August 29, 2008
My left index finger still felt strained so I was not nonplussed by not having danced much. Triple negative. Nice.
Large number of the Thursday contingent made appearance - Himalayan Ivan, Jane, Zhenzhi, Sam, Steve, Raj, Clara, Sharon, Here-indefinitely Ed, etc. There was a new crew at work behind bars as well as a new distraction for out-of-sight Vish.
I took over the DJ booth after Joe for a fairly long set – til closing. I guess I am compensating for last week and next week.
Playlist
El Verdadero Son – Estrellas Caiman
Que Bonito Es Sonar – Jimmy Bosch
Ritmo Tambo Y Flores – Sonora Matancera? (Javier Vazquez)
Ven A Medellin – Grupo Gale
El Yoyo – La Charanga New York (-8%)*
Woman De Callao – Juan Luis Guerra
Te Extrano – Toque D Keda
Sujetate La Lengua – Eddie Palmieri*
Nadie Como Ella – Marc Anthony (1)
Che Che – New Swing Sextet*
Falso Amor – Willie Rosario*
Me Voy Pa Cali – Oscar D’Leon
Asia Mood – Tito Puente
Rosalia – Juan Luis Guerra
Quiero Enamorarte – Marco Ferretti
De Todas Maneras Rosas – Ismael Rivera
Y No Hago Mas Na – El Gran Combo
Yo Puedo Tu Puedes – Hector Tricoche
La Fiesta Del Pilito – El Gran Combo (2)
Bilongo – Tito Rodriguez
Fuego A La Jicotea – Marvin Santiago
Guallando – Fulanito
Musica Ligera – Toque D Keda (3)
El Agua Del Clavelito – Johnny Pacheco
Ay Amor Cuando Hablan Las Miradas – Orquesta Guayacan
Mary – Joe Arroyo
Ntoman – Africando (4)*
Diamoule Mawo – Laba Sosseh
Es La Musica – Massimo Scalici (5)
Impacto – Daddy Yankee*
El Costo De La Vida – Juan Luis Guerra (6)
Loco De Amor – Evolution A R
Mentirosa – Louie Ramirez & Ray De La Paz
Se Me Fue – El Gran Combo
Desnudate Mujer – Frankie Ruiz
A Pedir Su Mano – Juan Luis Guerra
Lamento Boliviano – Toque D Keda
La Llave – Grupo Latin Vibe
Me Media Mitad – Rey Ruiz (7)*
(1) David’s request.
(2) Another of David’s request before I played Y No Hago Mas Na. I decided that playing it now makes it easier for me to play the next song. It started the fastest trio of songs for the evening.
(3) Song info requested.
(4) Another song info requested.
(5) David was like, “What is this?” A setup for a token Reggaeton?
(6) I’m on a Juan Luis Guerra rut.
(7) No Mauricio by now. Actually I think he was gone before Guallando.
Total = 39 songs. 5 Merengue. 5 Bachata. 1 Reggaeton new. 28 Salsa including 6 new.
I ran into Mariella and SO on my way out. They were actually on their way to CS on a late whim. Maybe another time.
The Final Scala Bank Holiday
August 24, 2008
I was far from enthusiastic about going out again. It was more of an obligatory thing after having paid for the two night party pass. Or a better description was that I had nothing better to do. Well not exactly. Should I say there was nothing I felt like doing more? Close. The word inertia is appropriate too.
Salsa can be fun sometimes. Not always. Now and then it’s nearly tortuous. Saturday night for instance was about as awful as it gets for a London outing. Not to say that none of the dances had some nice aspects to it, but I think it is telling when the clear highlight of the evening was watching a plump hairless androgynous man with glasses and earrings social dance. I don’t think those words came close to justifying the entertainment value. How about freaky, funny and fabulous at the same time from a complete unknown?
Managing expectations is a key. When nothing good is assumed, any good thing would seem like a godsend. Re-writing history is another factor. The past often looks better than it really was with distortions time causes. If I own it, it is good. If I know it, it is important. If I did it, it was for the best. Smile and everything will look rosier. Self-delusion can be a good thing.
What is this turning into? Mid-life crisis? Go buy yourself a Ferrari instead. Get on with the story of the evening.
Mmm. I felt like chicken tonight. You need to eat more said Theo the other evening. Ghastly isn’t it was the reply. There is no need to try to lose weight. So how about having a big lunch this time around. Hop over to Kings Cross and indulge self with low-grade KFC chicken with meat falling off its bone at a lightest of pressure of fingers.
The place did look really dingy though. Oh so low class. How bourgeoisie the mind? How about curry instead. No. Up and down I searched for an alternative. Nothing looked remotely enticing.
Can you spare a change for food? Sorry no to a bum. I walk further up to a Burger King. No, it won’t do. I turned around.
Salsa tonight? A pair of nice-looking girls with fliers in their hand asked in the middle of the street. Thanks but I already have tickets. A number of other people they hit were already heading over to Scala with tickets already in hand.
Back in front of KFC for the third time or was it for the fourth of fifth time? Was it second time around that they took the garbage outside? There are some people inside this time. A man in suit and briefcase is wolfing down some chicken in front of a stand-up booth. I’m not exactly hungry but it will be a long night. As I was finishing, a couple with Macdonald’s bag and hamburger still in hand walks in and order more greasy food. Now here are people who are following a perfect recipe for gaining weight. The sequence of their food itinerary was beyond my reality until now. Maybe it should be called fast food crawl.
Back at the cue at the Scala were several familiar people including Andrea and her new friend. They took part in the day's activities as well and were already quite tired. After a brief chat upstairs while they were renewing their memberships, I spotted them only once more all of the rest of the evening. There must have been a fairly large group, but they were largely invisible in a crowd of over 1600. The only others from the mini bus I interacted with were Shila and Hayden.
I probably had more social greets and chats than usual. Marianne, Rico, Natalie, Andrew, Tracy, Liam, Mario, Anja, Lee, Albert, James, Amir, Yuki. Nothing heavy. Some extremely fleeting. Consequences of having been in the scene long enough. I think I was smiling more often, more open to strike up a conversation, more approachable. A few chats were with people I had never talked to before - some with no names exchanged.
I was in a good mood pretty much all night. The music started off nice. Del Salereo was the first DJ. The music stayed nice throughout. The dances were much better than last night. Heck, I even enjoyed the shows even though there were whopping 10 of them - in addition to 4 couples dancing in a competition (I picked the wrong couple to win). The highlights included seeing massive number of people involved in Laith Sami student team production themed Roxanne (Natalie was quite prominent in this one) and the awesome sounding music used by Ye Mambo. I wanted to inquire about the song but never got around to it.
I certainly did not think the night was without any redeeming qualities (as stated to me by someone). Managed expectations is key. Following an awful night helps. Left index finger is still sore. I broke in a new pair of shoes because the old pair was really falling apart - the new shoes performed better than expected.
I told Vish that I will try to visit him often - only managed it once before the social started and once around 3:45 AM as he was running out of music.
I'm developing some doubts about soundness of my On2 timing. I don't really have anyone in mind to diagnose it however.
When there's too much tension, relax. It's worth a try.
I stayed until essentially closing time once again for what I expect to be my last Scala Bank Holiday party.
I was far from enthusiastic about going out again. It was more of an obligatory thing after having paid for the two night party pass. Or a better description was that I had nothing better to do. Well not exactly. Should I say there was nothing I felt like doing more? Close. The word inertia is appropriate too.
Salsa can be fun sometimes. Not always. Now and then it’s nearly tortuous. Saturday night for instance was about as awful as it gets for a London outing. Not to say that none of the dances had some nice aspects to it, but I think it is telling when the clear highlight of the evening was watching a plump hairless androgynous man with glasses and earrings social dance. I don’t think those words came close to justifying the entertainment value. How about freaky, funny and fabulous at the same time from a complete unknown?
Managing expectations is a key. When nothing good is assumed, any good thing would seem like a godsend. Re-writing history is another factor. The past often looks better than it really was with distortions time causes. If I own it, it is good. If I know it, it is important. If I did it, it was for the best. Smile and everything will look rosier. Self-delusion can be a good thing.
What is this turning into? Mid-life crisis? Go buy yourself a Ferrari instead. Get on with the story of the evening.
Mmm. I felt like chicken tonight. You need to eat more said Theo the other evening. Ghastly isn’t it was the reply. There is no need to try to lose weight. So how about having a big lunch this time around. Hop over to Kings Cross and indulge self with low-grade KFC chicken with meat falling off its bone at a lightest of pressure of fingers.
The place did look really dingy though. Oh so low class. How bourgeoisie the mind? How about curry instead. No. Up and down I searched for an alternative. Nothing looked remotely enticing.
Can you spare a change for food? Sorry no to a bum. I walk further up to a Burger King. No, it won’t do. I turned around.
Salsa tonight? A pair of nice-looking girls with fliers in their hand asked in the middle of the street. Thanks but I already have tickets. A number of other people they hit were already heading over to Scala with tickets already in hand.
Back in front of KFC for the third time or was it for the fourth of fifth time? Was it second time around that they took the garbage outside? There are some people inside this time. A man in suit and briefcase is wolfing down some chicken in front of a stand-up booth. I’m not exactly hungry but it will be a long night. As I was finishing, a couple with Macdonald’s bag and hamburger still in hand walks in and order more greasy food. Now here are people who are following a perfect recipe for gaining weight. The sequence of their food itinerary was beyond my reality until now. Maybe it should be called fast food crawl.
Back at the cue at the Scala were several familiar people including Andrea and her new friend. They took part in the day's activities as well and were already quite tired. After a brief chat upstairs while they were renewing their memberships, I spotted them only once more all of the rest of the evening. There must have been a fairly large group, but they were largely invisible in a crowd of over 1600. The only others from the mini bus I interacted with were Shila and Hayden.
I probably had more social greets and chats than usual. Marianne, Rico, Natalie, Andrew, Tracy, Liam, Mario, Anja, Lee, Albert, James, Amir, Yuki. Nothing heavy. Some extremely fleeting. Consequences of having been in the scene long enough. I think I was smiling more often, more open to strike up a conversation, more approachable. A few chats were with people I had never talked to before - some with no names exchanged.
I was in a good mood pretty much all night. The music started off nice. Del Salereo was the first DJ. The music stayed nice throughout. The dances were much better than last night. Heck, I even enjoyed the shows even though there were whopping 10 of them - in addition to 4 couples dancing in a competition (I picked the wrong couple to win). The highlights included seeing massive number of people involved in Laith Sami student team production themed Roxanne (Natalie was quite prominent in this one) and the awesome sounding music used by Ye Mambo. I wanted to inquire about the song but never got around to it.
I certainly did not think the night was without any redeeming qualities (as stated to me by someone). Managed expectations is key. Following an awful night helps. Left index finger is still sore. I broke in a new pair of shoes because the old pair was really falling apart - the new shoes performed better than expected.
I told Vish that I will try to visit him often - only managed it once before the social started and once around 3:45 AM as he was running out of music.
I'm developing some doubts about soundness of my On2 timing. I don't really have anyone in mind to diagnose it however.
When there's too much tension, relax. It's worth a try.
I stayed until essentially closing time once again for what I expect to be my last Scala Bank Holiday party.
Everyone Else Or Me
August 23, 2008
Latinfest Bank Holiday Scala generally gets insanely crowded. I reasoned that going in addition to or instead of Sunday party might be more fun. I thought less crowding and higher proportion of good dancers – or at least the performer contingent. Thus I said no to Vish trying to talk me into his mini-bus. At the Friday party, there was only 1 spot left so I don’t think it would be a problem for him. I wouldn’t be surprised if more than one person were to make an inquiry between Friday and Sunday morning.
I did not even bother trying to talk Sergio into the trip - too many negative responses and no shows. Ever since Mimmi and Cyrille departed for greener pastures, what used to be a fairly large group of people I hung out with in the Cambridge scene has lost interest, etc. It might have affected people outside the inner group also although reasons for people dropping out of the scene are no doubt manifold. Sooner or later, everyone will disappear including me.
I arrived shortly after the social started. I purchased a two-night party pass. It was more crowded than I had anticipated. Apparently there was large Irish contingent. Going by Joe’s description from one of his announcements and advertisements during the showcases, many of the Irish people were here last year as well, but many did not stay for the bigger Sunday party under false assumptions. As I commented to Richard early on, the size of the crowd was just about right – not too empty and not too crowded at the peak hours.
Unfortunately for me the crowd density was about the only right thing about the evening. For much of the evening, I felt there was poor connection between me and my dance partners. On2 was significantly worse than On1 – probably the worst On2 night for me in several months. In many cases, I thought the timing of my partners were off – with caveat that with so many problems, one is led to wonder if it’s them or me. My left index finger still feels sore. Too many people are putting too much pressure on it. Maybe it should be rested. Perhaps I should have been more selective. In general I felt out of touch.
The music was in many parts tortuous. There were very many fast songs without decent number of partners I would have found pleasant dancing with at such speed. Many of the songs had poor sound quality or nothing interesting at any level. Figuring out the timing for some of the songs was extremely difficult. In many cases, I had to wonder who would like these songs for dancing. The choice of Cha Cha songs was bad in my opinion (actually I have the same poor opinion about the entire London Cha Cha scene) when there are so many good ones that do not get much play.
For whatever its worth, notable Salsa songs I heard tonight included Titoro (Bobby Montez), Hong Kong (Michi Sarmiento). Other songs included Avisale A Mi Contrario and En El Balcon (Tito Rodriguez), Asi Se Componene Un Son (Ismael Miranda – older slower version), El Menu (El Gran Combo), El Cantante (Hector Lavoe version?), La Esencia Del Guaguanco (Johnny Pacheco), La Pantera Mambo (La 33), La Palomilla (Joe Cuba Sextet), Acid (Ray Barretto), Mujer Erotica (Tito Rodriguez Jr), and unknown covers of songs like Tumba El Quinto. Most of the familiar songs came either very early in the evening or very late into the night. The selections were generally on the more obscure and difficult side.
I considered staying overnight in London for the Sunday night. It was raining outside, and I didn’t feel like wandering around until hotel receptions started opening. Back to Cambridge then.
Latinfest Bank Holiday Scala generally gets insanely crowded. I reasoned that going in addition to or instead of Sunday party might be more fun. I thought less crowding and higher proportion of good dancers – or at least the performer contingent. Thus I said no to Vish trying to talk me into his mini-bus. At the Friday party, there was only 1 spot left so I don’t think it would be a problem for him. I wouldn’t be surprised if more than one person were to make an inquiry between Friday and Sunday morning.
I did not even bother trying to talk Sergio into the trip - too many negative responses and no shows. Ever since Mimmi and Cyrille departed for greener pastures, what used to be a fairly large group of people I hung out with in the Cambridge scene has lost interest, etc. It might have affected people outside the inner group also although reasons for people dropping out of the scene are no doubt manifold. Sooner or later, everyone will disappear including me.
I arrived shortly after the social started. I purchased a two-night party pass. It was more crowded than I had anticipated. Apparently there was large Irish contingent. Going by Joe’s description from one of his announcements and advertisements during the showcases, many of the Irish people were here last year as well, but many did not stay for the bigger Sunday party under false assumptions. As I commented to Richard early on, the size of the crowd was just about right – not too empty and not too crowded at the peak hours.
Unfortunately for me the crowd density was about the only right thing about the evening. For much of the evening, I felt there was poor connection between me and my dance partners. On2 was significantly worse than On1 – probably the worst On2 night for me in several months. In many cases, I thought the timing of my partners were off – with caveat that with so many problems, one is led to wonder if it’s them or me. My left index finger still feels sore. Too many people are putting too much pressure on it. Maybe it should be rested. Perhaps I should have been more selective. In general I felt out of touch.
The music was in many parts tortuous. There were very many fast songs without decent number of partners I would have found pleasant dancing with at such speed. Many of the songs had poor sound quality or nothing interesting at any level. Figuring out the timing for some of the songs was extremely difficult. In many cases, I had to wonder who would like these songs for dancing. The choice of Cha Cha songs was bad in my opinion (actually I have the same poor opinion about the entire London Cha Cha scene) when there are so many good ones that do not get much play.
For whatever its worth, notable Salsa songs I heard tonight included Titoro (Bobby Montez), Hong Kong (Michi Sarmiento). Other songs included Avisale A Mi Contrario and En El Balcon (Tito Rodriguez), Asi Se Componene Un Son (Ismael Miranda – older slower version), El Menu (El Gran Combo), El Cantante (Hector Lavoe version?), La Esencia Del Guaguanco (Johnny Pacheco), La Pantera Mambo (La 33), La Palomilla (Joe Cuba Sextet), Acid (Ray Barretto), Mujer Erotica (Tito Rodriguez Jr), and unknown covers of songs like Tumba El Quinto. Most of the familiar songs came either very early in the evening or very late into the night. The selections were generally on the more obscure and difficult side.
I considered staying overnight in London for the Sunday night. It was raining outside, and I didn’t feel like wandering around until hotel receptions started opening. Back to Cambridge then.
Nelson And Veronica With Lessons
August 22, 2008
After making an effort to drum up interest, I arrived maybe a minute after the lessons started. Also taking part in classes were Jane, Andrea, Rajiv, Steve, Sharon, Gabriela among many others.
Intermediate/Advanced On1 with Nelson Flores and Veronica Castillo
The warm-up / shine bits were turn combo (L turn, half R, half L, prep and spin R and prep and spin L), double spiral, and kick L on 7, R crossed over L on 1, turn quarter right with R to R on 2, swivel half left and with L on heel on 3, turn quarter right L crossed over R on 5, L back in position on 6, step on R on 7 slightly forward
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL inside turn for follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 forward basic slightly to left of follower while giving L-R haircomb for leader getting follower’s R on leader’s L side (thus leader’s L is on leader’s R side) on 1,2,3 and lead follower to right turn on 5,6,7 with leader also turning left at the same time with newly established R-R hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R copa free turn for follower (R on hip lead) with leader turning R with hook step/turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 back briefly to closed hold then CBL ending L-R open
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break into Apache (bringing follower’s R behind her L waist – connect R-R and lead her into travelling clockwise unwinding turn) – switch to L-R after follower is through approximately full and have half turn more to go with leader doing something like a hook turn (on 7?) to face follower with L-R behind leader’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 offer R high with fingers pointing 9 o’clock (thumb down) – lead follower to double right turn stationary with R-L lead (touch-and-go for L-R low)
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turn half left during 1,2,3 then leads follower forward and back on 5,6,7 bringing follower to leader’s R side – L-R comes up and R-L goes down during 5,6,7
1,2,3,5,6,7 Mambo jazz start at sweetheart position (I think I’ve referred to similar position as wrap elsewhere) and lead follower to travelling clockwise turn with R-L – free L hand on follower’s R hip around 7 while R-L starts high and comes down and brought behind follower’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic on 1,2,3 bring follower slightly forward on 5 and lead her to turn half counterclockwise catching R-R early to end in crucifix position
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare R-L-R then lead follower to stationary right turn – 1 1/2 or more
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL high cross pass
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-R haircomb for leader with leader turning 1/2 counterclockwise on 1,2,3 (I kept muffling the haircomb here for some reason – then again I have not yet incorporated high cross pass into my repertoire either) – get R under arm and lead follower to CBL with leader turning full counterclockwise on 5,6,7 (yeah… that move… I don’t have a good name for it even though I now use it all the time) - end by placing follower parallel and facing the line
1,2,3,5,6,7 continuous CBL (okay… that’s a new name for another move I have been using a lot)
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL and lead New York Walk with L-R (another new name for old move – follower turn half clockwise while travelling)
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns 1/2 clockwise on 1,2,3 switching from L-R to R-R low and lead follower to 1 1/2 windmill turn (clockwise travelling) R-R going low-high-low-high-low
1,2,3,5,6,7 double switch R-R to L-R to R-R during 1,2,3 while leader does another half clockwise turn and then lead another windmill travelling turn with leader probably doing something like hook turn on 7 with R-R switch to L-R behind leader’s waist (I ended up making this a drop catch)
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa free turn for follower using L hand on follower’s hip for lead
next there might have been some move, which ended with L-R behind leader’s waist – otherwise start with L-R maybe after CBL … in any case
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower straight forward while disconnecting L-R connection (as opposed to Copa as I initially led Andrea – nice thing being that Andrea correctly read my mislead) – get behind follower hands on sides of follower’s hips
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic and lead follower to free travelling turn (I think the version here was clockwise – only a slight change in timing of turning lead between the two)
I liked the routine. Not too many spins - or spins for spins sake. Not overly twisty. Generally easy for me because I am quite familiar with many of the moves in some variation. However, many were of variations I had never tried or use regularly so it was a good exercise. Pretty much everything felt natural and it should mesh very well with type of moves I routinely lead. Quality teaching (followers holding their own weight, musical timing, etc). Nelson also made fun of exceedingly slow practice music.
This time I managed to get a dance with Veronica afterwards. It was On2 and mistake-filled. After 5 or 6 mistakes, I stopped counting. It was a little annoying, but nothing much could be done about it. Maybe I was a little tired yet not properly warmed up. Music didn’t help (including some skipping). It was the only On2 dance of the evening for me.
Nicola, Sally and Lindsey showed up later. Ditto for Cristian and Louise. There was a birthday dance for David from Saturday. Also some dances with a visitor from Norwich and some newbies and other visitors were notable. I opted not to DJ tonight and dance more instead. The only drawback from this was that my fingers were feeling a bit sore with dancing with followers with too strong frame/tension/whatever.
After making an effort to drum up interest, I arrived maybe a minute after the lessons started. Also taking part in classes were Jane, Andrea, Rajiv, Steve, Sharon, Gabriela among many others.
Intermediate/Advanced On1 with Nelson Flores and Veronica Castillo
The warm-up / shine bits were turn combo (L turn, half R, half L, prep and spin R and prep and spin L), double spiral, and kick L on 7, R crossed over L on 1, turn quarter right with R to R on 2, swivel half left and with L on heel on 3, turn quarter right L crossed over R on 5, L back in position on 6, step on R on 7 slightly forward
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL inside turn for follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 forward basic slightly to left of follower while giving L-R haircomb for leader getting follower’s R on leader’s L side (thus leader’s L is on leader’s R side) on 1,2,3 and lead follower to right turn on 5,6,7 with leader also turning left at the same time with newly established R-R hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R copa free turn for follower (R on hip lead) with leader turning R with hook step/turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 back briefly to closed hold then CBL ending L-R open
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break into Apache (bringing follower’s R behind her L waist – connect R-R and lead her into travelling clockwise unwinding turn) – switch to L-R after follower is through approximately full and have half turn more to go with leader doing something like a hook turn (on 7?) to face follower with L-R behind leader’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 offer R high with fingers pointing 9 o’clock (thumb down) – lead follower to double right turn stationary with R-L lead (touch-and-go for L-R low)
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turn half left during 1,2,3 then leads follower forward and back on 5,6,7 bringing follower to leader’s R side – L-R comes up and R-L goes down during 5,6,7
1,2,3,5,6,7 Mambo jazz start at sweetheart position (I think I’ve referred to similar position as wrap elsewhere) and lead follower to travelling clockwise turn with R-L – free L hand on follower’s R hip around 7 while R-L starts high and comes down and brought behind follower’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic on 1,2,3 bring follower slightly forward on 5 and lead her to turn half counterclockwise catching R-R early to end in crucifix position
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare R-L-R then lead follower to stationary right turn – 1 1/2 or more
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL high cross pass
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-R haircomb for leader with leader turning 1/2 counterclockwise on 1,2,3 (I kept muffling the haircomb here for some reason – then again I have not yet incorporated high cross pass into my repertoire either) – get R under arm and lead follower to CBL with leader turning full counterclockwise on 5,6,7 (yeah… that move… I don’t have a good name for it even though I now use it all the time) - end by placing follower parallel and facing the line
1,2,3,5,6,7 continuous CBL (okay… that’s a new name for another move I have been using a lot)
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL and lead New York Walk with L-R (another new name for old move – follower turn half clockwise while travelling)
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns 1/2 clockwise on 1,2,3 switching from L-R to R-R low and lead follower to 1 1/2 windmill turn (clockwise travelling) R-R going low-high-low-high-low
1,2,3,5,6,7 double switch R-R to L-R to R-R during 1,2,3 while leader does another half clockwise turn and then lead another windmill travelling turn with leader probably doing something like hook turn on 7 with R-R switch to L-R behind leader’s waist (I ended up making this a drop catch)
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa free turn for follower using L hand on follower’s hip for lead
next there might have been some move, which ended with L-R behind leader’s waist – otherwise start with L-R maybe after CBL … in any case
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower straight forward while disconnecting L-R connection (as opposed to Copa as I initially led Andrea – nice thing being that Andrea correctly read my mislead) – get behind follower hands on sides of follower’s hips
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic and lead follower to free travelling turn (I think the version here was clockwise – only a slight change in timing of turning lead between the two)
I liked the routine. Not too many spins - or spins for spins sake. Not overly twisty. Generally easy for me because I am quite familiar with many of the moves in some variation. However, many were of variations I had never tried or use regularly so it was a good exercise. Pretty much everything felt natural and it should mesh very well with type of moves I routinely lead. Quality teaching (followers holding their own weight, musical timing, etc). Nelson also made fun of exceedingly slow practice music.
This time I managed to get a dance with Veronica afterwards. It was On2 and mistake-filled. After 5 or 6 mistakes, I stopped counting. It was a little annoying, but nothing much could be done about it. Maybe I was a little tired yet not properly warmed up. Music didn’t help (including some skipping). It was the only On2 dance of the evening for me.
Nicola, Sally and Lindsey showed up later. Ditto for Cristian and Louise. There was a birthday dance for David from Saturday. Also some dances with a visitor from Norwich and some newbies and other visitors were notable. I opted not to DJ tonight and dance more instead. The only drawback from this was that my fingers were feeling a bit sore with dancing with followers with too strong frame/tension/whatever.
Linear Asymptote
August 17, 2008
I had considered taking part in one of the classes so I arrived early. Then I looked at the gender ratio and the start of the routine and said to myself, “Forget it.”
More I think about it, more I dislike how most Salsa classes are run. I dislike having multiple classes in the same room. I dislike routine-based classes, which often end up being choreographed. I dislike all the practices being done only at speed never heard at club setting and generally only twice for the entire class. I did not quite go into so much detail, but I ended up having a discussion about this with a guy sitting next to me waiting for the social to start.
As far as SOS goes, this was below average in every way. Music was below average for both SOS and for Julian the Duke. The followers were fewer in number. The general level of dancing was lower. No Tamambo. No Leon. No Mauro. Songs (somewhat more middlebrow or mainstream than usual by SOS standard in my opinion) included Cosas Nativas (Frankie Ruiz), Cuando Te Vea (German Villarreal), Fragilidad, Hace Tiempo (a cover version rather than the Angel Canales original), Malaguena Salerosa (Eddie Palmieri), Hong Kong Mambo (Tito Puente), Avisale A Mi Contrario (Tito Rodriguez), Tu Amor Hace Bien (Marc Anthony), Umbando Soy (Willie Melendez – DJ Duste remix), two Bachata, two Cha Cha and one or two songs sounding almost like a Cuban Son or Timba.
Well – what can one do? Below average or even the worst SOS outing generally means better dancing than most other weeklies, and I did have an itch to scratch. Combining relatively small number of followers and the fact that I was trying to dance more than usual meant I ended up dancing twice with three different followers – a rather unusual happening; I could very well have done the same with 2-3 more people.
Am I still learning and improving? I think so. However, the rate of improvement has dwindled considerably, and I don't think much can be done about it - aside from moving to a much bigger scene.
I had considered taking part in one of the classes so I arrived early. Then I looked at the gender ratio and the start of the routine and said to myself, “Forget it.”
More I think about it, more I dislike how most Salsa classes are run. I dislike having multiple classes in the same room. I dislike routine-based classes, which often end up being choreographed. I dislike all the practices being done only at speed never heard at club setting and generally only twice for the entire class. I did not quite go into so much detail, but I ended up having a discussion about this with a guy sitting next to me waiting for the social to start.
As far as SOS goes, this was below average in every way. Music was below average for both SOS and for Julian the Duke. The followers were fewer in number. The general level of dancing was lower. No Tamambo. No Leon. No Mauro. Songs (somewhat more middlebrow or mainstream than usual by SOS standard in my opinion) included Cosas Nativas (Frankie Ruiz), Cuando Te Vea (German Villarreal), Fragilidad, Hace Tiempo (a cover version rather than the Angel Canales original), Malaguena Salerosa (Eddie Palmieri), Hong Kong Mambo (Tito Puente), Avisale A Mi Contrario (Tito Rodriguez), Tu Amor Hace Bien (Marc Anthony), Umbando Soy (Willie Melendez – DJ Duste remix), two Bachata, two Cha Cha and one or two songs sounding almost like a Cuban Son or Timba.
Well – what can one do? Below average or even the worst SOS outing generally means better dancing than most other weeklies, and I did have an itch to scratch. Combining relatively small number of followers and the fact that I was trying to dance more than usual meant I ended up dancing twice with three different followers – a rather unusual happening; I could very well have done the same with 2-3 more people.
Am I still learning and improving? I think so. However, the rate of improvement has dwindled considerably, and I don't think much can be done about it - aside from moving to a much bigger scene.
Brand New Ballgame
August 15, 2008
Having only one night out in Cambridge and still be responsible for playing music on that same night might be taking a toll.
The Latin Collective started their four parallel sessions for both Mondays and Fridays. Vish said he'll be putting a few more wooden floorboards to increase space for this. The instructors were Joe with Andrea, Danie, Vish and a new big guy in the scene, who has been improving at a fast pace over past several months.
The music selection by Joe was a bit different. It reminded me of Vish at his best except most of the songs had not been played by Vish - aside from Merecumbe and Trucutu. I loved it. However, I might have been in the minority because the floor was not full during the sequence of songs I really liked.
By comparison the next set by Vish was generally more popular by larger number of people, but I found them uninspiring - too many Colombian sounding songs with pace ever increasing. Most of these songs were new-ish, however. By the time I got around to the DJ booth, I was frustrated with both the music and dancing.
Playlist
Yambeque - Sonora Poncena*
Babarabatiri - Willie Rosario (1)
Soy Dichoso - Ray Barretto
No Quiero Na Regala'o - Gilberto Santa Rosa (2)
La Quiero - Domenic Marte (3)
Sofrito - Mongo Santamaria (4)
Bilongo - Charanga De La 4 (modified shortened remix) (5)
Joldo - Sonora Poncena*
El Que Se Fue - Roberto Roena (6)
Bomba Carambomba - Angel Canales (-7%) (7)
(1) The reaction Cambridge has to this song puzzles me endlessly. I like this song a great deal, but most in Cambridge apparently do not. Then again I suppose there are quite a few of those. The Tito Puente version, which I also like, seems better received by the current set of Cambridge folks.
(2) I can't seem to connect with the audience. After this, I opted to simply play whatever I liked rather than trying to guess what they wanted because I couldn't figure it out. In retrospect, an amusing option might have been to play Micaela.
(3) Salsa wasn't working.
(4) Someone had requested a Cha Cha during my second song. I thought I had gotten to it fairly quickly given that I had started right after a Bachata and thus only played four Salsa songs in a row before going another route. However, he was gone by this time. Actually the reception was decent.
(5) Maybe playing whatever I liked and not paying attention to the crowd is working.
(6) Maybe not.
(7) I had asked Vish for one more song. It's a bloody difficult song to dance to - so I was playing it as a challenge. My attempt this time was no more successful than it was back in Prague this April.
Total = 10 songs. 1 Bachata. 1 Cha Cha. 8 Salsa including 2 new.
Vish took over next and mostly resorted to really tried and true type songs - somehow skipping La Vida Es Un Carnaval, Micaela, Me Libere and Playa No More still in the process. Hmm. That's quite good - it means he was trying hard. Unfortunately I still couldn't get into it. After a decent start, a dismal finish.
The line-up of people was curious - still seeing the effect of Pure Salsa Thursday demise: Jane, Richard, Rajiv, Cristian, Marie (I don't remember for sure?), new girl from last week who didn't stay long tonight, new girl from last week who seems to avoid dancing with me for some reason (who knows why? maybe I smell bad or maybe she doesn't like the way I dance with her or maybe it's the color of the outerwear - could go endless), a guy I met at Scala couple of times and apparently had been to CS beforehand to hear me play music (he complimented me on some of the songs once again including Bilongo), and the usual male suspects. I would characterize it as very male heavy.
I haven't seen Ivan in a very long time. I wonder what he's up to?
Well - all this spells one word. Six letters. Starts with the letter L. Or three letters. Starts with the letter S.
Having only one night out in Cambridge and still be responsible for playing music on that same night might be taking a toll.
The Latin Collective started their four parallel sessions for both Mondays and Fridays. Vish said he'll be putting a few more wooden floorboards to increase space for this. The instructors were Joe with Andrea, Danie, Vish and a new big guy in the scene, who has been improving at a fast pace over past several months.
The music selection by Joe was a bit different. It reminded me of Vish at his best except most of the songs had not been played by Vish - aside from Merecumbe and Trucutu. I loved it. However, I might have been in the minority because the floor was not full during the sequence of songs I really liked.
By comparison the next set by Vish was generally more popular by larger number of people, but I found them uninspiring - too many Colombian sounding songs with pace ever increasing. Most of these songs were new-ish, however. By the time I got around to the DJ booth, I was frustrated with both the music and dancing.
Playlist
Yambeque - Sonora Poncena*
Babarabatiri - Willie Rosario (1)
Soy Dichoso - Ray Barretto
No Quiero Na Regala'o - Gilberto Santa Rosa (2)
La Quiero - Domenic Marte (3)
Sofrito - Mongo Santamaria (4)
Bilongo - Charanga De La 4 (modified shortened remix) (5)
Joldo - Sonora Poncena*
El Que Se Fue - Roberto Roena (6)
Bomba Carambomba - Angel Canales (-7%) (7)
(1) The reaction Cambridge has to this song puzzles me endlessly. I like this song a great deal, but most in Cambridge apparently do not. Then again I suppose there are quite a few of those. The Tito Puente version, which I also like, seems better received by the current set of Cambridge folks.
(2) I can't seem to connect with the audience. After this, I opted to simply play whatever I liked rather than trying to guess what they wanted because I couldn't figure it out. In retrospect, an amusing option might have been to play Micaela.
(3) Salsa wasn't working.
(4) Someone had requested a Cha Cha during my second song. I thought I had gotten to it fairly quickly given that I had started right after a Bachata and thus only played four Salsa songs in a row before going another route. However, he was gone by this time. Actually the reception was decent.
(5) Maybe playing whatever I liked and not paying attention to the crowd is working.
(6) Maybe not.
(7) I had asked Vish for one more song. It's a bloody difficult song to dance to - so I was playing it as a challenge. My attempt this time was no more successful than it was back in Prague this April.
Total = 10 songs. 1 Bachata. 1 Cha Cha. 8 Salsa including 2 new.
Vish took over next and mostly resorted to really tried and true type songs - somehow skipping La Vida Es Un Carnaval, Micaela, Me Libere and Playa No More still in the process. Hmm. That's quite good - it means he was trying hard. Unfortunately I still couldn't get into it. After a decent start, a dismal finish.
The line-up of people was curious - still seeing the effect of Pure Salsa Thursday demise: Jane, Richard, Rajiv, Cristian, Marie (I don't remember for sure?), new girl from last week who didn't stay long tonight, new girl from last week who seems to avoid dancing with me for some reason (who knows why? maybe I smell bad or maybe she doesn't like the way I dance with her or maybe it's the color of the outerwear - could go endless), a guy I met at Scala couple of times and apparently had been to CS beforehand to hear me play music (he complimented me on some of the songs once again including Bilongo), and the usual male suspects. I would characterize it as very male heavy.
I haven't seen Ivan in a very long time. I wonder what he's up to?
Well - all this spells one word. Six letters. Starts with the letter L. Or three letters. Starts with the letter S.
Two For The Price Of One
August 9, 2008
After a so-called party lasting two hours (I must have checked the time at least 20 times the whole time), I decided I had enough and headed over to CS. Yeah – it’s Saturday meaning more of Latino party rather than a Salsa party. Even if I’m just watching people dance, it’s better than watching people talk. Vishal remarked that there were quite a few people from the usual Thursday group. Ah – it’s a Diaspora. I wonder where (or should that be when?) they will end up? Thursday seems unlikely. Saturday really makes no sense. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays offer different advantages and disadvantages.
I was there for nearly 2 1/2 hours, but ended up dancing only twice all night. Once with Astrid, who came with two friends – a guy and a girl. Another was with the Polish (?) girl, who was at SOS next evening [note: this post is being written belatedly]. I guess it was one of those uninspiring or uninspired nights for dancing.
Vish played a lot of Reggaeton – quite a few new ones. I think he might have been playing some non-standard Salsa (at least by Saturday standard) as well.
August 10, 2008
After the first three or four dances, it occurred to me that I hadn’t danced On2 for quite some time. I hadn’t danced On2 much neither in Hamburg nor in Cambridge. After six or so dances all On1, I began to wonder how I would do once I found a partner who preferred On2. When it finally happened, it wasn’t too bad. In fact, it led to three On2 dances in a row. After those, I started another dance On1 but kept going back to On2. After half a minute or so, I apologized to my partner and said let’s do On2 because I can’t stay on time to On1 with this song. And then there was another song I was familiar with but couldn’t figure out what I was dancing to – after a while I gave up trying to figure out the timing and just went with the flow. And then there was a song I started On2 but opted to switch over to On1 after a while later in the evening - once again a very familiar song. Two of the three songs with count flip flopping were danced with people I have danced with before - and dance well with in the past. There were two Cha Cha played tonight, and both times I took full advantage of it and was happy to discover that I had retained my Hamburg Cha Cha form. I guess I’ll have to thank Edie and Hamburg.
There were two others from Cambridge – Dimitrios and I’m not sure what her name is but I think she might be from Poland. I liked seeing them there because good quality and quantity of practice SOS should make them better. It won’t happen overnight, but it is much easier to help people improve faster when they are already improving. Liam was there also sporting a start of beard – very much like that of Rajiv.
Amir was the DJ. He played just about average set by his standard – a little weak at the start but better after first several songs. Some of the songs I recall include Sonea Mi Son (Tabaco Y Ron), Tito’s Colada (Tito Puente), Avisale A Mi Contrario (Roberto Roena), En El Balcon (Tito Rodriguez), Trucutu (Tommy Olivencia), Bajo Con Tumbao possibly (Eddie Palmieri), Picadillo (Cal Tjader & Eddie Palmieri), Tremendo Problema (artist?), Un Verano En New York (El Gran Combo), something by Henry Fiol maybe?, something by Spanish Harlem Orchestra almost certainly from their first album, possibly something from Obra Maestra (Tito Puente & Eddie Palmieri) not Picadillo Jam or Paris Mambo but I could be wrong. I think there were quite a few songs, which were ended early by fading out – nothing really objectionable though.
The road sucked. All over. M11. All over London. I really would have preferred to take the train, but the weekend schedule involved a bus transfer between Cambridge and Royston – same as last weekend and also next weekend.
All in all, another nice SOS trip – probably in the top thirds for this year.
After a so-called party lasting two hours (I must have checked the time at least 20 times the whole time), I decided I had enough and headed over to CS. Yeah – it’s Saturday meaning more of Latino party rather than a Salsa party. Even if I’m just watching people dance, it’s better than watching people talk. Vishal remarked that there were quite a few people from the usual Thursday group. Ah – it’s a Diaspora. I wonder where (or should that be when?) they will end up? Thursday seems unlikely. Saturday really makes no sense. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays offer different advantages and disadvantages.
I was there for nearly 2 1/2 hours, but ended up dancing only twice all night. Once with Astrid, who came with two friends – a guy and a girl. Another was with the Polish (?) girl, who was at SOS next evening [note: this post is being written belatedly]. I guess it was one of those uninspiring or uninspired nights for dancing.
Vish played a lot of Reggaeton – quite a few new ones. I think he might have been playing some non-standard Salsa (at least by Saturday standard) as well.
August 10, 2008
After the first three or four dances, it occurred to me that I hadn’t danced On2 for quite some time. I hadn’t danced On2 much neither in Hamburg nor in Cambridge. After six or so dances all On1, I began to wonder how I would do once I found a partner who preferred On2. When it finally happened, it wasn’t too bad. In fact, it led to three On2 dances in a row. After those, I started another dance On1 but kept going back to On2. After half a minute or so, I apologized to my partner and said let’s do On2 because I can’t stay on time to On1 with this song. And then there was another song I was familiar with but couldn’t figure out what I was dancing to – after a while I gave up trying to figure out the timing and just went with the flow. And then there was a song I started On2 but opted to switch over to On1 after a while later in the evening - once again a very familiar song. Two of the three songs with count flip flopping were danced with people I have danced with before - and dance well with in the past. There were two Cha Cha played tonight, and both times I took full advantage of it and was happy to discover that I had retained my Hamburg Cha Cha form. I guess I’ll have to thank Edie and Hamburg.
There were two others from Cambridge – Dimitrios and I’m not sure what her name is but I think she might be from Poland. I liked seeing them there because good quality and quantity of practice SOS should make them better. It won’t happen overnight, but it is much easier to help people improve faster when they are already improving. Liam was there also sporting a start of beard – very much like that of Rajiv.
Amir was the DJ. He played just about average set by his standard – a little weak at the start but better after first several songs. Some of the songs I recall include Sonea Mi Son (Tabaco Y Ron), Tito’s Colada (Tito Puente), Avisale A Mi Contrario (Roberto Roena), En El Balcon (Tito Rodriguez), Trucutu (Tommy Olivencia), Bajo Con Tumbao possibly (Eddie Palmieri), Picadillo (Cal Tjader & Eddie Palmieri), Tremendo Problema (artist?), Un Verano En New York (El Gran Combo), something by Henry Fiol maybe?, something by Spanish Harlem Orchestra almost certainly from their first album, possibly something from Obra Maestra (Tito Puente & Eddie Palmieri) not Picadillo Jam or Paris Mambo but I could be wrong. I think there were quite a few songs, which were ended early by fading out – nothing really objectionable though.
The road sucked. All over. M11. All over London. I really would have preferred to take the train, but the weekend schedule involved a bus transfer between Cambridge and Royston – same as last weekend and also next weekend.
All in all, another nice SOS trip – probably in the top thirds for this year.
Seven Day Itch
August 8, 2008
It has been a while since I went six days without Salsa. I think it led my mind go off wandering in odd directions not necessarily healthy. Between all that and new tires, it meant I was quite early to CS – around 9:15.
The watermarks from last night were quite evident as well as feeling of dampness in the floorboards. Thursdays hast not been the luckiest day for CS this year. I was told that stairs leading down to the main floor could not be seen under presumably murky water.
There was no need or opportunity for me to join the class because there were more leads than followers for intermediate and improver class. The beginner class was more or less balanced. I don’t think there is whole lot of new things in these classes so it would have been more for passing time.
Andrea and Sharon were the only ones I knew pretty well. Lorraine was there but did not seem to stay late. Wei-Shen made his Friday debut and left remarking he should learn Cuban. Not from me – my Cuban is dodgy at best. There was a large Cuban contingent (not Timba), which might have had something to do with last night. Rajiv with his new looks straddled the field and stayed very late. Heinz was there early, and Steve stayed until closing.
Joe played a brief set. Vish followed. Vish asked me to play medium songs next, which did mean slowing down because he was playing quite fast songs right before I started.
Playlist
Quitate La Mascara – Orchestra Harlow
Preparen Candela – Willie Rosario
Oye La Banda – Jose Alberto “El Canario”
Son Diez Lagrimas – Lebron Brothers
Las Caras Lindas – Ismael Rivera*
La Mano – Oscar D’Leon
Conmigo – La Charanga New York*
Macho Perez – Hector Tricoche
El Tiroteo – New Swing Sextet*
Ajiaco Caliente – Eddie Palmieri
A La Yumbae – Tommy Olivencia
Loco De Amor – Evolucion A R
Rubias De Nueva York – Willie Rosario
Amor Perfecto – El Gran Combo
Periodico De Ayer – Hector Lavoe
Total = 15 songs. 1 Merengue. 1 Bachata. 13 Salsa including 3 new.
Cristian was next DJ. He played quite a few songs I had been considering playing like Justicia (Eddie Palmieri), Un Dia Bonito (Eddie Palmieri), Por Primera Vez (Jimmy Sabater) but had been holding off mostly because of their speed. Vish closed off playing music until 3 AM with 5 Bachata in a row.
There were a couple of newcomers (well – at least new for me), who made the evening interesting. According to Vish one is somewhat new to Salsa but had other dance (R&B, etc?) background. Another according to Steve was an au pair from Germany.
It has been a while since I went six days without Salsa. I think it led my mind go off wandering in odd directions not necessarily healthy. Between all that and new tires, it meant I was quite early to CS – around 9:15.
The watermarks from last night were quite evident as well as feeling of dampness in the floorboards. Thursdays hast not been the luckiest day for CS this year. I was told that stairs leading down to the main floor could not be seen under presumably murky water.
There was no need or opportunity for me to join the class because there were more leads than followers for intermediate and improver class. The beginner class was more or less balanced. I don’t think there is whole lot of new things in these classes so it would have been more for passing time.
Andrea and Sharon were the only ones I knew pretty well. Lorraine was there but did not seem to stay late. Wei-Shen made his Friday debut and left remarking he should learn Cuban. Not from me – my Cuban is dodgy at best. There was a large Cuban contingent (not Timba), which might have had something to do with last night. Rajiv with his new looks straddled the field and stayed very late. Heinz was there early, and Steve stayed until closing.
Joe played a brief set. Vish followed. Vish asked me to play medium songs next, which did mean slowing down because he was playing quite fast songs right before I started.
Playlist
Quitate La Mascara – Orchestra Harlow
Preparen Candela – Willie Rosario
Oye La Banda – Jose Alberto “El Canario”
Son Diez Lagrimas – Lebron Brothers
Las Caras Lindas – Ismael Rivera*
La Mano – Oscar D’Leon
Conmigo – La Charanga New York*
Macho Perez – Hector Tricoche
El Tiroteo – New Swing Sextet*
Ajiaco Caliente – Eddie Palmieri
A La Yumbae – Tommy Olivencia
Loco De Amor – Evolucion A R
Rubias De Nueva York – Willie Rosario
Amor Perfecto – El Gran Combo
Periodico De Ayer – Hector Lavoe
Total = 15 songs. 1 Merengue. 1 Bachata. 13 Salsa including 3 new.
Cristian was next DJ. He played quite a few songs I had been considering playing like Justicia (Eddie Palmieri), Un Dia Bonito (Eddie Palmieri), Por Primera Vez (Jimmy Sabater) but had been holding off mostly because of their speed. Vish closed off playing music until 3 AM with 5 Bachata in a row.
There were a couple of newcomers (well – at least new for me), who made the evening interesting. According to Vish one is somewhat new to Salsa but had other dance (R&B, etc?) background. Another according to Steve was an au pair from Germany.
Leandro and the perfect Cuban storm at CS
August 1, 2008
I'd say it was more crowded than I expected. I think it was because of a perfect Cuban storm. I was expecting large number of people wanting to DJ tonight, so I was prepared to play very little or none at all. I also tried to get more dancing done earlier in the evening. In the end I probably ended up with less dancing than expected and more deejaying than expected as well.
Present were many faces I hadn't seen in a while (or at least not until very recently) including a large French contingent and the armed forces contingent. Also present were the Saturday people and work people. Clientele was on the average older than usual. The performer for tonight was Leandro, who Vish announced would be moving to Cambridge and teaching at CS on Thursdays in 4 weeks. My two-word summary of his performance might be human vibrator. He seemed friendly when social dancing.
There ended up being only 3 DJs for the evening. Joe kicked it off as usual. DJ Shorty was next - mostly Timba or Son with couple of Bachata thrown in. I had been wondering who she was - I wasn't too surprised that I recognized her although I cannot have seen her more than 2-3 times at most - probably the first time was at Newmarket in September 2006. I went onto the DJ booth around 12:30 expecting a short set. I ended up there until a little past 3 playing what some might demean as Nuyorican [expletive]. Should I describe as ironic that the music I was playing Thursday night was described as Cubana by a Colombian?
Playlist [country of origin in brackets - until normal closing time]
Torero - Orquesta Guayacan [Colombia]
Llego El Sabor - Oscar D'Leon & Jose Alberto "El Canario" [Venezuela & Puerto Rico]
La Bilirrubina - Juan Luis Guerra* [Dominican Republic - Merengue]
Pecado - Toque D Keda [Miami - Bachata]
Ajiaco Caliente - Eddie Palmieri [New York]
Solo Se Que Tiene Nombre De Mujer - Angel Canales [New York]
Gotas De Lluvia - Grupo Niche [Colombia]
Disco Azucar - Los Van Van [Cuba]
Miye Na We - Africando [West Africa]
Salsa Caliente Del Japon - Orquesta De La Luz [Japan]
Guallando - Fulanito [Dominicans born in USA - Merengue]
Playa Fa Sho - Toby Love [New York - Bachata]
Busca Haber - Edwin Bonilla [Miami]*
La Banda - Willie Colon & Hector Lavoe (-10%) [New York]
Lluvia - Louie Ramirez & Ray De La Paz [New York]*
Guayacan Pasodobles - Orquesta Guayacan (truncated) [Colombia-Pasodoble/Merengue]
Loco De Amor - Evolution A R [?-Bachata]
Luna Negra - Rey Ruiz [Cuba] (1)
Un Alto En El Camino - Grupo Niche [Colombia]
Belly Danza - Don Omar (2)*
Rompe - Daddy Yankee
Subway Harry - Poncho Sanchez (3)
Yolanda - Orquesta Guayacan (4)
Perdoname - Gilberto Santa Rosa
Chan Chan - Buena Vista Social Club (5)
I Wanna Love You - Pablo Bachata (6)
Lamento Boliviano - Toque D Keda
Coro Miyare - Fania All Stars (7)
Lare Lare - Tito Puente*
African Fantasy - Bobby Montez (8)*
Café - Eddie Palmieri (9)*
Lamento Boliviano - Toque D Keda (10)
(1) I think assuming 2 o'clock closing, this should have been the last song of the evening.
(2) Reggaeton request.
(3) I saw no need to continue with Reggaeton so I cut the third one short and played Cha Cha/Boogaloo instead. I figured with most people gone and the place open only because Vishal was having fun socializing I could play whatever I want. Oh also there was a weird temper tantrum by a girl who asked me to play a song of hers only to change her mind mid-way through.
(4) I hadn't realized until drawing up this list for the blog that I had played so many Guayacan songs tonight. I was simply looking for the slowest Salsa songs I had in my collection.
(5) This is about as final song as it gets. However, I saw no signs of Vish wanting the party to end so I cued a Bachata next. As the song finished, Vish rushed over to suggest more songs. I was ready.
(6) What Vish did was to get me to keep going and see where it leads. Lamento Boliviano was already played once, but I decided that it really didn't matter now.
(7) I have tried very slow. Why not go really fast instead? This song was not slowed down.
(8) Continuing with very fast.
(9) Now back to very slow. I think this one has speed of about 1/3 that of previous song.
(10) My first choice was Abidjan by Ray Barretto, but the CD was defective (I don't think I ever tried using it before). Next was another Cha Cha by Cal Tjader. However, one of the staff requested Lamento Boliviano again (well--her first choice was something by Monchy and Alexandra, and I didn't have it).
Total = 31 songs. 3 Merengue including 1 new. 6 Bachata including a repeat. 2 Cha Cha including 1 new. 2 Reggaeton including 1 new. 18 Salsa (in some cases for lack of better and convenient description) including 4 new.
Even after all that, Vish decided to play one more song for himself. I think he likes having a Club of his own.
I'd say it was more crowded than I expected. I think it was because of a perfect Cuban storm. I was expecting large number of people wanting to DJ tonight, so I was prepared to play very little or none at all. I also tried to get more dancing done earlier in the evening. In the end I probably ended up with less dancing than expected and more deejaying than expected as well.
Present were many faces I hadn't seen in a while (or at least not until very recently) including a large French contingent and the armed forces contingent. Also present were the Saturday people and work people. Clientele was on the average older than usual. The performer for tonight was Leandro, who Vish announced would be moving to Cambridge and teaching at CS on Thursdays in 4 weeks. My two-word summary of his performance might be human vibrator. He seemed friendly when social dancing.
There ended up being only 3 DJs for the evening. Joe kicked it off as usual. DJ Shorty was next - mostly Timba or Son with couple of Bachata thrown in. I had been wondering who she was - I wasn't too surprised that I recognized her although I cannot have seen her more than 2-3 times at most - probably the first time was at Newmarket in September 2006. I went onto the DJ booth around 12:30 expecting a short set. I ended up there until a little past 3 playing what some might demean as Nuyorican [expletive]. Should I describe as ironic that the music I was playing Thursday night was described as Cubana by a Colombian?
Playlist [country of origin in brackets - until normal closing time]
Torero - Orquesta Guayacan [Colombia]
Llego El Sabor - Oscar D'Leon & Jose Alberto "El Canario" [Venezuela & Puerto Rico]
La Bilirrubina - Juan Luis Guerra* [Dominican Republic - Merengue]
Pecado - Toque D Keda [Miami - Bachata]
Ajiaco Caliente - Eddie Palmieri [New York]
Solo Se Que Tiene Nombre De Mujer - Angel Canales [New York]
Gotas De Lluvia - Grupo Niche [Colombia]
Disco Azucar - Los Van Van [Cuba]
Miye Na We - Africando [West Africa]
Salsa Caliente Del Japon - Orquesta De La Luz [Japan]
Guallando - Fulanito [Dominicans born in USA - Merengue]
Playa Fa Sho - Toby Love [New York - Bachata]
Busca Haber - Edwin Bonilla [Miami]*
La Banda - Willie Colon & Hector Lavoe (-10%) [New York]
Lluvia - Louie Ramirez & Ray De La Paz [New York]*
Guayacan Pasodobles - Orquesta Guayacan (truncated) [Colombia-Pasodoble/Merengue]
Loco De Amor - Evolution A R [?-Bachata]
Luna Negra - Rey Ruiz [Cuba] (1)
Un Alto En El Camino - Grupo Niche [Colombia]
Belly Danza - Don Omar (2)*
Rompe - Daddy Yankee
Subway Harry - Poncho Sanchez (3)
Yolanda - Orquesta Guayacan (4)
Perdoname - Gilberto Santa Rosa
Chan Chan - Buena Vista Social Club (5)
I Wanna Love You - Pablo Bachata (6)
Lamento Boliviano - Toque D Keda
Coro Miyare - Fania All Stars (7)
Lare Lare - Tito Puente*
African Fantasy - Bobby Montez (8)*
Café - Eddie Palmieri (9)*
Lamento Boliviano - Toque D Keda (10)
(1) I think assuming 2 o'clock closing, this should have been the last song of the evening.
(2) Reggaeton request.
(3) I saw no need to continue with Reggaeton so I cut the third one short and played Cha Cha/Boogaloo instead. I figured with most people gone and the place open only because Vishal was having fun socializing I could play whatever I want. Oh also there was a weird temper tantrum by a girl who asked me to play a song of hers only to change her mind mid-way through.
(4) I hadn't realized until drawing up this list for the blog that I had played so many Guayacan songs tonight. I was simply looking for the slowest Salsa songs I had in my collection.
(5) This is about as final song as it gets. However, I saw no signs of Vish wanting the party to end so I cued a Bachata next. As the song finished, Vish rushed over to suggest more songs. I was ready.
(6) What Vish did was to get me to keep going and see where it leads. Lamento Boliviano was already played once, but I decided that it really didn't matter now.
(7) I have tried very slow. Why not go really fast instead? This song was not slowed down.
(8) Continuing with very fast.
(9) Now back to very slow. I think this one has speed of about 1/3 that of previous song.
(10) My first choice was Abidjan by Ray Barretto, but the CD was defective (I don't think I ever tried using it before). Next was another Cha Cha by Cal Tjader. However, one of the staff requested Lamento Boliviano again (well--her first choice was something by Monchy and Alexandra, and I didn't have it).
Total = 31 songs. 3 Merengue including 1 new. 6 Bachata including a repeat. 2 Cha Cha including 1 new. 2 Reggaeton including 1 new. 18 Salsa (in some cases for lack of better and convenient description) including 4 new.
Even after all that, Vish decided to play one more song for himself. I think he likes having a Club of his own.
This is the end, this is not the end
July 31, 2008
The evening started at Teri-Aki and The Castle with colleagues before I decided it was time to head off to CS. Ivan was a surprise no-show (out of town). Sergio was not a big surprise no-show also.
I wore my glasses to CS and teased Sally for not having done the same. She might not have remembered that we never actually agreed to wear glasses.
Fairly large number of people showed up to make the evening lively enough. Lindsey, Nicola, Charlotte, Annette, Sally, Jane, Haihan, Raj, Richard, Caroline, Steve, William, Clara, Zhenzhi, Euvian, Polly, Andrea, Emma, Chris, Steve, Johnny, Laura, Becca, Ed, Dimitrios, Weishun, Ian, etc.
After Sally played half dozen songs or so, Haihan looked like he might be ready to take over. However, he turned it over to me saying he would like to dance a little first. I already had a few dances and was ready to go, so I agreed.
Playlist
Boranda - Sonora Poncena (shortened remix) (1)*
Todas Maneras Rosas - Ismael Rivera*
Macho Perez - Hector Tricoche
Un Poquito Mas - Jimmy Bosch (2)
Mundy Baja - El Gran Combo
Isla Del Encanto - Orquesta Broadway (3)
En El Balcon - New Swing Sextet (shortened remix) (4)*
Chango Ta Beni - Willie Rosario
Si La Ven - Sonora Poncena*
Guayacan Pasodobles - Orquesta Guayacan* (5)
La Boda De Ella - Bobby Valentin
Avisale A Mi Contrario - Roberto Roena
El Cantante Y La Orquesta - Angel Canales (6)
Geisha Girl - Louie Ramirez
La Loma Del Belen - Santiago Ceron (7)
Guayaba - Jose Curbelo* (8)
Descarga Cubana - Cal Tjader (9)
Tu No Me Has Vista Miguel - Javier Vazquez / Sonora Matancera(?)
Blue Mambo - Charles Fox (DJ Duste remix)* (-8%)
Ajiaco Caliente - Eddie Palmieri*
Guaguanco Margarito - Tito Puente
Los Caminos De La Vida - Ismael Miranda & Junior Gonzalez
Pecado - Toque D Keda (10)
(1) It's not exactly new; I played it once before. However, this is the debut of the shortened version with more than a minute shaved off from the middle of the song.
(2) I haven't played this since 2006. I don't know if this was played at the last Salsology event where Jimmy was a main attraction.
(3) I didn't expect to feel compelled to dance to this. Then again, as soon as I took to the floor I was joined by several more couples.
(4) Long bit of intro and ending cut off. I could have shortened at the DJ booth, but decided to make a shortened version to save myself some trouble. The album has been out for less than one month.
(5) It was a good thing that I had a ready-made excuse - a girl made a strong plea for a Merengue. This is not exactly it, but it made defending the choice easier on the spot. I was going to play it for laughs regardless.
(6) First song to be played all night because of outside influence. Even then the choice was really up to me.
(7) It was between this and Lindo Yambu by the same artist. I opted for faster shorter song.
(8) A Cha Cha request.
(9) Another song I haven't played since 2006.
(10) The last song officially. I decided to play the beginning of Borinquen (Sonora Poncena) with potential long Tango intro as background music.
Total = 23 songs. 1 Merengue/Pasodoble new, 1 Cha Cha new. 21 Salsa including 6 new. There were more new songs than it would have been on a Friday because some of the songs would not have been difficult to play on Friday as it stands right now - at least not so many at one time. The fact that I haven't played many songs this month while still accumulating new songs also made a difference.
The evening ended with Sally's crew trying to recall their performance piece to La Salsa Nunca Se Acaba.
The evening started at Teri-Aki and The Castle with colleagues before I decided it was time to head off to CS. Ivan was a surprise no-show (out of town). Sergio was not a big surprise no-show also.
I wore my glasses to CS and teased Sally for not having done the same. She might not have remembered that we never actually agreed to wear glasses.
Fairly large number of people showed up to make the evening lively enough. Lindsey, Nicola, Charlotte, Annette, Sally, Jane, Haihan, Raj, Richard, Caroline, Steve, William, Clara, Zhenzhi, Euvian, Polly, Andrea, Emma, Chris, Steve, Johnny, Laura, Becca, Ed, Dimitrios, Weishun, Ian, etc.
After Sally played half dozen songs or so, Haihan looked like he might be ready to take over. However, he turned it over to me saying he would like to dance a little first. I already had a few dances and was ready to go, so I agreed.
Playlist
Boranda - Sonora Poncena (shortened remix) (1)*
Todas Maneras Rosas - Ismael Rivera*
Macho Perez - Hector Tricoche
Un Poquito Mas - Jimmy Bosch (2)
Mundy Baja - El Gran Combo
Isla Del Encanto - Orquesta Broadway (3)
En El Balcon - New Swing Sextet (shortened remix) (4)*
Chango Ta Beni - Willie Rosario
Si La Ven - Sonora Poncena*
Guayacan Pasodobles - Orquesta Guayacan* (5)
La Boda De Ella - Bobby Valentin
Avisale A Mi Contrario - Roberto Roena
El Cantante Y La Orquesta - Angel Canales (6)
Geisha Girl - Louie Ramirez
La Loma Del Belen - Santiago Ceron (7)
Guayaba - Jose Curbelo* (8)
Descarga Cubana - Cal Tjader (9)
Tu No Me Has Vista Miguel - Javier Vazquez / Sonora Matancera(?)
Blue Mambo - Charles Fox (DJ Duste remix)* (-8%)
Ajiaco Caliente - Eddie Palmieri*
Guaguanco Margarito - Tito Puente
Los Caminos De La Vida - Ismael Miranda & Junior Gonzalez
Pecado - Toque D Keda (10)
(1) It's not exactly new; I played it once before. However, this is the debut of the shortened version with more than a minute shaved off from the middle of the song.
(2) I haven't played this since 2006. I don't know if this was played at the last Salsology event where Jimmy was a main attraction.
(3) I didn't expect to feel compelled to dance to this. Then again, as soon as I took to the floor I was joined by several more couples.
(4) Long bit of intro and ending cut off. I could have shortened at the DJ booth, but decided to make a shortened version to save myself some trouble. The album has been out for less than one month.
(5) It was a good thing that I had a ready-made excuse - a girl made a strong plea for a Merengue. This is not exactly it, but it made defending the choice easier on the spot. I was going to play it for laughs regardless.
(6) First song to be played all night because of outside influence. Even then the choice was really up to me.
(7) It was between this and Lindo Yambu by the same artist. I opted for faster shorter song.
(8) A Cha Cha request.
(9) Another song I haven't played since 2006.
(10) The last song officially. I decided to play the beginning of Borinquen (Sonora Poncena) with potential long Tango intro as background music.
Total = 23 songs. 1 Merengue/Pasodoble new, 1 Cha Cha new. 21 Salsa including 6 new. There were more new songs than it would have been on a Friday because some of the songs would not have been difficult to play on Friday as it stands right now - at least not so many at one time. The fact that I haven't played many songs this month while still accumulating new songs also made a difference.
The evening ended with Sally's crew trying to recall their performance piece to La Salsa Nunca Se Acaba.
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