Sophomore Slump

February 12, 2008

I can’t remember for sure. Were there more men in the class last week – at least for the intermediate and improver class? This time there were many more women than men with the ratio becoming more skewed with less experience of the participants.

I was surprised to see Cyrille at the class – long trip for him. I was even more surprised to see Chanel, and I should have been even more surprised given the lengthy trip home she had. She did say she would return in February, but I expected her at Club Salsa instead. I guess she has kept herself updated of the Cambridge scene using internet – perhaps by Facebook or by this blog. It is amusing to think that I am defined by this blog for many people – good or evil, seemingly mostly good but definitely not exclusively so. Whatever. I don’t really care or think about it much – the novelty has worn off long ago.

Why do people try to learn to dance On2? Especially when the number of people dancing On2 is far fewer than people dancing On1 outside New York City? I used to think and I still think that people who insist on dancing On2 (especially those who choose to dance exclusively On2) outside NYC have a streak of masochistic or antisocial mentality because having smaller number of prospective dance partners make it more challenging to become proficient.

One explanation I hear often for wanting to learn On2 is that the best dancers dance On2. I don't think this is because On2 is inherently superior but is merely a historical artifact of NYC having the oldest and biggest Salsa community. So why am I interested in learning it? I think it’s a nice challenge, a change of pace. Also I think being able to dance On2 will allow me to dance with more people. However, I don’t think everyone is interested in dancing with more people – there certainly are cliques and people who prefer to keep an exclusive group.

Incidentally people who dance On2 in London have reputation of being elitist, exclusive, etc, but in I never have been refused a dance on the account of not being able to dance On2 or at least never received it as an excuse. I think I was asked if I dance On2 maybe half a dozen times over past 3 years or so, but they all danced with me anyway after learning that I didn’t. I doubt that they all decided to overlook it because they thought I was a hottie.

There are people who say that many things flow better or are easier dancing On2, but even those people would say that it depends on the moves – some moves are easier On1 (or perhaps a more precise wording would be that you have more time to execute some moves dancing On1 while you have more time with some other moves dancing On1).

I hear a lot of people say that dancing On2 is difficult – my personal experience tells me otherwise (it’s just matter of getting used to it). Then again people like Terence with over 50 years of teaching experience says that people progress faster dancing On1 compared to dancing On2 (I think he means On2 Palladium style rather than On2 Eddie Torres style, but I don’t think that that changes things – I think On2 Palladium should not be any more difficult either).

Intermediate On2 with Chris and Sally

6,7,1,2,3,5 CBL with hook turn for leader ending with R-R
6,7,1,2,3,5 Copa and let go R-R and reconnect R-L in front of follower – lead follower to free Copa stationary counterclockwise turn (lead coming on 3)
6,7,1,2,3,5 CBL with hook turn for leader ending with L-R behind leader
6,7,1,2,3,5 open break, and move across ahead of follower’s path to normal CBL position while leading follower to travelling counterclockwise turn (I think this must be a double turn – starting the leading of the turn using R forearm and catching L for L-L connection and into half crucifix position with free R hand on follower’s shoulder
6,7,1,2,3,5 prepare and lead follower to 1 1/2 stationary clockwise turn
6,7,1,2,3,5 I’m drawing something of a blank, but it might have been another CBL with hook turn ending with R-R because I think we somehow ended up with the next move and this might have been the bridge move…
6,7,1,2,3,5 Copa-like start (or reverse CBL?) – block forward movement – block backwards movement, lead follower forward and leader moves into follower’s previous space
6,7,1,2,3,5 open break & open hold and into CBL with R-L starting high (drape possibility) and lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn into hammerlock L-R low
6,7,1,2,3,5 open break and bring follower forward to leader’s L side with half clockwise unwinding for follower keeping R-L in place (don’t pull – it’s more of a block – this happens on 2, I think), then lead follower backwards into counterclockwise turn (I think this makes most sense to do a touch-and-go for R-L wrap, but I am not sure if the routine was going that way)

The social afterwards was on the small side. Once again all but one dance for me was danced On2 – one special dispensation came near the beginning.

Perhaps I was making no more mistakes than I was last week, but I ended up thinking more pessimistic about how easy it would be to improve compared to last week. Perhaps I was feeling high because of novelty. Or perhaps I was trying to do even more than last week. In any case, I found myself ending up on On1 timing by mistake quite often – it seemed to happen even when I was dancing with someone who was more used to On2 timing so I can’t blame it on people who are less sure about On2 timing (or any timing for that matter). I guess music might have gotten more difficult earlier in the evening too – both in terms of speed and of structure.

Liam made a very late appearance but only for some hello for a few. He and Cyrille left early – perhaps for a drink somewhere. I left a little before 11 PM.