Todo Tiene Su Final

April 17, 2009

With a clearer head and fewer responsibilities, I made it to Sauce shortly after 9:30. I took a quick peek to see if 1 Station Road was open. It wasn’t yet, but there were activities downstairs. The lessons at Sauce was packed and ended shortly after 10. It was too crowded for me to see but the instructors presumably were Dan, Kafe, Jane and Vish. Robin and Raj were there early too.

After sitting out the first song, I decided to pick my partners by personal history. Thus I danced first with Marian, who I think was in my very first Salsa class. Next was Lorraine, who once assisted with Mauricio’s classes. Third was Jane – although by that point Serap had arrived so the theme had become unworkable. As for others, aside from Polly, who arrived much later, I would be hard pressed to decide the order of the dances. So many people have come and gone from the scene (and I don’t think I can be blamed for more than a handful if at all).

I also tried to dance with all of the regular girls there but didn’t quite succeed; I think I managed to ask all but one before they departed though. It took nearly two hours to make the first round.

I thought Vish knew about me not wanting a farewell dance. He didn’t – but this was neither surprising nor upsetting. I would not have picked the song Vish chose – Todo Tiene Su Final (Everything has an end, nothing lasts forever), but in retrospect it was quite apt. In fact, for me I preferred it over every other song Vish played for other people for birthdays and departures.

In the circle for the farewell dance were Abbe, Serap, Jane, Laura, Lorraine, Ania, Shorty, Georgie among others. No one was sure about when to jump in, and I wasn’t particularly sure about when to make the switch. The simplest method was to grab the most convenient person whenever Vish shouted switch. In general I didn’t try to do too much (or at least not overwhelm anyone) while keeping the dance to match the music (probably deluding myself into thinking I’m giving people a lesson in musicality if not fundamentals and philosophies rather than merely countless turn patterns).

Zern showed up near the end – pure coincidence that this was my last Friday in Cambridge and his first in more than 6 months. He stayed long enough for a group photo of last of the stragglers, which included Mark, Polly, Raj, Laura and Vish. Zern went on a chat-fest with big-hand Misty outside the door before the night ended with Mark’s foursome drifting out and in looking into the old venue.

Nothing lasts forever. Soon I’ll be joining likes of Mimis and Cyrilles in the dustbin of Cambridge Salsa history. The vacuum left by my absence will be filled quickly, and new pecking order will be established. New admirations, envies, idiocies, outrages and understandings will replace the old. I thought I saw what was happening and what was going to happen to the scene with some clarity through a thick fog and a laser light show. Does anyone else see with same kaleidoscope eyes?

Salsa and Sauce

April 1, 2009

Club Salsa at Sauce - no joke. That it started on April 1st – priceless. Moving from 1 Station Road to 3 Station Road – sublime. The clincher? At the end of the night, I decided to take a peek at the old venue. Under new management of Mohammed Alabi, it’s reopening as Salsa-Cambridge will be re-opening on Friday 10 April 2009 at 9 PM. I wish all the best to Mohammed, who I feel is one of the nicest guys around in the Cambridge Salsa scene. I suppose he has wanted to run a Salsa club in Nigeria for a long time, so this might help in some ways. That Vish seems to be keeping open the option of running his Club Salsa at Sauce on Fridays rather than at Sorrento Hotel makes for a great deal of intrigue. It might be for the best that I won’t be around to see what happens firsthand – too much comedy.

I arrived at Sauce around 10 – maybe shortly before. I’m guessing the people there were the usual suspects plus some more people appearing to show support. Vish was there when I arrived but left shortly thereafter leaving one of his minions to gather up the old familiar DJ mixer and CD player at the end of the evening. Apparently Nicola is teaching with Cristian and Vish now, which probably explains appearance by Lindsey, Charlotte and Annette. Dan was there without Kafe. There also were a number of people I had not seen much recently – I think some of them had been regulars on Wednesdays, which I had lost track of for quite some time. Shorty and Abbe showed up later in the evening. I also tried to guess which one was the owner of Sauce – the one Vish had talked to me about a good number of times.

I had not expected much dancing, but it went much better than I expected. The party lasted until midnight with Cristian playing short snippets of pop anthems for kicks. The windows were fogged up by the heat generated by people dancing. Most of the people walking by seemed to be Salsa people; I suppose there might be a little more general foot traffic on weekends (this is one possible trump card Sauce has over Sorrento Hotel).

Apparently there is talk of converting the remaining carpeted floor to wood floor (e.g. downstairs and the elevated area on main floor) at the Sauce. I imagine that Sauce had been used to getting a decent number of Salsa dancers stopping by for drinks before, during and after lessons. In any case, the guy I pegged as the owner seemed to be getting a little kick out of hosting the dance party – if nothing else for novelty value. I might add that if there’s another flooding (and if I were a betting man, I would bet on more flooding), it should only affect small downstairs. I know I am biased, but it’s pretty obvious which side will be favored to “win” the latest battle of Salsa nights in Cambridge even with one less ammunition (read me), no?