Pop culture references

March 23, 2008

Trois Couleurs Bleu was on my mind all weekend as I readied for Scala. Freedom but not the usual definition bathed unabashedly in glowing positive light. Freedom to come and go at any time - it was not until 9 that I decided that I will go – probably, and I started off from Cambridge only at 11:30. It was great – somewhat reminiscent of the way Krzysztof Kieslowski depicted it.

The ride to Scala on the other hand reminded me of Duel by Steven Spielberg. The M11 was annoying enough but the central London had an old white truck, which made me wonder if it was going to crash into my car. Even though the truck was exceedingly slow at many moments (especially when accelerating), it inexplicably stayed on my tail for several miles seemingly following my tracks. Even after I got away from it, I found myself checking the back mirror several times to make sure that it was no longer following me.

I stayed in my overcoat inside Scala for nearly half an hour or so because I couldn’t bear to wait in the long line for coat check. I ended up watching the second of the showcases – or at least the Lambada one – at the VIP room, where the music in the main room could not be heard but the backtalk was easy to hear and make. When I saw that the next performance was the one with the Irene Miguel, I decided that it was the perfect time to check my coat. I bet I saved at least 10 minutes. Maybe I can invoke Gogol for this tidbit.

There must have been some 30-60 minute interval between the second set of performance and the final set. I think I danced about 2-3 times during that time. I felt that I would be around until very late this time and that I was in no hurry. The place was very crowded and rather warm. The dancing I observed was frankly speaking not very good. I suppose there were plenty of people who are probably better than me in many ways, but many of them were not dancing much. The ones that I caught my eyes did so for all the wrong reasons - questionable timing, inability to deal properly with crowded conditions, and looking annoyed and at times even looking furious rather than happy about dancing and perhaps getting sick of it all by the end of the evening. If I were to make a stretch for a popular reference, I might pick Pride and Prejudice but only because of the title rather than the content of the book. I suppose I might have noticed all this because I was sitting out more than usual, but I also think the quality of leads among those active were as subpar - high quantity was not matched by quality. I also thought that it was awful seeing so many people be either clueless, unhappy or both. Where's the joy? As for me I opted to aim to connect nicely with my partners at emotional level rather than aiming for stretching my technique or displaying undue flashiness. For most part I think it worked out well whether I was dancing with less experienced follower or with followers who are no doubt used to big names.

The final set of performance were by Miguel (of Puerto Rico) and his partner whose name I did not catch (probably the same from last year's Coventry trip) and Laith Sami Student performance group with a diverse set of Halloween costumes (Pirates of the Carribean, Supergirl, Catwoman, Sexy Soldiers of Fortune, Creatures of the Underword, etc). I was stuck in a very curious spot to watch this set of performances. The Laith Sami choreography used peculiarities of the Scala stage for "enhanced viewing experience" and unintended comical effects. Very few of the performers stayed afterwards for social dancing.

As for me, it was quite relaxing not dancing so much. Pretty much every dance until around 4 was great - I felt that every single dance was an enjoyable and often fun experience for both me and my partner. After around 4 was another matter though because there were very few people I felt like asking for a dance, and the quality of the dance (when I managed one here and there) were not as good. In the past, I thought there were many dances and music that was really good at the wee hours and that I might have benefited from having more energy at those hours. At least by tonight's experience, I would have to say I was wrong. My new advice for myself would be to dance often when I can rather than try to save energy for some hoped-for upcoming better hour. There is absolutely no reason to stick it out if things don't look so good after 4 AM. Just leave when quality drops noticeably. Now I know this after having stuck it out until nearly 5:30. I'll say that the pop reference here is the Goldblum/Pfeiffer vehicle Into The Night.

I saw about 6 people from Cambridge but did not interact much with anyone except with Serap and Johnny, who were complete surprise shows to me. It felt like Serap modified her spinning technique somewhat. We talked about the change (perceived or real) in quality of dancing at Scala. Only the really good dancers used to dance on the stage; now anyone and everyone does. At least that conversation was fairly easy. Nowadays I find it really difficult to talk - perhaps more so than usual. Maybe I'm out of practice. Putting together a sentence can be a real chore. I write a lot more than I speak. I think people with whom I can converse well in challenging noisy background and with ease have always been the people who I felt very close to because they are rare. I was tempted to go Notes From Underground route (I think my liver hurts) with this entry, but I didn't - not really.