Prodigal sons return

September 28, 2007

I guess today more or less marks the third anniversary - for me starting Salsa lessons with Johnny and Serap as my first instructors. I guess it was an odd coincidence that Vishal decided to use tonight to give public thanks to Johnny and Serap for teaching Salsa for past 8 years with him. As pretty much everyone must know by now, a team led by Joe Davids will be taking over Friday classes starting Oct 19. Laminated fliers with photos of three instructors have been floating around all week. It signals an interesting shift for all considered - not least of all for Joe who recently ended partnership with Bar Latina in London according to a statement he made in one of many public Salsa forums floating in the internet.

In a few days I will have my fourth anniversary for my move to the UK. The first year without Salsa had me almost exclusively at work battling bureaucracy seemingly designed to prevent work rather than promote it. The second year was more of the same except I had Salsa as a minor diversion. It increasingly became evident that what I wanted to do at the time was not achievable within my abilities during my third year. As for Salsa, things were quite tumultuous at start of my third year here and I suppose thing have been quite different since. Recently I re-read some unpublished entries that time (yes, I sometimes choose to not publish things in this blog), and I thought it made a quite good reading. The fourth year was of transition at work - arguably less work too. So what's in store for the fifth and what I think of as the final year? What about after the fifth year?

Tonight looked like a quiet one until the gang made a surprise show around 11:30. The big returnees generating the most excitement were Sergio and Cyrille - Cyrille bought three bottles of Sang Miguel for us. Zern, Euvian, Sebastian and Polly all showed up at about the same time also and helped to boost atmosphere. Sergio is still feeling unenthusiastic about dancing or so he tells me. He says he's still interested in the music though - except for the ones he's sick of that is - and pointing out things he find interesting to me from time to time. Cyrille seemed like his old self more or less, and his return allowed for us to talk about logistics for the upcoming UK Congress. I certainly was happy to see them although I will admit to being a little jealous about the welcome and goodwill they received.

Quote of the "day" - One of the enduring but creepier features of the emotional life of the British is envy.

Taken from a book review re: Henry Stanley … rest of the paragraph is good too.

Vulcan mindmeld

September 27, 2007

I was in a good mood. An annoying phase of work seemed more or less over and done with for one thing. I also liked new additions to the www.newyorksalsa.com song list - it is in my opinion the best comprehensive list of good Salsa songs anywhere and I consult it frequently when I'm making my CD purchases as well as when I'm DJing.

These new songs include -

Avisale A Mi Contrario - Roberto Roena (I played it already)
Don Lengua - Santiago Ceron (it was on my list to things to play)
Hace Tiempo - Angel Canales (I played it very recently)
La Llave - Grupo Latin Vibe (this one's easy - everyone has it)
La Pantera Mambo - La 33 (aka Orquesta 33 - easy one once again)
Vamos A Reir Un Poco - Hector Lavoe (slowed down, I played this one too)

Llego El Sabor - Oscar D'Leon & Jose Alberto (I hadn't quite put it in my must-play list, but I thought this song was quite catchy after having purchased a second copy of it)
Paraiso De Dulzura - Hector Lavoe (somewhat of a surprise for me because I thought it was just okay even though I had played it before too)

It was like a Vulcan mind-meld. Maybe I could predict which songs could make their cut next? Here are my top 3 candidates in my collection at the moment.

Lagrimas Negras - Cubanoson
El Abaniquito - Pucho and His Latin Soul Brothers
Bilongo - Tito Rodriguez (possibly slowed down)

Another possibility but not in my collection is -

Siguelo - Javier Vazquez (based on having danced to it twice at SOS)

No Cyrille, Sergio, Mimi, Agnes, Haihan, Ivan, Lindsey. Oh well. I suspect most of them will be back next week, which should be really cool. On the eve of massive returns, things are looking really good in Cambridge (although who knows what tomorrow will bring).

Some less frequently songs played by Sally tonight included Puerto Rico (Frankie Ruiz), Porque Adore (Mark Dimond & Frankie Dante), La Rueda (Frankie Ruiz - played last week too?), Amame (El Gran Combo), Indestructible (Ray Barretto).

CDC Michaelmas 2007

September 25, 2007

I'm guessing CDC's plan for Michaelmas term is now more or less complete.

Salsa schedule has heavy emphasis on beginners and improvers. The big Salsa event is Salsa Del Este in conjunction with Sally's company.

As for me, I'm strongly considering taking another Ballroom class (50/50 chance) - maybe the improver class on Wednesdays. My last and only Ballroom class is from Michaelmas 2005, but I suspect it won't be difficult to remember things. Too bad I can't get Mimi involved.

Ready to declare summer over

September 21, 2007

Maybe it's a sign of things to come. In any case I found it the most enjoyable Friday evening in quite some time. People there included Rajiv, Andrea, Sebastian, Polly, Shiraz and Natalia - apparently Andrea's "last" night. Add regulars like Sharon, Johnny, Serap, Kate and her crowd, it was quite festive. Also the guy from Netherlands last year was back. I've heard bottles shatter twice during the course of the evening. The music went on well past 2 AM with Vishal playing a lot of "old" classics - by this I'm referring more to some songs he hasn't played very much. There were a couple of missed calls too, which "everyone" recognized as such including the experimenter. I didn't feel like beer tonight so I stuck to bottled water and juice. There was a birthday dance too, which I saw very little of because I was at the DJ booth and picking out a song for the next dance.

School should start soon, right? Stephanie and Agnes should return soon too, right? So that I could go back to being their second favorite dance partner once again, right? :p and ;)

Death of iPod

September 20, 2007

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NOTE ADDED: For those who are looking for Salsa Music Information, check out my Latin Dance Music Review, which is probably more relevant. This information was added for people who found this link while doing Google search for Salsa musicians and/or music. Added March 12, 2008.

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I was hoping and expecting a larger turnout - especially from the gang. It didn't happen. Who knows why.

Ivan exclaimed UK Congress in 3 weeks. So it is.

There was a goodbye party for Hayden and Sara - led to two farewell dances at once and with Hayden playing both parts. About Hayden - isn't he amazing?

Not a lot of dances for me comparatively speaking but pretty much all were good - especially the last half dozen.

Sally decided to videotape me social dancing (with me being unaware of it at the time) so I got my first ever look at how I look on the small screen - until the battery ran out so that I missed the beginning and the end. It was... interesting - not horrible but it was very dark and difficult to see.

My iPod (G4) died. Oh well. I was planning on getting an upgrade - it just means buying one couple of months earlier than planned.

Why did it die? Maybe because I abused it lately (see below)?

All that talk about song speed, etc last week led me to become interested in getting more precise measurements (BPMs). I was surprised by some songs being a bit faster or slower than expected. I think some of it was context based - how fast the songs in the same grouping (e.g. album) is compared to the song in question. For whatever it's worth, I think there were more beginners dancing on the main floor compared to last Thursday.

This was meant for a different project of mine, but I decided to show results here also. The songs are organized by primary artist and grouped by albums (original album over compilation when I have duplicates). The format is a bit messy right now - hopefully I could think of a better final format (although probably not needed for here). After each song title BPM (beats per minute) of the song is given - it was determined manually and allow for some error. Notice that many songs speed towards the end.

Songs were chosen by suitability for playing for Salsa or Cha Cha based upon recommendations from various sources (with differing amount of expertise) or history of songs having been played at Club Salsa. I now think some of the songs are not particularly suitable by the way. One internet source suggested that a typical Salsa song has BMP between 170 to 210.

Africando - Baloba, Mandali

Aicha 193
Mandali 173
Miye Na We 203
Sey 182
Betece 191

Alex Leon - Salsa Fresca

Acabo De Llegar 190

Alfredo De La Fe - Latitudes

Latin New York 178
Muneca 192 - 205

Angel Canales - Sabor Con Angel Canales

Sabor Los Rumberos 205 - 214
Perico Macona 190 - 201
Hace Tiempo 189 - 200
Lejos De Ti 192 - 205
El Cantante Y La Orquesta 195 - 204

Azabache - Azabache

Cinco A Diez 183
This Moment 182 - 187
Montuno Street 199
Besitos De Coco 189

Bobby Montez - Jungle Fantastique

African Fantasy 236 - 248
Swinging At the M 228 - 235
Carioca 185

Bobby Valentin - La Boda De Ella, Rey Del Bajo, Siempre En Forma, 25th Anniversary

La Boda De Ella 180 - 183
Ingratitudes 193 - 200
Hay Craneo 200 - 193
Mi Ritmo Es Bueno 188 - 183 - 190
Cuando Te Vea 188 - 190
Que Te Paso 188 - 198
Cuando Uno Se Enamorado 194 - 199
Tu Rica Boca 183 - 186
La Tinajita 177 - 182
Margarito 190 - 195
Cuando Te Vea 191 - 189
Pirata De La Mar 191 - 197
Papel De Payaso 190 - 187
Linda Teresa 190 - 199

Cachao - From Havana To New York, Master Sessions Vol 1

Trombon Criollo 192
Malanga Amarilla 191
Mambo 201
A Gozar Con Mi Combo 211 - 223
Descarga Cachao 194 - 212

Cache - Blended

Sacala A Bailar 210 - 214
Contigo 175 - 172
Descarga Cache 220

Cal Tjader - Black Orchid, Latin Concert, Descarga, Fried Bananas, Latino, Los Ritmos Calientes, El Sonido Nuevo

Philadelphia Mambo 207 - 215
Viva Cepeda 207 - 215
Mood For Milt 196 - 201
Tu Crees Que? 228 - 259
Descarga Cubana 200
Philly Mambo 209
Alonzo 186 - 193
Bludan 164
Mambo Moderno 164
Poinciana Cha Cha 128
Picadillo (w/ Eddie Palmieri) 190 - 204
Poinciana 130

Celia Cruz – Duets, Latin Music’s First Lady, Tremendo Cache, Tremendo Trio

Usted Abuso (w/ Willie Colon) 199 – 210
Celia Y Tito (w/ Tito Puente) 218 - 232
Caballero Y Dama (w/ Willie Chirino) 195 - 199
Sun Sun Babae (w/ Sonora Matancera) 195
Cao Cao Mani Picao (w/ Sonora Matancera) 182 - 184
Yerbero Moderno (w/ Sonora Matancera) 121
Mi Soncito (w/ Sonora Matancera) 158
Cucala (w/ Johnny Pacheco) 200 - 202
Tres Dias De Carnaval (w/ Johnny Pacheco) 199 - 205
La Sopa De Botella (w/ Johnny Pacheco) 190 - 198
Nadie Se Salva De La Rumba (w/ Ray Barretto & Adalberto Santiago) 201 - 212
Ya No Puede Ser (w/ Ray Barretto & Adalberto Santiago) 191

Cesta All-Stars - Vol 2

El Quinto De Beethoven 215 - 221

Cheo Feliciano - Cheo, Pura Salsa

Anacaona 185 - 199
Esto Es El Guaguanco 219 - 233
Lindo Yambu 198 - 205

Chivirico Davila - Exitos con Orquesta De Joe Cotto

Silencio 195 - 207
Traigo Mi Guaguanco 207 - 201
Ven Guajira 127

Conjunto Imagen - Ayer Hoy Y Manana

Sueltala 181
Ave Maria Lola 185 - 188

Crystal Sierra - Morena

Playa No More 186

Cubanoson - Recordando A Cuba

Cubanoson 186
Recordando A Cuba 188
Mujeres De Mayari 184
Lagrimas Negras 185

Direct Latin Influence - DLI II

La-La-La 176

Eddie Palmieri - Azucar Pa’ Ti, Best of Eddie Palmieri, Champagne, El Rumbero Del Piano, Gold 1973-1976, Sugar Daddy, Superimposition, Vamonos Pa’l Monte

Mi Sonsito 134
El Tema Del Apollo 110
El Cuarto 196 - 215
Ay Que Rico 133
Cinturita 144
Café (ERDP) 101
Malaguena Salerosa 186 - 202
Nunca Contigo 195 - 220
Puerto Rico 202 - 222
Un Puesto Vacante 202 - 230
Nada De Ti 191 - 195
Justicia 217 - 228
No Critiques 199 - 201
Café (w/ La Perfecta) 84
Muneca 195 - 205
Lo Que Traigo Es Sabroso 203 - 227
Estamos Chao 186 - 193
La Malanga 240 - 249
Pa’ Huele 126
Bilongo 187 - 193
Chocolate Ice Cream 126
Vamonos Pal Monte 205 - 243

Eddie Santiago - Salsa Fresca

Lluvia 170 - 164

El Gran Combo - Aqui Estamos Y De Verdad, Nuevo Millenio, 30th Anniversary, 35th Anniversary

El Matrimonio 193
Amor Perfecto 189
Me Libere 197
Viva Puente 201
Dime Que Quieres 190
La Muerte 193
Ojos Chinos 189
Un Verano En Nueva York 204 - 228 - 221
Brujeria 187
El Menu 176
Timbalero 250?
Y No Hago Mas Na’ 182
Azuquita Pa’l Café 176
No Hay Cama Pa’ Tanta Gente 213
Mundy Baja 184
La Fiesta De Pilito 202
Guaguanco Del Gran Combo 196
Lirica Boriquena 182
Gotas De Lluvia 177
Aguacero 181
Asi Son 172
Con Eso 176
Quince Anos 174
Que Cosas Tendran 125
La Loma Del Tamarindo 153
Se Me Fue 187
Gracias 181

Estrellas Caiman - Descarga Brava

El Verdadero Son 183
Café 133
Soulsa 186

EuroCuban Project - Salsa.IT Vol 2

Get It Up 200

Fania All Stars - Salsa Caliente De Nu York, NYC Salsa 2

Chanchullo 139
Bamboleo 193
Coro Miyare 250
Ublabadu 194 - 203

Frankie Dante - Different Directions

Ay Que Felicidad 124
Paz 207
El Jibaro 124

Frankie Ruiz - Exitos Eternos, Gold

La Rueda 201
Como Lo Hacen 187
Tu Con El 190
La Cura 188
Esta Cobardia 187
Desnudate Mujer 195
Para Darte Fuego 197
Mirandote 191
Puerto Rico 209
Bailando 185
Nunca Que Quedas 177
Hablame 195

Fruko Y Sus Tesos - La Verdadera Historia De

El Preso 210
La Fruta Bomba 211
El Swing De Fruko 216
Cachondea 230

Gilberto Santa Rosa - Dos Tiempos De Un Tiempo, Esencia, Punto De Vista

Mama Guela 217
El Que Se Fue 196
No Quiero Na’ Regala’o 194
Esas Lagrimas 187
Y Eso Duele 210
Perdoname 158

Gloria Estefan - Mi Tierra

Mi Tierra 200
Ayer 169 - 180

Grupo Latin Vibe - All That Vibe, Mambo City

Pa’ Los Bravos 186
Ritmo Pa’ Borinquen 196
La Llave 165
All That Vibe 205
Maria Cervantes 170
Mambo City 201
Descarga Latin Vibe 218

Grupo Niche - 20 Exitos Originales (not recommended), Salsa Fresca

Culebra 176
Cielo De Tambores 184
Duele Mas 180
Una Aventura 186
Sin Sentimientos 166
Etnia 192
Gotas De Lluvia 194
Un Alto En El Camino 177
Cali Pachanguero 202

Hector Lavoe - Comedia, De Ti Depende, El Sabio, La Voz

El Cantante 182 - 197
Bandolera 185 - 217
Songorocosongo 160 - 180
Vamos A Reir Un Poco 215 - 230
Periodico De Ayer 187 - 195
Hacha Y Machete 206 - 210
Felices Horas 203 - 215
Para Ochun 202 - 195
Alejate 208 - 220
Llore 191 - 220
El Todopoderoso 214 – 230

Henry Fiol - El Secreto, Fe Esperanza Y Caridad

Trecero De Manigua 188 - 199
Si Tu Cocinas Como Caminas 177 - 186
El Secreto 121 - 131
Tiene Sabor 189 - 209
Ahora Mi Da Pena 172 - 182
Oriente 131

Isidro Infante - Dancemania

Songo Soron 196
Celia Y Tito 200
Salsa Y Control 191
El Pito 182

Javier Vazquez - Salsa Y Montuno, NYC Salsa 2

El Verdadero Son 207
Don Anastacio 191

Jimmy Bosch - El Avion De La Salsa, Salsa Dura, Soneando Trombon

Barreras Ninguna 200
Que Bonito Es Sonar 192
Un Poquito Mas 187 - 198
Otra Oportunidad 183

Jimmy Sabater - Louie's Grooves, Con Son Boricua - Mo

La Flauta 200
Pa’ Las Villas (w/ Son Boricua) 196 - 206
Salchicha Con Huevos (w/ Son Boricua) 119
Cuando Cuando (w/ Son Boricua) 203 - 209
Bailando Con Sabater (w/ Son Boricua) 225 - 244

Joe Cuba Sextet - Bang Bang Push Push Push, Best of Joe Cuba Sextet Diggin’ The Most, “Extras”

Push Push Push 122
El Raton 86
El Pito 155
Arinanara 247
Aprieta 143
Mambo Of The Times 210
El Hueso 232
Siempre Sea 193
Ya No Tengo Amigo 234
La Palomilla 198 - 203
Clave Mambo 205 - 213

Johnny Colon - Boogaloo Blues, NYC Salsa 2

Mira Ven Aca 118
New York Mambo 229 - 224
Merecumbe 204 - 219
Dejame En Paz 186 - 196

Johnny Pacheco - El Maestro

Agua Del Clavelito 171 - 169
Caramelo 168 - 170
Pare Cochero 189 - 196
Soy Guapo De Verdad 221 - 227
Alto Songo 177 - 180
Acuyuye 231
Recuerdos De Arcano 162 - 165
La Esencia Del Guaguanco 172 - 180

Jose Alberto “El Canario” - Serie 32

Con Sandra En La Cama 201 - 209
La Paella 191
Quien Como Tu 181
Baila Que Baila 205
La Gitana 193 - 203
Bailemos Otra Vez 195 - 204
La Critica 203 - 213
Sarabanda 201 – 196
La Feria De Las Flores 196
Oye La Banda 179

Jose Mangual Jr. - Tribute to Chano Pozo

Campanero 188

Kako Y Azuquita - NYC Salsa 2

La Fiera 198 - 214

Kako Y Totico - Siguen Pa’ Lante Pa’ Lante

La Mujer Que Yo Quiero 205
El Doloroso 170 - 174
Que Quiere La Nina 163 - 170 (swings a few times)
Si Me Fuera De Tu Lado 154 - 161
Del Agua Brava 165

La 33 - La 33

La 33 215
Soledad 191
La Pantera Mambo 201
Suelta El Bongo 200
El Tornillo De Guillo 184 - 186

La Excelencia - Salsa Con Conciencia

La Lucha 194 - 204
Sentencia 201
La Salsa Y El Guaguanco 212 - 220
La Lucha (feat. Shanny) 194 - 204

Laba Sosseh - Laba Sosseh

Diamoule Mawo 194 - 207
Errante Y Bohemio 156 - 168

Lebron Brothers - Psychedelic Goes Latin, Brooklyn Bums, Salsa Y Control, Super Hits Vol 2, “Extras”

Descarga Lebron 210
Vacilon 196 - 200
Salsa Y Control 188 - 186
Bongo Loco 182 - 178
El Balcon Aquel 183
Tengo Testigo 195 - 204
Mi Fracaso 182
La Agonia 163 - 161
Dulzura 197 - 193
Lo Tuyo Llegara 178 - 195

Lenny Kravitz - Thinking Of You (Single)

Thinking Of You 167

Los Van Van - Llego Van Van Is Here, Vanvaneate, Y Van! 1969-1989

Temba Tumba Timba 204
La Bomba Soy Yo 189
El Negro Esta Cocinando 222
Disco Azucar 220
Sandunguera 186

Louie Ramirez - Louie's Grooves, Exitos con Ray De La Paz

Chin Chon Chow 158
Mentirosa (w/ Ray De La Paz) 182
Lluvia (w/ Ray De La Paz) 205 - 225
El Titere (w/ Ray De La Paz) 193
Noche De Salsa 183

Luisito Rosario - Rumba Del Barrio

Rumba Del Barrio 212
1-800-Quiereme 205

Machito - Ritmo Caliente, Relax and Mambo

Picadillo (radio recording) 201
Relax and Mambo 121
Tanga 200 - 203
Mambo Sentimental 176

Manny Oquendo - Con Salsa Con Ritmo, Nunca Que Mejor

No Critiques 174 - 188
Alabanciosa 206 - 215
Speak Low 191 - 198

Marc Anthony - Grandes Soneros De Ayer Y Hoy

Nadie Como Ella 183 - 193

Mark Dimond - Beethoven's V, Brujeria

Sabroson (w/ Frankie Dante) 188 - 208
Los Rumberos (w/ Frankie Dante) 192 - 194
Ahora Si (w/ Frankie Dante) 128
El Quinto De Beethoven (w/ Frankie Dante) 218 - 235
Maraquero (w/ Frankie Dante) 138
Yo No Tengo Amigo (w/ Frankie Dante) 203 - 210
Por Que Adore (w/ Frankie Dante) 166 - 180
Brujeria (w/ Angel Canales) 174 - 186
Aguardiente (w/ Angel Canales) 178 - 197

Marvin Santiago - Exitos Eternos

Fuego A La Jicotea 207 - 210
Vasos De Colores 206 - 210
El Mangoneo 221 - 227

Massimo Scalici – Salsa.IT Vol 2

Es La Musica 211
Fragile 200

Michael Jackson - "Probably unauthorized remix"

You Rock My World Berna Jam Rmx 191

Mon Rivera - Que Gente Averigua

Monina 212
La Cuca 209
Lluvia Con Nieve 200

Mongo Santamaria - Mambo Mongo, Best of Fania Years

Mambo Mongo (Chesky) 216 - 226
Cuco Y Olga 199 - 222
Mambo Mongo (Fania) 193 - 200
Sofrito 118

N’Klabe - I Love Salsa (Special Edition)

I Love Salsa 222
Amor De Una Noche 185

New Swing Sextet - Monkey See Monkey Do

My Favorite Things 209 - 203
Revolucionando 202 - 208

Orchestra Harlow - Best of Orchestra Harlow, Live In Quad, Salsa

Abran Paso 198 - 205
La Cartera (Salsa) 190 - 196
Abandona Fue 139
Arsenio 212 - 203 - 208
Gracia Divina (Live) 141
La Cartera (Live) 184 - 187
No Hay Amigo 204 - 225

Orquesta Cheo Diz - New York Descargas

Cairo 207 - 222

Orquesta Willie Rodriguez - New York Descargas

Descarga 72 224 – 232

Oscar D’Leon - Collecion De Oro, Esenciales Vol 1, Las 32 Mas Grandes

Me Prendiste Velas 203 - 220
Me Dejo 183 - 196
La Mano 186 - 190
Tu Son 188 - 190
Mi Bajo Y Yo 202 - 216
Lloraras 191 - 196
Sientate Ahi 172 - 175
Que Bueno Baila Usted 185
A El 179
Mentiras 201 - 205
Mi Mujer Es Una Bomba 181
Me Voy Pa’ Cali 188
Mi Gente 199 - 203

Perez Prado - Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom

Mambo No. 5 171
Mambo En Sax 131

Pete Rodriguez - I Like It Like That

I Like It Like that 136
El Hueso 143 - 139
Micaela 136
Si Quieres Bailar 185
Soy El Rey 221

Poncho Sanchez - Baila Baila

Sonando 126
Cal’s Pals 201 - 195 - 201
Yumbambe 203 - 220
Subway Harry 120

Pucho and His Latin Soul Brothers – The Hideout, How’m I Doin?, Rip A Dip, Tough!

El Abaniquito 206
Vietnam Mambo (HID) 208 - 213
Caravan (RAD) 202 - 218
Vietnam Mambo (60s) 233
Caravan (60s) 230 - 250

Pupy Santiago - Salsa Fresca

Pa’ Bravo Yo 182

Ray Barretto - Carnaval, Descarga Criolla, Indestructible, A Man And His Music, Rican/Strucion, Salsa Caliente De Nu York, Soy Dichoso

Descarga La Moderna 223 - 229
Summertime 109
El Negro Y Ray 201 - 209
Cocinando Suave 136
Descarga Criolla 217
Trompeta Y Trombon 205 - 208
Rareza En Guajira 101
El Hijo De Obtala 212 - 220
La Famila 192 - 196
Indestructible 214 - 220
Acid 161 - 158
Arrepientete 209 - 234
La Pelota 239 - 261
Guarare 189
Prestame Tu Mujer 174
Aguadilla 195 - 192
Al Ver Sus Campos 194 - 204
Adelante Siempre Voy 194 - 214
Quitate La Mascara 182
Cocinando 131
Soy Dichoso 197 - 205
Los Ejes De Mi Carreta 153 - 161
El Entierro Del Feo 188 - 185
Flor De Los Lindos Campos 184 - 182

Rey Ruiz - Grandes Soneros De Ayer Y Hoy

Luna Negra 174

Ricardo Ray & Bobby Cruz - Comejen, El Bestial Sonido, NYC Salsa 2

Si Te Contara 99
Suavito 108
Comejen 130
Sonido Bestial 218 - 228
Senora 152 - 148
Aguzate 208 - 227

Roberto Roena – Lucky 7, Y Su Apollo Sound 5, Y Su Apollo Sound 6

Mi Desengano 169 - 172
Avisale A Mi Contario 193 - 186
El Que Se Fue 188 - 181
Traicion 212 - 247
Que Se Sepa 212 - 219

Roberto Torres - Retrato Musical

La Muy Muy 162 - 169
Caballo Viejo 187 - 185
Meneame La Cuna 191 - 190

Ry Cooder - Buena Vista Social Club

Chan Chan 161 - 168
El Cuarto De Tula 204 - 212

Santiago Ceron - Exitos Vol 1

Lindo Yambu 177 - 185
La Loma De Belen 193 - 206
Espiritu Burlon 164
Don Lengua 183 - 195
Momposina 169 - 167

Son Boricua – Son Boricua

Lejos De Ti 194 - 195

Sonora Carruseles - Espectacular, Heavy Salsa

Vitamina 214
Ave Maria Lola 191
Linda Cubana 209
Micaela 180
El Pito 172

SonSublime - Bailando Con SonSublime

Casita De Margot 190 - 207
Macusa 194 - 205
Mi Charanga 193 - 200

Spanish Harlem Orchestra - Across 110st

Un Gran Dia En Barrio 213 - 222
Cuando Te Vea 193

Tabaco Y Ron – Paquete Salsera, Tumbando Cabeza

Sonero De Barrio 176
Acabo De Llegar 192 - 195
Tumbando Cabeza 178

Tito Puente - Absolute Best - Mambo, And His Concert Orchestra, Dancemania Vol 1, Dancemania Vol 2, Doctor Feelgood, King of Kings, King Of Timbales, Live At Birdland, Mambo Birdland, Mambo Of The Times, Oye Como Va: The Dance Collection, The Rough Guide, 50 Years of Swing, Obra Maestra

Caravan Mambo 165 - 162
Mambo Diablo (50s) 158 - 154
Mambo Gallego (50s) 192
Mambo Diablo (70s) 168
Picadillo (70s) 217 - 214
El Cayuco (DMv1) 128
Cuando Te Vea 175 - 180
Hong Kong Mambo 183
Mambo Gozon (DMv1) 210
Agua Limpia Todo 192
Cua Cua (DMv2) 200
Mambo Diablo (80s) 192 - 196
Fiesta A La King (80s) 215 - 220
Guajira Soul 118
Ran Kan Kan (80s) 210 - 242
Oye Como Va (80s) 134
Picadillo A Lo Puente 216 - 213
Ode To Cachao 134
Mambo Gallego (80s) 194 – 192
Oye Me Guaguanco (50s) 156
Abaniquito 230 - 240
Picadillo (50s) 190 - 192
Cao Cao Mani Picao 181
Lare Lare 241
Swinging The Mambo 176
Mambo Inn 209 - 215
Cayuco (90s) 127
Babarabatiri (90s) 197 - 205
A Donde Vas 120
Mas Bajo (90s) 133
Cua Cua (90s) 196 - 203
Mambo Gozon (90s) 201 - 212
Oye Mi Guaguanco (90s) 164
Ran Kan Kan (90s) 203 – 216
Oye Como Va (90s) 126
Japan Mambo 180 - 195
Maria Cervantes 199 - 210
Tito’s Colada 194 - 198
Mas Bajo (RoughG) 133
Pachito Eche (w/ Celia Cruz) 172
Ran Kan Kan (50s) 200 - 208
Asia Mood 199 - 203
Babarabatiri 200 - 205
Dejame Sonar (w/ Tony Vega) 199 - 208
Nina Y Senora 193 - 186
El No. 100 180 - 190
Fiesta A La King (70s) 207 - 220
Oye Como Va (90s) 127
Picadillo Jam (w/ Eddie Palmieri) 197 - 220
Paris Mambo (w/ Eddie Palmieri) 220 - 225

Tito Rodriguez - El Doctor De La Salsa, The Legend’s 30th Anniversary, Tito Tito Tito, Un Retraro El Hombre Su Musica Y Su Vida

Buenas Noches Che Che 189
En El Balcon 194
Hay Craneo 186
El Hueso De Maria 184
Esa Bomba 189
La Ley Del Guaguanco 178
Mama Guela (30th) 221 - 231
Avisale A Mi Contario 211 - 216
El Que Se Fue (30th) 208 - 213
Bilongo 198
Alma Llanera 200
Descarga Cachao 227 - 240
Donde Estabas Tu 141
Sun Sun Babae 220 - 222
La Toalla 209
Mama Guela (Retrato) 242 - 247
Yambu 208
El Que Se Fue (Retrato) 206 - 217
Perico Perejil 147
El Mulato Rumbero 218

Tommy Olivencia - Plante Bandera, Salsa Fresca

Plante Bandera 198 - 206
Trucutu 186 - 194
No Tires La Primera Piedra 192 - 196

Willie Colon - Crime Pays, El Juicio, Grandes Soneros De Ayer Y Hoy, Salsa Fresca, Siembra

El Malo 215 - 227
Jazzy 218 - 239
Juana Pena 199 - 214
Ah-Ah/O-No 192
Pirana 199 - 203
Aguanile 262 - 272
Pan Y Agua 104
Abuelita 191 - 185 - 193
Idilio 189
Plastico (w/ Ruben Blades) 218
Pedro Navaja (w/ Ruben Blades) 181 - 209
Ojos (w/ Ruben Blades) 208 - 235

Willie Rosario - Afincando, Nuevos Horizontes, Pura Salsa, The Roaring Fifties, Viva Rosario, Salsa Fresca

Botaron La Pelota 201 - 215
Estoy En Ti 190 - 197
Lluvia 201 - 210
Chango Ta Beni 199 - 206
Babarabatiri 188 - 193
El Flamboyan 179 - 186
Cuando Se Canta Bonita 197 - 204
Atizame El Fogon 182 - 193
Rubias De Nueva York 187 - 190
Preparen Candela 180 - 182
Los Salseros Se Van 187 - 189
Anuncio Clasificado 179 - 170
Falso Amor 187 - 193
Esa Muneca 185 - 187

Big news

September 17, 2007

I was changing my shoes when Joe said something about Fridays as a part of the announcements he usually makes at the end of the class. Huh? I thought he said something about classes on Fridays. What does he mean by this?

I asked the guy tending the bar about this announcement. Did he say Friday classes?

He didn’t know. He suggested I go talk to him or Vish.

Vish and Joe were both at the DJ booth at the start of the social. I picked on Vish. Did Joe say something about a Friday class? Did I hear that right?

Yes, Joe will be teaching classes on Fridays starting October 19th. A part of the plan was to do monthly showcases starting October 26th. And yes Johnny and Serap have been told about new teachers taking over for Fridays. Big news.

This is all about money of course. Because of a steep rent increase (300% over couple of months?) near the end of the Spring, Vishal supposedly has not been making any money from Club Salsa. What used to be a profitable Fridays has been less so this summer – possibly more than usual downswing seen in previous summers.

So what do I think of this? I’m not going to bother with personal issues – I am actually more interested in economics here.

I’m guessing that bringing Joe to teach on Fridays probably will result in increased number of people to the class. I’m also guessing that teacher’s fee for Joe will be considerably higher than it was for Johnny and Serap. In fact, it’s difficult to believe that it won’t be more expensive to hire Joe on Fridays than it is on Mondays. So in terms of making money from people taking classes, I don’t think know if the bottom line will change much. How about the social afterwards? Is Joe staying around for a couple of hours at least to social dance or DJ? Would he bring friends (aside from performance nighs)? Joe’s classes are plenty popular on Mondays but the social afterwards is by far the weakest – possibly because Joe and his team (aside from Dani) do not stick around. If they do stick around, how much would it help? I would guess that Johnny and Serap will not be coming to Club Salsa reliably at the start of every Friday socials – assuming they come at all. Here I am considering the possibility of good dancers as magnet for other dancers. Also bear in mind that this in the end works only if Vish makes enough money – whether by having big enough takings at the bar (this means alcohol because no one will drink equivalent worth of water, juice, etc – also this means Friday cannot be a pure Salsa night and probably <70% Salsa) or many people paying higher cover (tough proposition – although perhaps this could be made more palatable by combining high cover with free drink coupons or such – maybe something like £12 for 2 hour class plus 2 free drinks or £8 for party only with 2 free drinks – I have no idea if people will buy into such scheme and such scheme will probably mean increased price for drinks – also this could mean changes for other days of the week). Let’s say that new Fridays is a smashing success – probably meaning slightly better margins than Fridays of last year. It still doesn’t remove the problem of higher rent, which might go up again if the leaseholder decides that Vish could “afford” it. It’s all very complicated. And I haven’t even talked about whether Cambridge can support same teachers twice a week. So there are a lot of questions to be answered. Vishal obviously decided that status quo was not going to work and decided to swing for the fences. If nothing else, I think this demonstrates that nothing lasts. Come next year, Club Salsa might not exist – I don’t think it will work as a business except with right person in charge – someone who cares about Salsa dancing and the dancer community (here I don’t think style (NY, LA, Cuban) matters much) and someone who likes money and knows how to make it. Just in case anyone’s wondering, I have zero interest in running this business – I would not have fun squeezing money from people (as some people who know from the Tony Lara visits or the recent On2 sessions).

As for the social afterwards, it was the weakest one for Mondays I have seen to date in terms of people staying behind. Vishal played some nice songs but I thought they were a bit too highbrow for the occasion. What seemed like perfectly harmless moves became a little harrowing. I even played a role of an instructor – with minimal instruction. I hope I don’t want to be like Sergio – preferring exercises and instructions over dancing, but for a moment or two tonight I thought perhaps I was leaning that way.

Mostly Harmless

September 16, 2007

No real big impetus to go except I hadn't been there in nearly a month. When it was about time to depart, I almost decided not to go. Having to drive makes it less appealing. So does the hotel venue - it's okay but not quite as good.

Amir was the DJ, which was good. As far as his night goes, it was on the bottom half. Songs included disco Ran Kan Kan (Fania All Stars?), Cuando Te Vea (SHO), Periodico De Ayer (Hector Lavoe - final song), Sun Sun Babae (version unknown), Ahora Quien, Avisale A Mi Contrario (Tito Rodriguez?), etc. The thing I liked the least was that virtually all songs were on long side - I'm guessing typically 5-7 min.

Cambridge contingent was limited to Johnny, Serap early and Liam late. I think the rough train commute has to be a factor. Before dancing with me Serap joked about Maura telling her to give a private lesson to one of the girls I had just danced with - she moved well but did not follow well - apparently too busy styling according to Mauro and Serap. Liam seems to be dancing more than he used to last year - and looking pretty good doing it.

Overall it was a decent evening but nothing spectacular. Two Cha Cha - neither particularly good. Only one encounter with a WAG. I met Tamambo's cousin. Both Tamambo and Leon Rose were present. One nice chat post-dancing and a possible groundwork for On2 - only if the song is short and slow (good luck). My dancing was probably rated as perfectly harmless by SOS standard. I didn't feel like trying very hard anyway.

Showing improvement

September 14, 2007

Natasha said, “You have much improved.”

At first I was amused. Then I was really pleased. It certainly was the best dance I ever had with her and arguably the first one ever without a major complaint from either of us.

Here’s the context.

Of people who are still in the scene, Natasha arguably has known me the longest – ever since I was a beginner. I am not counting the people who are or were acting in instructor or assistant type position (e.g. Johnny, Serap, Mauricio and Lorraine) of course. Nanak and Mike hardly count because they appear rarely and dances seldom even when they show. Sean has not come for social dancing since February or so. Michelle is also infrequent visitor. I suppose I do remember some of the real old timers like John, Charlie, Mohammed, Ashrafi, Gordon, Rajiv, etc, but I almost certainly was invisible to them for the first several months (a case point a reverse - I chatted with briefly with a guy named Joffee (completely unsure about spelling) tonight. I noticed him for past 3-4 weeks or so, but supposedly he has seen me around for a year or so at Club Salsa). Digressions aside, in those almost three years I never had good time dancing with Natasha despite the fact that Natasha and I were quite friendly with each other for quite some time.

So at first when I heard her comment, I thought I should be the one who spoke those words. But you know what? This dance was better not because of improvements made by her but because of what I was doing differently compared to 3 months, 6 months, 1 year or 2 years ago. This is not to say that Natasha has not improved in last 3 years - this is far from true. So what changes have I have made? It definitely was not increased repertoire of moves because leading a whole lot of super-fancy super-difficult moves would have detracted rather than added to the experience being pleasant. Improved technique was more important. Trying to feel the music and dancing to fit the music helped too. Just as important was to know what and how much to take out so that the dance became easy for both of us. There are other intangibles, much of which could come under the heading of technique except teaching it would be difficult (e.g. keeping a very measured distance between you and your partner – sometimes as close as possible but not always). Like many things everything takes months and years of practice and only way to get better is a lot of social dancing.

Tonight I arrived shortly before the end of first hour of class. I had no definite plan of taking part in the class, but I saw that the beyond beginner class (Sharon giving instructions) was short of leads. It also looked like I could be helpful by taking the class. I gave instructions to whomever I was partnered at the time but kept to the material in class and with minimal improvisation to avoid distracting Sharon. One thing I noted about the class was that the practice music was played at normal speed – relatively slow songs were picked. Usually this meant a sudden increase in speed during practice without music and practice with music – a little jarring. Probably a good thing to add is to do a couple of practices without music at a faster pace before starting practice with music.

Beyond Beginner

1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL switch to R-R (and connect L-L underneath)
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns clockwise first with L-L low and R-R high, flick L-L with R arm and get L-L over R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 sombrero and CBL into open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower to clockwise turn with L-L

I took my music with me tonight in case Vishal wanted a break, but I found him listening to music during the class getting ready for the social, etc. I decided not to bother asking as he seemed keen to have fun playing his music. The most surprising choice was Aguanile – not sure if it was Willie Colon-Hector Lavoe version. I tried to get Serap for a dance to this song, but she was committed to another Rueda. I got her later for Nina Y Senora instead.

Two beer and a bottle of water night. The social started decently enough although the crowd thinned by around 1 AM once again. I’m guessing I might have danced with ~70% of people there including Cinzia, Anastasia, Kate, Melania and rather large number of people I noticed taking part in the class (but not my beyond beginner class). The only one from the dinner club was Sebastian. Still I quite enjoyed myself - even when a girl declined my request for a dance and causing her friend to become astonished. Why did I enjoy getting a rejection? Because I really liked my reaction - an immediate thought that came to my mind was something along the lines of "She has her priorities right - friends over dancing." That is how normal people behave - as opposed to people who become obsessed with dancing. Well - maybe I was a little surprised first, but it was a nice quick comeback.

Annoyed with Ivan

September 13, 2007

Sally was worried about getting beginners to dance more than usual and making sure I played slow songs especially in the beginning. I am not as convinced that playing slow songs help very much even though it was my plan to play a number of slow songs in the beginning with or without her concern. Why do I think that it doesn’t help much? Most beginners have nothing to fear from the music because pretty much every song will be new and strange to them. The big intimidation factor is not the speed of the music (at least up to a certain point) but rather the people who are around them. I might add that a room full of people who took lessons for 3-6 months will do nearly good job of intimidating beginners as a room full of people who have been dancing for 5+ years.

Thursdays are especially difficult for beginners because it attracts the most number of better dancers in Cambridge, and enough of them show up at the very start of the social ready to pounce as soon as the class ends. More often than not, the more experienced dancers will start off dancing with people of similar ability. Many of the “better” leads will simply use slower music to put in extra spins – instead of single spin, a double and instead of a double, a triple, which is especially flashy and intimidating to those who have no practice in spinning, etc. Why does this happen? Possibly because many people are used to spinning at one speed - as fast as possible. I personally try to start the evening by dancing with relative beginners – usually people who are not picked off by the established crowd. I think what I try to do helps to break in new people into the scene, but I wouldn’t ask or expect other people to follow my example.

Most people are elitists (myself included) – in regards to dancing I mean most would consider dancing with someone perceived to be below their ability as something between necessary evil and unbearable torture. This is exacerbated by the fact that most people overestimate their abilities and thus placing more people as being beneath them. Funny thing is most people also underestimate themselves too, which also contributes to them being reluctant to dance more. I suspect that people are also afraid to dance with less experienced people because they fear that it would look bad (i.e. if you hang out with people who are not considered good, you risk looking not so good also).

Actually it’s difficult enough to try to convince people to dance more, which incidentally is the best way to improve. Everyone has different excuses. It’s too crowded. I say work on dancing in tight space. There are only beginners around. Work on perfecting your lead so that beginners find you easy and pleasant to dance with. I notice that people who are doing best are the ones who dance the most in social settings. My favorite example is Steve. I don’t know him very well – only spoke to him once. You don’t see him standing around during socials because he’s always dancing and with many different people. There are a lot of guys who are trying more complicated moves (often badly I might add) and going generally nutty (and looking silly doing it), but Steve is in my opinion one of the soundest leads in Cambridge (and he danced pretty much exclusively in Cambridge to best of my knowledge).

How the heck did I get into this rant? Oh yeah. I was talking about getting beginners to dance during the social. There is one sure-fire way. Sally has used it before. The method is used at SOS nowadays. The answer? Force them. At the end of the class, ask everyone in the class to the dance floor. Get everyone in a circle. Have them dance with different people rotating every half minute or so. Do it for two songs. Use slow-medium song. I would recommend against artificially slowing the song because I don’t think it helps very much (and I think it adversely affects how the songs are perceived later on when things are back to normal speed). I suppose not everyone agrees with me on slowing songs that are perfectly alright at normal pace, but I am fine with agreeing to disagree on this point. It won’t fix all the problems but then again what will?

Onto my playlist…

Brujeria – El Gran Combo (slowed to –2% upon request from Sally)
Errante Y Bohemio – Laba Sosseh*
Momposina – Santiago Ceron*
Malanga Amarilla – Cachao
Que Quiere La Nina – Kako Y Totico*
La Boda De Ella – Bobby Valentin* (-2%) (1)
El Verdadero Son – Javier Vazquez*
Me Dejo – Oscar D’Leon (-1%) (2)
Lindo Yambu – Santiago Ceron*
La Lucha – La Excelencia (featuring Shanny)
Caballero Y Dama – Celia Cruz & Willie Chirino
Bilongo – Tito Rodriguez*
La Critica – Jose Alberto “El Canario”*
Caramelo – Johnny Pacheco* (3)
Cinco A Diez – Azabache
Sonido Bestial – Ricardo Ray & Bobby Cruz* (-4%) (4)
Chanchullo – Fania All-Stars* (5)
Si Tu Cocinas Como Caminas – Henry Fiol*
Lejos De Ti – Son Boricua*
Hace Tiempo – Angel Canales*
Los Salseros Se Van – Willie Rosario*
No Critiques – Eddie Palmieri*
El Mangoneo – Marvin Santiago (-4%)*
Japan Mambo – Tito Puente
El Abaniquito – Pucho and His Latin Soul Brothers (6)
Aguacero – El Gran Combo
Luna Negra – Rey Ruiz (7)
Gotas De Lluvia – El Gran Combo
Abuelita – Hector Lavoe

(1) A rather gratuitous slow-down and probably ineffective. Same for next song too.
(2) I did not want it to make it seem that these songs were a lot faster than the previous two. I kept things at –1% until Caballero Y Dama, which is a fast song.
(3) I wondered how the crowd would take a Charanga and had an internal debate about which one to play and whether to play one. It turned out there was absolutely no problem.
(4) This was supposed to be my Coro Miyare of the night. A crazy nutty song to be talked about. Too fast and too long. I tried to make it easier by slowing it down by 4%. Somewhat to my surprise, it was quite popular. I hope it doesn’t become too popular. I think it’s okay to hear it maybe once every 2-3 months.
(5) My obligate Cha Cha of the evening. Most people were exhausted after dancing to Sonido Bestial thus I decided to dance to this one to fill the dance floor more. I had meant to try to dance a lot more often earlier in the evening, but I was too distracted until this point. Originally I had planned to dance to at least two song by this point – preferably Que Quiere La Nina and El Verdadero Son. Maybe Bilongo too except it’s a bit too short to make it easy and worthwhile.
(6) Second dance of the evening for me.
(7) I danced to last 3 songs also. Actually picking songs became secondary to dancing at this point so I was using whatever songs available in the CDs already in the CD players.

Total 29 songs. 28 Salsa (17 new) and 1 Cha Cha (1 new). I’m not trying to play new songs for new-ness sake. I simply have accumulated large number of good songs and have had very little opportunity to show them off. Right now I probably have more than 40 songs to ready go, and I’m still buying albums as a brisk pace. So it was nice to get another opportunity to introduce these songs to the crowd. Although it wasn’t as good as it could have been because so many people who would have liked what I played were absent. No Sergio – still in Portugal. No Cyrille – I wonder when or if he will return. No Haihan – school hasn’t started yet. No Ivan. I was surprised and therefore most disappointed by his absence. Somnolence issues? Domestics Issues? Who knows? I would have had much more fun if I could have gauged response from those four and how they would have danced with people who were there (e.g. Jane, Lindsey, Charlotte, Euvian, Sally, etc) as well as people who were not (e.g. Nina, Mimi, Agnes, Stephanie, etc) - they would have been most likely to figure out some of the inside jokes in songs I chose. Don't get me wrong. There were plenty of people enjoying the evening.

Wednesday refresher

September 12, 2007

I went because I wanted a refresher on how different people run their classes in Cambridge and get a sampling of DJing - this week seemed like an opportune time. Of all nights, I had been away from Wednesday the most. There's no need to do anything special for Thursday since I'm familiar with how things are run - also I'm the DJ tomorrow. Friday could be an interesting challenge if I want to make it to the class and the social.

The line up was Cristian, Jay with Dani, who is substituting for Dee apparently away until October.

Intermediate with Cristian with Dani

1,2,3,5,6,7 standard double turn for follower with L-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break CBL inside turn (1 1/2 counterclockwise travelling) for follower with leader stepping forward and to left on 7 with L-R kept high (important for safety reasons or so I discovered afterwards)
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns/walks counterclockwise (ends up being about 1 1/4 to end facing away from follower) during 1,2,3 – get follower’s R hand under leader’s R arm and lead her into CBL with leader turning full counterclockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R hold open break R-R going over follower’s head and L-L in front – lead follower into full counterclockwise turn with L-L low for wrap
1,2,3,5,6,7 back break to lead follower to fully turn around 1/2 clockwise on 2,3 – lead follower to 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn travelling and continuing to turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 follower continues to turn about 1/2 more – forward on 5 (facing away on 5) L-L low then lead follower back and turn counterclockwise on 6,7 and switch to R-L (wrap for follower)
1,2,3,5,6,7 connect L-R in front and Mambo jazz – lead follower to 1 1/2 travelling clockwise turn with leader turning 1/2 clockwise with L-R high
1,2,3,5,6,7 facing away from follower open break and bring follower straight forward – get behind follower and lead her straight back on 6,7 (lead coming shortly after 5) – leader is to R of follower and overtakes
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L connection made and leader moves in front of follower under L-L and turn 1/2 counterclockwise during 1,2,3 – absorb follower’s forward movement on 5 and lead her straight back for 6,7 with leader turning full counterclockwise and facing follower again
1,2,3,5,6,7 (I'm probably making this bit up) lead follower straight forward - get around behind in clockwise fashion (from her R to behind to L) bringing follower to walk straight back with a shoulder lead (both shoulders okay - R shoulder alone is okay) - spin clockwise (?) to get into CBL position
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL and lead follower into free counterclockwise travelling turn with R-R


Very long routine. Very doable. Some new-ish material. Not bad for me given figuring out the technique was not difficult for me.

Improver with Cristian

1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL inside turn for follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise then lead follower forward on 5,6 and 1/2 travelling clockwise turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 spot turn (referred to as reverse CB, which is not good for use here since I use the same term to mean something very different)
1,2,3,5,6,7 Mambo jazz (referred to as whoosh) in CBL position CBL with low cross pass (hook turn for leader)
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower forward on 2,3,5 braking on 5 with R hand on stomach and back on 6,7,1 braking on 1 with L hand on back
1,2,3,5,6,7 repeat
1,2,3,5,6,7 same to 3 – get around to behind follower and to her L and bring her straight back on 5,6,7 with hands on shoulder – leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise while overtaking
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R and lead follower into free travelling counterclockwise turn maybe (not really sure – in any case it did not make a strong impression if it was something different)

I would say that the social and the music started fairly weak except that Kate and friend were present again. Despite being fairly inexperienced and also out of practice, I like the way Kate dances with me. The closest parallel that I can come up with would be EM. Kate’s friend is not too bad either – already I find her at current beginner/improver state preferable to many who have been in the scene for years and show very little sign of understanding lead-follow relationship or dancing in time to music, etc.

Why do some people remain poor Salsa dancers even after being in the scene for years? I think the main issue with lack of basics. Some people never learn to hear the music and learn to dance on time. Some people seemingly ignore lead-follow communication technique. Some people are too heavy on their feet and do not practice their footwork. All these things have to be taught and perhaps even drilled, and it’s probably best to try to get these things across very early. In fact the people who have been around the longest without becoming very good are seemingly the ones who are least likely to ever get better. Also while it is impossible to get everyone to buy into the program, it’s probably worth tweaking the approach constantly.

Speaking of people getting better, I continue to be astounded by people not taking advantage of practice opportunities during socials. I think every guy should try to dance to at least one out of two songs if not more. Quantity of practice matters more than quality - I'm quoting Edie the Salsa freak here. Saying that there are no good followers to dance with is a stupid excuse. Why would a good follower dance with a so-so leader except maybe once per evening and without a better option available? If only "beginners" are available, practice leading simple moves with beginners and improve your technique. Even if you're leading the same move all night, using the same moves on 20 people with varying degree of success is worth ten times better than doing it twice perfectly with good partners.

The music played by Cristian improved as the evening wore on - it was just okay but not bad (maybe because my expectations were low). The first song I recognized was Sueltala (Conjunto Imagen) – okay song but one I was never too tempted to play. The first song I recognized and liked was Cuando Tu Quieras (Chivirico Davila), which was followed by Sopa En Botella (Celia Cruz & Johnny Pacheco). Other songs I recognized included Sun Sun Babae (artist unknown to me), Azuquita Pa’l Café (El Gran Combo). I enjoyed most of the songs played between 11 and 11:30 after the arrival of Charlotte, Lindsey and Nicola. I think there was only one Merengue and one Bachata played for the evening - both were unfamiliar to my ears but seemed decent enough.

Least favorite incident – I elbowed Charlotte. I really have to watch that – second time this week I think. Much better was Lindsey telling me something she does not like when I dance with her. I have known for a long time but had never given me a suggestion before. It’s so difficult to get a feedback from a source I would trust. I guess it means Lindsey now feels comfortable enough with me to criticize me. Or she got fed up enough to risk me getting angry or something.

Rousing from slumber

September 10, 2007

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

Intermediate with Joe

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sleepy Friday

September 7, 2007

It was something of a back to the future kind of night. There were many old faces I had not seen in a while including Helen and Michelle. Also present were Anastasia, Laura and Lorraine, who are now around every other week or once a month or thereabout, and Natasha, Sharon and Dani. Johnny and Serap are back too - apparently they were here last Friday too. It was a very quiet night and things ran out of steam fairly early. I think it would have been a difficult night to do much with DJing - nothing fundamentally wrong with song choices tonight although I wonder if persistent effort to keep the energy level high was for the best. Given the conditions I would have preferred to dance mostly to slower and more relaxing songs rather than highly energetic ones like Merecumbe. Don't get me wrong. Merecumbe is great but not when the place is nearly empty (although I suppose it could be okay if I had a super-duper partner in once in a blue moon type of opportunity). These days I prefer slower songs pretty much allthe time. The song that followed (La Vida Es Un Carnaval) is probably one of those songs someone will have to drag me to the floor in order for me to dance to. It's one of those songs I would really appreciate not hearing for next 6 months and then maybe once a month or fewer thereafter - I don't think there's any chance of that happening unless I quit Salsa for 6 months and then start going once a month thereafter. A new-ish song I recognized for the first time was a version of El Agua Del Clavelito - it might have been played twice during the course of the evening. One thing I noticed over the course of the evening was that Vishal plays a lot more songs I don’t know by title and/or artist compared to Sally. Who knows what this means? In any case the statement should be tempered with a caveat that I recognize many of the songs because I've heard them many times. Anyhow the ones I recognized and remembered include Lloraras and Cali Pachanguero. Same old bland Cha Cha - Sharon got me for that one. The same old CD was in play at the start of the evening too. Arguably the most amusing moment involved Dani leading Sharon On2 and trying to reverse engineer Sharon into leading some On2 moves on her.

Hello Cambridge

September 6, 2007

Work is slow – still recovering from Portland – so I partook in the lessons to pass time.

Intermediate with Sally and Chris

1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL high overpass and switch to R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break R-R over follower’s head – connect L-L in front – lead follower to travelling full counterclockwise turn – reconnecting R-R at the end in crucifix position
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to stationary 1 1/2 clockwise turn with L-L low and touch-and-go to end in hammerlock position
1,2,3,5,6,7 [I think the next move involved getting into R-R low hammerlock for follower, but I can’t recall how this was achieved. One way is to go into CBL and lead 1 1/2 travelling clockwise turn with a switch. One could also lead a double clockwise stationary turn as well. Neither of these moves really rings a bell though.]
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R hammerlock, Copa fake keeping R-R low and lead follower to 1 1/2 counterclockwise travelling turn leaving follower’s R behind her L waist and reconnecting R-R (hammerlock) after leader does a counterclockwise turn on 6,7
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead into Titanic – lead to R on 5 and to left on 6,7 (half clockwise travelling turn for follower)
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader does 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn to get into CBL position switching from R-R to L-R and going under L-R for the final full turn – then lead follower to 1/2 clockwise travelling turn

I spent the next hour on beyond beginner class – it had the biggest imbalance between the three concurrent classes.

Beyond beginner with Sally

1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL into open
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL into full counterclockwise turn ending with L-L wrap and R-R higher
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to stationary 1 1/2 clockwise bringing all connections together high
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader does a simple broken left turn to get back to open position
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead simple in-and-out to closed hold

I thought this was going to be a slow-ish night, it turned out quite busy. At the class were Rajiv, William, Steve, Annette, Sharon, Hayden, Richard, Charlotte, Jane, et al. People who showed up for the social include Ivan, Zhenzhi, Chris, Lindsey, Jay, Euvian, Zern, Mimi, Nicola and Dani. Many of these showed up after I already had 3-4 dances. There were more surprise guests once again – the big gentleman from SOS/Bar Latina for the second week in a row and an even bigger surprise - Emma Moore. The dance floor was full until well past 11 PM.

Cambridge has become a lot more hospitable place to work on cross body style On1 over past few years, and given current settings it’s difficult to foresee the conditions getting any better without a stable and bigger regular venue than Club Salsa. In my opinion it is now pretty easy to get quite good staying in Cambridge without venturing to London because Cambridge now especially on Thursdays is often similar to London (e.g. Scala) in quality except at the top of professional level. Venturing outside Cambridge, especially to top London venues and major Congresses, is still useful because mostly because it helps to dance with many different people and also because it provides additional perspective about what is possible, etc. However, given additional travel times and expenses, it makes little sense to skip any of the Cambridge weekly nights and make a long trek to London instead (possibly unless your name is Liam). In order to better assess the state of Cambridge Salsa, I probably will have to re-examine Wednesday social dancing scene.

Songs played were mix of familiar and less familiar and included Vasos De Colores, Fuego A La Jicotea (both Marvin Santigo), La-La-La (DLI), Contigo (Cache), Lluvia Con Nieve (Mon Rivera), Pico Swing (New Swing Sextet), Hustler (Willie Colon), Hacha Y Machete (Alfredo De La Fe), Para Ochun (Hector Lavoe – courtesy of Emma Moore?), Alabanciosa (Manny Oquendo), Ave Maria Lola (Conjunto Imagen), Se Formo La Rumbantela (Javier Vazquez), Noche De Salsa (Louie Ramirez), Esto Es El Guaguanco (Cheo Feliciano). Oh and I am back next Thursday with many more backlog of songs to play.

Portland Redux - Part 4 (Epilogue)

September 2, 2007

I had returned to my hotel after 2 AM and had about 5 1/2 hours of sleep. Breakfast at Brad's with many of the wedding guests. One hour in the afternoon shopping. Then it was time for the wedding itself. The wedding party lasted until past 11 PM - quite surprising. There was a lot of dancing - no Salsa (there is no Sunday Salsa option in Portland by the way). I was feeling pretty exhausted by 6-7 PM, but I somehow survived. I apparently made some impression on the dance floor despite it all. I wasn't using any Salsa moves (because the music was inappropriate and partner dancing takes two), but I did take advantage of flexibility gained from isolation exercise.

September 3, 2007 (ending September 4, 2007)


Just under 7 hours of sleep, and then I was off to the airport to catch a 9:50 flight to San Francisco. From San Francisco, it was a long direct flight to Heathrow on a 747-400. I don't like 747 - they're too big, and I'll be avoiding A380 like a plague. At the moment I think I like 777 the most although I suspect I'll like 787 even more. As was the case on the way to Portland, the return flights were near full or 100% full in case of San Francisco to Heathrow. Joy. The fast cruising speed (over 620 mph) was negated in part by a 20 minute delay caused by lack of available gate at Heathrow. Thanks to long line for passport check, a missed coach, and an overbooked coach, I did not get back to Cambridge until after 1 PM. This was a tough trip.

Portland Redux - Part 3

September 1, 2007

I woke up at 6:15 AM local time. A little over 6 hours of sleep is an improvement over less than 4 hours of sleep the evening before. My flight was due to depart at 8:20. When I discovered that the only seats were middle seats, I opted to pay an extra $68 (money just flies away) for a minor upgrade resulting in slightly more legroom and a window seat and an aisle seat for the rest of the trip to Portland.

The first leg was to Denver. The biggest annoyance was a young boy behind me who screamed for the first half of the trip while kicking the back of my seat – it took some bite out of supposed additional comfort provided by the more expensive seats. The movie was Fracture starring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling. I think I have seen parts of it before. It still was more diverting than any of the movies from yesterday.

At the Denver airport (layover of just over an hour), I picked a place slightly out of the main thoroughfare called Mexican Grille for lunch. It was surprisingly expensive (a burrito and water cost $9.30), but it was also quite decent. To me it ranked as one of better burritos I tasted with caveat that in my experience the best burritos with drinks would have cost $6-7 in California or in Boston. Still I get a feeling that the quality of airport food may have increased considerably. I speculate if the fact that airlines stopped providing complimentary food in domestic flights is helping to drive this trend.

Before boarding the second airplane taking me finally to Portland, I went to the gate desk to ask whereabouts of my checked-in luggage. I was relieved to learn that it was safely stowed in the airline storage in Portland. Finally things were becoming like the way it should be – no more dramas – the most alarming happening being a very heavy woman sitting in front of me and causing quite a lot of shaking whenever she got up or sat down – or for that matter whenever she stirred. No movies for the Denver-to-Portland leg, but there were no screaming kids either. Because the battery for my iPod was running low, I used my laptop for listening to music.

Finding my luggage was pretty simple – it took less than 2 minutes. I was a bit annoyed when I found that considerable amount shampoo leaked out of the container. Fortunately, it did not reach any of the clothes. It’s not over until it’s over.

After the rehearsal party, croquet and brief stop at the hotel, I decided to head off to Aztec Willie’s early. It was only 9:30 and the free beginner class was supposed to have started only then. I didn’t feel like hanging around in the hotel – mostly because I thought I would have better chance of staying awake.

I decided to have a little snack while watching the beginner instruction. It was surprisingly heavy on shines. The instructor also went through surprisingly large amount of partner work too by concentrating on steps and foregoing on technique. I was most surprised by there being no partner rotation.

There was a fair amount of space – the main dance floor was equivalent of the LeL without the columns in the middle of the space in LeL. One of the girls mentioned that it was a quiet night because of Labor day – thus the space was not a big issue. At its busiest, I would estimate there were 30-40 couples dancing. The busiest time was around midnight to 1 AM.

The composition of the crowd was like having a typical Thursday Club Salsa crowd and an extremely busy Friday night crowd and add in an extra dozen plus men watching on the sidelines without a partner. There were a couple of people seemingly dancing On2 at fairly rudimentary level. The top leads were leading multiple turns quite a lot, but no one really impressed much until I saw one guy dancing (just once) well after 1 AM – he reminded me of Domenic – similar emphasis on musicality. And then I realized that this was the guy who hosted the local Salsa dance competition back in June 2005. I think the winner of that competition was the instructor for the beginner class.

Finding followers who seemed capable of staying on time on their own was something of a challenge. I think there were 8 of them, and I danced with 7 – in most cases twice each. I wasn’t paying attention to people dancing Cuban style, but I don’t think they were any better with timing. According to one of my partner, my lead is considerably gentler than what she’s used to. She struggled a bit the first time, but did better second time around with me leading fairly simple things throughout.

I think I had 4-5 declines tonight. In all but 2 cases, they had to dance with someone else and I subsequently danced with them later. One other case seemed to be because of lack of confidence. The last case – no idea although lack of experience is the prime suspect – she was probably number 7 on my list of 8 who seemed aware of proper timing and be able to stay on time while doing turns and spins. This is quite typical in events outside Cambridge excluding very small and very big events. I guess it’s notable only for things staying in form 8 time zones away.

Songs heard at Aztec Willie’s include Perico Macona (Angel Canales), Hay Craneo (Tito Rodriguez), Brujeria (El Gran Combo), Y No Hago Mas Na’ (some remix), Tres Dias De Carnaval (Celia Cruz & Johnny Pacheco), Anacaona (2 versions – first one was Cheo Feliciano), Alejate (Hector Lavoe), Salsa Y Control (Isidro Infante).

Portland Redux - Part 2

August 31, 2007

Continued from previous post…

The customs line at Dulles was massive but brisk moving. I still was not worried because of long layover time. I was most amused by the fact that we had to pick up our check-in baggage only to drop it off at another station about 30 meters away after another line. I guess this was because they might want to do a search in between the two places. With so many people and with delayed flights, it did not look like they were going to do very many searches but what do I know? I was back in the concourses before 4 PM local time. My next flight was scheduled for departure at 5:57 PM, but there was already a call for delayed departure time of 6:18 PM.

Even in a flight lasting 5+ hours, the only meal being offered was for purchase. I figured that the fare inside the plane was going to rate as choice so I decided to find something better in the airport. After going through essentially the all of the concourse, I settled on a place called Potbelly Sandwich Works – it sounded like a decent bet, and it was pretty good. I had a something called Spicy Italian with extra meat (Salami, Pepperoni and another spiced meat) with Provolone cheese, which was toasted first before toppings (in my case mustard, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, pickle, Italian seasoning and some oil. It was a little greasy but not too much so. With drinks, it all only cost $5.50. I took the sandwich and drink to the gate adjacent to mine (because there were fewer people). Feeling quite sated I got up and went back to my gate. It was now 5 PM local time or 10 PM in England.

My flight was cancelled. Now what? I was told to go to one of the information booths. The line nearby seemed very long so I went to the other one. It was even longer. I checked the automated machine to see if I could figure out quickly what my options were. My default option was to take another flight leaving tomorrow morning at 6 AM. Another possibility was to get on a standby for a flight (not a direct flight) that would not arrive in Portland until after 1 AM. Oh great. I decided to go back to the original information booth. The line had grown even longer. Perfect. I decided to get on the line and wait.

I was on the line for over two hours. I passed the time talking to a guy next to me. He was travelling to Portland also but coming from New York. We talked about backpacking and other hiking and mountain climbing trips we had. We also talked about Boston where both of us had lived at about the same time. Other topics included grad school, law school, experiences in Thailand, India and England. I also got boxed in my ears by an 8-year old flailing around while being carried by her father behind me on the line. Between his phone calls to his friends to apprise them of his situation, he lent me his mobile phone so that I could make a short call to my parents to let them know that I’m stuck in Dulles and that I might not be able to get on another plane until tomorrow morning and that I will try to stay with them overnight instead of going to a hotel.

When I finally reached one of the desk I tried to get two things from the airline right away. First I asked if I could fly out of Baltimore (BWI) instead of Dulles – it would be more convenient starting from my parents’ place. No problem. Second I wanted to see if I could get an upgrade in seats in lieu of expenses for hotel and taxi. Instead they gave me a $100 discount voucher for another flight to be used within a year – extendable for another year. I’m not sure if I would ever get around to using this voucher – I would have preferred an instant gratification instead. That’s the short story. The woman who was helping me was quite inept so even after half an hour, we were not close to wrapping things up. She was spending a lot of time talking to pair of adolescent girls playing next to her – one of the girls was the one who boxed my ears earlier while I was waiting in the line. It took a second worker, who was much more efficient, to finish the work in another 5-10 minutes. If I had the second person from the outset, I’m pretty sure the whole thing could have ended in half the time. Finally the last thing on the item was my checked-in baggage. She told me it was in San Francisco. Don’t ask me how. Hopefully it will be in Portland when I get there tomorrow afternoon.

When it was all over it was 8:30 PM. My parents were not answering their landline phone and I couldn’t call their mobile phone using my credit card or by collect call. Only after taking another 30 minutes to get out of my terminal and reaching the information booth at the baggage claim I was able to call them on their mobile phone. They had blindly ventured to Dulles without any information and were on their way back home when I finally reached them. Half an hour later they found me, and another half an hour later my journey for the day was over. No Salsa.

Portland Redux - Part 1

August 31, 2007

Misadventures in travels continues. The alarm went off at 4:55. Shower. Finish packing. Call taxi company at 5:30. Breakfast. Taxi arrives a bit later than expected at 5:42 or 5:43 outside their 5-10 minute estimate. Arrival at National Express station at 5:47 by my watch. There’s a coach leaving – no obvious destination sign. Mine should leave at 5:50. There’s another coach waiting but it’s not the right one. I pay the cab driver and go talk to the driver on the other coach. The coach driver thinks I missed my coach, and the taxi is leaving. Uh oh. I ponder my options. Taking the next coach sounds too risky – it would not get to Heathrow bus station until 9:45, and without a taxi ready I would not be able to catch up with the coach at Trumpington. I call the taxi company again. Hmm. There’s another taxi dropping off someone else so I hang up (but I would have to call the same company again in order to use this taxi – ugh).

Train station at 6. I have to ask the attendant about price difference between taking the Heathrow Express and the Underground one-way and return, and he wonders why I did not know how I would want to get to Heathrow until that moment. Okay so I did not do this perfectly but that doesn’t mean I’m a complete idiot. As the attendant waited for credit card approval for my one-way (single) trip via underground, I replied that I was going to take the coach but that the coach drove off as my taxi got to the station. He turned slightly more sympathetic and asked if I had already bought the ticket for the coach. I replied that return ticket is still good (right?). Of course all this could have been avoided if I called the taxi company 5-10 minutes before I actually did. I boarded 6:15 to Kings Cross.

Arrival at Heathrow at 8:25 or approximately 50 minutes earlier than if I had caught the coach on time. Heathrow is a mess – terminal 3 right now is undergoing renovation so it’s even worse than usual. Check-in took longer than expected, but I was still managed to get past all the security points by 9:05 or before the scheduled time for my coach’s arrival. The gate was not going to be open for a while – the departure time for my plane is 10:50. The only things I lost were money and possibly sleep.

Because of some other airplane having to make an emergency landing (this sounds familiar, no?), the takeoff was delayed by over an hour. Thus at 1:20 PM (still in the same time zone) or almost 8 hours after leaving my house, I was merely flying over Ireland with well over 3200 miles to Washington D.C. and another 2300+ miles to Portland. The only good thing is that I had nearly 3 1/2 hours of layover in Washington so an one-hour delay likely will not cause a problem. A factoid of interest only to me – going from London to Portland via D.C., I am supposed to have a total flight time of 13 hours 57 minutes (8 h 29 m + 5 h 28 m) while the return journey via San Francisco needs only 11 hours 54 minutes (1 h 45 m + 10 h 9 m). Gotta love the jetstream. The layover in San Francisco is under 1 1/2 hours too.

Arguably the most annoying issue is with boredom. My old iPod battery is down to <40% capacity with over 12 hours of journey left to go. The in-flight entertainment option for movies were so poor that I chose to watch a TV program – House M.D. first followed by a sitcom I had never seen before. During the next cycle, I picked Shrek the Third – it was horrendously bad – much worse than the first two Shrek movies. The remaining options are The Hoax (starring Richard Gere), The Last Mimzy (starring Rainn Wilson), Premonition (starring Sandra Bullock), Hot Fuzz (starring Simon Pegg), Next (starring Nicolas Cage), Blind Dating (starring Chris Pine), and the Disney Channel. This has to be by far the worst set of airline movie choices I have ever seen. The eastbound planes has at least 3 movies that sounds more interesting (in no particular order Spider-Man 3, Blades of Glory (Will Ferrell figure skating comedy) and Waitress (Keri Russell drama). Next up for a diversion is a British comedy Hot Fuzz. If all else fails, there’s always the book – The Girl At The Lion D’Or (Sebastian Faulks).

By the way, I’m bothering to write all this because I’m figuring that the day will end with Salsa dancing.

I rarely fall asleep while watching movies – at a theatre or at home. It has happened twice before. The first movie was The Player, which was directed by Robert Altman (he also directed M*A*S*H and Nashville among other movies). The second movie was Bob Roberts starring Tim Robbins, who was also one of main actors in The Player. Both movies are comedy – a satire with subtle humor rather than a slapstick or raunchy obvious comedy. I think I fell asleep to Bob Roberts twice. Or was it The Player? Hot Fuzz now joins that short list. I am not saying that it was a terrible movie. It was probably the least annoying movie I watched today, but it was also the only one I fell asleep to. The third movie was Blind Dating – it was a complete crapshoot. This one was occasionally engaging but ultimately turned out to be quite bad at many levels. I can’t decide which one between Blind Dating and Shrek The Third was worse as far as the scriptwriting was concerned. Combination of bad food and bad entertainment with a slight queasy feeling induced by a brief encounter with air turbulence made me feel very welcome about disembarking the plane at Washington Dulles Airport (as well as dreading another 5+ hours in the air).

To be continued.

Night before PDX

August 30, 2007

Time of arrival – approximately 9:45. Time of departure – approximately 11:30. Both times were affected by the scheduled flight tomorrow morning. It was only a slightly better than average summer Thursday, but I enjoyed myself more than that by some margin.

It was a home crowd – Polly, Andrea, Euvian, Nicola, Sharon, Annette, Charlotte, Jane, Allison, Clara and the Spanish gal whose name I never learned. Among men were Sebastian, Rajiv, Ivan, Hayden, William, Steve and several other good leads from the Cambridge scene. An unusual guest was a lead from London – a big guy I have seen many times at SOS and possibly at Bar Latina. I think he came alone – not sure what the occasion was – not that it matters much and it certainly made it more fun for the girls who got to dance with him.

Music was above average as well and included the current standard fares like La Llave, La-La-La, Rumbon Melon as well as songs in rotation like Vasos De Colores, Fuego A La Jicotea (actually heard this for the first time from Sally – at least in a while), Se Formo La Rumbantela (Javier Vazquez), Lluvia Con Nieve and some new ones like Ave Maria Lola (Conjunto Imagen – again first time from Sally or for that matter anyone besides me), Bailadores (SHO) as well as a bunch of songs I did not recognize but liked anyway (including a nice Descarga with a intro similar to Cairo).

I had one On2 dance with Euvian. It worked quiet well – our best one yet. I think she’s in for a treat especially once Haihan returns. I don’t know if Euvian danced On2 with the London dude – I saw him dancing On2 with Sally later in the evening.