Absolute beginner Salsa patterns

[note added May 27, 2006 - This is fairly useless and in the case of last diagram less than useless.]

November 25, 2005

I have been meaning to write a post for beginner Salsa students for quite some time. This post deals with material that is often covered by beginners class in Cambridge (and probably in many other places).

Figure 1. Basic forward-and-back or Mambo from closed position


Feet movement described below and for all figures is for men/leader.
1 L foot forward
2 weight on R foot in place
3 L foot back together
5 R foot backward
6 weight on L foot in place
7 R foot back (forward) together

In closed position, men (leader) hold women (follower) by a hold similar to Ballroom hold. Leader’s R hand is placed under follower’s L shoulder. Follower’s L hand is placed on top of leader’s R arm. Leader’s L hand holds follower’s R hand without using thumbs – at about follower’s waist level is fine.

Feet shaded in gray have the weight of the body on them. Men’s feet are pointing up, and women’s feet (smaller footprint compared to men’s footprint) are pointing down. Gray rectangle marks the line of dance as used by cross body lead style or LA style.

Leader’s weight is on L foot on 1, 3, and 6 and on R foot on 2, 5 and 7. Follower’s weight is on R foot on 1, 3 and 6 and on L foot on 2, 5 and 7. When dancing Salsa on-1 and not performing shines, aforementioned is true almost all the time. For leaders, Salsa dancing on-1 can be done 100% of the time with the feet rule described above.

Figure 2. Basic forward-and-back or Mambo from open position


1 L foot forward
2 weight on R foot in place
3 L foot back together
5 R foot backward
6 weight on L foot in place
7 R foot back (forward) together

In open position, leader’s R hand holds follower’s L hand and leader’s L hand holds follower’s R hand. Both connections are made at about follower’s waist level. Distance between leader and follower in open hold is larger compared to closed hold position.

Figure 3. Basic back-to-back


1 L foot backward
2 weight on R foot in place
3 L foot back together
5 R foot backward
6 weight on L foot in place
7 R foot back (forward) together

Back-to-back is usually started from open position. For beginner, it may be helpful to note that the hand-to-hand connection is briefly let go or disconnected on the side in which the leader and follower’s feet step backwards. Always start back-to-back step on-1 with leader’s L foot going back and L-R being disconnected. Always end back-to-back step to get back into forward-and-back or Mambo step after reconnecting R-L on 7/8, followed by L foot going forward on 1.

Figure 4. Basic back-to-back with feet and body “opening up”


1 L foot backward
2 weight on R foot in place
3 L foot back together
5 R foot backward
6 weight on L foot in place
7 R foot back (forward) together

In back-to-back basic as done in Figure 3, leader and follower are always facing each other with feet, body and face. In this more “open” back-to-back basic, feet and body of leader and follower face away from each other by up to about 1/4 turn. In this diagram above, body turn is about 1/8 turn.

Figure 5. Men's pivot turn followed by women's pivot turn


1 L foot forward (and turned to right or towards 3’o clock)
2 R foot in place but pointing backwards
3 turn clockwise to face the follower ending with feet together
5 R foot backward
6 weight on L foot in place
7 R foot back (forward) together

In beginner’s class, teachers usually would not ask leaders for a turn during 1,2,3. However, I decided to include it here in part because the mechanics used by leader’s turn during 1,2,3 described here is identical to follower’s turn during 5,6,7. The turns being made here does not need to be a “3’o clock turn” but rather a “12’o clock turn” type, in which L foot forward steps forward without initiating a clockwise turn motion on 1 (for leader) or on 5 (for follower).

Special Latin Night at Club Salsa featuring Tony Lara & Claudia Loiacano

November 21, 2005

Que una aventura or what an adventure!

The evening starts – I meet Tony & Claudia

Aside from some e-mails, the evening began in earnest when I set out for Tesco at Bar Hill to pick up some plastic champagne glasses at 4 PM. After a short detour at home, I arrived at Sauce bar/restaurant next to Club Salsa at 5 PM. Here I was dismayed to find that Tandoori Station Restaurant did not open until 6 PM – a small screw-up by me as I had told people to be there as early as 5:30 PM. Just as I was about to order a drink, Tony rang my mobile phone from his parked car. About 5 minutes later, we met face to face for the first time, and the first thought that came to my mind was “Wow. He’s shorter than me!”

Small talk at the Sauce

Fortunately the late opening time for Tandoori Station Restaurant did not affect anyone except for Tony & Claudia as the Baranco members I invited and still waiting on did not reply early (and ended up not coming) while the only other people who had planned on being at the dinner called in transit to let me know that they were delayed by traffic conditions. This gave me some time to chitchat for nearly an hour at Sauce over coffee, tea, and soft drink with Tony and me talking mostly as Claudia’s English was limited. Some vital statistics for Tony was clarified – he’s fully Spanish (as opposed to half-Spanish as one person suggested to me) and the girl pictured behind him in his Salsa Mafia ID is indeed his fiancé, Daniella.

High comedy at Tandoori Station

At 5:55 PM, Tandoori Station Restaurant was still completely dark. Then almost like magic, the friendly waiter I recognized came up the stairs and lit up the restaurant and let us in. Another moody waiter, who greatly amused Tony throughout the hour, took over at this point and seated us. As I was perusing over the menu, the friendly waiter came back to inform me that Vishal wanted to speak to me. I went back with the waiter and was handed a phone. Uh oh. “Hi Vishal. What’s up?” “Hi. I’m still stuck in Stansted. It’ll take me another 40 minutes to get to Club Salsa. I will get there before 7 PM.” Hmmm. I had expected to have the Club open by 6:30 PM as the workshop was supposed to have started at 7 PM. Oh well. We’ll just have to improvise.

Enrique was the first to get there – on time (6:15 PM) as he had informed me earlier in the day, and talks turned to DJ issues. We ordered drinks, appetizers and food – not very much for Tony & Claudia as they didn’t want to eat too much before teaching a class. As it was, curry joke ended up being a frequent refrain during the workshop. If there is to be next time, I’ll take them to Sauce for tapas instead although I’m not sure how it would stand up to Tony’s Spanish standard. Cristian arrived with a friend of his next and naturally the talk turned into general discussion of Bachata (teaching, et al.). Finally Rhona arrived last for a coffee.

As it turned out, our main dish did not appear until 6:40 PM, which I wolfed down. Even before I was done eating, people started arriving and coming into the Tandoori Station Restaurant to escape the frigid weather. After I finished eating, I went outside to let early arrivals that Vishal was delayed, and I suggested them to chat with people they know in Tandoori Station Restaurant. As more people piled in, I was imagining that we were playing a game to see how many people we could fit into the restaurant before the moody waiter's head exploded in frustration. In the end, we had well over 20 people inside Tandoori Station Restaurant before Vishal finally arrived shortly after 7 PM to let everyone in.

First workshop starts 30 minutes late

I think there must have been some running around with little purpose as people settled down. I had the bar staff and other helpful volunteers serve complimentary sparkling wine to people attending the workshop. So the workshop did not get started until around 7:30 PM. As it was, some people were more than 30 minutes late as 2-3 people joined in after the late start with some joining in as much as 10-15 minute into the first workshop!

Workshop I

Steps described below are for leaders as usual. In many of the steps, followers are doing mirror image steps.

Avoid ballroom hold as the standard hold. R hand on follower’s spine close to neck, especially for dip-like situations. Keep L-R pointing to the ground unless playing around with moving L-R up and down, etc.

Basic (stationary)
1 weight on L foot
2 weight on R foot
3 weight on L foot
4 hip action – first to L and then to R
5 weight on R foot
6 weight on L foot
7 weight on R foot
8 hip action – first to R and then to L

Basic (side-to-side)
1 L foot to L
2 R foot close
3 L foot to L
4 hip action
5 R foot to R
6 L foot close
7 R foot to R
8 hip action

Basic (forward and back)
1 L foot step forward (small step)
2 R foot close
3 L foot step forward (small step)
4 hip action
5 R foot step backwards (small step)
6 L foot close
7 R foot step backwards (small step)
8 hip action

Side turn
move away from follower during previous 5,6,7,8 to give room
1 L foot point to L
2 R foot to L with turn (traveling) 1/2 counterclockwise
3,4 L foot to L with turn (traveling) 1/2 counterclockwise ending with hip action
5 R foot point to R
6 L foot to R with turn (traveling) 1/2 clockwise
7,8 R foot to R with turn (traveling) 1/2 clockwise ending with hip action

When leading follower into side turn, use L-R high with fingers pointing down. L-R is high for leader’s turn also except with fingers pointing up. This is standard leading technique.

Broken turn
probably start from stationary basic
1 L foot forward R and start to turn right (clockwise) and turning as a unit
2 R foot backward L and continue turning as a unit
3 L foot forward R and continue turning as a unit
4 hip action – at this point, overall rotation is 1/2 clockwise as a unit
5 R foot backward L and restart turning clockwise as a unit
6 L foot forward R and continue turning as a unit
7 R foot backward L and continue turning as a unit
8 hip action – full clockwise turn from 1

Other moves included swinging while going down and up. And choreographed dip sequences including full sweeping type dip taking all 8 beats, wave inducing dip done twice in 8 beats, and a shorter sweeping dip during first 4 beats followed by shoulder wiggling by the follower.

Late start unfortunately meant there was quite a bit of waiting done by the people who came only for the second workshop. I suspect they might have gotten some useful tip from watching for an extended amount of time, so I didn’t feel too terrible about this. I think with the first workshop, we were one or two men short and asked couple of extra men hanging about to join in. For the second workshop, we were three women short, so three extras from beginners workshop were rounded up.

Workshop II

Sharper clockwise turn as a unit
1,2,3,4 short going down and up ending with weight on L foot
5 R foot back L and start turning as a unit
6 L foot forward R and continue turning as a unit
7 R foot back L and start turning as a unit
8 L foot forward R and continue turning as a unit
1 R foot back L and start turning as a unit
2 L foot forward R and continue turning as a unit
3 R foot back L and start turning as a unit
4 L foot forward R and continue turning as a unit
5 R foot back L and start turning as a unit
6 L foot forward R and continue turning as a unit
7 R foot back L and start turning as a unit
8 L foot forward R and continue turning as a unit

one-and-two
1 L foot to L
2 R foot close – keep weight on L foot
3 R foot to R
4 L foot close – keep weight on R foot
5 L foot to L
6 R foot close
7 L foot to L
8 R foot close
1 R foot to R
2 L foot close – keep weight on R foot
3 L foot to L
4 R foot close – keep weight on L foot
5 R foot to R
6 L foot close
7 R foot to R
8 L foot close

name?
1 L foot to L and point diagonally to front L – keep weight on R foot
2 L foot return to original position = closed
3 L foot to L (still doing diagonal pointing?)
4 R foot close
5 R foot to R and point diagonally to front R – keep weight on L foot
6 R foot return to original position = closed
7 R foot to R (still doing diagonal pointing?)
8 L foot close

A longer sequence
make distance to lead a turn for the follower during previous 5,6,7,8
1,2,3,4 side turn for follower with both hands high together initially and ending with L hand trapping both of follower’s hands
5,6,7,8 R hand goes in between follower’s hands and back of R hand is used to bring follower’s L hand down to leader’s R waist (this involves small rolling of leader’s R hand around follower’s wrist) – footwork is side-to-side basic
1,2,3,4 back of leader’s L hand is used to do with follower’s R hand what was done during previous 5,6,7,8 so that her R hand ends up on leader’s L waist – footwork is side-to-side basic – both of follower’s hands end up on leader’s waist
5,6,7,8 dip both hands in between follower’s arms and bring follower’s hand/arm up with down, out, up and in motion (R hand counterclockwise motion and L hand clockwise motion) and get follower’s hands (or better yet wrists) to land on leader’s shoulders (L on R and R on L)
1,2,3,4 walk away from each other ending with open-like hold and doing what is rather like open break but with both feet level
5,6,7,8 bring follower in and lead follower into a full counterclockwise turn (Tony said like Enchufe but I’m not sure if this was accurate) with L-R high initially and ending with a wrap (and wiggle on 8)
1,2,3,4 unwrap follower (letting go with L-R) – so follower is going clockwise with her R hand pointing outwards in the end
5,6,7,8 roll follower back in (counterclockwise turn for her) and end with both hands on her waist hold – optional Rattlesnake (shuffling of feet) for the follower at the end

Dip sequence from Workshop was repeated except with an additional variation involving using both hands to hold follower on her back.

The steps and sequences described above were taken from memory. Tony gave me a free DVD for my troubles and I’ll certainly watch it to review things. However, I don’t think I will describe the moves in the DVD in detail because it feels like cheating. This is not to say that describing things from memory is different ultimately but I simply feel more comfortable doing it my way.

A brief panic as the after-party gets underway

The second workshop ends close to 10 PM, so each workshop ended up being slightly over an hour each. Since the club was supposed to have started at 9 PM, this was not great news for people who paid for club entry only. Music starts playing and I spy some people already getting their coats! I was also disappointed to find only a small number of people who showed up for the after party only (Thanks to all those who showed up, by the way). It’s a minor disaster if not enough people stay behind for some dancing. And then, Tony comes to rescue by asking about the show and presenting me with an incentive for people to stay longer and dance. I started spreading the word (with help from Vishal) that Tony & Claudia will perform a show in about 30 minutes and that it will be worth staying extra for. I then proceeded to grab people who I thought were more likely to leave for a dance or two to help convince them to stay longer. So for more than half of the songs during the next 40 minutes or so (including the song immediately after the show), I was the first one on the dance floor – lead by example. It worked. I don’t think anyone left until the show, and once everyone started dancing the momentum carried through for quite some time. For some of the songs, I think we had essentially 100% of the people on the dance floor. I would have argued that the level of dancing would have compared favorably to any night in Club Salsa – not too crowded but far from empty with mixed level dancers but with pretty high average by Club Salsa standard. I felt like I was fumbling a bit during the workshop, but I was pleased to note that I was able to use many of the steps immediately without a lot of awkwardness.

Bachata show

What’s left to say but that we’ll all need more practice. However, I felt that most of the routines that were done during the show were eminently doable. This is a good thing.

Success – not an overwhelming success but a success that met expectations

Workshop was great. My only complaint regarding the workshop is with the couple who booked for two spots last week without paying and did not show up tonight. In retrospect, it almost felt like a scam for the woman in the couple to get dances with me that night. I can’t believe that I get to say, “I hate it when those women use me for my body only.” Only other disappointment was the gate receipt for attendance for after-party only was dismal and much below what I had expected.

Fortunately, there still were enough people staying around to make dancing very good – I enjoyed many good dances and even one dance with a non-Salsa dancer (by this I only mean not LA and not Cuban either) was made energetic and interesting. Dancing with Claudia (to Salsa) was special – her touches were even lighter than the lightest I have experienced in both Cambridge and London. Another Cambridge dancer described the experience as dancing with air.

Financial report

I had always planned to treat this like a private party and was planning on losing some money on this venture. I was more concerned about having and providing good time.

The amount of loss was completely acceptable albeit on the high end of acceptable; I may post receipts and expenses (but not in too much detail) later this week. Meanwhile, the amount of good will generated by doing this was – priceless. Same goes for the amount of fun I had simply organizing it and pulling it off.

An encore?

It's possible. Tony & Claudia talked about doing another mini-tour in February after Brit-Salsafest and a Congress in Zurich. I’ll have to see how things play out over next few weeks. Tony and I’ll be keeping in touch – if I end up going to Brit-Salsafest, I’ll be sure to stop and say hello to them both.

First, I thought I was smart about having chosen tonight as the workshop night but now…

Biggest regret? I won’t be here this week to show off my new Bachata moves to people who did not come tonight’s event to show off and let them see what they missed. Then again, it is possible that Bachata will have established a solid beachhead by the time I return in 2+ weeks with some people even coming up with new moves.

[November 22 update: In addition to many congratulations I received last night, several more people e-mailed this morning to compliment me for the event.]

ticket design

My original intent was for people to keep their tickets possibly as a keepsake or memento, but this did not happen in part because of scrambling in the beginning. Not that there was any big danger of anyone showing up with a fake ticket, but I held off until now to display the designs for the tickets until the event was completed.

Front


Back

Another pleasurable evening at SOS – I just need to stop myself from getting used to it

November 20, 2005

1,2,3,5,6,7 basic (!)
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead (!)
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to a double stationary clockwise turn with L-R high – leader turns 1/2 clockwise on 7/8 and switch to R-R by leader’s R waist
1,2,3 open break and R-R goes over follower’s head and behind her as L-L connection in front is made
5,6,7 brief L-L connection is used primarily to lead follower into a 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn with R-R high (try to do as little leading with R-R as possible)
1,2,3 leader turns 1/2 clockwise with R-R high and get into open cross body lead position
5,6,7 lead follower into traveling 1 1/2 clockwise turn with R-R – R-R had an interesting movement, starting high and swung down low with clockwise motion and then brought up again
1,2,3 open break and get into reverse cross body lead position with L-L offered low at about waist level with R-R at about shoulder level
5,6,7 lead follower into traveling full clockwise turn with R-R high and L-L low ending with L-L wrap
1,2,3 open break (! – I kept getting this wrong after the class) and turn follower around for a 1/2 turn clockwise into cross body lead position – this is an unusual maneuver and the instructors suggested that R-R ending on her back shoulder could help in stabilizing the follower if she ends up off balance
5,6,7 lead follower to a 1 1/2 traveling clockwise turn with both hands up with hand switch so that L-L ends up on top of R-R
1,2,3 open break again and turn follower into a full counterclockwise turn with L-L pointing forward at the end
5,6,7 lead follower into a free counterclockwise turn and leaders perform a counterclockwise turn as well starting on around 6 but ending so that R hand ends up on back of follower’s shoulder
1,2,3 move around as past follower (via in front of or to left of the follower) while changing follower’s line around 180 degrees and get into a new cross body lead position
5,6,7 lead follower into a simple cross body lead finish with newly established line

Shine of the day

1,2,3 Suzy Q
4 R foot in front and to L of L foot
5 L foot behind and to R of R foot
6,7,8 Suzy Q as if it were 5,6,7
1 kick to front L with L foot
2 L foot lands back in more or less original position
3 R foot in place more or less
4 L foot cross behind R foot
5 R foot slightly to front R
6 L foot move in front and diagonally to left of R foot with a little distance (a foot or slightly more)
7,8 shimmy
1 L foot step to front
3 R foot cross in front of L foot
5,6,7 something like Johnny’s crazy leg routine – L foot step in front, R foot to R, L foot to L, R foot to L closing in, L foot to R closing in further
1 L foot to front L on heel
2 L toe wiggle to R
3 L foot cross behind R foot
4 R foot slightly to R
5 L foot to L and prepare for turn
6,7,8 turn clockwise (probably on L foot and landing on R foot)
1,2,3 basic forward

Male to female ratio was close to 2:1. Something like 19 to 10 sounds about right as I remember seeing two women in a row without a break once in a while – maybe two or three times for the whole lesson. Considering this, I thought I came out of the lesson in fine shape (except for the trouble spot mentioned above – which became trouble only after the lessons during club hours). It was amusing and gratifying to see what I perceived as a relief from many of the followers coming to be after some rough or poor leading by a few previous leaders they had practiced with prior to their turn with me. I think Sean, who joined me in level III, was getting a similar welcome as well.

Some of the highlights included recognition from a few people, with whom I danced with previously and who seemed to have a quite positive impression of me. A couple of these followers even asked me to dance before I asked – I was about to ask in both cases so I have no complaints whatsoever. Pretty much all dances were good and I thought the last two dances in particular left me finished on a very high note. Lowlights included a stretch of two or three songs in a row in the middle where I kept losing my timing. In the last of such cases, I was accused of dancing on-2!!! (Otherwise she said she enjoyed it). I’m not sure if I was dancing on-2, but this is not a good thing if I am dancing on-2 and not recognizing it. Perhaps the most bizarre incident involved what seemed like a feud between my partner at the time and a nearby leader. I’m not sure if I obtained a complete picture but the conversation went something like this.

Me (just after the collision between my partner and him) – “Are you okay?”
Her (glaring at the guy) – “Yeah. I’ll just get even with him later.”

This exchange left me quite confused. I tried to move away from this guy while still dancing – moving away into a different area involving traveling of 4-5 meters. A weird thing was that he seemed to keep following us as I tried to move away from him. Maybe I misunderstood or misheard my partner’s comment and the fact that the other guy seemed to be following us was nothing but a coincidence or of him simply taking advantage of open space vacated by us. Strange…

The start of the journey was a bit of a scramble with work, driving to pick up Sean, e-mail communications with Tony, phone conversation with Tony, and meeting up with Johnny & Serap all had to be squeezed into less than a hour. Also, an accident on M11 made the journey to SOS longer than usual (rather like last time). Fortunately there was no mix up with our food at the Fish & Chips place this time around, so after wolfing down our food we were only 5 minutes late with the instructors still dividing up the classes upon our arrival.

Some topics that came up during the drive to and back that I would have liked to cover in this post but didn't have time includes the following. A workshop being prepared by Johnny & Serap. Serap’s dancing experience with Robert Charlemagne. Johnny's adventure in taking an on-2 class with Nelson Flores. Fixation of some Salsa mafia forum regulars on learning to dance on-2. Cha cha and Rumba being taught on-2 in my CDC Ballroom classes and how this was causing havoc with some Salsa regulars I see in the Ballroom class. About how going to SOS is like going to a dance with a "clean slate." Maybe I'll get back to these topics when I have a little more time.

Bachata quick plug

November 20, 2005

For those still deciding on whether to try learning Bachata this Monday, click here for a link to Tony's Bachata website.

Ballroom Beginner Fast track week 7 - Beginners practice - Beginners social

November 19, 2005

Tango
slow L foot forward
slow R foot forward
quick L foot forward
quick R foot at level with L foot but set a little apart with body and/or head turned to left (partner faces the same direction)

quick L foot to left
quick R foot to left across L foot via in front of L foot
slow L foot to left and set apart again – now looking forward

slow L foot forward
slow R foot forward
quick L foot forward
quick R foot forward and quickly followed by L foot cross over in front of R foot via behind R foot
slow? turn as a unit about half counterclockwise as R foot backward
speed? L foot back
speed? R foot together (or at least level)

I went into Ballroom Tango section of the class without much interest because I suspected that Argentine Tango would be a lot more interesting. I can’t say I learned anything here to change my mind. It also seemed very late in the term to start learning a new dance.

Samba
Volta something
from end of Whisk
I think this was not syncopated
L foot cross over in front of R foot and the body turns 1/4 counterclockwise while L-R is lifted for leading follower into doing a mirror image
R foot move behind L foot and to left front with another body turn of 1/4 counterclockwise is followed quickly by L foot crossing over in front of R foot
R foot to R is followed quickly by L foot crossing over in front of R foot
R foot to R is followed quickly by L foot crossing over in front of R foot
R foot move behind L foot and forward as the body turns 1/4 clockwise with L-R raised again for leading follower into doing a mirror image
L foot move behind R foot and to right front with another body turn of 1/4 clockwise followed quickly by R foot crossing over in front of L foot
L foot to L is followed quickly by R foot crossing over in front of L foot
L foot to L is followed quickly by R foot crossing over in front of L foot

this is followed by
L foot start for Whisk

Waltz
some turn (name?)
1 R foot forward
2 L foot to L forward as the couple turn clockwise as a unit
3 R foot together
1 L foot back and turn as a unit up to half turn clockwise
2 R foot forward
3 L foot to left (not together!)

next step should be
1 R foot back

I don't think I have made this move comfortable by the end of the day.

Jive
New York turn was apparently new for this class while the enchufe doble like maneuver hasn’t been taught yet. I taught the move to a couple I chatted wtih during the Beginners practice.

In Beginners practice, it became apparent that the Quickstep turn involving lockstep was not taught for the Dancesport Beginners (and possibly Saturday Beginners fast track as well). Apparently they learned a turn move similar to the one done in Waltz today.

I’m not sure which I dislike more – somewhat sloppy steps by some in the fast track social class or some of the too-rigid and inflexible Dancesport students.

Beginner’s social was okay but not great. About 30 people were there, of which one third were CDC committee members. I felt that the Beginners social was no better than Beginners practice both as a dance event and as a social event. I would have been better off trying to make it to a Barn Dance I had been invited to but couldn't go because of combination of many factors that made it difficult for me to commit to it in the first place. Oh well.

Foxtrot made a single comeback during the social. One of my partner obviously missed the first class of the term in which steps for Foxtrot was taught for about 15 min, so I ended up coaching her through the song. Even with a quick perfunctory demonstration, I was pleasantly surprised that I still remembered the steps well enough to make it work after not having done Foxtrot for well over a month. I had rather liked Foxtrot, and I am a little sorry that they did not do more of it this term.

This is the last Ballroom class, etc for the Michaelmas term for me as I’m going away next week. I’m not sure whether I want to continue with Ballroom next term after more than two months of break.

Massive class for Johnny & Serap level IV

November 18, 2005

open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead with 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn for the follower with R hand holding both of follower's hands - the routine was started with open hold and hand transfer was done during the cross body lead. I think Johnny made the switch during follower's turn, which might be the best place for it for looks. However, for practical purposes the switch could be done earlier on 4 or 5 or even near the end of the turn. For now, I'd suggest doing the switch whenever convenient.
1,2,3 leader makes stationary clockwise turn with R-L/R high and end with open cross body lead position
5,6,7 lead follower into a traveling a full counterclockwise traveling turn with R-L/R resting on follower's R shoulder - leader is facing the same direction as the follower on 8
1,2,3 step in place (or slight twisting of follower's body - with leader moving along with it - for up to 1/4 counterclockwise twist and back)
5,6,7 lead follower into a stationary 1 1/2 clockwise turn with R-L/R high

open hold
1,2,3 open break on 1 and exchange places with follower (with leader moving across the follower from her left side) with L-R high and R-L disconnected and get back into open - this is somewhat similar in overall movement as Casino enchufe, especially as Rhona & Helen do it
5,6,7 1/2 hook turn (clockwise) for the leader as L-R is tossed across follower's body (or to down and right from leader's point of view) and offer R hand at R waist to reconnect with R-R (follower's hand should be doing a large sweeping clockwise arc (from her point of view - from leader's point of view, it would look counterclockwise)
1,2,3 open break on 1 and bring follower forward on 2,3 with L-L connection being made in front as R-R goes over follower's head and behind her
5,6,7 using R-R to initiate lead (bring it towards leader's body), lead follower into a traveling 1 1/2 clockwise turn with R-R quickly disconnected and L-L kept high

open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic and bring L-R high for leading follower into a full pivot clockwise turn on 5,6,7 with R-L kept low to place follower into a hammerlock/Setenta position
1,2,3 open break and bring follower to right side while leading her into a half counterclockwise turn
5,6,7 move to follower's right side with R-L high and L-R temporarily disconnected via in front of follower - L-R connection is remade by follower's L waist
1,2,3 open break followed by leading follower into a full traveling counterclockwise turn with L-R high (L-R needs to go up quickly and may need a somewhat sweeping half counterclockwise motion starting from close to leader's L waist) and follower moving across from leader's left side - try to end up behind the follower
5,6,7 bring follower back from leader's right side (leader needs to move to her left to make room for this) with wrap intact
1,2,3 twisting start to cross body lead ending with open cross body lead position
5,6,7 lead follower into a traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn with L-R high (and R-L disconnected)

Massive number of people was present at the class, many of whom were new. I'm not sure what caused this; Johnny didn't know either. I'm guessing a massive coincidence, but I won't know and I won't be here next week to see if this was a one-time thing or something more lasting.

Club itself was very crowded as well - seemingly a little more so than the usual Friday standard. I had to act quickly to get some wanted dances early and stay behind late to get some more with reasonable amount of space. Then again, that's normal for Friday no matter what, and I use this opportunity to get to know some of the regulars better. The highlight (or the most memorable) of dancing involved me getting so flustered and low in confidence during a dance (in which I was running into the stairs, etc) and asking a bystander to count 1,2,3,5,6,7 to the music to make sure that I was dancing in time. He did so and said my timing was fine. Whew!

Lesson number 6 - Sally

November 17, 2005

1,2,3,5,6,7 standard cross body lead with leader hook turn with L-R going over leader’s head and switch to R-R hold in open position (I found this version of hook turn with L-R high a little difficult and ended up letting go the connection fairly early, which in turn led to preparation for double turn rushed if R-R connection was fumbled – it may simply need getting used to)
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to a stationary double clockwise turn
1,2,3 give follower a R-R hat with R hand going to follower’s shoulder and L-L connection is made as leader initiate cross body lead
5,6,7 lead follower into a traveling full counterclockwise turn as is done in lasso and with R-R connection re-made by 5/6 and thus ending in a wrap (L-L goes over follower’s head) – leader ends up to right of follower (or follower should be to the left of leader)
1,2,3 lead with R-R to move follower backwards with L-L going up to clear room for follower’s head moving backwards on 1, then rotate around each other while always facing the same direction as 8/1 on 2,3 with R-R going over leader’s head during this time with leader moving to follower’s left into an open cross body lead position by 3/4 (L-L is positioned behind leader’s R waist and is about to be disconnected)
5,6,7 lead follower into a traveling full counterclockwise turn as is done in lasso again but only using R-R only
1,2,3 same body/feet rotating movement as in previous 1,2,3 but this time with R-R disconnected and follower’s R hand temporarily trapped between leaders L arm and body and leader’s R hand is placed in front of follower’s R waist by 3/4
5,6,7 use R hand on follower’s R waist to lead follower into a 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn and end with both hands on follower’s hips by 1
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead with free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn for the follower led with both hands on follower’s hips during 1,2,3,4,5
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead ending with open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break on 1, get into reverse cross body lead position on 2,3 and lead follower to half turn clockwise with both hand connections intact on 5,6,7
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead followed by full counterclockwise traveling turn for the follower with both hands ending on follower’s shoulder
1,2,3,5,6,7 in place on 1,2,3 and lead follower to a stationary 1 1/2 clockwise turn to get back into open position

dip
1,2,3,5,6,7 standard cross body lead with 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn for the follower with leader following closely on 5,6,7 and ending almost on top of the follower in a variation of closed position – leader’s R hand reaches down from follower’s L shoulder on 7/8
1,2,3 “lunge” forward on 1 with follower arching backwards – probably should bring follower back up starting on 3 to be able to do a proper 5,6,7
5,6,7 turn half turn clockwise as a unit and do back basic
[note: I think I would be extremely reluctant to try this dip except with followers who know this dip and even then I am not sure if I will feel completely comfortable. One my bigger concern is that R hand reaching down from follower’s L shoulder position is going to be next to useless in keeping the follower upright if the follower loses balance and fall backwards.]

My form seemed a little off compared to last night. Then again, I was keeping things simpler much of last night while dancing with more experienced followers.

I will be missing Sally’s class for next 3 weeks as I’ll be in the USA for a little over 16 days starting next Wednesday. I guess after tomorrow’s lesson, I’ll be missing Johnny & Serap’s class for 3 weeks as well. I will almost certainly be doing some reporting of Salsa scene in the Washington D.C. area.

Conversation with Mauricio – Check your ego at the entrance

November 16, 2005

How should one dance Salsa? Aficionados have many different viewpoints and arguments regarding this. I have been reading various people’s opinions about this, and I had been thinking about writing a treatise on this matter except I lack an interesting central thesis. This line of thinking was rekindled briefly because of a conversation I had with Mauricio near the end of Cristian and co.’s classes and the beginning of the Club hours tonight. I had hoped that I could write about some of the discussions we had but even this seems daunting. Maybe I’ll have more time during my vacation starting next week. One thing that came out of the conversation was that I was inspired to dance a little differently than usual and make stronger effort to endow unique flavor or style as well as distinct move combinations to different dances with different dance partners. Generally this led to simpler dances with most people and made the dancing tonight interesting in a very nice way.

This is not to say there were no clunkers; one dance in particular was annoying, deflating and humbling all at once. In my estimation, my dance partner for this dance was a beginner who was taught cross body lead a few times but was not proficient with it – I thought her mechanics for cross body lead was somewhat similar to Dile que no because she was following it with a noticeable arc rather moving in a straight line as is standard in LA style. Because it quickly became evident that she did not know how to follow any but simplest leads and also because she did not seem to be a natural dancer who could move and follow more complicated moves without having learned the move, I decided to keep the dance very simple. I think I even stopped using cross body leads because the way it was done was unsatisfactory. To my surprise, keeping things simpler led to what seemed to be an indignation followed by her initiating moves that I did not lead. It is more unusual but sometimes some followers seem to prefer to be tossed around, overwhelmed and even treated slightly roughly rather than have a well-controlled dance. I don’t think I told her that she wasn’t doing cross body lead properly when she started saying that I should do cross body lead and that insisting that she knew how to do it – and to which I replied “But you’re not doing it well,” which I suppose wasn’t a diplomatic reply. After couple more self-leading and what increasingly seemed an increasing disdain and hostility toward me possibly as a dancer, leader and/or person, I in exasperation told her, “You know – I’m one of the best dancers in this club tonight.” She replied, “YOU are the best dancer here?” I said, “No, no. Not THE best. One of the better ones.” She then said, “Oh, I guess I should feel really lucky.” Ouch. Score one for her. I’m not sure what I could have done or should have done, but boasting certainly was not a good idea and was counterproductive. I should add that it was dubious claim in the first. What does being one of the best mean? Would being a top 5 in a room of 25 qualify? Different people will also have varying opinions who is good and who isn't based upon subjective criteria (sometimes without knowing enough to judge well). So what did I learn from this? Don't boast - it likely won't impress and I don't think it would be a good thing if it works.

Ballroom Beginner Fast track week 6

November 16, 2005

Today, I went back to St Paul's School on Wednesday instead of St. Columba's Hall on Saturday because of lack of Beginners practice last weekend. As I remembered, the floor is nicer at St. Paul's and less densely packed with people. Unfortunately, this advantage was offset by there being about 4-5 excess men and about 20-25% of men having to sit out at a given time. I guess it was bound to happen at some point.

Jive
American turn
coming back from turn change to R-R
and toss R-R to initiate free clockwise turn sometime during the first chasse

name? (done in week 4 and useful for explanation of new move)
leading follower to clockwise turn with L-R connected
lift L-R high (gradually) as chasse is initiated - so during 5-8 and 1-4 after the turn, follower is moving away from the leader to his left
L-R is lifted high again during the chasse on 1-4 segment to get back to basic position

new move (name?)
leading follower to clockwise turn with L-R connected
lift L-R high (gradually) as chasse is initiated - so during 5-8 and 1-4 after the turn, follower is moving away from the leader to his left
don't lift L-R during next 1-4 - instead R foot cross over to forward left as body is turned clockwise to face the partner and R hand placed on follower's back (follower lifts her L hand high) for the last step of chasse - so follower goes back to left on 5-8

This is somewhat like Enchufe doble but not quite.

Jive really messes me up. Just doing the basics is a struggle because of its speed. I haven't figured out how steps corresponds to the beat/measure of the music.

Samba
Whisk (dancing to the syncopated beat)
1 slow L foot to L
3.5 R foot cross behind L foot
4 L foot in place
5 slow R foot to R
6.5 L foot cross behind R foot
7 R foot in place

Government walk (not syncopated)
1 slow L foot to L (and facing L, which is now forward)
3 quick R foot back
4 quick L foot back (staying ahead of R foot)
5 slow R foot forward (in front of L foot)
7 quick L foot back
8 quick R foot back (stayind ahead of L foot)

See Introduction to Brazilian Samba an explanation of the Samba beat. I am not using their counting system here, but I think it still may be useful.

Quickstep
Finally a turn!
1 slow R foot forward L across (like lock step)
3-4 lock step chasse (quick-quick-slow - I'm guessing 3, 3.5, 4)
5 slow R foot forward L across (lock step start again)
7-8 diagonal chasse but turn as a unit counterclockwise before or as chasse is initiated (chasse done at probably 7, 7.5, 8)
1 slow (nothing?)
3-4 standard chasse to R (R foot first) with another turn counterclockwise as a unit before or as chasse is initiated
5 slow (nothing?)
7-8 standard chasse to L (L foot first) with another turn counterclockwise as a unit before or as chasse is initiated
(ends up with a 1/4 turn overall counterclockwise)

followed by basic step

1 slow (R foot back)
3-4 standard chasse
etc.

I still feel that there isn't very much freedom with Quickstep although forced awkwardness of turning around in the corners can now be removed with the new turn step. For now, I am stuck doing a few basic on the long runway followed by the turn move learned today, followed by one basic on the short runway followed by the turn move again, then repeat. Maybe I'll discover some variations later but I can't think of anything yet.

Nothing new for Waltz. However with things learned thus far, I am finding quite a bit of flexibility in step choice. I am also leaving most of my partners feeling a little dizzy with a lot more turns than they are used to with most other leaders.

Win a ticket to Brit Salsafest

November 14, 2005

Londonsalsa.co.uk will be holding another series of contests with a pair of tickets to Brit Salsafest at Blackpool in 3rd to 5th of February 2006. The contest itself (with similar format as previous contests) has not started yet, but I suspect it will start soon - I'm guessing later this week.

This is an interesting prize with disturbingly high chance of winning, which may force one to give up a whole weekend or more, which otherwise would have been spent doing (arguably) important work. It also may be worth noting that winning tickets do not include accomodations.

Higher retail value of the prize compared to the DVDs, which might have increased level of competition (arguably already low, especially considering that one person may have won two separate prizes in six competitions sponsored by londonsalsa.co.uk thus far), could be offset by most Salsaholics already having purchased a ticket.

I think I am somewhat afraid to enter the contest because winning pretty much would force me to go to this Congress. From a different point of view, I was and am still considering going, and I'm not sure if I like the idea of putting off a purchase because I might be able to get the tickets for free.

Also, what do I do with the extra ticket if I happen to win?