November 11, 2005
open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic on 1,2,3 followed by leading follower to a pivot turn full clockwise with both hands on 5,6,7
1,2,3 Copa variation – open break on 1, follower is pulled forward on 2,3 as L-R goes over follower’s head and R-L is placed on follower’s R shoulder as reverse cross body position as positioned like Titanic is achieved on 4 (follower is turned about 1/4 counterclockwise)
5,6,7 follower is lead back to her original position as is done in standard Copa with 1 3/4 counterclockwise turn with L-R high and R-L let go
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic with L-R hold
1,2,3 pivot turn full clockwise for leader as switch to R-R is made [my own comment: it probably will help if leader shows L hand at shoulder level to prompt the follower to keep her hand up as well - I recall something like this being recommended by Sergio]
5,6,7 R-R is tossed to left (as if initiating a free clockwise turn for the follower) and leader catches follower’s L hand with his L hand and lead follower back into a full counterclockwise turn instead – end with crossed hold with R-R on top
1,2,3 forward basic
5,6,7 back basic as follower is led into a pivot turn (a little over full turn but not quite 1 1/4) with both hands up – R-R goes over follower’s head as is done in the Cuban move Sombrero but L-L is placed on leader’s R shoulder instead of over his head and on his L shoulder
1,2,3 R-R is disconnected and is offered at waist level under L-L as leader gets into cross body lead position
5,6,7 Another student (a follower) pointed out to me that it is very helpful to get R-R raised high as quickly as possible for this part – with both hands high, follower is lead into a 2 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn
1,2,3 leader turns 1/2 clockwise to face away from partner with R-R connected and L-L disconnected and get into open cross body lead position
5,6,7 lead follower into another 2 1/2 clockwise turn with R-R coming down rapidly after follower’s first full turn so that R-R ends behind follower’s back L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead and unwrap by leading follower into a simple 1/2 counterclockwise turn [this part was obtained after the end of class]
Johnny & Serap seemed to be making a very good effort to let people know of revised content/program for their classes. I thought their approach looked well thought out and may turn out quite effective. I especially liked the way they showed the level IV class, things they were teaching in level II and level III classes, at the end, which I found to be an elegant and gentle alternative to simply telling and directing individual students to different classes. Now why didn’t I think of using such a method? One follower I worked with near the end told me that she should really be doing level II class after seeing the demonstrations, so this approach could turn out really effective if used regularly. On a side note, I was amused to find that their level III class included some material I learned in Johnny & Serap’s advanced class back in February or March, which indicates to me that they are trying to make their level III class somewhat more difficult than their old "intermediate" class. By the way, I could do this particular routine of theirs from level III today fairly easily now if I skip on the stylizations, but it took me months of practice after the class and much trial and error just to get to that level.
Club hours were on the whole a very good by Cambridge standards yet I somehow found myself strangely not fully satisfied in the end. It’s possible that having gone to SOS two weekends in a row may have caused this by raising my dance satisfaction threshold. I really must stop myself from going to SOS too much so that I don’t get too accustomed to it. My best guess is that even with a dance composed of endless combinations, I'm probably considered an easy and comfortable lead at SOS - easy enough that many followers there probably would be able to handle such dances all night long. However, same type of dance seems to leave many people in Cambridge exhausted and even bewildered. Because I have gotten used to doing combinations after combinations with little break at SOS and also with some people in Cambridge, I found myself having to force myself to slow things down in the middle of the dance. Not long ago, I had reached a point where I probably was easy to follow for most people who understand cross body lead, but now I probably am becoming a challenge as I constantly strive to push the boundaries. It probably does not help that no one regularly attends all the lessons I attend, even though I now only go to two lessons a week at most in Cambridge. On top of that, sometimes some of followers would find some lessons too difficult and flail about wildly that I at one point had to fight an urge to kiss and hug one of better followers after a good turn in gratitude. This feeling might have come about in part because shortly before this, I received a powerful blow to my nose with an elbow during practice; I don't recall anyone hitting me so hard in the face since I was involved in a highly one-sided fight when I was in fifth grade of elementary school (I am not counting collisions with projectiles such as a football or basketball). In case I sound as if I think I have become too good for Cambridge, I should mention that there are also good many people in Cambridge who can follow pretty much everything I lead, and it's quite possible that many of them think my technique, timing, etc have rough edges. In order to perfect leading techniques, one needs to practice with followers who know how to follow well (and ideally be able to receive useful feedback from them). However, it would seem many stars have to be aligned correctly to get a good dance even with the best followers, including plenty of space, having both partners well warmed up, and familiarity with each other's styles. Meeting the first two requirements is often difficult; especially on Fridays where you might get one to three song window on a given night. And to get familiarized, I might need two or three such chances in a course of a month or two (because at the pace I'm going, I most likely will be adding few more tricky routines that would require smoothening out). Even when a routine seems to work well, it could be difficult to find minor adjustments needed to make the routine look and feel good rather than "fudged". After all, just because *I* think a dance worked well doesn't mean that my dance partner would have thought the same. In Cambridge, one of the best solutions to this problem is to get a good regular dance partner through CDC Salsa team; I had considered trying out for the Salsa team back in September but too many factors led me to give up on that idea. I think it is possible to get a regular partner by other methods but I haven't managed to find one - this could be due to my commitment phobia. Another option would be to go to SOS regularly. However, I don’t think I’m overstating things if I say that going to SOS on weekly basis so that it no longer becomes a big deal will lead to finding what-I-now-call-good days in Cambridge a bore. Also, I cannot depend on weekly trips (or more than one trip a week) to London to get my Salsa fix; my work is suffering enough already from my current dance schedule (and Bachata workshop organization makes it even worse – fortunately, the workshop should be a one-time affair).
Another item of note is a birthday dance done tonight. I was all set to participate until I saw the first two participants raising the bar to a very high level with some exceptional displays that I lost nerve and bailed out. I think I might have found a little more courage if I had a little more dance experience with the birthday girl – so that I would have assurances about some of the routines I considered doing working out reasonably well without causing any embarrassment. If I had to guess, I think pretty much everything I tried probably would have worked because the birthday girl is a very good follower, but small lingering doubts, bright lights and a large audience combined to kill any resolve I had. Call me a coward if you wish. About 4 or 5 more brave souls participated in the birthday dance with not a small number of guys passing on the opportunity possibly with reasons similar to mine, including several guys who I thought would have done a very good job and really should have danced with her. Vishal for one probably was dumbfounded and dismayed that I and some others chickened out and did not participate.
Bachata event ticket sale is going well. There seems to be healthy level of interest. I'm not sure if the workshop will be sold out in advance, and I am no longer sure if an advanced sell-out is necessary. I guess a contingency I have to prepare myself for is too many people showing up without booking. What if there are extra 1-6 people? Do I squeeze them in? What if there are extra 10 people showing up unannounced? Compared to this, not having enough people will be less of a headache as it won't require any decision on my part. The most memorable exchange made regarding the workshop went something like this -
me - "Hi. Here's more information on the Bachata workshop I told you about the other day. Take a flier."
X (looking at the picture on the flier) - "Who's the girl?"
me - "The two people in the picture are the instructors. They are based in Italy. They have a very good reputation. The guy is also a very well-known DJ, perhaps the most popular in Europe - certainly very popular in UK."
X (still fixated on the picture) - "Ok whatever. I'm there! Whoooo-a!"
Let's just say that this was not a unique reaction - although I got similar reactions only from people I have become pretty good acquaintances.
My fifth lesson with Sally (her sixth overall at Club Salsa)
November 10, 2005
closed hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead with leader turning 1/2 clockwise with L-R going over leader’s head and dropped on 7 and follower’s R hand is caught with leader’s R hand by 8/1 at leader’s R waist level
1,2,3 open break followed by R-R going over follower’s head and keep connection low while L-L connection is made in front or ahead of follower’s line
5,6,7 lead follower forward on 5 and into a traveling full clockwise turn with L-L high and R-R low ending with L-L ending on follower’s R shoulder
1,2,3 forward left on 1 and back on 2,3 while turning as a unit 1/2 counterclockwise – follower is still in front of leader and both are now parallel to the follower’s line
5,6,7 keeping R-R low, lead follower into 1 1/4 traveling counterclockwise turn with L-L high ending up facing the follower – R-R wraps up behind follower’s L waist
1,2,3 L-L goes over follower’s head and is disconnected while leader moves around follower’s R side as R-R too is disconnected and both of leader’s hands hold the follower at the waist level
5,6,7 give follower a free clockwise spin [my own option: leader do a hook turn after follower initiates turn]
1,2,3,5,6,7 do a free pivot turn followed by hook turn (both clockwise) with hands ready for crossed hold with L-L on top
1,2,3 establish crossed hold with L-L on top and open break on 1 followed by a pull with L-L going over follower’s head for beat 4 Titanic into a reverse cross body lead (or Copa) position
5,6,7 lead follower into a 1 1/2 traveling clockwise turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 give follower a hat and cross body lead
Bachata ticket sale is going fairly well. Beginner workshop is essentially half full. Half of the slots for men’s place for the improver Bachata have been booked also. Only a couple of slots for women’s place have been booked though, so I still will need to keep a close watch on this matter. In any case, I now suspect I can keep my losses to under 100 pounds without too much problem, and breaking even seems well within reach although I won’t know for certain until around 10 PM on November 21st.
It seems Thursday club scene at Club Salsa is slowly gaining steam – I’ll probably know with more certainty after few more weeks. Somewhat like Wednesday at Club Salsa, Thursday night at Club Salsa seems to be becoming a dancer’s venue. The fact that it does not as crowded as it gets on Friday allows improved chance of nice relaxed dances without constantly in fear worrying about other people bumping into you (or my partner hurtling into someone else – I’m excluding myself because I haven’t stepped on anyone else for a very long time … I think the last time I stepped on someone’s foot might have been early in the summer this year and I don’t think there was another incident before that for at least 2-3 months). The key word here is ‘constantly’ because there being more space does not mean that you can ignore your surroundings and make gigantic steps or stumble about without watching the space into which you and/or your partner are entering. As it was, someone stepped on my Achilles heel despite there being fairly large volume of space for everyone.
A(n esoteric) discussion tonight about Salsa dancing involved dancing along the line, which is pretty standard for LA or CBL style. This was brought about because I was telling my opposite that many in Cambridge are unable to keep to the line. The reply I got was that it’s fine to ignore and break the line rule as long as you are aware that you are doing so. This wasn’t much of an argument because I agree with my opposite’s statement in general. However I think I can argue that this breaking of the rule works much better when both parties (leader and follower) are well aware of the line rule as they proceed to break the rule.
A bemused reader of this blog asked me whether I was going to write about certain friends of the reader dancing ballroom dance to Salsa tonight. It seemed a little silly to me because the music and the dance they were dancing did not matc, which meant that they were not getting proper practice. But this is a free country and I'm not going to stop them doing what they seem to be enjoying; just as I am not going to yell at people who dance Salsa to a Bachata song or a Merengue song.
Lastly, I think it would be worthwhile to learn more Cuban style Salsa, which depends very little on cross body lead or Dile que no. It would be good to have a bit more in my Salsa repertoire that does not use cross body lead. So what do I do? Do I start taking classes from Nelson Batista? I’m not sure but this will have to wait until next year at the earliest.
closed hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead with leader turning 1/2 clockwise with L-R going over leader’s head and dropped on 7 and follower’s R hand is caught with leader’s R hand by 8/1 at leader’s R waist level
1,2,3 open break followed by R-R going over follower’s head and keep connection low while L-L connection is made in front or ahead of follower’s line
5,6,7 lead follower forward on 5 and into a traveling full clockwise turn with L-L high and R-R low ending with L-L ending on follower’s R shoulder
1,2,3 forward left on 1 and back on 2,3 while turning as a unit 1/2 counterclockwise – follower is still in front of leader and both are now parallel to the follower’s line
5,6,7 keeping R-R low, lead follower into 1 1/4 traveling counterclockwise turn with L-L high ending up facing the follower – R-R wraps up behind follower’s L waist
1,2,3 L-L goes over follower’s head and is disconnected while leader moves around follower’s R side as R-R too is disconnected and both of leader’s hands hold the follower at the waist level
5,6,7 give follower a free clockwise spin [my own option: leader do a hook turn after follower initiates turn]
1,2,3,5,6,7 do a free pivot turn followed by hook turn (both clockwise) with hands ready for crossed hold with L-L on top
1,2,3 establish crossed hold with L-L on top and open break on 1 followed by a pull with L-L going over follower’s head for beat 4 Titanic into a reverse cross body lead (or Copa) position
5,6,7 lead follower into a 1 1/2 traveling clockwise turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 give follower a hat and cross body lead
Bachata ticket sale is going fairly well. Beginner workshop is essentially half full. Half of the slots for men’s place for the improver Bachata have been booked also. Only a couple of slots for women’s place have been booked though, so I still will need to keep a close watch on this matter. In any case, I now suspect I can keep my losses to under 100 pounds without too much problem, and breaking even seems well within reach although I won’t know for certain until around 10 PM on November 21st.
It seems Thursday club scene at Club Salsa is slowly gaining steam – I’ll probably know with more certainty after few more weeks. Somewhat like Wednesday at Club Salsa, Thursday night at Club Salsa seems to be becoming a dancer’s venue. The fact that it does not as crowded as it gets on Friday allows improved chance of nice relaxed dances without constantly in fear worrying about other people bumping into you (or my partner hurtling into someone else – I’m excluding myself because I haven’t stepped on anyone else for a very long time … I think the last time I stepped on someone’s foot might have been early in the summer this year and I don’t think there was another incident before that for at least 2-3 months). The key word here is ‘constantly’ because there being more space does not mean that you can ignore your surroundings and make gigantic steps or stumble about without watching the space into which you and/or your partner are entering. As it was, someone stepped on my Achilles heel despite there being fairly large volume of space for everyone.
A(n esoteric) discussion tonight about Salsa dancing involved dancing along the line, which is pretty standard for LA or CBL style. This was brought about because I was telling my opposite that many in Cambridge are unable to keep to the line. The reply I got was that it’s fine to ignore and break the line rule as long as you are aware that you are doing so. This wasn’t much of an argument because I agree with my opposite’s statement in general. However I think I can argue that this breaking of the rule works much better when both parties (leader and follower) are well aware of the line rule as they proceed to break the rule.
A bemused reader of this blog asked me whether I was going to write about certain friends of the reader dancing ballroom dance to Salsa tonight. It seemed a little silly to me because the music and the dance they were dancing did not matc, which meant that they were not getting proper practice. But this is a free country and I'm not going to stop them doing what they seem to be enjoying; just as I am not going to yell at people who dance Salsa to a Bachata song or a Merengue song.
Lastly, I think it would be worthwhile to learn more Cuban style Salsa, which depends very little on cross body lead or Dile que no. It would be good to have a bit more in my Salsa repertoire that does not use cross body lead. So what do I do? Do I start taking classes from Nelson Batista? I’m not sure but this will have to wait until next year at the earliest.
Floor update - Bachata update
November 9, 2005
The floor at Club Salsa has been smoothened out considerably. I think it is pretty close to way it was before the varnish and flooding problems. Double turns were doable. Hopefully no other problems will occur, at the very least until after November 21st.
Ticket sales for the Bachata event started in earnest this evening. Half of the spots for men in the second "improver" workshop have been claimed already. Ticket sales tomorrow night should give me a good indication of interest level at all levels. My plan is to have all workshop tickets sold out in advance, and I suspect this is doable. I don't think there is any reason to sell tickets for club entry only in advance.
Less than 2 weeks to go until Bachata workshops and after-party. I knew that it was going to be a mad scramble to organize this event when Tony suggested that I do this in early October, and this really has been the case despite mind my effort to look pretty casual and relaxed about it.
I had left 125 fliers at Club Salsa last week. They were all gone when I arrived at Club Salsa around 9:30 PM. I suspect that many of the fliers were thrown away or misplaced inadvertantly rather than taken by patrons. Thankfully, I still have another 375 fliers left. I left another 50 or so fliers at the front desk, and it may make more sense to arrive early every day and leave a small number of fliers each time.
The floor at Club Salsa has been smoothened out considerably. I think it is pretty close to way it was before the varnish and flooding problems. Double turns were doable. Hopefully no other problems will occur, at the very least until after November 21st.
Ticket sales for the Bachata event started in earnest this evening. Half of the spots for men in the second "improver" workshop have been claimed already. Ticket sales tomorrow night should give me a good indication of interest level at all levels. My plan is to have all workshop tickets sold out in advance, and I suspect this is doable. I don't think there is any reason to sell tickets for club entry only in advance.
Less than 2 weeks to go until Bachata workshops and after-party. I knew that it was going to be a mad scramble to organize this event when Tony suggested that I do this in early October, and this really has been the case despite mind my effort to look pretty casual and relaxed about it.
I had left 125 fliers at Club Salsa last week. They were all gone when I arrived at Club Salsa around 9:30 PM. I suspect that many of the fliers were thrown away or misplaced inadvertantly rather than taken by patrons. Thankfully, I still have another 375 fliers left. I left another 50 or so fliers at the front desk, and it may make more sense to arrive early every day and leave a small number of fliers each time.
Review of Lady Salsa - Final Cambridge Performance November 5, 2005
November 7, 2005
I am a difficult person to please.
I dislike giving praise without thinking of at least some criticisms at the same time. Rarely do I find things I love without reservation. Perhaps it is a personal failing at some level, and it is possible that I would be a happier person if I weren't so critical all the time. This is not to say I am unhappy; in fact, I am generally quite content and happy with my life although I don't know if most people would be happy if they were living my life.
My reason for such a roundabout preamble for what should be a simple and straightforward review of Lady Salsa is to try to demonstrate that I have nothing personal against the people involved with the show. I don't know if it is necessary but I am just trying to be safe rather than sorry.
A short summary of Lady Salsa I came away with was that it did not thrill me. In fact, I was a little bored most of the time.
The best part of the show was the sound quality of the band. After suffering through so-so sound systems offered by various Salsa venues, it was very refreshing to hear a competent band play Latin music in an environment with good acoustics. Although I'm no expert in Latin concerts (I have been to none), my best guess is that this band would have been received well by Salsa dancers in most if not all Salsa venues.
Perhaps the weakest part of the show was the storyline, which perfunctorily marries history of Cuba from the arrival of Spaniards to just after Castro's revolution and a perspective of a young woman at the time of Castro's revolution. Pre-20th century Cuban history is summarized in about dozen throwaway sentences, and the telling of modern Cuban history is highly reminiscent of parts of the movie Godfather part II.
The political vent of the show is pro-Castro, which I personally don't find objectionable (more on this later) although this would not play well in the U.S.A. so I wouldn't expect that there will a U.S. tour of Lady Salsa anytime soon. Fidel Castro is one of more successful communist leaders, and I don't have any reason to think that he is a egregious or particularly evil, especially in comparison to some other communist leaders such as Stalin, Mao, Ceausescu or Kim. Fidel also compares quite favourably against the likes of Batista, Duvalier, Pinochet, Noriega, etc. However I couldn’t shake the feeling that despite being in pretty good shape despite the U.S. embargo, people of Cuba faces a tumultuous future once Castro passes away if nothing else because of the Cuban exiles in Miami. With this outlook, I found the bright optimistic view of Cuba in the show at best forced and naïve.
What about the dancing? If I had not learned to dance Salsa, I might have been more impressed. I'm not convinced even of this however. I have never been to a Salsa Congress and watched many dance shows, so my threshold for being impressed with people's ability to dance is not exactly sky high. Even so, I was decidedly underwhelmed with the choreography. There were some simple Salsa (reasonably nice partner dancing Salsa and rudimentary Casino Rueda) done well, but I had trouble telling if they even danced Rumba or Cha Cha Cha when appropriate music was played.
This is not to say that the dancers were terrible; on the contrary, they moved impressively and were capable of eyebrow raising acrobatics. Among women, Janet from Friday night seemed to stand out the best overall dancer with greatest stage presence and I don't think my interaction with her resulted in a strong bias. For sheer acrobatics, I was more impressed with the men. However, perhaps by design or perhaps because this was the last performance in Cambridge or perhaps because they were not impressed with the audience, I felt that there may have been fair amount of horsing around and possibly even half-hearted effort by some dancers in some parts of the show, especially during the second half.
There was a segment in the second half in which members of the audience were invited to the stage to dance, which I found to be quite silly and even inane (although I am sure there were plenty of people who liked this part). I actually went up to the stage while dragging along another person I recognized and seated near me (hopefully this disclosure will not result in an easier identification of this reviewer and thereby make it easier for a hit squad). Once on the stage, we were "taught" a basic Salsa step, which did not match basic steps of Salsa generally taught for on-1 (LA style), or on-2 (NY style) or Casino Rueda or anything I would have recognized as standard basic. The steps were essentially Mambo step in mirror image - R foot forward on 1 and L foot back on 6. By the way, there also was some hip shaking requested for and performed by selected members taken up on the stage. Thankfully I wasn't chosen (hmmm… maybe I should fear for my life even more now for revealing my identity further - please note that hardly anyone reads this blog).
In closing, I don't think the cast members have any reason to fear that I will follow them around the country and stalk them - not that there was any chance of this even if I really liked the show. There were many parts of the show I liked but the show as a whole just did not work for this savage critic.
I am a difficult person to please.
I dislike giving praise without thinking of at least some criticisms at the same time. Rarely do I find things I love without reservation. Perhaps it is a personal failing at some level, and it is possible that I would be a happier person if I weren't so critical all the time. This is not to say I am unhappy; in fact, I am generally quite content and happy with my life although I don't know if most people would be happy if they were living my life.
My reason for such a roundabout preamble for what should be a simple and straightforward review of Lady Salsa is to try to demonstrate that I have nothing personal against the people involved with the show. I don't know if it is necessary but I am just trying to be safe rather than sorry.
A short summary of Lady Salsa I came away with was that it did not thrill me. In fact, I was a little bored most of the time.
The best part of the show was the sound quality of the band. After suffering through so-so sound systems offered by various Salsa venues, it was very refreshing to hear a competent band play Latin music in an environment with good acoustics. Although I'm no expert in Latin concerts (I have been to none), my best guess is that this band would have been received well by Salsa dancers in most if not all Salsa venues.
Perhaps the weakest part of the show was the storyline, which perfunctorily marries history of Cuba from the arrival of Spaniards to just after Castro's revolution and a perspective of a young woman at the time of Castro's revolution. Pre-20th century Cuban history is summarized in about dozen throwaway sentences, and the telling of modern Cuban history is highly reminiscent of parts of the movie Godfather part II.
The political vent of the show is pro-Castro, which I personally don't find objectionable (more on this later) although this would not play well in the U.S.A. so I wouldn't expect that there will a U.S. tour of Lady Salsa anytime soon. Fidel Castro is one of more successful communist leaders, and I don't have any reason to think that he is a egregious or particularly evil, especially in comparison to some other communist leaders such as Stalin, Mao, Ceausescu or Kim. Fidel also compares quite favourably against the likes of Batista, Duvalier, Pinochet, Noriega, etc. However I couldn’t shake the feeling that despite being in pretty good shape despite the U.S. embargo, people of Cuba faces a tumultuous future once Castro passes away if nothing else because of the Cuban exiles in Miami. With this outlook, I found the bright optimistic view of Cuba in the show at best forced and naïve.
What about the dancing? If I had not learned to dance Salsa, I might have been more impressed. I'm not convinced even of this however. I have never been to a Salsa Congress and watched many dance shows, so my threshold for being impressed with people's ability to dance is not exactly sky high. Even so, I was decidedly underwhelmed with the choreography. There were some simple Salsa (reasonably nice partner dancing Salsa and rudimentary Casino Rueda) done well, but I had trouble telling if they even danced Rumba or Cha Cha Cha when appropriate music was played.
This is not to say that the dancers were terrible; on the contrary, they moved impressively and were capable of eyebrow raising acrobatics. Among women, Janet from Friday night seemed to stand out the best overall dancer with greatest stage presence and I don't think my interaction with her resulted in a strong bias. For sheer acrobatics, I was more impressed with the men. However, perhaps by design or perhaps because this was the last performance in Cambridge or perhaps because they were not impressed with the audience, I felt that there may have been fair amount of horsing around and possibly even half-hearted effort by some dancers in some parts of the show, especially during the second half.
There was a segment in the second half in which members of the audience were invited to the stage to dance, which I found to be quite silly and even inane (although I am sure there were plenty of people who liked this part). I actually went up to the stage while dragging along another person I recognized and seated near me (hopefully this disclosure will not result in an easier identification of this reviewer and thereby make it easier for a hit squad). Once on the stage, we were "taught" a basic Salsa step, which did not match basic steps of Salsa generally taught for on-1 (LA style), or on-2 (NY style) or Casino Rueda or anything I would have recognized as standard basic. The steps were essentially Mambo step in mirror image - R foot forward on 1 and L foot back on 6. By the way, there also was some hip shaking requested for and performed by selected members taken up on the stage. Thankfully I wasn't chosen (hmmm… maybe I should fear for my life even more now for revealing my identity further - please note that hardly anyone reads this blog).
In closing, I don't think the cast members have any reason to fear that I will follow them around the country and stalk them - not that there was any chance of this even if I really liked the show. There were many parts of the show I liked but the show as a whole just did not work for this savage critic.
That's more like it! - SOS level 3
November 6, 2005
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead ending with switch to R-R hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare on 1,2,3 and lead follower to a double clockwise stationary turn starting on 4 and leaders turn half clockwise with R-R point up from his R shoulder when the follower completes her turn
1,2,3 R-R goes over leader’s head and get down to about shoulder level and L-L connection is made below R-R at about waist level on L side as leader positions himself in front of the follower on her R side (reverse cross body open position in my diagram)
5,6,7 (and 8?) lead follower to a traveling clockwise double turn and leader turns half counterclockwise with hands crossing over leader’s head (so R-R is on leader’s L shoulder and L-L on leader’s R shoulder) -- I found this bit very tricky and because there were about 3 men for 2 women, I simply did not get enough practice to master this part
1,2,3 R-R is disconnected as follower’s R hands is tossed downwards and R-R is reconnected at waist level on the R side as leader positions himself into a open cross body lead position
5,6,7 lead follower into a full traveling counterclockwise turn with L-L high and ending on stretched to follower’s L side like half of a Titanic and R-R disconnected and R hand on follower’s stomach
1,2,3 big preparation for follower (L-L moving counterclockwise motion first and getting back to original then high position for normal spin lead)
5,6,7 lead follower to a 1 1/2 stationary clockwise turn with L-L coming down and ending up follower’s waist level after the first turn so that L-L ends up behind follower’s back R waist – once L-L ends on follower’s back R waist around 7, leader turns full hook turn (clockwise) while switching to R-L
1,2,3 in a Copa like movement, start with open break on 1 and pull back to initiate follower to turn half counterclockwise on 2, then point R-L forward again to keep follower facing opposite direction (compared to 8/1)
5,6,7 lead follower to a free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn
1,2,3 leader turns about 3/4 turn counterclockwise to get into cross body lead position
5,6,7 end with simple cross body lead
Male to female ration in level 3 was about 3:2 meaning not enough practice. I might be able to salvage parts of the lesson though. I missed the shine part because the fish & chips place lost our food order and caused us to arrive late.
Dance afterwards was fantastic. Music was better than last week too. They still closed a little early (about 15 min early), but no big complaints from here. This was more like it. What's amazing to me is that not only do I get better dances at SOS compared to Cambridge but I'm a lot more likely to get good people to agree to dance with me as well. Practically no one says no. This was true today even though it seemed like there were more men than women tonight, which was a little unusual. Now I can take another long break and let Johnny & Serap navigate their way to SOS and back by themselves next time. Hopefully my detailed directions will keep them from getting lost in the maze that is London.
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead ending with switch to R-R hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare on 1,2,3 and lead follower to a double clockwise stationary turn starting on 4 and leaders turn half clockwise with R-R point up from his R shoulder when the follower completes her turn
1,2,3 R-R goes over leader’s head and get down to about shoulder level and L-L connection is made below R-R at about waist level on L side as leader positions himself in front of the follower on her R side (reverse cross body open position in my diagram)
5,6,7 (and 8?) lead follower to a traveling clockwise double turn and leader turns half counterclockwise with hands crossing over leader’s head (so R-R is on leader’s L shoulder and L-L on leader’s R shoulder) -- I found this bit very tricky and because there were about 3 men for 2 women, I simply did not get enough practice to master this part
1,2,3 R-R is disconnected as follower’s R hands is tossed downwards and R-R is reconnected at waist level on the R side as leader positions himself into a open cross body lead position
5,6,7 lead follower into a full traveling counterclockwise turn with L-L high and ending on stretched to follower’s L side like half of a Titanic and R-R disconnected and R hand on follower’s stomach
1,2,3 big preparation for follower (L-L moving counterclockwise motion first and getting back to original then high position for normal spin lead)
5,6,7 lead follower to a 1 1/2 stationary clockwise turn with L-L coming down and ending up follower’s waist level after the first turn so that L-L ends up behind follower’s back R waist – once L-L ends on follower’s back R waist around 7, leader turns full hook turn (clockwise) while switching to R-L
1,2,3 in a Copa like movement, start with open break on 1 and pull back to initiate follower to turn half counterclockwise on 2, then point R-L forward again to keep follower facing opposite direction (compared to 8/1)
5,6,7 lead follower to a free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn
1,2,3 leader turns about 3/4 turn counterclockwise to get into cross body lead position
5,6,7 end with simple cross body lead
Male to female ration in level 3 was about 3:2 meaning not enough practice. I might be able to salvage parts of the lesson though. I missed the shine part because the fish & chips place lost our food order and caused us to arrive late.
Dance afterwards was fantastic. Music was better than last week too. They still closed a little early (about 15 min early), but no big complaints from here. This was more like it. What's amazing to me is that not only do I get better dances at SOS compared to Cambridge but I'm a lot more likely to get good people to agree to dance with me as well. Practically no one says no. This was true today even though it seemed like there were more men than women tonight, which was a little unusual. Now I can take another long break and let Johnny & Serap navigate their way to SOS and back by themselves next time. Hopefully my detailed directions will keep them from getting lost in the maze that is London.
Ballroom Beginner Fast track week 5 & Beginners Practice
November 5, 2005
Waltz
Left corner turn
1 L foot forward
2 R foot to forward R as the coulple turns counterclockwise about 1/3 as a unit
3 L foot together
1 R foot backward
2 L foot to back L as the couple turns counterclockwise 1/3 as a unit
3 R foot together
THAT WAS IT!!! Everything else was a rehash of last week or so. Only one new thing for 90 minutes! Of course, this does mean we get plenty of chance to refine and improve a very limited set of moves we've learned thus far.
On the bright side, I figured out a way to use Lock-step for Quickstep without getting into a corner.
Start from near the center of the room with plenty of room to your left (using the long part of the hall) when initiating lock-step. At the end of the lock-step, step back with R foot on 1 and do the chasse.
During the PRACTICE session, they introduced a new step for Cha Cha Cha (why???).
Cha Cha Cha
forward and back
2 L foot forward
3 weight on R foot
4,5 L foot cross behind R foot and chasse
6 R foot backward
7 weight on L foot
8,1 R foot cross in front of L foot as chasse
Followers can be lead to make a full pivot clockwise turn on 6,7 (lead starts during chasse).
Taking things from Salsa, leaders can do a pivot clockwise turn on 2,3.
Waltz is or can be a very funny dance. I'm not sure if this is the correct way but some people seemed to dance it almost as if waltz was ... Bachata!
I can't believe they stopped doing any new things for Foxtrot. Maybe they won't be introducing anything new for Waltz and Cha Cha Cha for Beginners.
There's no Beginners practice next week.
Waltz
Left corner turn
1 L foot forward
2 R foot to forward R as the coulple turns counterclockwise about 1/3 as a unit
3 L foot together
1 R foot backward
2 L foot to back L as the couple turns counterclockwise 1/3 as a unit
3 R foot together
THAT WAS IT!!! Everything else was a rehash of last week or so. Only one new thing for 90 minutes! Of course, this does mean we get plenty of chance to refine and improve a very limited set of moves we've learned thus far.
On the bright side, I figured out a way to use Lock-step for Quickstep without getting into a corner.
Start from near the center of the room with plenty of room to your left (using the long part of the hall) when initiating lock-step. At the end of the lock-step, step back with R foot on 1 and do the chasse.
During the PRACTICE session, they introduced a new step for Cha Cha Cha (why???).
Cha Cha Cha
forward and back
2 L foot forward
3 weight on R foot
4,5 L foot cross behind R foot and chasse
6 R foot backward
7 weight on L foot
8,1 R foot cross in front of L foot as chasse
Followers can be lead to make a full pivot clockwise turn on 6,7 (lead starts during chasse).
Taking things from Salsa, leaders can do a pivot clockwise turn on 2,3.
Waltz is or can be a very funny dance. I'm not sure if this is the correct way but some people seemed to dance it almost as if waltz was ... Bachata!
I can't believe they stopped doing any new things for Foxtrot. Maybe they won't be introducing anything new for Waltz and Cha Cha Cha for Beginners.
There's no Beginners practice next week.
Bachata advertising blitz starts - Odd conversations - Visitors from Lady Salsa
November 4, 2005
A strange and unusual night or so I thought as I left the doors of Club Salsa.
I only managed to get started on printing tickets for the Bachata Project around 6:20 PM with all sorts of people with children were strolling around waiting for the fireworks to begin outside. Everything seemed to make the process more difficult, including the fireworks, printer jams, a computer with mind of its own, and an uncooperative door seemingly designed by Sirius Cybernetics Corp. By the time everything (tickets, posters) was ready, it was past 8 PM. All this would have been ready last night except the photo papers were not delivered yesterday for some reason. I had two thoughts in my mind as I started my journey towards Club Salsa – “I despise working on things at the last minute possible.” and “I’m going to have to skip my Salsa lesson this week – meaning no Salsa lessons in Cambridge for an entire week for the first time in over a year or since I started taking Salsa lessons in September of 2004, not counting few weeks I was not in Cambridge.”
I placed the posters and fliers in strategic locations with help from Vishal, I said a quick hello to Johnny as I explained to him that I’m going to have to miss his lesson tonight, and then I headed home for a quick dinner. Vishal mentioned that he had gone to see Lady Salsa earlier today and found it excellent, and he seemed excited by the prospect of some cast members stopping by later in the evening at Club Salsa. As for me, I have been far too busy to see Lady Salsa although I would have liked to see it very much – this became an oft-repeated statement for me tonight.
As it turned out, all sorts of Salsa personalities in Cambridge area showed up tonight - this meant there were many good dancers. This meant there were quite a good number of good dances for me personally although not as many as I would have liked to have had. Then again, I had thought it possible that I will get almost no dancing done tonight because of the start of the advertising blitz for the Bachata project – I was quite wrong about this as I ended up talking remarkably little about it throughout the night. When I did talk about it, I felt so awkward that it didn’t take any time to remind me that I’m just not cut out to be working in Sales.
Tonight was also full of weird conversations. One went somewhat like this –
X – “I saw Y use these moves. Do you think these moves were from Johnny & Serap?”
me – "Where is Y?”
X – “Y is not dancing right now. I just saw that cross body lead was used a lot. That’s the style used by Johnny & Serap, no?”
me – “Well, other teachers like Sally and Cristian also use a lot of cross body lead.”
[Also, a lot of people in Cambridge learn things from watching videos and also going to London for Salsa instruction and practice.]
X – “Hmmm. Do you think cross body lead difficult to lead and follow?”
me – “No, why do you think so?”
X – “Well… it’s not something that can be lead well if the follower doesn’t know how to follow cross body lead, no?”
me – “Sure, but pretty much everyone knows how to follow cross body lead.”
X – “…”
me – “You could go to Johnny & Serap’s class on Fridays, Sally’s class on Thursdays or Cristian’s classes on Wednesdays. They all use it all the time.”
Maybe this line of questioning was driven by trepidations about trying something new - not completely unlike how I sometimes think about when considering learning to dance on-2.
Here’s an even weirder conversion, which makes me wonder what people think of me.
Z – “So have you seen Lady Salsa?”
me – “No I haven’t had the chance. I’ve been way too busy, but I’ve heard a lot of good things about it.”
Z – “Well you should. Maybe after seeing it, you’ll go on a tour with them.”
me (getting confused) – “Oh I don’t know. I suppose I’ve gotten better with my Salsa dancing but surely you’re joking and exaggerating my progress by a mile. I’m not that good and probably will never get that good.”
Z – “No no no. I didn’t mean that. Some of the ladies in the show are really beautiful. I thought you might end up following them around the country.”
me (getting even more confused) – “Oh I see...? But that sounds really creepy.”
Here’s an odd one initiated by me. I had decided to change my shoes later in the night. When I sat next to where I left my backpack and change into my dance shoes, I noticed a group of young men and a woman with very striking appearance sitting next to me conversing in Spanish.
me addressing one of the men – “So are you from another country?”
man #1 – “I don’t speak English” and he points to the woman
me addressing the woman this time – “I heard you speaking in what seemed be Spanish. Where are you all from?”
woman – “Many of us are from Cuba.”
me – “Really? Cool… How do you like Cambridge?”
woman – “I like it. It’s very nice.”
me – “Good. Are you here in Cambridge vacationing?”
woman – “Not exactly. We’re doing a show in the theatre downtown.”
me – “Oh! … You must be the cast of Lady Salsa! I’ve heard a lot of good things about it. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance to see it yet.”
woman – “You should come tomorrow – it’s our last night.”
me – “God I wish I wasn’t so busy. I’ll try my best. Very nice to meet you.”
I must say I felt pretty stupid when I learned that they were from Lady Salsa. I didn’t think it very likely that anyone from the show would show despite what Vishal had said earlier.
Just before closing time as I went back to the same spot to retrieve my backpack and coat, I ran into the same people again and had another short conversation with the woman.
me – “Hi again. I’m curious. What are your names?”
woman – “My name is Janet. He is (sounded like Haikay or something like it).”
me – “Oh! I’ve heard of you at the Salsa Mafia website. They say a lot of good things about you. It’s really nice to be able to match a face to the name.”
So far so good, then…
me (turning to the guy) - "Very nice to meet you too. I can't say I've heard of you… Urr, I'm sorry… Then again, I don't really know very much about the dance world, and I'm sure you're a wonderful dancer. Mmm… Anyhow, I'll try to make it to your show tomorrow. Maybe I'll be able to find some time for it. I'll try my best."
Perhaps I shouldn't think too much of other people making strange comments to me considering that I also put foot into my mouth all the time.
A strange and unusual night or so I thought as I left the doors of Club Salsa.
I only managed to get started on printing tickets for the Bachata Project around 6:20 PM with all sorts of people with children were strolling around waiting for the fireworks to begin outside. Everything seemed to make the process more difficult, including the fireworks, printer jams, a computer with mind of its own, and an uncooperative door seemingly designed by Sirius Cybernetics Corp. By the time everything (tickets, posters) was ready, it was past 8 PM. All this would have been ready last night except the photo papers were not delivered yesterday for some reason. I had two thoughts in my mind as I started my journey towards Club Salsa – “I despise working on things at the last minute possible.” and “I’m going to have to skip my Salsa lesson this week – meaning no Salsa lessons in Cambridge for an entire week for the first time in over a year or since I started taking Salsa lessons in September of 2004, not counting few weeks I was not in Cambridge.”
I placed the posters and fliers in strategic locations with help from Vishal, I said a quick hello to Johnny as I explained to him that I’m going to have to miss his lesson tonight, and then I headed home for a quick dinner. Vishal mentioned that he had gone to see Lady Salsa earlier today and found it excellent, and he seemed excited by the prospect of some cast members stopping by later in the evening at Club Salsa. As for me, I have been far too busy to see Lady Salsa although I would have liked to see it very much – this became an oft-repeated statement for me tonight.
As it turned out, all sorts of Salsa personalities in Cambridge area showed up tonight - this meant there were many good dancers. This meant there were quite a good number of good dances for me personally although not as many as I would have liked to have had. Then again, I had thought it possible that I will get almost no dancing done tonight because of the start of the advertising blitz for the Bachata project – I was quite wrong about this as I ended up talking remarkably little about it throughout the night. When I did talk about it, I felt so awkward that it didn’t take any time to remind me that I’m just not cut out to be working in Sales.
Tonight was also full of weird conversations. One went somewhat like this –
X – “I saw Y use these moves. Do you think these moves were from Johnny & Serap?”
me – "Where is Y?”
X – “Y is not dancing right now. I just saw that cross body lead was used a lot. That’s the style used by Johnny & Serap, no?”
me – “Well, other teachers like Sally and Cristian also use a lot of cross body lead.”
[Also, a lot of people in Cambridge learn things from watching videos and also going to London for Salsa instruction and practice.]
X – “Hmmm. Do you think cross body lead difficult to lead and follow?”
me – “No, why do you think so?”
X – “Well… it’s not something that can be lead well if the follower doesn’t know how to follow cross body lead, no?”
me – “Sure, but pretty much everyone knows how to follow cross body lead.”
X – “…”
me – “You could go to Johnny & Serap’s class on Fridays, Sally’s class on Thursdays or Cristian’s classes on Wednesdays. They all use it all the time.”
Maybe this line of questioning was driven by trepidations about trying something new - not completely unlike how I sometimes think about when considering learning to dance on-2.
Here’s an even weirder conversion, which makes me wonder what people think of me.
Z – “So have you seen Lady Salsa?”
me – “No I haven’t had the chance. I’ve been way too busy, but I’ve heard a lot of good things about it.”
Z – “Well you should. Maybe after seeing it, you’ll go on a tour with them.”
me (getting confused) – “Oh I don’t know. I suppose I’ve gotten better with my Salsa dancing but surely you’re joking and exaggerating my progress by a mile. I’m not that good and probably will never get that good.”
Z – “No no no. I didn’t mean that. Some of the ladies in the show are really beautiful. I thought you might end up following them around the country.”
me (getting even more confused) – “Oh I see...? But that sounds really creepy.”
Here’s an odd one initiated by me. I had decided to change my shoes later in the night. When I sat next to where I left my backpack and change into my dance shoes, I noticed a group of young men and a woman with very striking appearance sitting next to me conversing in Spanish.
me addressing one of the men – “So are you from another country?”
man #1 – “I don’t speak English” and he points to the woman
me addressing the woman this time – “I heard you speaking in what seemed be Spanish. Where are you all from?”
woman – “Many of us are from Cuba.”
me – “Really? Cool… How do you like Cambridge?”
woman – “I like it. It’s very nice.”
me – “Good. Are you here in Cambridge vacationing?”
woman – “Not exactly. We’re doing a show in the theatre downtown.”
me – “Oh! … You must be the cast of Lady Salsa! I’ve heard a lot of good things about it. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance to see it yet.”
woman – “You should come tomorrow – it’s our last night.”
me – “God I wish I wasn’t so busy. I’ll try my best. Very nice to meet you.”
I must say I felt pretty stupid when I learned that they were from Lady Salsa. I didn’t think it very likely that anyone from the show would show despite what Vishal had said earlier.
Just before closing time as I went back to the same spot to retrieve my backpack and coat, I ran into the same people again and had another short conversation with the woman.
me – “Hi again. I’m curious. What are your names?”
woman – “My name is Janet. He is (sounded like Haikay or something like it).”
me – “Oh! I’ve heard of you at the Salsa Mafia website. They say a lot of good things about you. It’s really nice to be able to match a face to the name.”
So far so good, then…
me (turning to the guy) - "Very nice to meet you too. I can't say I've heard of you… Urr, I'm sorry… Then again, I don't really know very much about the dance world, and I'm sure you're a wonderful dancer. Mmm… Anyhow, I'll try to make it to your show tomorrow. Maybe I'll be able to find some time for it. I'll try my best."
Perhaps I shouldn't think too much of other people making strange comments to me considering that I also put foot into my mouth all the time.
Free Salsa Night by CDC at University Centre on the eve of Bachata event unveiling
November 3, 2005
Close to one hundred people were at the beginner lessons, which were offered for free as well.
The floor was alright - not as good as the Sports Centre on Mill Lane but still better than Club Salsa for the moment. Here's my personal ranking for floor quality I have been to recently.
Excellent
1. Sports Centre on Mill Lane (site of Johnny & Serap's Party - like an ice rink)
2. Mary Ward Hall (SOS - London)
3. Saffron Walden H.S. Gym (never danced there - based on moving around in basketball shoes)
Very Good
4. St. Paul's School (site of CDC Ballroom classes on Wednesdays)
5. Club Salsa (at its best)
Good
6. University Centre (bonus for large space)
7. Greens (bonus for large space)
Fair
8. St. Columba's Hall (CDC Ballroom and Beginner's practice, cracked floorboards)
9. Po Na Na Cambridge (wooden floor part only - penalty for beams in the middle of the floor)
Poor
10. Club Salsa (with varnish problem right now)
11. Soul Tree - penthouse level (faux wood floor?)
Failure
12. Po Na Na Cambridge (stone floors part - how do people dance there???)
It has been a while but Fisher Hall and Parkside Gym probably would qualify as very good or better. I also thought the non-wood floor at Waitrose Cambridge could be really good too.
Sound system was probably the biggest shortcoming; too weak and probably poorly placed. Then again, I have never been to a CDC Salsa class or event with good sound system; the best of the lot was Latin Night from last (Easter) term, which was between good and fair. In fact, I could argue that I have never been to any Salsa venue with superb sound system.
Good
Johnny & Serap's Big Party at Sports Centre
SOS
Soul Tree
Fair
Club Salsa (if there is no skipping … unfortunately it might be getting worse)
Poor
Po Na Na (often too loud - this could be DJ's fault)
Greens (sound just disappears into thin air)
Failure
University Centre (tonight)
pretty much any event with poorly-placed/amateurish sound system (too many to list)
This was a nice event. I had invited five friends to come, and two showed up. I think they were big plus for the event (even if they caused me to miss about 1 1/2 dances).
Public unveiling of the Bachata event will go on full blitz tomorrow. Planning and preparing for this event could end up being half the fun (or more) for me.
Close to one hundred people were at the beginner lessons, which were offered for free as well.
The floor was alright - not as good as the Sports Centre on Mill Lane but still better than Club Salsa for the moment. Here's my personal ranking for floor quality I have been to recently.
Excellent
1. Sports Centre on Mill Lane (site of Johnny & Serap's Party - like an ice rink)
2. Mary Ward Hall (SOS - London)
3. Saffron Walden H.S. Gym (never danced there - based on moving around in basketball shoes)
Very Good
4. St. Paul's School (site of CDC Ballroom classes on Wednesdays)
5. Club Salsa (at its best)
Good
6. University Centre (bonus for large space)
7. Greens (bonus for large space)
Fair
8. St. Columba's Hall (CDC Ballroom and Beginner's practice, cracked floorboards)
9. Po Na Na Cambridge (wooden floor part only - penalty for beams in the middle of the floor)
Poor
10. Club Salsa (with varnish problem right now)
11. Soul Tree - penthouse level (faux wood floor?)
Failure
12. Po Na Na Cambridge (stone floors part - how do people dance there???)
It has been a while but Fisher Hall and Parkside Gym probably would qualify as very good or better. I also thought the non-wood floor at Waitrose Cambridge could be really good too.
Sound system was probably the biggest shortcoming; too weak and probably poorly placed. Then again, I have never been to a CDC Salsa class or event with good sound system; the best of the lot was Latin Night from last (Easter) term, which was between good and fair. In fact, I could argue that I have never been to any Salsa venue with superb sound system.
Good
Johnny & Serap's Big Party at Sports Centre
SOS
Soul Tree
Fair
Club Salsa (if there is no skipping … unfortunately it might be getting worse)
Poor
Po Na Na (often too loud - this could be DJ's fault)
Greens (sound just disappears into thin air)
Failure
University Centre (tonight)
pretty much any event with poorly-placed/amateurish sound system (too many to list)
This was a nice event. I had invited five friends to come, and two showed up. I think they were big plus for the event (even if they caused me to miss about 1 1/2 dances).
Public unveiling of the Bachata event will go on full blitz tomorrow. Planning and preparing for this event could end up being half the fun (or more) for me.
Wednesday musings
November 2, 2005
The floor at Club Salsa is not as bad as it was last week; I didn't find large amount of varnish stuck to the bottom of my shoes at the end of the evening. However, it was far from perfect, and I ended up passing up on many opportunities to ask for dances in part because of the floor conditions. As for tomorrow, there are two choices: a free entry to the University Centre Salsa Night hosted by CDC with good floor versus five pound entry for lesson and club with floor that hinders your ability to dance. No contest, right? Club Salsa will get a better floor - market forces demand it. Hopefully ti will happen sooner rather than later and no later than November 21st.
I talked to and apologized to last few key people, who were affected by my blog controversy. So I talked to about 95% of the people, and the remaining 5% are cases whose names I mentioned only once in passing without any comment and whom I don't see very often. I still feel a little uneasy with some of the people, but the best I can do now is to be cordial with them and pretend that they harbour no ill feelings toward me any longer. We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be (K. Vonnegut).
Salsa Night at CDC tomorrow was scheduled in part to coincide with Lady Salsa, which is touring in Cambridge this week. Vishal is expecting a large crowd at Club Salsa on Friday because of this; we shall see. In any case, I suspect I won't be dancing very much Friday because the advertising blitz for the Bachata event and ticket sales will start Friday if all goes well.
The floor at Club Salsa is not as bad as it was last week; I didn't find large amount of varnish stuck to the bottom of my shoes at the end of the evening. However, it was far from perfect, and I ended up passing up on many opportunities to ask for dances in part because of the floor conditions. As for tomorrow, there are two choices: a free entry to the University Centre Salsa Night hosted by CDC with good floor versus five pound entry for lesson and club with floor that hinders your ability to dance. No contest, right? Club Salsa will get a better floor - market forces demand it. Hopefully ti will happen sooner rather than later and no later than November 21st.
I talked to and apologized to last few key people, who were affected by my blog controversy. So I talked to about 95% of the people, and the remaining 5% are cases whose names I mentioned only once in passing without any comment and whom I don't see very often. I still feel a little uneasy with some of the people, but the best I can do now is to be cordial with them and pretend that they harbour no ill feelings toward me any longer. We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be (K. Vonnegut).
Salsa Night at CDC tomorrow was scheduled in part to coincide with Lady Salsa, which is touring in Cambridge this week. Vishal is expecting a large crowd at Club Salsa on Friday because of this; we shall see. In any case, I suspect I won't be dancing very much Friday because the advertising blitz for the Bachata event and ticket sales will start Friday if all goes well.
Fliers for Project Bachata ordered
November, 1, 2005
I decided that I could no longer wait for CDC to get back to me, so I went ahead and ordered fliers for my Bachata event today. See below for the flier design (front page on top, back page on bottom). I may still end up giving discounts for CDC, but it simply did not seem worthwhile to advertise it as things stand now. If all goes smoothly, these fliers will be ready for distribution by Friday.
I decided that I could no longer wait for CDC to get back to me, so I went ahead and ordered fliers for my Bachata event today. See below for the flier design (front page on top, back page on bottom). I may still end up giving discounts for CDC, but it simply did not seem worthwhile to advertise it as things stand now. If all goes smoothly, these fliers will be ready for distribution by Friday.
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