Mystery Salsa Blogger Strikes Bristol

Long weekend based at Bath, UK

April 3, 2009

Two hour to Heathrow. Fifteen minutes wandering in Heathrow. Eton College. Windor Castle. Bibury. Arrival at Bath – Tasburgh Guest House. Wandering down to the canal path at sunset. Dinner at Sala Thai.

I forgot my power cord, so my laptop only has battery power until Monday – starting with less than 80% capacity to begin with. For some reason, internet connection was sporadic at Tasburgh on both April 3 and 4.

April 4, 2009

Roman Baths Museum. Walking in Bath. Stonehenge. Avebury Circle. Castle Combe. Lacock. Dinner at Peking Restaurant in Bath.

Around 9:40, I set forth for Bristol on A4. Bristol is a mere 13 mile or so away from Tasburgh, but the Google map estimated journey time was 30 minutes. No wonder. The route was filled with 30 and 40 mph zones. After two whole days of mistake-free navigation, I got lost twice within 5 minutes after leaving the hotel. Once I arrived at Bristol, it got much worse. It was only around 10:50 that I finally arrived at intended location (I did manage a free parking).

It was just as well that I arrived so late. The venue was called Warehouse, a new venue with a guy going by the name Eldj running the show upstairs for the Salsa crowd. However, I found a sign saying that upstairs Salsa room would open at 11 PM – rather than expected 10 AM. Hmm, maybe I should have taken hint from the Eldj emphasizing that the party ends at 3 AM while glossing over my other inquiries. Downstairs there were perhaps 30 people moving to Merengue and nondescript Latin music – with hardly anyone attempting partnering. At 11:05, the staircase was still blocked with a pair of chairs with the same 11 PM sign still attached to it. I had seen a bunch of people going up and down, so I decided to simply make my way inside.

Hmm. There was no physical barrier between downstairs and upstairs meaning in some areas, one could hear music from both floors. I found total of 9 people upstairs - two girls working at the bar, a pair of girls sitting with drinks – unlikely dancer candidates, a guy and two girls making a trio sitting far from the DJ booth – again very unpromising, and the DJ and a girl chatting with the DJ – the last one seemed the most likely candidate (and proved so later). The first song I was ready for happened to be a Cha so I asked her for a dance. I don’t think Cha On2 was her forte though. After a little thought, I decided to approach the DJ to make a request for a slower paced song for Salsa. I found La Llave (Grupo Latin Vibe) in his collection and decided that it would make for a reasonable re-set. I decided to stick to On1 this time.

For whatever its worth I didn’t bother with On2 all night; I don’t think there were any regular On2 dancers there tonight. I had thought it possible that there could be some On2 crowd based on the fact that Brendan was once based here. Of course one night in one venue cannot define the Bristol scene, and I am fairly sure that Warehouse Saturdays occupies the current hottest Salsa spot in Bristol right now. Also my best guess was that I did not see any local instructor or performer types tonight (but who knows for sure?)

I must say I had begun to worry that no one else with the most basic partner dance experience would show up by the fifth or the sixth song. I had made my second request by then (Soulsa – Estrellas Caiman) thinking that no one else who might care had showed up to that point. I might have come off seeming a little pushy so I decided to back off and left the DJ to his devices. In any case, I imagine he played several more songs picked with me as a likely enthusiastic audience (among other things he played a New Swing Sextet tune from their new album, Night In Tunisia by Sonora Poncena, Clasiqiendo Con Ruben by Afro-Cuban All-Stars) before returning to what I imagine were more in favor with the other locals finally arriving closer to midnight and beyond.

By the time I left around 12:40, the group upstairs had grown to as many a 30 or so. I’m guessing I danced with about 8-10 people for total of around 20 dances or perhaps twice as many as anyone else had danced up to that point. People there seemed to be predominantly Cuban style although I imagine that several of the girls danced slot or linear style with some partners in the past (and possibly one of the lead too except I though I saw him do Cuban at one point also). My initial expectation was low and it had fallen even further after the first 30+ minutes or so. So ending up with as many partners and dances I left the premises content.

I got lost after arriving in Bath after 1 AM. It was considerably simpler to find myself out of the mess, and there was no busy traffic to contend with unlike in Bristol.

April 5, 2009

Loss of water pressure during shower at Tasburgh, which has been a high class hotel slash guesthouse in general. A long day of driving. Dunster Castle. Exmoor (Porlock Weir-Lynmouth-Combe Martin-Ilfracombe). Clovelly. Another dinner at Peking.

I might expand the other travel section at some other point – not sure if I’ll post it in this blog though.