A Month Of Light Deejaying

July 25, 2008

It wasn't the busiest of the days but I ended up having quite a lot of dances. For a large part I was picking on people I had not danced with much in the past - perhaps still on the Hamburg mode. A few nervous hands here and there, I suppose I was more bemused more than anything else by the shivering. I try not to force moves and overwhelm, but I still wonder if it looks that way to bystanders. Do I nevertheless contribute to the flash and spin brigade even when dancing with beginners?

Andrea and Polly were both around. Talking about On2 at the start of the song led to an On2 dance with Andrea, which in turn led to an On1 dance later. Latter probably was the nicest-looking dance of the evening. It's probably safe to say that Andrea has been more in-tune-dance with me in Cambridge than anyone else by a good number over past month or two. This might say more about how out-of-touch I have been with better followers in Cambridge lately - I probably could count in one hand the number of people, who I think respond well to me and allow me to dance rather than merely lead turn patterns.

I was getting ready to DJ as the number of reasonable social-call dances dwindled. Vish said he wanted to play some songs after Joe for several songs first. When I thought it was my turn, however, Cristian took over instead. Oh yeah - forgot to mention he was there tonight - somewhat unusual for a non-special Friday. Sally talked about being here tonight but she on the other hand was a no-show. Cristian motioned me to take over around 1:30, but I declined (and I would have declined even if I had been asked an hour earlier). I note that I have acted as DJ only once in all of July thus far - the 31st will be for the second time all month!

I didn't dance for next hour or so with the music taking an odd turn - two Merengue, two Bachata, then a series of generally fast Salsa, a Reggaeton-fest. It took me a while to get my interest up again. More than anything else, I was looking for something slower because I wasn't inspired to dance to something fast with anyone still around by then. It had also become incredibly male-heavy (not meaning lead-heavy though).

I was ready to go home by 12:20 or so, but I somehow stuck around until 1. And then I spotted a French girl I've seen a few times over past month - most notably on the two Saturdays I deejayed for while Vish was away. Highly adaptable follower - not a specialist - unfortunately I learned at the end of the evening that she's moving back to France next week. Anyhow, she got me more interested again and get me off the couch. Also Cristian had turned back to more mainstream easy-on-the-ears type of song selection so I ended up staying until closing time once again.