a distinct feeling that not everyone in Cambridge were looking to dance with other Cambridge folks – at least not all the time and not with everyone. That's not what this type of event is for anyway, right?
Return trip had Liam, Cyrille and Zhenzhi in my car. Both Zern and Sebastian left early I think - both were pretty tired by the start of the party. Liam talked about Cocinando (and Cocinando Suave) once again. We had this talk before although I don't recall him saying that he would like to dress like a pimp when dancing to Cocinando. Oh and I finally returned the speakers we used at YMCA to Liam tonight.
Postscript added Sunday evening. Vish just asked me to DJ this Friday all night. It could get really interesting with that crowd.
Ballroom, Mauro and Eva
October 26, 2007
I arrived at Club Salsa around 10:40. This time it was because I decided to go to another Ballroom class at St. Columba’s Hall for an extra reinforcement. It was a smaller class compared to Wednesday’s (about 8 couples) but with better rotation. The quality of followers was in my opinion no different than in the Wednesday fast track class.
Waltz
Nothing new. Whisk was introduced to the class.
Rumba
Same as Wednesday except after the second turn, the couples did a three set of backwards (for the lead) step before leading a spot turn (or 12 o’clock or 2 o’clock turn) for follower
Cha Cha
Same as Rumba except the backwards steps were replaced with three chassis. The instructor suggested that I make my chassis bigger.
Tango
The most puzzling part thus far for me had been timing. There are four beats to a measure. Quick is 1/2 beat. Slow is full beat. The moves are interrelated between measures but are not obvious 1,2,3,5,6,7 or 2,3,4,6,7,8 as in Rumba/Cha/Mambo/Salsa.
I’ll try to reconstruct the routine another time. This session helped to get me more comfortable with Ballroom dances after a long absence and still struggling a little to get back into thick of it.
Back to Salsa...
The show by Aiste and Mauro must have started around 11. Surprisingly Cyrille who indicated little interest in seeing the show was there – as was Sergio and Nat – whereas Zern who supposedly was keen to catch the performance was nowhere to be seen. Also present were many ex-team members like Haihan, Rajiv, Mark, Jane, Sam, Zhenzhi.
I quite enjoyed the dancing this evening. As well as dancing with the usual suspects, I danced quite a bit with a relative newcomer (new to the Cambridge scene but far from a beginner) as well as an old familiar who had been absent for few weeks. I also had a dance with Aiste, which was pretty good but far from being the highlight of the evening. The London folks stayed til about midnight.
The music was plenty enjoyable – at this point I don’t think I have a favorite DJ for Cambridge because advantages and disadvantages more or less balance out. This was not true say 10 months ago. Because I’m writing this a few days after (because of Salsa Del Este), I don’t remember the song selections as much, but here are some highlights. Swing La Moderna (Ray Barretto – actually, this was my selection rather than Vishal’s. Right after Aiste and Mauro’s performance, Vishal opted to do a farewell dance for Draco – first a Merengue than a Salsa, which I chose as the slow-medium after performance pick. He then said choose anything I could find. I flipped through his selections and was pleasantly surprised to find this song. It’s a great song. I don’t have it. I had to play it.), La Palomilla (Joe Cuba), Alabanciosa (Manny Oquendo), La Salsa Nunca Se Acaba (Susie Hansen), Pancho Cristal (Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz - Vish plays this practically every night, but this is a rare song, which I don’t mind hearing so often. I could enjoy it while dancing or while standing around listening.), Aguanile (Willie Colon & Hector Lavoe - Vish being a bit silly again). After 1 AM (close to 1:30 AM), Vishal went into a rare Reggaeton mode. It was like the old times. I ended up staying until around 2:40 along with Cyrille. Some others supposedly lasted til 3 AM. I think Vishal was determined to make people feel that he had the best party of the evening tonight.
Topic of the day - Operation Northwoods.
I arrived at Club Salsa around 10:40. This time it was because I decided to go to another Ballroom class at St. Columba’s Hall for an extra reinforcement. It was a smaller class compared to Wednesday’s (about 8 couples) but with better rotation. The quality of followers was in my opinion no different than in the Wednesday fast track class.
Waltz
Nothing new. Whisk was introduced to the class.
Rumba
Same as Wednesday except after the second turn, the couples did a three set of backwards (for the lead) step before leading a spot turn (or 12 o’clock or 2 o’clock turn) for follower
Cha Cha
Same as Rumba except the backwards steps were replaced with three chassis. The instructor suggested that I make my chassis bigger.
Tango
The most puzzling part thus far for me had been timing. There are four beats to a measure. Quick is 1/2 beat. Slow is full beat. The moves are interrelated between measures but are not obvious 1,2,3,5,6,7 or 2,3,4,6,7,8 as in Rumba/Cha/Mambo/Salsa.
I’ll try to reconstruct the routine another time. This session helped to get me more comfortable with Ballroom dances after a long absence and still struggling a little to get back into thick of it.
Back to Salsa...
The show by Aiste and Mauro must have started around 11. Surprisingly Cyrille who indicated little interest in seeing the show was there – as was Sergio and Nat – whereas Zern who supposedly was keen to catch the performance was nowhere to be seen. Also present were many ex-team members like Haihan, Rajiv, Mark, Jane, Sam, Zhenzhi.
I quite enjoyed the dancing this evening. As well as dancing with the usual suspects, I danced quite a bit with a relative newcomer (new to the Cambridge scene but far from a beginner) as well as an old familiar who had been absent for few weeks. I also had a dance with Aiste, which was pretty good but far from being the highlight of the evening. The London folks stayed til about midnight.
The music was plenty enjoyable – at this point I don’t think I have a favorite DJ for Cambridge because advantages and disadvantages more or less balance out. This was not true say 10 months ago. Because I’m writing this a few days after (because of Salsa Del Este), I don’t remember the song selections as much, but here are some highlights. Swing La Moderna (Ray Barretto – actually, this was my selection rather than Vishal’s. Right after Aiste and Mauro’s performance, Vishal opted to do a farewell dance for Draco – first a Merengue than a Salsa, which I chose as the slow-medium after performance pick. He then said choose anything I could find. I flipped through his selections and was pleasantly surprised to find this song. It’s a great song. I don’t have it. I had to play it.), La Palomilla (Joe Cuba), Alabanciosa (Manny Oquendo), La Salsa Nunca Se Acaba (Susie Hansen), Pancho Cristal (Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz - Vish plays this practically every night, but this is a rare song, which I don’t mind hearing so often. I could enjoy it while dancing or while standing around listening.), Aguanile (Willie Colon & Hector Lavoe - Vish being a bit silly again). After 1 AM (close to 1:30 AM), Vishal went into a rare Reggaeton mode. It was like the old times. I ended up staying until around 2:40 along with Cyrille. Some others supposedly lasted til 3 AM. I think Vishal was determined to make people feel that he had the best party of the evening tonight.
Topic of the day - Operation Northwoods.
Uninspired to think of a title
October 25, 2007
Liam was a surprise show once again. It was doubly amusing for me because I had been talking about him with Sergio earlier – I had predicted that he would not show up so much.
Some of the songs played by Haihan were Fuego A La Jicotea (Marvin Santiago – Steph asked Haihan and me about this song), Juana Pena (Willie Colon – I mistook it initially for Jazzy, which is the song preceding Juana Pena in the album El Juicio), Merecumbe (Los Titanes version), Usted Abuso (new-ish version with vibes and two vocalists – it might be Son Boricua but this is a complete guess), Clave Mambo (Joe Cuba Sextet), No Critiques (Manny Oquendo – when I tried to play this last year, it wasn’t particularly popular… now it looks popular enough with people staying behind late), a Chivirico Davila song (I don't think it was Cuando Tu Quieras), Pico Swing (New Swing Sextet), Contigo (Cache). Earlier in the evening, Sally played Periodico De Ayer (Hector Lavoe – not exactly a fast song in normal situation with bpm of 187-195 but slowed down by over 3% for the early crowd) and La Llave (Grupo Latin Vibe) among others. No big complaints on the music aspect of the evening.
For me it was another underwhelming Thursday, which is becoming something of a habit. It has been difficult to get into the groove because stringing together several dances in a row at high level has not been possible. Some people have been scarce as has been the case for few weeks while some others did not look interested. It’s a minor problem if someone doesn’t dance with me in particular (it affects only 2 people), but it’s worse if people don’t dance with pretty much everyone else too (they get into habit of not dancing and lose stamina for regular evenings as well as big parties and discourage others with trickle-down-effect affecting secondary and even tertiary people in degrees of separation). Maybe it always was like this except we have lost some people who really enjoy dancing for dancing's sake - like Mimi and like Nina.
Maybe I suck, and I don’t know what I could do so that I won’t suck as much.
No On2 except one Cha Cha. It has been like this for a while now. One On2 dance an evening is not without value but is far from enough – I can’t get myself to motivate myself for one when getting a good workout with On1 seems so difficult.
Liam was a surprise show once again. It was doubly amusing for me because I had been talking about him with Sergio earlier – I had predicted that he would not show up so much.
Some of the songs played by Haihan were Fuego A La Jicotea (Marvin Santiago – Steph asked Haihan and me about this song), Juana Pena (Willie Colon – I mistook it initially for Jazzy, which is the song preceding Juana Pena in the album El Juicio), Merecumbe (Los Titanes version), Usted Abuso (new-ish version with vibes and two vocalists – it might be Son Boricua but this is a complete guess), Clave Mambo (Joe Cuba Sextet), No Critiques (Manny Oquendo – when I tried to play this last year, it wasn’t particularly popular… now it looks popular enough with people staying behind late), a Chivirico Davila song (I don't think it was Cuando Tu Quieras), Pico Swing (New Swing Sextet), Contigo (Cache). Earlier in the evening, Sally played Periodico De Ayer (Hector Lavoe – not exactly a fast song in normal situation with bpm of 187-195 but slowed down by over 3% for the early crowd) and La Llave (Grupo Latin Vibe) among others. No big complaints on the music aspect of the evening.
For me it was another underwhelming Thursday, which is becoming something of a habit. It has been difficult to get into the groove because stringing together several dances in a row at high level has not been possible. Some people have been scarce as has been the case for few weeks while some others did not look interested. It’s a minor problem if someone doesn’t dance with me in particular (it affects only 2 people), but it’s worse if people don’t dance with pretty much everyone else too (they get into habit of not dancing and lose stamina for regular evenings as well as big parties and discourage others with trickle-down-effect affecting secondary and even tertiary people in degrees of separation). Maybe it always was like this except we have lost some people who really enjoy dancing for dancing's sake - like Mimi and like Nina.
Maybe I suck, and I don’t know what I could do so that I won’t suck as much.
No On2 except one Cha Cha. It has been like this for a while now. One On2 dance an evening is not without value but is far from enough – I can’t get myself to motivate myself for one when getting a good workout with On1 seems so difficult.
Ballroom Improver 3
October 24, 2007
Quickstep
Same move for the third week in a row. I think I have it now.
R step diag forw-L chassis to L (open-close-open)
R step diag back-L chassis to L
R step outside diag forw-L lock-step chassis
R step turn as unit about quarter clockwise chassis to L [name?]
L step back turn as unit about quarter clockwise chassis to R
R step outside diag forw-L lock-step chassis
[R step turn as unit about quarter clockwise chassis to L – turn as unit about quarter clockwise and chassis R – turn as unit about quarter clockwise and chassis to L --- I think all this happens in about 2 measures perhaps?]
finish with R step diag back-L chassis to L
Tango
s,s,q,q,s,q,q,s
L forw, R forw, L forw and start to turn clockwise as unit, R to side (now fully turned 1/4), start to turn another 1/4 and L behind R, R slightly behind L, L behind R (starting to turn another 1/4), R together
L forw, R forw, L forw, R to R facing L, L slightly forw (towards old L), R forw, L forw, R together
L forw, R to R facing L, L slightly forw (q), R forw across (q), L forw across and turn 1/4 and weight transfer to R (s), rock back on L and turn, rock forw on R and turn, rock back on L and turn (s), R back, L to side, R together
Jive
Getting the basic back was difficult enough. Timing for thing learned in the beginner class almost 2 years ago was very challenging
basic is something like L cross behind R (slow), chassis to L, pause, chassis to R, pause
new move was something like this
starting from R-R hold
slow step, into cuddle-like position and chassis getting around on L (pause) R step back at start of second chassis while unwinding follower
Some people don’t seem to change partners – I think they came with a partner. Thus in three weeks of classes, I have had the same five partners – one of whom was there for the first week only and another one being an instructor’s assistant type.
This is how I would rank the 8 dances thus far. I generally don’t like the fast dances – I either find them challenging and/or tiring.
Waltz, Cha Cha, Rumba, Foxtrot – I like these (with caveat about 2 vs 6 issues about Cha) and feel comfortable with them (with caveat I have done very little Foxtrot to this point)
Samba – neutral (and I haven’t done it this term)
Tango – I had been interested more in Argentine rather than Ballroom so I am a bit biased against it.
Quickstep – This has been my least favorite for a while (although I seemed to be getting better).
Jive – I find this simply tiring. Too energetic.
Generally it seems like everything is more difficult than it seemed 2 years ago. Perhaps it is because my standard of what is okay or acceptable has changed in past 2 years. Thus far I’m not enjoying these classes as much.
By the way, the instructor today was a substitute. I rather liked him for emphasizing better basics. Words, such as weight transfer, were like music to my ears.
Quickstep
Same move for the third week in a row. I think I have it now.
R step diag forw-L chassis to L (open-close-open)
R step diag back-L chassis to L
R step outside diag forw-L lock-step chassis
R step turn as unit about quarter clockwise chassis to L [name?]
L step back turn as unit about quarter clockwise chassis to R
R step outside diag forw-L lock-step chassis
[R step turn as unit about quarter clockwise chassis to L – turn as unit about quarter clockwise and chassis R – turn as unit about quarter clockwise and chassis to L --- I think all this happens in about 2 measures perhaps?]
finish with R step diag back-L chassis to L
Tango
s,s,q,q,s,q,q,s
L forw, R forw, L forw and start to turn clockwise as unit, R to side (now fully turned 1/4), start to turn another 1/4 and L behind R, R slightly behind L, L behind R (starting to turn another 1/4), R together
L forw, R forw, L forw, R to R facing L, L slightly forw (towards old L), R forw, L forw, R together
L forw, R to R facing L, L slightly forw (q), R forw across (q), L forw across and turn 1/4 and weight transfer to R (s), rock back on L and turn, rock forw on R and turn, rock back on L and turn (s), R back, L to side, R together
Jive
Getting the basic back was difficult enough. Timing for thing learned in the beginner class almost 2 years ago was very challenging
basic is something like L cross behind R (slow), chassis to L, pause, chassis to R, pause
new move was something like this
starting from R-R hold
slow step, into cuddle-like position and chassis getting around on L (pause) R step back at start of second chassis while unwinding follower
Some people don’t seem to change partners – I think they came with a partner. Thus in three weeks of classes, I have had the same five partners – one of whom was there for the first week only and another one being an instructor’s assistant type.
This is how I would rank the 8 dances thus far. I generally don’t like the fast dances – I either find them challenging and/or tiring.
Waltz, Cha Cha, Rumba, Foxtrot – I like these (with caveat about 2 vs 6 issues about Cha) and feel comfortable with them (with caveat I have done very little Foxtrot to this point)
Samba – neutral (and I haven’t done it this term)
Tango – I had been interested more in Argentine rather than Ballroom so I am a bit biased against it.
Quickstep – This has been my least favorite for a while (although I seemed to be getting better).
Jive – I find this simply tiring. Too energetic.
Generally it seems like everything is more difficult than it seemed 2 years ago. Perhaps it is because my standard of what is okay or acceptable has changed in past 2 years. Thus far I’m not enjoying these classes as much.
By the way, the instructor today was a substitute. I rather liked him for emphasizing better basics. Words, such as weight transfer, were like music to my ears.
Salsa Del Este Revised Schedule
October 22, 2007
The revised schedule for Salsa Del Este is available on multiple sites including now here (click on image above to enlarge). It's a very interesting and full schedule - with caveat that it is subject to change - hopefully nothing too drastic or nothing too last minute. In addition to better-known guest teachers like Emma Moore, Mushi Noor and Moe Flex, the DJ Mauricio Reyes seems to have taken on fairly extensive teaching duties. Also there is a Cambridge teaching debut of Chris and Lindsey under the company name Oh So Salsa (with caveat that their debut on Tuesday at Innocence Night Club in Newmarket will precede Salsa Del Este by several days). Good luck to everyone involved, and see many of you there.
The revised schedule for Salsa Del Este is available on multiple sites including now here (click on image above to enlarge). It's a very interesting and full schedule - with caveat that it is subject to change - hopefully nothing too drastic or nothing too last minute. In addition to better-known guest teachers like Emma Moore, Mushi Noor and Moe Flex, the DJ Mauricio Reyes seems to have taken on fairly extensive teaching duties. Also there is a Cambridge teaching debut of Chris and Lindsey under the company name Oh So Salsa (with caveat that their debut on Tuesday at Innocence Night Club in Newmarket will precede Salsa Del Este by several days). Good luck to everyone involved, and see many of you there.
I guess there was some Salsa
October 20, 2007
Rajiv's housewarming party had some Salsa dancing especially early on before going into RnB mode presumably to be all-inclusive. I managed a couple of dances with Salsa - once on the carpet and once in the conservatory. The real highlight for me though was catching up with people I hadn't seen much recently like Cristelle and Sam. Zern and Haihan provided the most entertainment.
An exchange I can recall was a talk about people looking more attractive in Club Salsa than outside. One old theory (which did not come up tonight) I heard years ago involved size of the iris in darkened environment. In any case, this isn't something that has affected me - I could think of many instances where I thought someone looked nicer outside the Salsa environment whereas I cannot think of too many contrary cases. Generally I think everyone looks about the same independent of the setting.
Rajiv's housewarming party had some Salsa dancing especially early on before going into RnB mode presumably to be all-inclusive. I managed a couple of dances with Salsa - once on the carpet and once in the conservatory. The real highlight for me though was catching up with people I hadn't seen much recently like Cristelle and Sam. Zern and Haihan provided the most entertainment.
An exchange I can recall was a talk about people looking more attractive in Club Salsa than outside. One old theory (which did not come up tonight) I heard years ago involved size of the iris in darkened environment. In any case, this isn't something that has affected me - I could think of many instances where I thought someone looked nicer outside the Salsa environment whereas I cannot think of too many contrary cases. Generally I think everyone looks about the same independent of the setting.
Same old, same old
October 19, 2007
I arrived around 10:30 so I did not see how the class went. Cyrille was slightly ahead of me. Fairly large contingent of Thursday crowd was there - incl. Sally and Chris (on Salsa Del Este business), Jane and Mark. No Johnny or Serap, but Sharon and Kate and co. were all there. Rajiv was there too. Joe and Olga left shortly after I arrived. Zern, Andrea and Polly all trickled in later. There were more than a couple of respectable new follows as well. Yet for all that, it was another lead-heavy evening, and I was bore and uninspired for much of it. It was a fine Friday night but nothing special - I suppose it could be a letdown from the Congress weekend.
Vishal played over ten Bachata, which had to be a record number. I danced to a couple of them but I couldn't really get myself up for it so I was rather bad at it. I think a part of the problem is I'm bored with my repertoire. Another part is that I'm not sure where I want to go with it. It's a similar story with Salsa too. I know I could dance in such and such way decently enough, but I get bored dancing with such ways. Yet breaking out of the mold is difficult especially with people who are familiar with me and have fixed preconception of how I lead/dance/move/etc. Because I don't necessarily know where I want to go with it all, it's doubly difficult. I suppose this is not very different from trying to break in new and complicated moves.
An aside - I met and chatted with one of my father's former student this afternoon.
I arrived around 10:30 so I did not see how the class went. Cyrille was slightly ahead of me. Fairly large contingent of Thursday crowd was there - incl. Sally and Chris (on Salsa Del Este business), Jane and Mark. No Johnny or Serap, but Sharon and Kate and co. were all there. Rajiv was there too. Joe and Olga left shortly after I arrived. Zern, Andrea and Polly all trickled in later. There were more than a couple of respectable new follows as well. Yet for all that, it was another lead-heavy evening, and I was bore and uninspired for much of it. It was a fine Friday night but nothing special - I suppose it could be a letdown from the Congress weekend.
Vishal played over ten Bachata, which had to be a record number. I danced to a couple of them but I couldn't really get myself up for it so I was rather bad at it. I think a part of the problem is I'm bored with my repertoire. Another part is that I'm not sure where I want to go with it. It's a similar story with Salsa too. I know I could dance in such and such way decently enough, but I get bored dancing with such ways. Yet breaking out of the mold is difficult especially with people who are familiar with me and have fixed preconception of how I lead/dance/move/etc. Because I don't necessarily know where I want to go with it all, it's doubly difficult. I suppose this is not very different from trying to break in new and complicated moves.
An aside - I met and chatted with one of my father's former student this afternoon.
Haihan at the DJ booth
October 18, 2007
The decent follow from Friday two weeks ago was back so I had a couple more dances with her. Ivan noticed, but Cyrille was immobile. Another good follow came with a big group of Shiraz. This time I did get Cyrille to act. Polly was back sooner than expected - supposedly her ankles have improved fairly quickly, but she did not stay long. Steph's Berlin friend was here for a visit. I confirmed my guess about the identity of Sean's Emily.
Haihan was the DJ for a big part of the evening. He played a lot of nice pleasant songs - many not often heard here - and made for a welcome addition to another source of good music. His songs included Buenas Noches Che Che (version unknown), Agua Del Clavelito (version unknown), Cuando Tea Vea (SHO), Perdoname (Gilberto Santa Rosa but different version than one I have), Muneca (was it Eddie Palmieri or was it a softer cover version?), Clave Mambo (Joe Cuba), some Son Boricua songs I don't have with Jimmy Sabater in vocals. For the most part, he stayed away from fast songs.
As it has been the case for past several weeks, Nicola and Lindsey were preoccupied with selling tickets for Salsa Del Este. One of them asked me if I knew how difficult it was to get all the named personalities (i.e. Emma Moore, Mushi Noor, Moe Flex, Mauricio Reyes). I would guess that getting those names are not super difficult (based upon my experience with Tony Lara), but I would also guess that the bigger difficulty is to get enough people to show up to those events to make the event profitable.
Tomorrow is the debut of Latin Collective on Friday. They are following it next week with a showcase by Mauro Casali and Aiste Kalabuhova. An interesting development is that there may be as many as three different Salsa nights operating on Friday nights as of next week. Johnny and Serap are combining efforts with Theodore to start a new Friday night regular event called Cambridge Copacabana at St. Paul's School (which incidentally is where my Wednesday Ballroom class is held). Meanwhile Sue Carillo has started a Cuban Salsa night at St. Columba's Hall as of October 12 according to latindance.fsnet.co.uk site. So I guess we'll have a glut of Friday events and divisions among dancers for at least a little while.
The decent follow from Friday two weeks ago was back so I had a couple more dances with her. Ivan noticed, but Cyrille was immobile. Another good follow came with a big group of Shiraz. This time I did get Cyrille to act. Polly was back sooner than expected - supposedly her ankles have improved fairly quickly, but she did not stay long. Steph's Berlin friend was here for a visit. I confirmed my guess about the identity of Sean's Emily.
Haihan was the DJ for a big part of the evening. He played a lot of nice pleasant songs - many not often heard here - and made for a welcome addition to another source of good music. His songs included Buenas Noches Che Che (version unknown), Agua Del Clavelito (version unknown), Cuando Tea Vea (SHO), Perdoname (Gilberto Santa Rosa but different version than one I have), Muneca (was it Eddie Palmieri or was it a softer cover version?), Clave Mambo (Joe Cuba), some Son Boricua songs I don't have with Jimmy Sabater in vocals. For the most part, he stayed away from fast songs.
As it has been the case for past several weeks, Nicola and Lindsey were preoccupied with selling tickets for Salsa Del Este. One of them asked me if I knew how difficult it was to get all the named personalities (i.e. Emma Moore, Mushi Noor, Moe Flex, Mauricio Reyes). I would guess that getting those names are not super difficult (based upon my experience with Tony Lara), but I would also guess that the bigger difficulty is to get enough people to show up to those events to make the event profitable.
Tomorrow is the debut of Latin Collective on Friday. They are following it next week with a showcase by Mauro Casali and Aiste Kalabuhova. An interesting development is that there may be as many as three different Salsa nights operating on Friday nights as of next week. Johnny and Serap are combining efforts with Theodore to start a new Friday night regular event called Cambridge Copacabana at St. Paul's School (which incidentally is where my Wednesday Ballroom class is held). Meanwhile Sue Carillo has started a Cuban Salsa night at St. Columba's Hall as of October 12 according to latindance.fsnet.co.uk site. So I guess we'll have a glut of Friday events and divisions among dancers for at least a little while.
Ballroom Improver 2
October 17, 2007
I'm going to keep this one free of unnecessary clutter.
Quickstep
Repeat of last week and still a bit problematic...
step diagonal, lock step
step diagonal, face partner and chassis (thus having turned 3/8 clockwise
step back with L(!), chassis to R side (!) turning 1/4 clockwise
step across forw with R, chassis to L turning ~1/4 clockwise
pause then chassis to R turning clockwise
pause then chassis to L turning clockwise
step diagonal back with R, then chassis to L
Tango
Is it quick,quick,slow,slow,slow,quick,quick or maybe quick,quick,quick,slow,slow,quick,quick?
q,q,s,s,s,q,q L forw, R forw, L forw as turn as unit 1/4 counterclockwise, R to R side, L cross wide behind R, R back while as turn as unit 1/2 counterclockwise, L together (or is it slightly to L?)
so overall change is 1/4 turn clockwise (going against the crowd!)
q,q,s,s,s,q,q L forw, R forw, L forw, R to R, L to L pointing to L and face L, R forw having changed directions to 1/4 clockwise (past L), R slight to R facing follower again
no change in direction
Cha Cha
Repeat of last week once again... slight change in note taking...
2,3,chassis,6,7,chassis lead follower to clockwise turn
2,3,chassis,6,7,chassis New Yorker followed by back-to-back basic (end with patty-cake chassis - maybe that's the signal? for next part?)
2,3,chassis,6,7,chassis New Yorker but instead of going back to normal position move to right bringing follower with you for guapea-like (with patty-cake) then chassis
2,3,chassis,6,7,chassis New Yorker ending with both turning on spot then lead follower to clockwise turn
2,3,chassis,6,7,chassis essentially cross body lead (forward step for leader on 2&)
2,3,chassis,6,7,chassis New Yorker standard going both ways before another spot turn into next 2,3
Rumba
Repeat of last week and new move (below)
2,3,4,6,7,8 forward basic and then into closed hold, then hook step on 6 turn body ~1/4 clockwise, more or less on spot on 7, turn another 1/4 clockwise on 8
2,3,4,6,7,8 forward (behind follower’s feet?) turning 1/4 clockwise on 2 and another 1/4 turn between 3 and 4 followed by back basic
This is not so bad, but it is plenty problematic. Actually I think this is going to be very difficult to get everything leadable. I'm talking about all of the dances.
I'm going to keep this one free of unnecessary clutter.
Quickstep
Repeat of last week and still a bit problematic...
step diagonal, lock step
step diagonal, face partner and chassis (thus having turned 3/8 clockwise
step back with L(!), chassis to R side (!) turning 1/4 clockwise
step across forw with R, chassis to L turning ~1/4 clockwise
pause then chassis to R turning clockwise
pause then chassis to L turning clockwise
step diagonal back with R, then chassis to L
Tango
Is it quick,quick,slow,slow,slow,quick,quick or maybe quick,quick,quick,slow,slow,quick,quick?
q,q,s,s,s,q,q L forw, R forw, L forw as turn as unit 1/4 counterclockwise, R to R side, L cross wide behind R, R back while as turn as unit 1/2 counterclockwise, L together (or is it slightly to L?)
so overall change is 1/4 turn clockwise (going against the crowd!)
q,q,s,s,s,q,q L forw, R forw, L forw, R to R, L to L pointing to L and face L, R forw having changed directions to 1/4 clockwise (past L), R slight to R facing follower again
no change in direction
Cha Cha
Repeat of last week once again... slight change in note taking...
2,3,chassis,6,7,chassis lead follower to clockwise turn
2,3,chassis,6,7,chassis New Yorker followed by back-to-back basic (end with patty-cake chassis - maybe that's the signal? for next part?)
2,3,chassis,6,7,chassis New Yorker but instead of going back to normal position move to right bringing follower with you for guapea-like (with patty-cake) then chassis
2,3,chassis,6,7,chassis New Yorker ending with both turning on spot then lead follower to clockwise turn
2,3,chassis,6,7,chassis essentially cross body lead (forward step for leader on 2&)
2,3,chassis,6,7,chassis New Yorker standard going both ways before another spot turn into next 2,3
Rumba
Repeat of last week and new move (below)
2,3,4,6,7,8 forward basic and then into closed hold, then hook step on 6 turn body ~1/4 clockwise, more or less on spot on 7, turn another 1/4 clockwise on 8
2,3,4,6,7,8 forward (behind follower’s feet?) turning 1/4 clockwise on 2 and another 1/4 turn between 3 and 4 followed by back basic
This is not so bad, but it is plenty problematic. Actually I think this is going to be very difficult to get everything leadable. I'm talking about all of the dances.
UK Congress 2007
October 12, 2007
The Drive
Traffic in Cambridge meant Zern and Euvian arrived even later than they said not to mention the original plan. We left from Cyrille’s workplace at 5:45 PM. Cyrille and Zern opted to take the back seat and proceeded to act like little children before falling asleep (or trying to do so).
Euvian played the navigator part for a slightly tricky alternate route connecting A1 and M25. There were some scary moments caused by a stopped car on a dual carriageway blocking half of our lane and with traffic zooming by and by some reckless driving by couple of other drivers.
When we stopped at the first rest stop on M3, Euvian learned that people were stuck in a bad traffic 10 miles outside Bournemouth. Thus we decided to eat dinner at the rest stop (KFC or Burger King) before proceeding. The traffic had cleared by the time we arrived in Bournemouth around 9 PM.
The playlist was mostly Salsa and Cha Cha but included some Jazz, Pop, Funk, Afro-cuban, Bachata, Bolero and even Edith Piaf.
Two Tickets
I picked up my band/bracelet for entry via Nicola at Sally’s Hotel (Hedley) while others were checking in. By the time I returned, checking in process at Kings Langley Hotel had not started yet for Cyrille or me. Immediately afterwards, I ended up rushing down to BIC to pick up the show tickets from Sebastian. This was a bit silly because I also ran into Sally on my way down to the BIC. I also had to get the tickets from the Saturday shows at another time.
No Battery
While I was changing, etc. I realized that I did not bring a power cord for my laptop, which was only half charged. Oh well. There goes the idea of having a full use of the computer this weekend. Ditto for daily updates on this blog.
Comedy Is Better than Paul Young, But Is It Necessary?
I probably missed about a quarter of the shows. No big loss. Only a few of the shows qualified as being engaging. In some ways I preferred the comedy routine in between shows even though they were dumb and sometimes cringe-worthy and the microphone problems were painful at times. I thought that as a one-time thing, it was better than listening to Paul Young drone on.
Friday Social
All week long I felt subpar with my dancing form, and the start of the evening had a tinge of malaise about it. However, the dances were good as was music and space. So by the end of the evening I was feeling great.
It was one of those rare days when everyone I asked for a dance said yes although I didn’t realize that this was the case until well after the fact. If anything this detracted from my enjoyment of dancing Saturday because I started thinking about it until a first no came about and then dwelt about it afterwards unnecessarily.
One of the main highlights was running into Marianne – first time since Blackpool. After another haircut (or however many), it was the shortest I have seen yet. The pair of dances with her tonight was the best two I had with her yet.
I also ran into Tony on my way out. He pointed out Claudia to me so I got to say hello to her too.
October 13, 2007
Saturday Workshops
My original plan was to go to about 2 workshops a day. Thanks to more enthusiastic roommates Cyrille and Spyros, I ended up going to the second workshop of the day at 10:45. I should have stuck to my original plan.
Cobo Brothers workshop was a fiasco. I doubt I would have had much luck with it in ideal conditions. With overcrowding and lack of decent partner switching scheme (I had one to start with for 10-15 minutes or so only), I gained zero material from it. I cannot recall how the routine went (this being written Monday), and I couldn’t care less.
Hacha Y Machete body movement class was the most enjoyable one from Saturday. The footwork was done to the clave as opposed to 1,2,3,5,6,7. One exercise had hip movement incorporated. Example (1) L cross over R and R to side R during first half of 2-3 clave followed by hip movement side-to-side (in-out-in) for the second half of the 2-3 clave. Mirror image would be R cross over L and L to side L during first half followed by hip movement side-to-side during second half. Example (2) had chest movement forward along with forward (actually side-forward) followed by chest movement inward/backward with in place step with rear foot. I’m a bit foggy on the actual footwork used but my best guess is that it involved cross forward footwork on 2 and in place with rear foot on 3 followed by the first foot returning to original position on 5, second foot in place on 6.5 and first foot in place on 8. I don’t recall if chest movement was called for during the second half of the clave but it seems possible and reasonable. Example (3) using primarily L foot would start with R foot step in place on 2, and then all with L foot tap in place on 3, tap forward on 5, tap in original spot on 6.5 and tap to side L on 8. I don’t recall any body movement involved here although the hand position (one in front at stomach level and the other in back) probably was discussed here.
I only stayed for about half of the Juan Matos shines workshop before becoming tired and leaving. The most memorable part was the line, “It’s not gay. It’s artistic.” The shine itself was not particularly memorable for me. Too long too. I won’t tax my brain trying to remember it all. I do remember bits of it, but I figure I’ll never use it anyway.
I decided to head back to Pavillion Ballroom early and check out Janet and Rafael’s Cuban workshop. The turn pattern did not seem very difficult. Janet seemed beyond casual about following the pattern, which was pitched to Intermediate On1. What was much more impressive was demonstration of body movement by Janet at the end of the class. She moved really well. I went to chat with Sally, Lindsey and Nicola afterwards and commented about it. I think they were more interested in getting me to say Janet is hot. Sure. She’s that too.
I had great hopes for the “Cha Cha” workshop to be taught by Adolpho and Melissa – more for it being Cha Cha partner work than any name recognition. Unfortunately it ended up being a footwork class. I also gave up on this maybe a third of the way through due to exhaustion. Really unfortunate, especially because I had Christina lined up as a prospective partner for this class.
So I found HYM class a decent exercise and everything else next to useless. I decided that the Pavillion Ballroom was very difficult place to learn anything with excessive crowding and too-low stage. I decided at this point that I would skip HYM partner work workshop – it’s bound to be even more crowded.
Saturday Afternoon Dance Competitions
After grabbing some sandwiches at a convenience store near my hotel, a group of us went back to watch the dance competitions including the heats for the couples. Originally I followed the group in this activity because of Cyrille, but by the time we entered the Windsor Hall, he was nowhere to be seen.
I ended up sitting with Vera separated from others in the group (I think Rico and Natalie were the last ones we lost contact with before finding a spot to sit). As expected and joked about moments before, Vera asked me if I had a chewing gum – to keep your mouth minty fresh. Like the last time at LDA social, I offered her a Listerine strip.
We watched last one of the heats for the couple competition as well as the semi-finals. The participants I recognized included Lee & Shelley and Claudia. I’m guessing both made the finals but I’m not certain. The other contestants were also very good. In many ways I thought watching the competition was more entertaining than most of the shows from Friday night.
Reggaeton team competition started with Serial Dancers – they had a guy sitting in a chair initially blindfolded and an actor impersonating a DJ. Four girls circled the blindfolded guy and danced around him – later without the blindfold. It ended with Tony in pimp suit coming to get the guy enjoying attention from the four girls and leaving the stage nonchalantly making little of the girls. It was pretty good, but the next act turned up the heat even more. Not sure how to describe it except that it had many explicit moments, which had me do a number of double takes and exchanging looks with Vera a few times. By comparison the third act was rated G – you could bring kids to watch it according to Vera. According to Spyros, the second team (the winners) originally had five girls rather than three and had to improvise when two girls cancelled.
Putting Your Feet Up
Back at the hotel afterwards and feeling quite tired, I decided to try to take a nap like Cyrille and Spyros. I found Cyrille lying down in his bed with his feet up against the bed headboard. His explanation was that cyclists do this all the time (say for 30 minutes) to battle heavy legs and that your legs feel much refreshed after such routine. I decided to give it a go and fell asleep in that position. Forty-five minutes later, I woke up still in the same position. I’m not sure if it worked. My legs were throbbing for few minutes. I have no idea if this routine was any more useful than simply lying down and napping.
Oriental Garden
I suggested a more authentic Chinese restaurant based upon recommendations from the Fongs. At the party were Cyrille, Liam, Haihan, Crystal, Ivan, Zern and later Sebastian. I should have remembered that I’m not a big fan of fun noodles. The duck option taken by 2-3 others seemed like a better option. One of the more amusing commentary involved invoking Jesus when a French rugby player Chabal was talked about. Liam of course.
Sweet Chariot
Rugby Union World Cup semi-finals. England versus France. Shamrock Pub. We were joined by Sylvia and her friends and later by Jane and Mark. Over one hour of standing up. Tiring. We missed first 5-10 minutes. The remainder of the first half was rather boring. The second half was better. There were some overzealous English couple, who decided to abuse Cyrille for being a French/Frog. Better for atmosphere was the singing. Swing low…
Saturday Show Spectacles
I arrived a little past 10:20 and missed 3-5 shows.
The calibre of shows was much higher tonight compared to Friday. Having Salsa Dance Squad acting as the master of ceremony (instead of Paul Young or his cronies as MC) kept the interest level higher throughout. There were more good shows too. The only problem (a minor one at that) was that it was often difficult to figure out who the performers are unless you knew them already. Highlights included Juan Matos Y Fogorate, Nuno Y Vanda, and the third couple in black-and-yellow costumes. Music used included La Toalla, Mambo Gallego, Hacha Y Machete (by Hacha Y Machete). The show by the Swing Guys seemed very similar to one of the BritSalsafest shows.
Saturday Social
This was a mixed bag. I started with too much energy to start with and by the end I had too little energy. The dances were up and down. Highlights included dancing with Vera (a nice surprise move from her – I think the song was Esa Mujer), Sasha (for saying dancing On1 with me was a nice change of pace), Christina (to a super fast Nina Y Senora by the band) and Sylvia (weaving through the passer-bys). Other dances, which stood out, included one full of shines with an SOS regular, another SOS regular for her comment about me leading her forward on her back with cross body leads (my solution was to not push at all, which is perfectly fine too). My last dance was with Marianne who did not arrive until ~3. Unfortunately I was too exhausted by then to really enjoy it – it was still good, but…
The band led by Frankie Morales at vocals (with UK based musicians?) was fantastic. The song choices were great – mostly Tito Puente material. Guaguanco Margarito, Oye Mi Guaguanco (at Cha speed), Juventud Del Presente?, Nina Y Senora, Mambo Of The Times, Mambo Gozon?). The encore was Ran Kan Kan (predictable).
So many familiar faces to made dances with truly new less enticing although I still had a fair number of them.
October 14, 2007
Sleep And Food
After driving myself to exhaustion on Saturday, I decided to relax as much as possible on Sunday. After leaving the Saturday party just before 4, I slept in until 2 PM – aside from about half hour for breakfast – for total of 9 1/2 hours.
I decided that another problem for Saturday was food. A small sandwich for lunch and smallish dinner left me quite hungry by the end of the evening. This never happened in previous all-nighters at Scala or other Congresses. So the lunch ended up being a foot-long sandwich from Subway (for lack of better choices I could find), and dinner was a steak – at the tavern next to the hotel. Dinner companions by the way were Cyrille, Zern, Haihan, Crystal, Rajiv, Liam and Sebastian the late arrival once again.
More sleep and food did give better results for Sunday night. Ditto for fewer workshops.
Sunday Workshop
After lunch, I had a quick look at Janet and Rafael’s body movement class. The only class I took was Joel & Ana On2 partner work. No change of partners once again by the instructors. Fortunately I did have Euvian as my partner throughout so I did get something out of it.
I would have to say that the material was not exactly unfamiliar but it was challenging. It would have been a useful exercise On1 although I would not be sure if I would have made it comfortable for me to lead it afterwards. With On2 timing, it was close to but not quite within my grasp. Anyhow, let’s see if I still could remember the routine…
5,6,7,1,2,3 CBL end with L-R hold
5,6,7,1,2,3 open break (not sure if it is appropriate to call it that) and offer R to connect R-L and lead follower to travelling inside (left / 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn) with L-R ending behind leader’s head
5,6,7,1,2,3 drop L-R catch behind leader’s back and get R-L over follower’s head – bring follower forward to back-to-back position with lead on 7,1 – and use L-R to lead follower to 1 1/4 counterclockwise turn into wrap (as opposed to Copa) with L-R around neck and R-L after a brief disconnect at waist level
5,6,7,1,2,3 allow follower to step forward and turn around on 6,7 then lead follower into travelling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn with leader hooking on 2 and turning clockwise to face partner in open position
5,6,7,1,2,3 plain Copa start but lead follower back into 1 1/2 clockwise turn instead rather than Copa and get R-L behind follower’s waist
5,6,7,1,2,3 Copa start and lead follower into Copa but with a scooping motion with both hands (down and up) – a bit fuzzy for me here
5,6,7,1,2,3 fuzzy start – lead follower to 1 1/2 travelling counterclockwise turn with R-L high and with leader turning about 3/4 counterclockwise at the same time to lead the turn
5,6,7,1,2,3 leader turns 1/2 clockwise under R-L and lead follower to 1 1/2 travelling windmill turn and switch to L-L
5,6,7,1,2,3 open break side pass (follower to left of lead) and lead follower to free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn
5,6,7,1,2,3 360 CBL
I think that was more or less it. It’s not bad but there are tons of kinks to be worked out to make it useful. I probably would find it easier to convert it to On1 rather than trying to use it for On2.
Walk Up The Hill And Back At The Hotel
Afterwards I remember walking up the hill back to the hotel at first with the girls and then with Liam. I ended up walking down the hill after having bought a drink and wandering around the BIC for 10-15 minutes. I came back up again while talking with Julian about the Congress, shows, Brit Salsafest controversy, etc.
Back at the hotel, I decided to use at least some of my laptop battery and started typing some quick summary thoughts and a few longer paragraphs. Not long afterwards, Cyrille returned (Spyros was already in asleep until just before Cyrille’s return). Cyrille and I then talked about our perception of the Cambridge scene and increasing difficulties in making improvements (or at least keep up with the rest of the world).
Sunday Social
First there was the final for the couple competition. We missed most of it. The start of the social seemed to take forever to get going. And then it was interrupted with two long breaks for announcement of winners for various dance competitions. Paul Young was back on the microphone for much of it (back to hello Cleveland!) – sometimes he did serve a function while some things were being assembled or dissembled, but other times... Sylvia’s group from Pau placed third for the Salsa team competition. These breaks were rather painful on the body – from sitting on the hard floor. It did not help that my views were from the side rather than from the front.
The shows opened with Toy Story dance show by the Serial Dancers. Tony and Daniella were Mr and Mrs Potato Head. Claudia had her Reggaeton troupe performing also. Mambo Lifestyles Team show featured girls with hair extensions including a very familiar face. Hmm. I suppose at this point every large UK Salsa troupes have multiple familiar faces. Irene Miguel had an odd experimental piece with a male bass player and a female conga player. It finished with a large kids group from London – supposedly they were a big hit this afternoon, but I was too uncomfortable sitting on the floor and the view from the side was useless.
The best dances at the main hall tonight happened before the first set of shows. The ones between the two groups of shows were choppy. The lowlight involved dancing with a rather pretty looking girl who seemed to want to be yanked around. I tried to use her rather strong momentum for redirections and such. I thought I was dealing with it reasonably well except she seemed to get more and more frustrated and become stronger and stronger. The dances after the shows were slightly better. The one with Olga wasn’t too bad (Ublabadu). The second one for the weekend with Christina was good too. The one with Jane would have been fine except I accidentally hit her on the nose (she was incredibly nice about it). The one with Charlotte was better.
I had planned to leave around 3. This would have worked okay despite the announcement that the music in Purbeck would end around 2:30. My plan was derailed thanks to Juan Matos. I’m guessing he was quite drunk. He tried to get some group thing going with the all the dancers in the hall. I don’t think it worked. Maybe half the people tried gamely to follow along and make the best of it. The other half seemed either annoyed or dismayed. It wasn’t good.
I decided that I didn’t want to leave on such bad note so I decided to check out the after party at the Pavillion Ballroom for a few more dances. I think I danced with 4 more people there. The first and the third were decent to good. The second was with a very gorgeous girl – no more than average as far as dancing ability was concerned for the weekend (but attractiveness really does enhance the experience). Ivan might know. My last dance was with someone I suspect was one of the foreign performer types – Shaan danced with her immediately afterwards. I thought about asking another after a break for a song, but the music turned to Reggaeton, Merengue and Bachata (along with some battle of dancing between various performer types including Janet). Still I could say I left the Congress on a good note. I was in bed shortly after 4 AM.
October 15, 2007
Drive Back
We left after breakfast. Zern was the last to arrive with his bags. The others were asleep for most of the drive. Cyrille mentioned that he ran into Joe and that Joe wanted him to start coming to Monday classes again - for higher level classes. Traffic seemed slightly slower on the way back. Time of arrival at Cyrille’s workplace was around 12:20 PM.
The Drive
Traffic in Cambridge meant Zern and Euvian arrived even later than they said not to mention the original plan. We left from Cyrille’s workplace at 5:45 PM. Cyrille and Zern opted to take the back seat and proceeded to act like little children before falling asleep (or trying to do so).
Euvian played the navigator part for a slightly tricky alternate route connecting A1 and M25. There were some scary moments caused by a stopped car on a dual carriageway blocking half of our lane and with traffic zooming by and by some reckless driving by couple of other drivers.
When we stopped at the first rest stop on M3, Euvian learned that people were stuck in a bad traffic 10 miles outside Bournemouth. Thus we decided to eat dinner at the rest stop (KFC or Burger King) before proceeding. The traffic had cleared by the time we arrived in Bournemouth around 9 PM.
The playlist was mostly Salsa and Cha Cha but included some Jazz, Pop, Funk, Afro-cuban, Bachata, Bolero and even Edith Piaf.
Two Tickets
I picked up my band/bracelet for entry via Nicola at Sally’s Hotel (Hedley) while others were checking in. By the time I returned, checking in process at Kings Langley Hotel had not started yet for Cyrille or me. Immediately afterwards, I ended up rushing down to BIC to pick up the show tickets from Sebastian. This was a bit silly because I also ran into Sally on my way down to the BIC. I also had to get the tickets from the Saturday shows at another time.
No Battery
While I was changing, etc. I realized that I did not bring a power cord for my laptop, which was only half charged. Oh well. There goes the idea of having a full use of the computer this weekend. Ditto for daily updates on this blog.
Comedy Is Better than Paul Young, But Is It Necessary?
I probably missed about a quarter of the shows. No big loss. Only a few of the shows qualified as being engaging. In some ways I preferred the comedy routine in between shows even though they were dumb and sometimes cringe-worthy and the microphone problems were painful at times. I thought that as a one-time thing, it was better than listening to Paul Young drone on.
Friday Social
All week long I felt subpar with my dancing form, and the start of the evening had a tinge of malaise about it. However, the dances were good as was music and space. So by the end of the evening I was feeling great.
It was one of those rare days when everyone I asked for a dance said yes although I didn’t realize that this was the case until well after the fact. If anything this detracted from my enjoyment of dancing Saturday because I started thinking about it until a first no came about and then dwelt about it afterwards unnecessarily.
One of the main highlights was running into Marianne – first time since Blackpool. After another haircut (or however many), it was the shortest I have seen yet. The pair of dances with her tonight was the best two I had with her yet.
I also ran into Tony on my way out. He pointed out Claudia to me so I got to say hello to her too.
October 13, 2007
Saturday Workshops
My original plan was to go to about 2 workshops a day. Thanks to more enthusiastic roommates Cyrille and Spyros, I ended up going to the second workshop of the day at 10:45. I should have stuck to my original plan.
Cobo Brothers workshop was a fiasco. I doubt I would have had much luck with it in ideal conditions. With overcrowding and lack of decent partner switching scheme (I had one to start with for 10-15 minutes or so only), I gained zero material from it. I cannot recall how the routine went (this being written Monday), and I couldn’t care less.
Hacha Y Machete body movement class was the most enjoyable one from Saturday. The footwork was done to the clave as opposed to 1,2,3,5,6,7. One exercise had hip movement incorporated. Example (1) L cross over R and R to side R during first half of 2-3 clave followed by hip movement side-to-side (in-out-in) for the second half of the 2-3 clave. Mirror image would be R cross over L and L to side L during first half followed by hip movement side-to-side during second half. Example (2) had chest movement forward along with forward (actually side-forward) followed by chest movement inward/backward with in place step with rear foot. I’m a bit foggy on the actual footwork used but my best guess is that it involved cross forward footwork on 2 and in place with rear foot on 3 followed by the first foot returning to original position on 5, second foot in place on 6.5 and first foot in place on 8. I don’t recall if chest movement was called for during the second half of the clave but it seems possible and reasonable. Example (3) using primarily L foot would start with R foot step in place on 2, and then all with L foot tap in place on 3, tap forward on 5, tap in original spot on 6.5 and tap to side L on 8. I don’t recall any body movement involved here although the hand position (one in front at stomach level and the other in back) probably was discussed here.
I only stayed for about half of the Juan Matos shines workshop before becoming tired and leaving. The most memorable part was the line, “It’s not gay. It’s artistic.” The shine itself was not particularly memorable for me. Too long too. I won’t tax my brain trying to remember it all. I do remember bits of it, but I figure I’ll never use it anyway.
I decided to head back to Pavillion Ballroom early and check out Janet and Rafael’s Cuban workshop. The turn pattern did not seem very difficult. Janet seemed beyond casual about following the pattern, which was pitched to Intermediate On1. What was much more impressive was demonstration of body movement by Janet at the end of the class. She moved really well. I went to chat with Sally, Lindsey and Nicola afterwards and commented about it. I think they were more interested in getting me to say Janet is hot. Sure. She’s that too.
I had great hopes for the “Cha Cha” workshop to be taught by Adolpho and Melissa – more for it being Cha Cha partner work than any name recognition. Unfortunately it ended up being a footwork class. I also gave up on this maybe a third of the way through due to exhaustion. Really unfortunate, especially because I had Christina lined up as a prospective partner for this class.
So I found HYM class a decent exercise and everything else next to useless. I decided that the Pavillion Ballroom was very difficult place to learn anything with excessive crowding and too-low stage. I decided at this point that I would skip HYM partner work workshop – it’s bound to be even more crowded.
Saturday Afternoon Dance Competitions
After grabbing some sandwiches at a convenience store near my hotel, a group of us went back to watch the dance competitions including the heats for the couples. Originally I followed the group in this activity because of Cyrille, but by the time we entered the Windsor Hall, he was nowhere to be seen.
I ended up sitting with Vera separated from others in the group (I think Rico and Natalie were the last ones we lost contact with before finding a spot to sit). As expected and joked about moments before, Vera asked me if I had a chewing gum – to keep your mouth minty fresh. Like the last time at LDA social, I offered her a Listerine strip.
We watched last one of the heats for the couple competition as well as the semi-finals. The participants I recognized included Lee & Shelley and Claudia. I’m guessing both made the finals but I’m not certain. The other contestants were also very good. In many ways I thought watching the competition was more entertaining than most of the shows from Friday night.
Reggaeton team competition started with Serial Dancers – they had a guy sitting in a chair initially blindfolded and an actor impersonating a DJ. Four girls circled the blindfolded guy and danced around him – later without the blindfold. It ended with Tony in pimp suit coming to get the guy enjoying attention from the four girls and leaving the stage nonchalantly making little of the girls. It was pretty good, but the next act turned up the heat even more. Not sure how to describe it except that it had many explicit moments, which had me do a number of double takes and exchanging looks with Vera a few times. By comparison the third act was rated G – you could bring kids to watch it according to Vera. According to Spyros, the second team (the winners) originally had five girls rather than three and had to improvise when two girls cancelled.
Putting Your Feet Up
Back at the hotel afterwards and feeling quite tired, I decided to try to take a nap like Cyrille and Spyros. I found Cyrille lying down in his bed with his feet up against the bed headboard. His explanation was that cyclists do this all the time (say for 30 minutes) to battle heavy legs and that your legs feel much refreshed after such routine. I decided to give it a go and fell asleep in that position. Forty-five minutes later, I woke up still in the same position. I’m not sure if it worked. My legs were throbbing for few minutes. I have no idea if this routine was any more useful than simply lying down and napping.
Oriental Garden
I suggested a more authentic Chinese restaurant based upon recommendations from the Fongs. At the party were Cyrille, Liam, Haihan, Crystal, Ivan, Zern and later Sebastian. I should have remembered that I’m not a big fan of fun noodles. The duck option taken by 2-3 others seemed like a better option. One of the more amusing commentary involved invoking Jesus when a French rugby player Chabal was talked about. Liam of course.
Sweet Chariot
Rugby Union World Cup semi-finals. England versus France. Shamrock Pub. We were joined by Sylvia and her friends and later by Jane and Mark. Over one hour of standing up. Tiring. We missed first 5-10 minutes. The remainder of the first half was rather boring. The second half was better. There were some overzealous English couple, who decided to abuse Cyrille for being a French/Frog. Better for atmosphere was the singing. Swing low…
Saturday Show Spectacles
I arrived a little past 10:20 and missed 3-5 shows.
The calibre of shows was much higher tonight compared to Friday. Having Salsa Dance Squad acting as the master of ceremony (instead of Paul Young or his cronies as MC) kept the interest level higher throughout. There were more good shows too. The only problem (a minor one at that) was that it was often difficult to figure out who the performers are unless you knew them already. Highlights included Juan Matos Y Fogorate, Nuno Y Vanda, and the third couple in black-and-yellow costumes. Music used included La Toalla, Mambo Gallego, Hacha Y Machete (by Hacha Y Machete). The show by the Swing Guys seemed very similar to one of the BritSalsafest shows.
Saturday Social
This was a mixed bag. I started with too much energy to start with and by the end I had too little energy. The dances were up and down. Highlights included dancing with Vera (a nice surprise move from her – I think the song was Esa Mujer), Sasha (for saying dancing On1 with me was a nice change of pace), Christina (to a super fast Nina Y Senora by the band) and Sylvia (weaving through the passer-bys). Other dances, which stood out, included one full of shines with an SOS regular, another SOS regular for her comment about me leading her forward on her back with cross body leads (my solution was to not push at all, which is perfectly fine too). My last dance was with Marianne who did not arrive until ~3. Unfortunately I was too exhausted by then to really enjoy it – it was still good, but…
The band led by Frankie Morales at vocals (with UK based musicians?) was fantastic. The song choices were great – mostly Tito Puente material. Guaguanco Margarito, Oye Mi Guaguanco (at Cha speed), Juventud Del Presente?, Nina Y Senora, Mambo Of The Times, Mambo Gozon?). The encore was Ran Kan Kan (predictable).
So many familiar faces to made dances with truly new less enticing although I still had a fair number of them.
October 14, 2007
Sleep And Food
After driving myself to exhaustion on Saturday, I decided to relax as much as possible on Sunday. After leaving the Saturday party just before 4, I slept in until 2 PM – aside from about half hour for breakfast – for total of 9 1/2 hours.
I decided that another problem for Saturday was food. A small sandwich for lunch and smallish dinner left me quite hungry by the end of the evening. This never happened in previous all-nighters at Scala or other Congresses. So the lunch ended up being a foot-long sandwich from Subway (for lack of better choices I could find), and dinner was a steak – at the tavern next to the hotel. Dinner companions by the way were Cyrille, Zern, Haihan, Crystal, Rajiv, Liam and Sebastian the late arrival once again.
More sleep and food did give better results for Sunday night. Ditto for fewer workshops.
Sunday Workshop
After lunch, I had a quick look at Janet and Rafael’s body movement class. The only class I took was Joel & Ana On2 partner work. No change of partners once again by the instructors. Fortunately I did have Euvian as my partner throughout so I did get something out of it.
I would have to say that the material was not exactly unfamiliar but it was challenging. It would have been a useful exercise On1 although I would not be sure if I would have made it comfortable for me to lead it afterwards. With On2 timing, it was close to but not quite within my grasp. Anyhow, let’s see if I still could remember the routine…
5,6,7,1,2,3 CBL end with L-R hold
5,6,7,1,2,3 open break (not sure if it is appropriate to call it that) and offer R to connect R-L and lead follower to travelling inside (left / 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn) with L-R ending behind leader’s head
5,6,7,1,2,3 drop L-R catch behind leader’s back and get R-L over follower’s head – bring follower forward to back-to-back position with lead on 7,1 – and use L-R to lead follower to 1 1/4 counterclockwise turn into wrap (as opposed to Copa) with L-R around neck and R-L after a brief disconnect at waist level
5,6,7,1,2,3 allow follower to step forward and turn around on 6,7 then lead follower into travelling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn with leader hooking on 2 and turning clockwise to face partner in open position
5,6,7,1,2,3 plain Copa start but lead follower back into 1 1/2 clockwise turn instead rather than Copa and get R-L behind follower’s waist
5,6,7,1,2,3 Copa start and lead follower into Copa but with a scooping motion with both hands (down and up) – a bit fuzzy for me here
5,6,7,1,2,3 fuzzy start – lead follower to 1 1/2 travelling counterclockwise turn with R-L high and with leader turning about 3/4 counterclockwise at the same time to lead the turn
5,6,7,1,2,3 leader turns 1/2 clockwise under R-L and lead follower to 1 1/2 travelling windmill turn and switch to L-L
5,6,7,1,2,3 open break side pass (follower to left of lead) and lead follower to free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn
5,6,7,1,2,3 360 CBL
I think that was more or less it. It’s not bad but there are tons of kinks to be worked out to make it useful. I probably would find it easier to convert it to On1 rather than trying to use it for On2.
Walk Up The Hill And Back At The Hotel
Afterwards I remember walking up the hill back to the hotel at first with the girls and then with Liam. I ended up walking down the hill after having bought a drink and wandering around the BIC for 10-15 minutes. I came back up again while talking with Julian about the Congress, shows, Brit Salsafest controversy, etc.
Back at the hotel, I decided to use at least some of my laptop battery and started typing some quick summary thoughts and a few longer paragraphs. Not long afterwards, Cyrille returned (Spyros was already in asleep until just before Cyrille’s return). Cyrille and I then talked about our perception of the Cambridge scene and increasing difficulties in making improvements (or at least keep up with the rest of the world).
Sunday Social
First there was the final for the couple competition. We missed most of it. The start of the social seemed to take forever to get going. And then it was interrupted with two long breaks for announcement of winners for various dance competitions. Paul Young was back on the microphone for much of it (back to hello Cleveland!) – sometimes he did serve a function while some things were being assembled or dissembled, but other times... Sylvia’s group from Pau placed third for the Salsa team competition. These breaks were rather painful on the body – from sitting on the hard floor. It did not help that my views were from the side rather than from the front.
The shows opened with Toy Story dance show by the Serial Dancers. Tony and Daniella were Mr and Mrs Potato Head. Claudia had her Reggaeton troupe performing also. Mambo Lifestyles Team show featured girls with hair extensions including a very familiar face. Hmm. I suppose at this point every large UK Salsa troupes have multiple familiar faces. Irene Miguel had an odd experimental piece with a male bass player and a female conga player. It finished with a large kids group from London – supposedly they were a big hit this afternoon, but I was too uncomfortable sitting on the floor and the view from the side was useless.
The best dances at the main hall tonight happened before the first set of shows. The ones between the two groups of shows were choppy. The lowlight involved dancing with a rather pretty looking girl who seemed to want to be yanked around. I tried to use her rather strong momentum for redirections and such. I thought I was dealing with it reasonably well except she seemed to get more and more frustrated and become stronger and stronger. The dances after the shows were slightly better. The one with Olga wasn’t too bad (Ublabadu). The second one for the weekend with Christina was good too. The one with Jane would have been fine except I accidentally hit her on the nose (she was incredibly nice about it). The one with Charlotte was better.
I had planned to leave around 3. This would have worked okay despite the announcement that the music in Purbeck would end around 2:30. My plan was derailed thanks to Juan Matos. I’m guessing he was quite drunk. He tried to get some group thing going with the all the dancers in the hall. I don’t think it worked. Maybe half the people tried gamely to follow along and make the best of it. The other half seemed either annoyed or dismayed. It wasn’t good.
I decided that I didn’t want to leave on such bad note so I decided to check out the after party at the Pavillion Ballroom for a few more dances. I think I danced with 4 more people there. The first and the third were decent to good. The second was with a very gorgeous girl – no more than average as far as dancing ability was concerned for the weekend (but attractiveness really does enhance the experience). Ivan might know. My last dance was with someone I suspect was one of the foreign performer types – Shaan danced with her immediately afterwards. I thought about asking another after a break for a song, but the music turned to Reggaeton, Merengue and Bachata (along with some battle of dancing between various performer types including Janet). Still I could say I left the Congress on a good note. I was in bed shortly after 4 AM.
October 15, 2007
Drive Back
We left after breakfast. Zern was the last to arrive with his bags. The others were asleep for most of the drive. Cyrille mentioned that he ran into Joe and that Joe wanted him to start coming to Monday classes again - for higher level classes. Traffic seemed slightly slower on the way back. Time of arrival at Cyrille’s workplace was around 12:20 PM.
Bournemouth Eve
October 11, 2007
The surprise shows were Sean (here for saying goodbyes, etc – he’s moving away to Oxford/Reading in a couple of weeks – and who is Emily?) and Liam (looking positively sociable – two weeks in a row! – don’t count on it happening soon, but who knows for sure). I suppose I could count Lindsey too, but I’m guessing she was teaching – Charlotte wasn’t.
As expected most people stayed away – saving themselves for the long weekend. Fewer than usual people from class stayed as well. Sebastian and Polly were there as was Rajiv.
Some unusual songs included Este Mambo (Mongo Santamaria with La Lupe - Liam insisted for a while that this was Mongo Mambo until I came up with this alternative possibility), Show Me (Alex Wilson – no comment). I put on a song labelled Tu Loco Loco Y Yo Tranquilo (Roberto Roena) or something similar in title - It wasn't bad but I couldn't tell if it was the song I was looking for.
More typical songs included Vasos De Colores (Marvin Santiago), El Hijo De Obatala (Ray Barretto), La Fiesta De Pilito (El Gran Combo), Amame (El Gran Combo), Noche De Salsa (Louie Ramirez – seems like a daily staple now).
It wasn't bad but I wouldn't say that it was an inspired day. Like last night I felt like I was often just going through the motions. Hopefully it will improve this weekend.
Quote of the day. “I’m so excited. There's going to be like 30 good dancers there.”
A year’s worth.
The surprise shows were Sean (here for saying goodbyes, etc – he’s moving away to Oxford/Reading in a couple of weeks – and who is Emily?) and Liam (looking positively sociable – two weeks in a row! – don’t count on it happening soon, but who knows for sure). I suppose I could count Lindsey too, but I’m guessing she was teaching – Charlotte wasn’t.
As expected most people stayed away – saving themselves for the long weekend. Fewer than usual people from class stayed as well. Sebastian and Polly were there as was Rajiv.
Some unusual songs included Este Mambo (Mongo Santamaria with La Lupe - Liam insisted for a while that this was Mongo Mambo until I came up with this alternative possibility), Show Me (Alex Wilson – no comment). I put on a song labelled Tu Loco Loco Y Yo Tranquilo (Roberto Roena) or something similar in title - It wasn't bad but I couldn't tell if it was the song I was looking for.
More typical songs included Vasos De Colores (Marvin Santiago), El Hijo De Obatala (Ray Barretto), La Fiesta De Pilito (El Gran Combo), Amame (El Gran Combo), Noche De Salsa (Louie Ramirez – seems like a daily staple now).
It wasn't bad but I wouldn't say that it was an inspired day. Like last night I felt like I was often just going through the motions. Hopefully it will improve this weekend.
Quote of the day. “I’m so excited. There's going to be like 30 good dancers there.”
A year’s worth.
Ballroom Improver 1
October 10, 2007
There must have been 30-40 people. Paul was the instructor.
Cha Cha
It was a turn pattern! My main partner was from the beginner class, but she was pretty good follower.
2,3,chassis,6,7,chassis lead follower to clockwise turn
2,3,chassis,6,7,chassis New Yorker followed by back-to-back basic
2,3,chassis,6,7,chassis New Yorker but instead of going back to normal position move to right bringing follower with you for chassis (patty-cake) then another New Yorker which ends with spot turn for both onto next 2,3
2,3,chassis,6,7,chassis another New Yorker and finish turn for both coming out of New Yorker then lead follower to clockwise turn
2,3,chassis,6,7,chassis essentially cross body lead (except there seems to be no forward step for leader on 2)
2,3,chassis,6,7,chassis New Yorker standard going both ways before another spot turn into next 2,3
Rumba
2,3,4,6,7,8 forward basic followed by leading follower to leader’s L side (follower steps to her R with quarter turn clockwise on 6, then turns half counterclockwise on 7,8 on spot)
2,3,4,6,7,8 forward basic followed by leading follower into travelling counterclockwise turn – it seemed like about 5/8 turn for follower (for follower this is essentially CBL the more appropriate term might be side-pass)
I find leading the first part somewhat mysterious. The partner I had did not really follow my lead much so I did not even get a chance to experiment and work out kinks in leading technique.
Quickstep
My partner seemed quite competent, but I sucked at this. She was new to Quickstep also. Too bad. She talked about some of the moves being something like four moves over three measures.
It was all about turns sometimes with chassis and sometimes without. Timing of it was a bit confusing. I might try writing notes for this another time.
Waltz
Whisk
from left forward basic
1,2,3 R forward, L side, R together
1,2,3 L forward, R side, L cross behind R without weight transfer
1,2,3 chassis R to side (in front of L foot), L to L and then R to close in
1,2,3 R forward (!) – interesting… so doing the chassis changed the leading foot – followed by clockwise turn on 2,3 and next 1,2,3 (with L backwards first)
It was pretty useless during the class segment. I went back to my Quickstep partner to work out the kinks. One try and voila.
I took about ~50 minute break before heading off to Wolfson College for their Salsa night. This outing happened for me because of an initiative made by Zhenzhi. Of people invited, Euvian, Rajiv and William showed up meaning it was not all Cuban. I also saw my Quickstep partner there as well and had couple of Salsa dances with her at Wolfson. I also saw Spyros, who is currently in charge of teaching Salsa at Wolfson. The DJ was Shila playing his typical music. My form was not great – things generally seemed more like an uphill struggle rather than free-flowing.
There must have been 30-40 people. Paul was the instructor.
Cha Cha
It was a turn pattern! My main partner was from the beginner class, but she was pretty good follower.
2,3,chassis,6,7,chassis lead follower to clockwise turn
2,3,chassis,6,7,chassis New Yorker followed by back-to-back basic
2,3,chassis,6,7,chassis New Yorker but instead of going back to normal position move to right bringing follower with you for chassis (patty-cake) then another New Yorker which ends with spot turn for both onto next 2,3
2,3,chassis,6,7,chassis another New Yorker and finish turn for both coming out of New Yorker then lead follower to clockwise turn
2,3,chassis,6,7,chassis essentially cross body lead (except there seems to be no forward step for leader on 2)
2,3,chassis,6,7,chassis New Yorker standard going both ways before another spot turn into next 2,3
Rumba
2,3,4,6,7,8 forward basic followed by leading follower to leader’s L side (follower steps to her R with quarter turn clockwise on 6, then turns half counterclockwise on 7,8 on spot)
2,3,4,6,7,8 forward basic followed by leading follower into travelling counterclockwise turn – it seemed like about 5/8 turn for follower (for follower this is essentially CBL the more appropriate term might be side-pass)
I find leading the first part somewhat mysterious. The partner I had did not really follow my lead much so I did not even get a chance to experiment and work out kinks in leading technique.
Quickstep
My partner seemed quite competent, but I sucked at this. She was new to Quickstep also. Too bad. She talked about some of the moves being something like four moves over three measures.
It was all about turns sometimes with chassis and sometimes without. Timing of it was a bit confusing. I might try writing notes for this another time.
Waltz
Whisk
from left forward basic
1,2,3 R forward, L side, R together
1,2,3 L forward, R side, L cross behind R without weight transfer
1,2,3 chassis R to side (in front of L foot), L to L and then R to close in
1,2,3 R forward (!) – interesting… so doing the chassis changed the leading foot – followed by clockwise turn on 2,3 and next 1,2,3 (with L backwards first)
It was pretty useless during the class segment. I went back to my Quickstep partner to work out the kinks. One try and voila.
I took about ~50 minute break before heading off to Wolfson College for their Salsa night. This outing happened for me because of an initiative made by Zhenzhi. Of people invited, Euvian, Rajiv and William showed up meaning it was not all Cuban. I also saw my Quickstep partner there as well and had couple of Salsa dances with her at Wolfson. I also saw Spyros, who is currently in charge of teaching Salsa at Wolfson. The DJ was Shila playing his typical music. My form was not great – things generally seemed more like an uphill struggle rather than free-flowing.
Gearing up for new Fridays
September 5, 2007
Cyrille said, “I haven’t danced like this in a long time.” It was the same for me also, at least not in Cambridge. We were both quite spent by the end of the evening. I had two stretches where I was dancing to 6 songs or more in a row – the second stretch ending with 4 songs in a row with Stephanie a little after 1 AM and leaving me reeling from exhaustion. Having four dances with one person in one night is somewhat unusual, and four in a row more so. Of course the difference between three and four is pretty small, and I probably danced three times with two or maybe three others tonight. Anyhow, it was essentially making up for having danced only once with Steph last night - her first night in nearly four months. It was a nice workout (20+ dances with at least 10 people) for endurance with the UK Congress coming up in a week.
It was a good Friday. Good music – Vishal said he’s getting geared up for October 19th/26th, etc. Good crowd – quite busy with nice representation from the familiar crowd as well as unfamiliar. Mark, Jane, Rajiv, Andrea, Polly, Ed were there along with Sebastian, Sharon, Kate, Johnny, Serap, etc. The Po Na Na girl was back too. There was a birthday dance – Cuban. Ignacio would have found his type. There was a new girl I danced with three times - mainly to try to get her noticed by others because she was a good but was seemingly unknown (except to Ed). It didn't work as well as I hoped because practically everyone was preoccupied with known new arrivals - I think Johnny was the only one who noticed. Not a lot of Merengue or Reggaeton tonight but fairly large number of Bachata – five or six. I think Vishal now has more varied selection of Bachata compared to me. I danced Bachata twice tonight, and I am a little sorry that I will likely get no opportunity next week.
Misc random notes. We're in the middle of a big postal strike. Cyrille has a new housemate with bronchial problems.
Cyrille said, “I haven’t danced like this in a long time.” It was the same for me also, at least not in Cambridge. We were both quite spent by the end of the evening. I had two stretches where I was dancing to 6 songs or more in a row – the second stretch ending with 4 songs in a row with Stephanie a little after 1 AM and leaving me reeling from exhaustion. Having four dances with one person in one night is somewhat unusual, and four in a row more so. Of course the difference between three and four is pretty small, and I probably danced three times with two or maybe three others tonight. Anyhow, it was essentially making up for having danced only once with Steph last night - her first night in nearly four months. It was a nice workout (20+ dances with at least 10 people) for endurance with the UK Congress coming up in a week.
It was a good Friday. Good music – Vishal said he’s getting geared up for October 19th/26th, etc. Good crowd – quite busy with nice representation from the familiar crowd as well as unfamiliar. Mark, Jane, Rajiv, Andrea, Polly, Ed were there along with Sebastian, Sharon, Kate, Johnny, Serap, etc. The Po Na Na girl was back too. There was a birthday dance – Cuban. Ignacio would have found his type. There was a new girl I danced with three times - mainly to try to get her noticed by others because she was a good but was seemingly unknown (except to Ed). It didn't work as well as I hoped because practically everyone was preoccupied with known new arrivals - I think Johnny was the only one who noticed. Not a lot of Merengue or Reggaeton tonight but fairly large number of Bachata – five or six. I think Vishal now has more varied selection of Bachata compared to me. I danced Bachata twice tonight, and I am a little sorry that I will likely get no opportunity next week.
Misc random notes. We're in the middle of a big postal strike. Cyrille has a new housemate with bronchial problems.
School's on
October 4, 2007
Things took a little while to develop as many were fashionably late. Zern and Cyrille were present for the lessons. Ditto for Sebastian and Polly. Euvian arrived just behind me. Ditto for the Bar Latina guy. Probably the biggest surprise was Liam, who was there to talk about the UK Congress. I think Nicola, Charlotte, Jane, Rajiv, Mark, William were all already there. Ivan, Haihan and Agnes arrived somewhat later all at about the same time. Stephanie arrived even later and Zhenzhi was the last to arrive. It felt quite lead heavy tonight, and some of the girls had hard time getting off the floor – especially the new arrivals. It might have seemed a bit cliquey to outsiders too – I don’t know. Perhaps a bit intimidating too – it seemed like it was mostly the usual suspects by the time Zhenzhi arrived. I decided to let the other guys fight for the popular ones while I opted for whoever I found convenient to pick on. In the end I think I ended up dancing with pretty much everyone anyway – some up to three times.
There was something of an On2 boom tonight. Among others, I spotted Mark and Jane dancing On2 as well as Haihan and Agnes. Liam of course was dancing On2 with various girls too. I only tried it once with Euvian to La Loma Del Tamarindo. There were a fair number of songs I was not familiar with early on although none really stood out for me. Other familiar songs played before included Presumida (Louie Ramirez & Ray De La Paz a.k.a. Noche De Salsa variation with vocals - skipped), Sun Sun Babae (the version with too many breaks w/ Agnes), Mambo Mongo (Mongo Santamaria version from Afro-Indio w/ Zhenzhi?), Lluvia Con Nieve (Mon Rivera - I didn’t find anyone quickly enough), Mujer Erotica (Tito Rodriguez Jr w/ Stephanie), Ave Maria Lola (Conjunto Imagen skipped), La-La-La (Direct Latin Influence w/ Polly), Merecumbe (Johnny Colon w/ Jane), Fragile (Massimo Scalici skipped), Alabanciosa (Manny Oquendo skipped), Tambo (??), Quitate La Mascara (Ray Barretto probably and I think I danced to this one but not sure with whom).
I suppose strictly speaking there were only four returnees - Mark, Haihan, Agnes, Stephanie (although I suppose Cyrille and Zhenzhi showed infrequently in recent weeks). I'm not sure if I should count Liam because I really don't know if he'll become a regular - having said that there is no doubt he was noticed by people who know him as well as by people who had not seen him before. So I could make the number 4, 5 or 7, but in any case the effect of their return seemed quite striking. Both Agnes and Stephanie were as good as I remembered if not better. If nothing else I guess it goes to show how small (and delicate) the Cambridge scene still is and how much more diverse it could become. Considering the size of Club Salsa, it also would be interesting to see if Thursdays become very top-heavy as it was earlier in the year.
The other day I had too much free time on my hand so I decided to take a look at Bournemouth dining scene. It appeared that it is much better than Blackpool. I seem to recall Bella Italia as being one of better option in Blackpool. No doubt there will be fast cheap options as in Blackpool. Bournemouth has a plethora of fine chain restaurants (e.g. Bella Italia, La Strada, Café Rouge, Pizza Express, Ask, Wagamama) suggesting that it might be no worse than Cambridge in food quality. The most interesting food guide I saw was essentially a blog type guide written by an ethnic Chinese couple - their reviews can be found at www.fong.co.uk if anyone is interested. I think I would trust their judgement on Chinese restaurants the most - their favorite are Oriental Garden (serves Dim Sum in the afternoon), Ocean City (Dim Sum option available as well), Ocean Palace (supposedly one of the best in Bournemouth - caters more to Western tastes and is fancier). Their favorite Indian restaurants were Westbourne Tandoori and Taj Mahal (they are basically next to each other and located to the other side of BIC from my hotel). Other options include African, Mexican, Greek, Spanish, Japanese, Thai, Lebanese, Nepalese.
Odd end note - I felt really itchy for some strange reason after dancing. No idea why. Maybe it was some sort of an allergic reaction? But to what? It made sleeping difficult.
Things took a little while to develop as many were fashionably late. Zern and Cyrille were present for the lessons. Ditto for Sebastian and Polly. Euvian arrived just behind me. Ditto for the Bar Latina guy. Probably the biggest surprise was Liam, who was there to talk about the UK Congress. I think Nicola, Charlotte, Jane, Rajiv, Mark, William were all already there. Ivan, Haihan and Agnes arrived somewhat later all at about the same time. Stephanie arrived even later and Zhenzhi was the last to arrive. It felt quite lead heavy tonight, and some of the girls had hard time getting off the floor – especially the new arrivals. It might have seemed a bit cliquey to outsiders too – I don’t know. Perhaps a bit intimidating too – it seemed like it was mostly the usual suspects by the time Zhenzhi arrived. I decided to let the other guys fight for the popular ones while I opted for whoever I found convenient to pick on. In the end I think I ended up dancing with pretty much everyone anyway – some up to three times.
There was something of an On2 boom tonight. Among others, I spotted Mark and Jane dancing On2 as well as Haihan and Agnes. Liam of course was dancing On2 with various girls too. I only tried it once with Euvian to La Loma Del Tamarindo. There were a fair number of songs I was not familiar with early on although none really stood out for me. Other familiar songs played before included Presumida (Louie Ramirez & Ray De La Paz a.k.a. Noche De Salsa variation with vocals - skipped), Sun Sun Babae (the version with too many breaks w/ Agnes), Mambo Mongo (Mongo Santamaria version from Afro-Indio w/ Zhenzhi?), Lluvia Con Nieve (Mon Rivera - I didn’t find anyone quickly enough), Mujer Erotica (Tito Rodriguez Jr w/ Stephanie), Ave Maria Lola (Conjunto Imagen skipped), La-La-La (Direct Latin Influence w/ Polly), Merecumbe (Johnny Colon w/ Jane), Fragile (Massimo Scalici skipped), Alabanciosa (Manny Oquendo skipped), Tambo (??), Quitate La Mascara (Ray Barretto probably and I think I danced to this one but not sure with whom).
I suppose strictly speaking there were only four returnees - Mark, Haihan, Agnes, Stephanie (although I suppose Cyrille and Zhenzhi showed infrequently in recent weeks). I'm not sure if I should count Liam because I really don't know if he'll become a regular - having said that there is no doubt he was noticed by people who know him as well as by people who had not seen him before. So I could make the number 4, 5 or 7, but in any case the effect of their return seemed quite striking. Both Agnes and Stephanie were as good as I remembered if not better. If nothing else I guess it goes to show how small (and delicate) the Cambridge scene still is and how much more diverse it could become. Considering the size of Club Salsa, it also would be interesting to see if Thursdays become very top-heavy as it was earlier in the year.
The other day I had too much free time on my hand so I decided to take a look at Bournemouth dining scene. It appeared that it is much better than Blackpool. I seem to recall Bella Italia as being one of better option in Blackpool. No doubt there will be fast cheap options as in Blackpool. Bournemouth has a plethora of fine chain restaurants (e.g. Bella Italia, La Strada, Café Rouge, Pizza Express, Ask, Wagamama) suggesting that it might be no worse than Cambridge in food quality. The most interesting food guide I saw was essentially a blog type guide written by an ethnic Chinese couple - their reviews can be found at www.fong.co.uk if anyone is interested. I think I would trust their judgement on Chinese restaurants the most - their favorite are Oriental Garden (serves Dim Sum in the afternoon), Ocean City (Dim Sum option available as well), Ocean Palace (supposedly one of the best in Bournemouth - caters more to Western tastes and is fancier). Their favorite Indian restaurants were Westbourne Tandoori and Taj Mahal (they are basically next to each other and located to the other side of BIC from my hotel). Other options include African, Mexican, Greek, Spanish, Japanese, Thai, Lebanese, Nepalese.
Odd end note - I felt really itchy for some strange reason after dancing. No idea why. Maybe it was some sort of an allergic reaction? But to what? It made sleeping difficult.
The best south side had to offer
September 30, 2007
I only saw one word on the sign – “south.” Uh oh. There was a couple behind me too. I told them that the other room is quite a bit smaller. I hesitated for almost a minute before going in. I peered in and spotted Natalie. Ed too. I also saw Rico later. In any case I couldn’t quite get myself to turn back and return to Cambridge.
It wasn’t too bad. My first dance was with Natalie – I was really happy to see her again – as always. I was also happy to see a woman I had a really nice dance with last time and even happier to see that she recognized me - it probably helped that we had a nice brief chat afterwards last time. I didn’t get around to dance with her until around 10:20 (I looked for a couple of times before, waiting for a good song, etc), and it was good too. There were many other dances I enjoyed too. Generally I liked the way the evening went – especially compared to the last time, which I considered merely adequate in all regards including me myself and the way I danced. For the most part, the room did not become a sauna – air conditioning was working better than pretty much every other time SOS was held on the South side of the Royal Sonesta Hotel.
The music was to my liking too. Aside from a short stretch around 10-10:15, it was great. I can’t recall recognizing so many of the songs without disliking many of the selections. Probably my least favorite selection was a new version of “Lady” – and even that is not so bad. Other songs included Los Rumberos (Mark Dimond & Frankie Dante), Trucutu (a different version), Vamonos Pa’l Monte (version I didn’t recognize), El Abaniquito (Pucho), Abran Paso (Larry Harlow & Ismael Miranda or Orchestra Harlow), Me Prendiste Velas (Oscar D’Leon – I’m not sure if I’m remembering this right), Un Dia Bonito (version unknown), Periodico De Ayer (version unknown), and a few other songs from Club Salsa I don’t know the title but like anyway. The DJ tonight was someone named Sylvester – it looked like he was carrying 400-600 CDs including a half dozen Cachao CDs like Dos.
Finally I thought I would have a real try at "judging" people's dancing (non-public) - no names to minimize what probably already is a remote possibility that anyone involved would hear of this. The whole thing came about with R saying something about going to the Congress and being intimidated by presence of many good dancers. R went on to mention a friend of S being extremely good – even better than L and so on. I said that I’ll try to keep a lookout and see for myself. Much later I did get an opportunity while taking a break. I was not very impressed. It wasn’t bad (quite decent in fact), but I didn’t think it was anything to write home about. I have seen better looking dance countless times at SOS (with caveat that beauty is in the eye of the beholder). Of course it could have been because of problems with lead-follow dynamics with the dance partner - M in this case. Would I get in trouble for writing this? Who is most likely to become upset? R, S, L, M or friend of S? I suspect it would depend first and foremost on their personality followed by their perception (if any) of me.
The last word from Tamambo was that SOS will be back on the north side next week. With the UK Congress looming the weekend after that, I doubt I'll go unless there's an outside pressure.
Speaking of the UK Congress, preliminary schedules (party, shows, workshop, etc) are out. A couple of notable items. Claudia is back - I wonder if I will have any better talking with her. If I could be bothered to show up for workshops, I suspect I'll be hanging out with On2 people
I only saw one word on the sign – “south.” Uh oh. There was a couple behind me too. I told them that the other room is quite a bit smaller. I hesitated for almost a minute before going in. I peered in and spotted Natalie. Ed too. I also saw Rico later. In any case I couldn’t quite get myself to turn back and return to Cambridge.
It wasn’t too bad. My first dance was with Natalie – I was really happy to see her again – as always. I was also happy to see a woman I had a really nice dance with last time and even happier to see that she recognized me - it probably helped that we had a nice brief chat afterwards last time. I didn’t get around to dance with her until around 10:20 (I looked for a couple of times before, waiting for a good song, etc), and it was good too. There were many other dances I enjoyed too. Generally I liked the way the evening went – especially compared to the last time, which I considered merely adequate in all regards including me myself and the way I danced. For the most part, the room did not become a sauna – air conditioning was working better than pretty much every other time SOS was held on the South side of the Royal Sonesta Hotel.
The music was to my liking too. Aside from a short stretch around 10-10:15, it was great. I can’t recall recognizing so many of the songs without disliking many of the selections. Probably my least favorite selection was a new version of “Lady” – and even that is not so bad. Other songs included Los Rumberos (Mark Dimond & Frankie Dante), Trucutu (a different version), Vamonos Pa’l Monte (version I didn’t recognize), El Abaniquito (Pucho), Abran Paso (Larry Harlow & Ismael Miranda or Orchestra Harlow), Me Prendiste Velas (Oscar D’Leon – I’m not sure if I’m remembering this right), Un Dia Bonito (version unknown), Periodico De Ayer (version unknown), and a few other songs from Club Salsa I don’t know the title but like anyway. The DJ tonight was someone named Sylvester – it looked like he was carrying 400-600 CDs including a half dozen Cachao CDs like Dos.
Finally I thought I would have a real try at "judging" people's dancing (non-public) - no names to minimize what probably already is a remote possibility that anyone involved would hear of this. The whole thing came about with R saying something about going to the Congress and being intimidated by presence of many good dancers. R went on to mention a friend of S being extremely good – even better than L and so on. I said that I’ll try to keep a lookout and see for myself. Much later I did get an opportunity while taking a break. I was not very impressed. It wasn’t bad (quite decent in fact), but I didn’t think it was anything to write home about. I have seen better looking dance countless times at SOS (with caveat that beauty is in the eye of the beholder). Of course it could have been because of problems with lead-follow dynamics with the dance partner - M in this case. Would I get in trouble for writing this? Who is most likely to become upset? R, S, L, M or friend of S? I suspect it would depend first and foremost on their personality followed by their perception (if any) of me.
The last word from Tamambo was that SOS will be back on the north side next week. With the UK Congress looming the weekend after that, I doubt I'll go unless there's an outside pressure.
Speaking of the UK Congress, preliminary schedules (party, shows, workshop, etc) are out. A couple of notable items. Claudia is back - I wonder if I will have any better talking with her. If I could be bothered to show up for workshops, I suspect I'll be hanging out with On2 people
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