October 16, 2006
Intermediate with Tiz
1,2,3,5,6,7 open hold Copa start with R-L low and L-R high but lead a reverse Copa instead so that follower does 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn instead (R-L ends behind follower’s R waist)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and another Copa with L-R brought over leader’s head and let go while and R-L is pointed low towards the direction follower came from lead follower into normal 1 1/2 Copa traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn with leader turning ~1/2 clockwise with swivel turn (on 7? – one way of doing this is to step to R on 5 and swivel on 7 to end with crossed legs) – R-L is above leader’s R shoulder and leader is facing away from follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower in while leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise bringing R-L in front of follower’s head and do an over and under (coming down on 6?) for 1 1/2 traveling clockwise turn for follower to get R-L behind follower’s R waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 next was another Copa start with L-R connection made and going over follower but with leader occupying follower’s space on 5 (rather than turning her in any direction) with L-R high and R-L low then leader turning 1/2 counterclockwise with R-L briefly disconnected and reconnected
1,2,3,5,6,7 it’s an open hold but with L-R on R side and R-L on L side underneath L-R to start with – unfortunately this position was not really utilized – back basic instead
1,2,3,5,6,7 this was quite awkward for me (very different movement than I am used to) – leader turns 1/2 clockwise with R-L connection only and R-L wrapped on leader’s neck on 3 – step to right on 5 and lead follower forward with R-L and doing a 1/2 clockwise turn while leader turns full counterclockwise to get back to facing follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to a stationary clockwise turn with both connections intact while leader also turns full counterclockwise at the same time – this is fairly simple move but a stylistic change was introduced so that at about 1/2 turn point for leader L-R and R-L is by L and R side of leader’s neck and R-L is brought over leader’s head as final ~1/2 turn is made … this makes the move look more interesting (or at least it did for Tiz)
1,2,3,5,6,7 in place open break and into CBL position with R-L going over follower’s head – lead follower into traveling 1/2 clockwise turn with all connections intact and R-L being repositioned all the way to behind followers R shoulder underneath L-R at the end
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-L is positioned behind follower’s R shoulder and is used to disconnect R-L and lead follower’s free L hand to make a counterclockwise (from leader’s perspective) sweeping motion and reconnect to get back to open position
1,2,3,5,6,7 repeat first move
1,2,3,5,6,7 repeat second move but end with simple double-crossed hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise and bring connections over his head and down to on the shoulders behind his neck – lead follower into CBL using R-L as the lead and leader turns full counterclockwise with R-L going over to get back to open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start and with leader positioned to L of follower on 3 – follower is held in place or led slightly backwards on 4 and leader does a hook turn to get into a cross pass position (facing away from follower’s line with L-R behind leader’s R waist)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward while leader turns 1/2 clockwise and holding follower’s R wrist/arm with R arm (letting go L-R of course) and lead follower into traveling 1 1/2 clockwise turn (downward toss lead, I think) with leader turning full clockwise with L hand kept behind R waist throughout – get back to cross-pass position again (L-R behind leader’s R waist with leader facing away from follower’s line)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward letting go L-R while leader moves behind follower and holding/checking follower’s hips with both hands to bring follower backwards (preferred footwork involved R foot crossed behind L foot on 5, which is not something I always do – maybe it would look better to do so)
1,2,3,5,6,7 Mambo jazz and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling turn (clockwise will do)
I was a little late, but Joe and company arrived even later. Vishal joked that I’ll have to teach the class if they don’t show up. Such scenario would be scary especially considering the class size. I imagine that I could conceivably come up with reasonable material for up to improver level with few minutes of consideration. However, that would not be the same as being able to teach it effectively. I think I am quite content staying as a student as I still feel that I have quite a lot to learn from each and every class.
It felt like a rather quiet evening even though fair number of people stayed to dance for about an hour or so before gradually dispersing. People I regularly dance with were limited to Anastasia, Lorraine and Stephanie (I danced with other people too of course). Like her compatriot Cyrille, Anastasia was recovering from (hip?) injury suffered during dancing. Sergio was there and danced maybe 2 or 3 times; nice to see that he's still alive and well. I also watched Rajiv dance with Stephanie; somewhat notable mostly in that I don't watch him dance very much these days. I think I might be doing a little more watching than I used to - perhaps because I am spending more time catching my breath, etc rather than dancing non-stop.
Vishal seems to have given up on the idea of hiring a coach for the Scala this Saturday and was talking more about organizing carpool. It looks increasingly likely that I will go as well - not sure about transportation method but I am probably coordinating with Cyrille. London seemingly is increasingly becoming common destination for more Cambridge Salsa dancers in general (rather than select few), which partly may explain lukewarm responses to some recent special Salsa events in Cambridge.
At one point, I was rummaging through Vishal's CD case for possible songs to play (Vishal was preoccupied). While it was difficult to ascertain everything he had (presumably not represented in total in this particular case), the amount of choice seemed a little dire in my opinion (way too much non-Salsa) and made me think, "No wonder he plays same thing all the time" [note: he plays more new stuff than he used to.] I picked one song from his CDs simply based on artist name and song (neither of which I was familiar with) and was fortunate in that the chosen song was not terrible. I also picked as as the final song, which Vishal labelled Tito Puente - Mambo, which turned out to be a live version of Ran Kan Kan from the album Mambo Birdland.
Exchange of the day - "It sounds like something you might hear in a cruise liner." "I suppose the Royal Canadian Line. The band's from Toronto, Canada."
Sacala A Bailar - Cache (It's from a CD of the band Cache I lent (permanently?) to Vishal. This is the same band that did Contigo-With You.). This exchange was not made with Sergio.
Exchange of the day 2 - "I missed your DJing Friday." "I didn't play last Friday." "Exactly." "Oh! Thanks! (or maybe I skipped Thanks) You know I don't play many songs I would like to play?" so on…
And I thought last Friday's music was alright considering everything...
A quickie stop for the Salsa dance competition
October 15, 2006
After rushing through work and not really finishing it, I headed home a little after 8 for a meal before heading of to Club Salsa to check out the competition.
I did make a perfunctory effort to find a dance partner for the competition by trying to get in touch with 3 people (and succeeding with only 1). I failed. No big deal. In the back of my mind, I thought it is always possible to just pick a random person as a partner at the last minute if I felt inspired enough.
Dance competitions do not interest me very much for variety of reasons. Perhaps I care least about the fact the quality of the dance is judged by some arbitrary onlooker(s) using some arbitrary definition. For example, Cristian (tonight's judge) would have looked for a number of factors possibly including difficulty of moves, quality of partner-work executions, stylistics or artistry, musical interpretation, showmanship, shines (if any), etc. There might be other things he might have looked for as well as overlooked. He might place greater importance on some things over others. Almost certainly his opinions would not be identical to mine. This of course applies to anyone - the judge could be Ivan, Sally, Johnny, Serap, Joe Davids, Sergio, Cyrille, Rhona, Helen, the Salsa team, Frankie Martinez, Eddie Torres, etc. Different people will have different standards, and standards change over time too.
Perhaps the most intriguing part of entering competitions for me is the preparation. Thus far Salsa dancing involved practicing routines taught in class during the class, using the material learned in class during social dancing and experimenting and playing with things I learned in class or by accident while social dancing (aside from a very small amount of practices outside the class (e.g. working on body isolations, spins, shines by myself for a minute or two occasionally or reviewing turn patterns with random available person after a class). A concerted practice for a performance or competition offers interesting possibilities (some of which I might not realize until I actually do one).
I arrived after 9 PM. It was a little on the quiet side. Vishal was suffering from a hangover. I guess he partied too hard last night.
More people arrived after me. I had not seen Zern in a while (he has different regular nights also) - he entered the competition with Euvian and made it to the next round. Cyrille also arrived later - still smarting from his hand injury.
Stephanie was there too. She has become a real revelation. In addition to having improved her technique and style, she also developed a quite a taste for (or strong opinions about) music. Everyone has different taste of course, but in my book she has a very good ear. Long time ago when she first danced with me, she declared that I can dance with her anytime (or something like that -- at least that's how recall it). Back then, I thought was she was pretty good but I would not have gone as far as to return the compliment. Probably the best thing about her was that she was happy to dance with me. Now she's simply great period - and I am thrilled that she is still happy to dance with me (at least when she likes the song) - and not just once a night either. You never know how people will turn out in a relatively short amount of time.
Stephanie was a last second participant of the Salsa competition - she says she dislikes competitions but she was dragged into one twice in a row now. This time, William was her partner. They made it to next round too.
I didn't enter. I wasn't inspired enough.
Near the end of the evening, Zern and Cyrille talked themselves into leading each other. I decided that it would be fun to join in. Zern's a little easier to lead than Cyrille. Zern said he also found Cyrille difficult to lead. We also talked about possibility of going to the Scala this Saturday.
Eventually the music ended and I went back to work. I will worry about Bachata but not until tomorrow.
After rushing through work and not really finishing it, I headed home a little after 8 for a meal before heading of to Club Salsa to check out the competition.
I did make a perfunctory effort to find a dance partner for the competition by trying to get in touch with 3 people (and succeeding with only 1). I failed. No big deal. In the back of my mind, I thought it is always possible to just pick a random person as a partner at the last minute if I felt inspired enough.
Dance competitions do not interest me very much for variety of reasons. Perhaps I care least about the fact the quality of the dance is judged by some arbitrary onlooker(s) using some arbitrary definition. For example, Cristian (tonight's judge) would have looked for a number of factors possibly including difficulty of moves, quality of partner-work executions, stylistics or artistry, musical interpretation, showmanship, shines (if any), etc. There might be other things he might have looked for as well as overlooked. He might place greater importance on some things over others. Almost certainly his opinions would not be identical to mine. This of course applies to anyone - the judge could be Ivan, Sally, Johnny, Serap, Joe Davids, Sergio, Cyrille, Rhona, Helen, the Salsa team, Frankie Martinez, Eddie Torres, etc. Different people will have different standards, and standards change over time too.
Perhaps the most intriguing part of entering competitions for me is the preparation. Thus far Salsa dancing involved practicing routines taught in class during the class, using the material learned in class during social dancing and experimenting and playing with things I learned in class or by accident while social dancing (aside from a very small amount of practices outside the class (e.g. working on body isolations, spins, shines by myself for a minute or two occasionally or reviewing turn patterns with random available person after a class). A concerted practice for a performance or competition offers interesting possibilities (some of which I might not realize until I actually do one).
I arrived after 9 PM. It was a little on the quiet side. Vishal was suffering from a hangover. I guess he partied too hard last night.
More people arrived after me. I had not seen Zern in a while (he has different regular nights also) - he entered the competition with Euvian and made it to the next round. Cyrille also arrived later - still smarting from his hand injury.
Stephanie was there too. She has become a real revelation. In addition to having improved her technique and style, she also developed a quite a taste for (or strong opinions about) music. Everyone has different taste of course, but in my book she has a very good ear. Long time ago when she first danced with me, she declared that I can dance with her anytime (or something like that -- at least that's how recall it). Back then, I thought was she was pretty good but I would not have gone as far as to return the compliment. Probably the best thing about her was that she was happy to dance with me. Now she's simply great period - and I am thrilled that she is still happy to dance with me (at least when she likes the song) - and not just once a night either. You never know how people will turn out in a relatively short amount of time.
Stephanie was a last second participant of the Salsa competition - she says she dislikes competitions but she was dragged into one twice in a row now. This time, William was her partner. They made it to next round too.
I didn't enter. I wasn't inspired enough.
Near the end of the evening, Zern and Cyrille talked themselves into leading each other. I decided that it would be fun to join in. Zern's a little easier to lead than Cyrille. Zern said he also found Cyrille difficult to lead. We also talked about possibility of going to the Scala this Saturday.
Eventually the music ended and I went back to work. I will worry about Bachata but not until tomorrow.
Pair of reunions
October 13, 2006
When I arrived around 10:20 PM, I saw that Mimi was there. My instant thought was that it's a great evening already. When was the last time I saw her? Two months ago? [note added later: It was a little over 5 weeks ago.] For the past two weeks, I was tempted to call her to say I missed her or to ask when I would get to see her again. I thanked Cyrille for waking her from her slumber and talking her into coming tonight – I probably would have broke down at some point but possibly not for another week. Funny thing is that she told me that she never sees me at Club Salsa anymore – this is because we inconveniently have picked different nights of the week as our regular Salsa night(s).
A little later in the evening, an even bigger surprise sprung up on me in the form of Tamaryn. Have I ever seen her at Club Salsa before? I’m not sure. How long has it been? Almost a year?! [note added later: It was in early November last year at the Grad Pad.] I tried get in touch with Sergio to let him know – but it didn’t work. In any case, I was thrilled to see her again and danced with her as often as possible – although I also somehow ended up talking myself out of a dance at one point (what was I thinking??). She talked about coming out dancing another time in near future – maybe it won’t take another 11+ months this time.
While I also danced with several others (as well as failing to ask several others I often dance with), my reunion with Mimi and Tamaryn kept me very occupied. I am unsure how I would have dealt with the evening if there were any more pleasant surprises. Who am I kidding? I probably would have coped just fine - probably.
I imagine Richard was happy to see Tamaryn also - we know each other all the way back from the CDC days, and presumably Richard and Tamaryn knew each other before I started attending the CDC Salsa classes in the Lent term 2005. In Mimi's case, Cyrille is always happy to see her; he probably danced with Mimi even more than I did (and I danced with Mimi more than usual tonight - possibly a record number with her).
Cristian tried to talk me into attending his Salsa competition. It's only 2 days away, and I don't have a dance partner. Hmm. If I were to do it, whom would I ask? I probably would not ask one of the Salsa team members (as they are or soon should be paired up). It would make sense to ask someone who would be here all three weekends - this probably rules out few more people. Heck, I'm not sure if I would want to stick around for 3 weekends rather than skipping over to London for SOS (although this weekend is looking increasingly impossible). I could also think of it in terms of how many people I can try to contact before the event (maybe 10 people, and half are with the team). Urgh. This is already more work than I'd like.
On a related topic, Cyrille mentioned that he's dropping out of the Salsa dance competition because he would not be here for the final third weekend. I tried to rankle him by saying something like, "So you were assuming that you will make the finals?" Kidding aside sifting through possible entrants, Cyrille would have been as good a candidate as anyone to make it to the finals.
I didn't dance any Merengue - possibly disappointing Cyrille by not doing so. I was dancing with Mimi when a token Reggaeton came on, and I invited Cyrille to the floor as I have even less idea of how to dance to Reggaeton. This somehow led to a small limbo session - perhaps done with slightly more enthusiasm than one or two others times I saw this being tried. Mimi tried to teach some line dance (which she learned in Mexico?) with limited success.
By the end of the evening, Mimi was too tired to ride her bicycle. Cyrille seemed pensive and talked about going to Spain for a day tomorrow - I'm guessing at least half in jest. I on my part was happy to have another pleasant Friday - no more Merengue/Bachata/Reggaeton than expected (and perhaps less than usual) and Salsa music seemed fine enough if not superlative.
Mishaps of the day - I shook hands with Cyrille - too firmly - twice. I squirmed in embarrassment as Cyrille cried out in pain.
Exchange of the day - "He always dances with good-looking girls." "It's probably good for business."
When I arrived around 10:20 PM, I saw that Mimi was there. My instant thought was that it's a great evening already. When was the last time I saw her? Two months ago? [note added later: It was a little over 5 weeks ago.] For the past two weeks, I was tempted to call her to say I missed her or to ask when I would get to see her again. I thanked Cyrille for waking her from her slumber and talking her into coming tonight – I probably would have broke down at some point but possibly not for another week. Funny thing is that she told me that she never sees me at Club Salsa anymore – this is because we inconveniently have picked different nights of the week as our regular Salsa night(s).
A little later in the evening, an even bigger surprise sprung up on me in the form of Tamaryn. Have I ever seen her at Club Salsa before? I’m not sure. How long has it been? Almost a year?! [note added later: It was in early November last year at the Grad Pad.] I tried get in touch with Sergio to let him know – but it didn’t work. In any case, I was thrilled to see her again and danced with her as often as possible – although I also somehow ended up talking myself out of a dance at one point (what was I thinking??). She talked about coming out dancing another time in near future – maybe it won’t take another 11+ months this time.
While I also danced with several others (as well as failing to ask several others I often dance with), my reunion with Mimi and Tamaryn kept me very occupied. I am unsure how I would have dealt with the evening if there were any more pleasant surprises. Who am I kidding? I probably would have coped just fine - probably.
I imagine Richard was happy to see Tamaryn also - we know each other all the way back from the CDC days, and presumably Richard and Tamaryn knew each other before I started attending the CDC Salsa classes in the Lent term 2005. In Mimi's case, Cyrille is always happy to see her; he probably danced with Mimi even more than I did (and I danced with Mimi more than usual tonight - possibly a record number with her).
Cristian tried to talk me into attending his Salsa competition. It's only 2 days away, and I don't have a dance partner. Hmm. If I were to do it, whom would I ask? I probably would not ask one of the Salsa team members (as they are or soon should be paired up). It would make sense to ask someone who would be here all three weekends - this probably rules out few more people. Heck, I'm not sure if I would want to stick around for 3 weekends rather than skipping over to London for SOS (although this weekend is looking increasingly impossible). I could also think of it in terms of how many people I can try to contact before the event (maybe 10 people, and half are with the team). Urgh. This is already more work than I'd like.
On a related topic, Cyrille mentioned that he's dropping out of the Salsa dance competition because he would not be here for the final third weekend. I tried to rankle him by saying something like, "So you were assuming that you will make the finals?" Kidding aside sifting through possible entrants, Cyrille would have been as good a candidate as anyone to make it to the finals.
I didn't dance any Merengue - possibly disappointing Cyrille by not doing so. I was dancing with Mimi when a token Reggaeton came on, and I invited Cyrille to the floor as I have even less idea of how to dance to Reggaeton. This somehow led to a small limbo session - perhaps done with slightly more enthusiasm than one or two others times I saw this being tried. Mimi tried to teach some line dance (which she learned in Mexico?) with limited success.
By the end of the evening, Mimi was too tired to ride her bicycle. Cyrille seemed pensive and talked about going to Spain for a day tomorrow - I'm guessing at least half in jest. I on my part was happy to have another pleasant Friday - no more Merengue/Bachata/Reggaeton than expected (and perhaps less than usual) and Salsa music seemed fine enough if not superlative.
Mishaps of the day - I shook hands with Cyrille - too firmly - twice. I squirmed in embarrassment as Cyrille cried out in pain.
Exchange of the day - "He always dances with good-looking girls." "It's probably good for business."
Yo-yo of an evening
October 12, 2006
Advanced with Sally
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL with 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn for follower (=inside turn … best technique for this move always uses a slight downward lead on 5) end with L-R high for…
1,2,3,5,6,7 high preparation (keeping L-R no lower than shoulder level at any point) and lead follower to triple stationary clockwise turn with leader turning 1/2 counterclockwise for drop catch – end with R-R on R side of leader
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower in on R side with R-R going straight up (think of it as making a large circular clockwise motion along follower’s line from leader’s perspective – at times Sally thought I was rushing a little at the beginning and end up having to pause whereas the lead probably should be continuous) to lead follower into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn with R-R ending at about leader’s shoulder for a drop catch (as leader turns slightly – really no more than ~1/4 turn to face away from follower’s line as leader’s feet need not have turn at all from 1 to 7) to get to L-R behind leader’s back
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and Copa with L-R used to lead follower into Copa position (downward lead) with free L hand resting on follower’s hip to indicate Copa turn – leader then turns 1 1/4 counterclockwise (I suppose 2 1/4 is possible and may be worth trying at some point perhaps with a slow song) to face away from follower and again and offer R for R-R connection (I suspect this would be tough for many follower’s to catch R-R)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break again and bring follower on R side again with R-R going all the way over follower’s head (watch my elbow!) and down a ways with L-L connection made in front – lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn bringing R-R together with L-L (I think this needs a touch-and-go) then bringing follower into crucifix position
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to a stationary clockwise turn (1 1/2, 2 1/2, 3 1/2 whatever)
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L on top of R-R open break and bring follower in on L side with full counterclockwise turn (some traveling involved) in 2,3 with R-R resting on follower’s shoulder and L-L in front of follower – I think Sally called for 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn touch-and-go
It was a yo-yo sort of evening. I was in rather low spirits and was quite convinced that it wasn’t going to be a good night of dancing for me at the start. And then Sally’s class started and I wondered why I worried. It was all very fine. Then it all ended, and I was back where I started. Why? Maybe because I think that this might be as good as it gets.
A very surprising participant in Sally's class made the usual ratio for the advanced class even more skewed than usual. I asked him whether he was there to teach the class - nope, he was taking the class - perhaps as a lark. Followers have much more work on this routine (although looking back, I see that leaders have some turns as well - perhaps it's because turns have become no more difficult than walking) while leader focuses mostly on leading well. It seemed like Sally was emphasizing technique more than usual tonight.
A couple of people I haven't seen in a while were back. The last time I saw Cyrille was for the SOS trip more than 10 days ago. I had not seen Zhenzhi since Newmarket almost 4 weeks ago. Cyrille showed me where he cut back of his hand while dancing - I had never considered nooks and crannies as dangerous spots before. Zhenzhi has new dance shoes - what is with shoes being such a big topic lately (e.g. at the londonsalsa.co.uk forum)? Cyrille also talked about entering Cristian's Salsa competition - a minor surprise.
I left after the class for a quick bite and minor chores at home. By the time I returned (the second class had not ended yet), more people had gathered. Cyrille was nowhere in sight though. Sergio was also absent. Sergio presumably will return to Bethesda for several months for his research while Cyrille talks about wanting to go back to France soon. I am not looking forward to these eventualities and also was reminded of people who were not there.
There were many people on the dance floor tonight. At times, it was crowded enough to feel like a Friday.Almost all of the team girls were there whereas barely over half of the team guys were there. Apparently all but two members of the new team were there, but I have not met two of the leads yet. I met one of the new leads from Singapore - the new team has 3-people strong Singapore contingent (out of 14) all studying similar topic. Apparently the team practices started yesterday and they have yet to make arrangement on pairings. I only recall seeing Mark among leads dance tonight - but then again I was doing even less looking or talking than usual (and I could easily have missed two others because I didn't know them).
My dances were fine. I think I was leading much more multiple spins than I have been doing in recent days. Perhaps I was trying to make up for Cyrille's absence. Or perhaps it was some desperate attempt to generate extra energy or excitement - it seemed mildly successful at best. I had a lot of dances with many good dance partners, some brand new, so I should be happy. In fact I wondered if I danced too much and not socialize enough.
Factoid of the day - I was told tonight that in Spain, people give two kisses at the end of each dance. That would be difficult to do in Cambridge especially when DJs are fusing songs - Sally never fuses songs of course although she did play one El Gran Combo medley track.
Speaking of DJing, Sally in my opinion might be the best at picking a new danceable song in Cambridge right now. I think she played some Hector Lavoe songs (with or without Willie Colon?) including some I didn't recognize. Vishal talked about wanting to focus on DJing more and managing the club less. Cristian will be the main DJ tomorrow, but Vishal still wants me to play in the future (we agreed on not tomorrow though). I also meant to talk to some people about Tony (regarding how I might want to format the class, etc) but it completely escaped my mind while I was there tonight.
Passing thought of the day (because I didn't converse enough to find something interesting enough to be considered for the quote of the day) - "He got a lot more than he bargained for. She looks like a handful. Poor guy."
I can dance a little now so I am still in one piece. Sergio made a comment like this once to me at the Rocket - it wasn't quite so bad though.
Advanced with Sally
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL with 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn for follower (=inside turn … best technique for this move always uses a slight downward lead on 5) end with L-R high for…
1,2,3,5,6,7 high preparation (keeping L-R no lower than shoulder level at any point) and lead follower to triple stationary clockwise turn with leader turning 1/2 counterclockwise for drop catch – end with R-R on R side of leader
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower in on R side with R-R going straight up (think of it as making a large circular clockwise motion along follower’s line from leader’s perspective – at times Sally thought I was rushing a little at the beginning and end up having to pause whereas the lead probably should be continuous) to lead follower into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn with R-R ending at about leader’s shoulder for a drop catch (as leader turns slightly – really no more than ~1/4 turn to face away from follower’s line as leader’s feet need not have turn at all from 1 to 7) to get to L-R behind leader’s back
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and Copa with L-R used to lead follower into Copa position (downward lead) with free L hand resting on follower’s hip to indicate Copa turn – leader then turns 1 1/4 counterclockwise (I suppose 2 1/4 is possible and may be worth trying at some point perhaps with a slow song) to face away from follower and again and offer R for R-R connection (I suspect this would be tough for many follower’s to catch R-R)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break again and bring follower on R side again with R-R going all the way over follower’s head (watch my elbow!) and down a ways with L-L connection made in front – lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn bringing R-R together with L-L (I think this needs a touch-and-go) then bringing follower into crucifix position
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to a stationary clockwise turn (1 1/2, 2 1/2, 3 1/2 whatever)
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L on top of R-R open break and bring follower in on L side with full counterclockwise turn (some traveling involved) in 2,3 with R-R resting on follower’s shoulder and L-L in front of follower – I think Sally called for 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn touch-and-go
It was a yo-yo sort of evening. I was in rather low spirits and was quite convinced that it wasn’t going to be a good night of dancing for me at the start. And then Sally’s class started and I wondered why I worried. It was all very fine. Then it all ended, and I was back where I started. Why? Maybe because I think that this might be as good as it gets.
A very surprising participant in Sally's class made the usual ratio for the advanced class even more skewed than usual. I asked him whether he was there to teach the class - nope, he was taking the class - perhaps as a lark. Followers have much more work on this routine (although looking back, I see that leaders have some turns as well - perhaps it's because turns have become no more difficult than walking) while leader focuses mostly on leading well. It seemed like Sally was emphasizing technique more than usual tonight.
A couple of people I haven't seen in a while were back. The last time I saw Cyrille was for the SOS trip more than 10 days ago. I had not seen Zhenzhi since Newmarket almost 4 weeks ago. Cyrille showed me where he cut back of his hand while dancing - I had never considered nooks and crannies as dangerous spots before. Zhenzhi has new dance shoes - what is with shoes being such a big topic lately (e.g. at the londonsalsa.co.uk forum)? Cyrille also talked about entering Cristian's Salsa competition - a minor surprise.
I left after the class for a quick bite and minor chores at home. By the time I returned (the second class had not ended yet), more people had gathered. Cyrille was nowhere in sight though. Sergio was also absent. Sergio presumably will return to Bethesda for several months for his research while Cyrille talks about wanting to go back to France soon. I am not looking forward to these eventualities and also was reminded of people who were not there.
There were many people on the dance floor tonight. At times, it was crowded enough to feel like a Friday.
My dances were fine. I think I was leading much more multiple spins than I have been doing in recent days. Perhaps I was trying to make up for Cyrille's absence. Or perhaps it was some desperate attempt to generate extra energy or excitement - it seemed mildly successful at best. I had a lot of dances with many good dance partners, some brand new, so I should be happy. In fact I wondered if I danced too much and not socialize enough.
Factoid of the day - I was told tonight that in Spain, people give two kisses at the end of each dance. That would be difficult to do in Cambridge especially when DJs are fusing songs - Sally never fuses songs of course although she did play one El Gran Combo medley track.
Speaking of DJing, Sally in my opinion might be the best at picking a new danceable song in Cambridge right now. I think she played some Hector Lavoe songs (with or without Willie Colon?) including some I didn't recognize. Vishal talked about wanting to focus on DJing more and managing the club less. Cristian will be the main DJ tomorrow, but Vishal still wants me to play in the future (we agreed on not tomorrow though). I also meant to talk to some people about Tony (regarding how I might want to format the class, etc) but it completely escaped my mind while I was there tonight.
Passing thought of the day (because I didn't converse enough to find something interesting enough to be considered for the quote of the day) - "He got a lot more than he bargained for. She looks like a handful. Poor guy."
I can dance a little now so I am still in one piece. Sergio made a comment like this once to me at the Rocket - it wasn't quite so bad though.
Glutton for punishment
October 11, 2006
The Tony Lara Bachata event is more or less set. Details (tentative) as written below.
Tuesday 21st November 2006
Bachata classes with special invited teachers
Tony Lara & Daniela De Francesco (Bari, Italy)
Intermediate Bachata 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Beginner/Improver Bachata 8:45 PM - 9:45 PM
No advanced booking required. Tony's Bachata instruction DVDs (vols. 1-3) will be available for sale. For more info, visit http://www.ilovebachata.com
Dancing til late with DJ Tony and guest DJs.
£5 per class.
--
Let's see how much beating I take this time around. If you have suggestions, let me know as nothing except for the date is set in stone at this point. I'll start working on fliers after Monday.
The Tony Lara Bachata event is more or less set. Details (tentative) as written below.
Tuesday 21st November 2006
Bachata classes with special invited teachers
Tony Lara & Daniela De Francesco (Bari, Italy)
Intermediate Bachata 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Beginner/Improver Bachata 8:45 PM - 9:45 PM
No advanced booking required. Tony's Bachata instruction DVDs (vols. 1-3) will be available for sale. For more info, visit http://www.ilovebachata.com
Dancing til late with DJ Tony and guest DJs.
£5 per class.
--
Let's see how much beating I take this time around. If you have suggestions, let me know as nothing except for the date is set in stone at this point. I'll start working on fliers after Monday.
Misquotapalooza
October 9, 2006
Intermediate with Joe
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R hold prepare and lead follower into stationary double clockwise turn ending with pizza waiter position for both
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and Copa start but follower is asked to stay in place while leader occupies her previous place and spins clockwise to do effectively a drop catch to end R-R by leader’s R waist – leader is facing away from follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 check follower over L on 1 and turn around on 2,3 with R-R raised to just above follower’s head and L-L connection made low (follower may have started turning clockwise a little by 3) – leader is stepping forward starting on 5 and moving around follower in clockwise fashion while follower is led to turn more or less on spot clockwise with L-L raised (but not really above follower’s head) and R-R lowered – a possible position on 8 is that leader has effectively turned around full clockwise while being positioned behind follower while follower has turned around about 1 1/4 clockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 follower is led to complete her clockwise turn to make it effectively a double turn starting from previous 3 – I think the main lead must come from R-R low to complete this turn (I found it a little tricky after the class when trying to lead it with people outside the class) ending with L-L hold only – 5,6,7 is basic, which is a possible source of confusion – in class followers were suggested to do a kick shine on 5,6,7 followed by CBL with turn and a hat finish
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-R hold prepare and lead follower to double turn with leader turning 1/2 clockwise for drop-catch to end R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower in making L-L connection and R-R going over follower’s head – R-R is brought straight up and down along follower’s line from 5 to 6 while L-L is left in place in front while waiting for R-R to meet it and L-L and R-R together or L-R/L is used to lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn (something like a windmill motion) with leader (optionally) turning clockwise at the same time
1,2,3,5,6,7 break back and toss follower’s hand up in the air so that she goes into diving position and with hands on follower’s waist lead follower to free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn – leader can turn too
I'm dispensing with simple moves like CBL at the beginning and end. All notes are liable to have mistakes (as is the case always) and are likely to be gibberish for most readers.
Ivan made a surprise appearance – maybe he’s trying to build up his stamina. He gave me the skinny on the results of the team trials – congratulations to the seven couples who made the team. I was delighted to hear about friends who made the cut and also look forward to seeing some new members. No names here arguably for privacy reasons (although I suppose no one would care) but more because I don't know the names of all of the leads. Ivan seemed pretty excited about guiding the new team.
I think I saw the Penguin – not completely sure if it was a single specific shine with a signature arm/hand motion or a shine with dozen variations with similar footwork with or without what I thought might be the defining arm/hand motion.
The music was quite nice early in the evening. I’m not sure if Joe picked all of the early songs. Gordon picked out Merecumbe (was it Los Titanes version again? it wasn’t Johnny Colon – at this time I don’t have any versions of this song) as a song he liked except he wanted it played faster. Many people have difficulty with slow songs for some reason.
Apparently my quote of the day from Thursday was not verbatim accurate. Oh well. I did say that my memory is not perfect (whose is?).
New and probably inaccurate quote of the day – “I like to mix it up and try different nights.”
It’s like box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get. It’ll always be up and down depending on who’s there and who’s not. I suppose the biggest constant for different nights and venues might be the DJ – with caveat that the DJ situation on Fridays seems quite fluid these days.
I would rate my form tonight as fine but not exceptional – missing an element or two. There were plenty of good dances though. Maybe I’m a little spoiled by having too many highly memorable nights recently. That could become problematic because not every night can be unusual or exceptional. At least I still feel like I can see tangible progress from a month to next if not every other week or so. Now that I said it, all may go wrong now of course.
Apparently SOS yesterday was very crowded but not necessarily because of unusual number of exceptional dancers according to two independent sources. That’s a first – and hopefully not something that will become typical. I had briefly entertained the idea of going to to SOS yesterday after having tried to talk myself out of it for most of the week. Maybe I’ll go next week, but I also could foresee taking a 3-week break as a possibility.
Vishal seemed more serious about possibility of organizing a coach for the next Scala all-nighter on Oct 21. Apparently he will act as one of the DJs that night, so I suppose he has extra incentive to organize something. It may all come down to organizing car-share in the end however. I don't know what to think of Scala. Their floor is not great and the floor layout is not to my liking. There is also the question of whether it will be too crowded or too sparse. Music at least should have decent variety and proper sound quality. So…should I stay home or should I go?
RE: iDJ Tony. A date has been suggested but confirmation is taking a very long time.
Quote of the day "for real" - "I'm going to play one more song then call it a night… No. He just bought a beer. I'll play two more songs."
Disclaimers make a comeback - I don't carry a tape recorder around. Also short term memory is the first to go. Senility is setting in. Quotes may not be exact.
Intermediate with Joe
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R hold prepare and lead follower into stationary double clockwise turn ending with pizza waiter position for both
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and Copa start but follower is asked to stay in place while leader occupies her previous place and spins clockwise to do effectively a drop catch to end R-R by leader’s R waist – leader is facing away from follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 check follower over L on 1 and turn around on 2,3 with R-R raised to just above follower’s head and L-L connection made low (follower may have started turning clockwise a little by 3) – leader is stepping forward starting on 5 and moving around follower in clockwise fashion while follower is led to turn more or less on spot clockwise with L-L raised (but not really above follower’s head) and R-R lowered – a possible position on 8 is that leader has effectively turned around full clockwise while being positioned behind follower while follower has turned around about 1 1/4 clockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 follower is led to complete her clockwise turn to make it effectively a double turn starting from previous 3 – I think the main lead must come from R-R low to complete this turn (I found it a little tricky after the class when trying to lead it with people outside the class) ending with L-L hold only – 5,6,7 is basic, which is a possible source of confusion – in class followers were suggested to do a kick shine on 5,6,7 followed by CBL with turn and a hat finish
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-R hold prepare and lead follower to double turn with leader turning 1/2 clockwise for drop-catch to end R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower in making L-L connection and R-R going over follower’s head – R-R is brought straight up and down along follower’s line from 5 to 6 while L-L is left in place in front while waiting for R-R to meet it and L-L and R-R together or L-R/L is used to lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn (something like a windmill motion) with leader (optionally) turning clockwise at the same time
1,2,3,5,6,7 break back and toss follower’s hand up in the air so that she goes into diving position and with hands on follower’s waist lead follower to free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn – leader can turn too
I'm dispensing with simple moves like CBL at the beginning and end. All notes are liable to have mistakes (as is the case always) and are likely to be gibberish for most readers.
Ivan made a surprise appearance – maybe he’s trying to build up his stamina. He gave me the skinny on the results of the team trials – congratulations to the seven couples who made the team. I was delighted to hear about friends who made the cut and also look forward to seeing some new members. No names here arguably for privacy reasons (although I suppose no one would care) but more because I don't know the names of all of the leads. Ivan seemed pretty excited about guiding the new team.
I think I saw the Penguin – not completely sure if it was a single specific shine with a signature arm/hand motion or a shine with dozen variations with similar footwork with or without what I thought might be the defining arm/hand motion.
The music was quite nice early in the evening. I’m not sure if Joe picked all of the early songs. Gordon picked out Merecumbe (was it Los Titanes version again? it wasn’t Johnny Colon – at this time I don’t have any versions of this song) as a song he liked except he wanted it played faster. Many people have difficulty with slow songs for some reason.
Apparently my quote of the day from Thursday was not verbatim accurate. Oh well. I did say that my memory is not perfect (whose is?).
New and probably inaccurate quote of the day – “I like to mix it up and try different nights.”
It’s like box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get. It’ll always be up and down depending on who’s there and who’s not. I suppose the biggest constant for different nights and venues might be the DJ – with caveat that the DJ situation on Fridays seems quite fluid these days.
I would rate my form tonight as fine but not exceptional – missing an element or two. There were plenty of good dances though. Maybe I’m a little spoiled by having too many highly memorable nights recently. That could become problematic because not every night can be unusual or exceptional. At least I still feel like I can see tangible progress from a month to next if not every other week or so. Now that I said it, all may go wrong now of course.
Apparently SOS yesterday was very crowded but not necessarily because of unusual number of exceptional dancers according to two independent sources. That’s a first – and hopefully not something that will become typical. I had briefly entertained the idea of going to to SOS yesterday after having tried to talk myself out of it for most of the week. Maybe I’ll go next week, but I also could foresee taking a 3-week break as a possibility.
Vishal seemed more serious about possibility of organizing a coach for the next Scala all-nighter on Oct 21. Apparently he will act as one of the DJs that night, so I suppose he has extra incentive to organize something. It may all come down to organizing car-share in the end however. I don't know what to think of Scala. Their floor is not great and the floor layout is not to my liking. There is also the question of whether it will be too crowded or too sparse. Music at least should have decent variety and proper sound quality. So…should I stay home or should I go?
RE: iDJ Tony. A date has been suggested but confirmation is taking a very long time.
Quote of the day "for real" - "I'm going to play one more song then call it a night… No. He just bought a beer. I'll play two more songs."
Disclaimers make a comeback - I don't carry a tape recorder around. Also short term memory is the first to go. Senility is setting in. Quotes may not be exact.
4 Merengues, 2 Bachatas and 1 Reggaeton later, I'm still feeling fine
October 6, 2006
Playlist
Soledad - La 33 (1)
Mi Bajo Y Yo - Oscar D'Leon (2)*
Brujeria - El Gran Combo
Barreras Ninguna - Jimmy Bosch
Lindo Yambu - Cheo Feliciano
1-800-Quiereme - Luisito Rosario (3)
El #100 - Tito Puente
Playa No More - Crystal Sierra (4)
Es La Musica - Massimo Scalici
You Rock My World - Michael Jackson (Berna Jam Rmx) (5)
Y Eso Duele - Gilberto Santa Rosa (-4%)
Ven Tu - Dominic Marte
Ojos Chinos - El Gran Combo
Para Ochun - Hector Lavoe (6)*
Caravan - Pucho and His Latin Soul Brothers (-4%) (7)
break
Aprieta - Joe Cuba Sextette (8)*
Songo Soron - Isidro Infante (9)*
Soy El Rey - Pete Rodriguez (10)
(1) I was a little late - in part because I was working on reorganizing my CD collection to fit the new case. Vishal was nowhere to be seen. Johnny played two songs including Esta Cobardia - Frankie Ruiz. I raised the volume and changed the light setting as preferred by Vish.
(2) The new organization is causing a minor havoc (just because it's new and big and cannot be moved around or be held in my hand). It would have been more interesting to play this song much later (for example after Cristian arrived). As it was, it was a little too fast at this time. I originally had You Rock My World on cue.
(3) Some girl asked for Reggaeton already! She threatened to leave in 20 minutes if Reggaeton was not played. Even Vishal would not play Reggaeton until 11 at the earliest and usually not until after midnight.
(4) I'm thinking that it's one of those nights. Lowering standard way down. Vishal played the same track about 30 minutes later.
(5) Vishal finally comes in and utters, "You've changed your mind about what to play. This is good. Commercial Salsa is what the Friday crowd wants." Ummm. Yeah. If so, I'm going to run out of songs very quickly. Besides, I'm not that interested in playing a lot of commercial Salsa. I might add that Michael Jackson probably made no money on this remix.
(6) Vishal comes in and says, "People don't like long songs (like this)". The song is a shade over 6 minutes. He considers taking over, and I talk him into letting me play one more.
(7) I danced to this one. It was not the smartest decision because it was my first dance and this song was very fast even slowed down. I think I was just trying my best to keep up with the song and doing rather little with it. Oh well.
(8) Some Merengue and Salsa later, I decide to start off with a Cha Cha. Big problem. Only half the sound is audible. Vocals section for example was completely missing. I could hear everything using the headphones but the speakers are not translating. Bloody hell!
(9) I meant to play El Pito but I was too stunned by the previous song debacle that I played the wrong song. It really didn't matter considering the crowd. I thought they rather liked it.
(10) Cristian comes into the DJ booth with his CD collection and asks, "Did Vish tell you?" No he did not. But I don't mind. This crowd is not for me, and I think I want to dance a bit tonight rather than DJ. The debacle with the speakers made me lose interest a great deal too.
17 Songs. 15 Salsa. 1 Bachata. 1 Cha Cha. 4 new songs.
There was a birthday but no birthday dance. Yup. That kind of night. Perhaps some people were saving themselves for an early morning session tomorrow. There was a short stretch where the dance floor was full for some songs here and there but it never stayed that way. Vishal ended up playing only one Reggaeton the whole night, which meant more Merengue than usual. Maybe a little more Salsa than usual later in the evening too.
Highly unusual night of dancing for me. My first dance was to Caravan as I mentioned earlier. Things settled down afterwards as songs simply became bland. Over the course of the evening, I must have danced at least 4 Merengue, 2 Bachata and 1 Reggaeton as well as whole lot of Salsa (compared to usual Fridays). A number of records were broken. It was very good for me.
One of the dances led to me getting scratched in my forehead with a fingernail. She came by later to examine the damage etc and said, "I hope your wife doesn't get upset about it." What? No worries there. The comment was downgraded to "girlfriend." Laughter. I looked at the damage next morning and exclaimed, "I look like Harry Potter!"
Overheard comment of the day (possibly misheard) - "He's going to break your heart."
Here's a fairly recent write-up on the topic on londonsalsa.co.uk. One view among many.
[Added 5 days later - My first instinct was to say along the lines of "Because he has no heart?" or "What about his heart?" I thought it may be too flippant so I went against stating such reactions. I'm still not sure if this is okay, but my mind kept wandering back - so there you go.]
Advice of the day for leads - especially ones with fairly large repertoire of moves. Start the dance slow. Gradually build it up. This is true even if you know your dance partner very well. Do this especially for first dance with a partner for the night. Do this especially if you are dancing with someone you never danced with. Do this even if this is your second, third or tenth dance with the same person that evening. I think it's important to build comfort level between you and your partner. Build your partner's confidence for herself and her confidence in you. Don't try to fit everything into one dance. There's no shame in repeating moves. Even advanced leads have finite number of moves. Eventually, you'll run out. There's no hurry. These are kind of things I have heard a number of times (and even wrote about once - using Susana Montero and SuperMario's LDA class on dancing etiquette as an excuse). Robert Charlemagne is another advocate of this type of approach.
I ended up dancing until nearly 2. There was a bit of snafu at closing time, which led to us being stuck downstairs for maybe 20 minutes or so. The evening ended with a little excursion involving sightseeing a windmill.
Playlist
Soledad - La 33 (1)
Mi Bajo Y Yo - Oscar D'Leon (2)*
Brujeria - El Gran Combo
Barreras Ninguna - Jimmy Bosch
Lindo Yambu - Cheo Feliciano
1-800-Quiereme - Luisito Rosario (3)
El #100 - Tito Puente
Playa No More - Crystal Sierra (4)
Es La Musica - Massimo Scalici
You Rock My World - Michael Jackson (Berna Jam Rmx) (5)
Y Eso Duele - Gilberto Santa Rosa (-4%)
Ven Tu - Dominic Marte
Ojos Chinos - El Gran Combo
Para Ochun - Hector Lavoe (6)*
Caravan - Pucho and His Latin Soul Brothers (-4%) (7)
break
Aprieta - Joe Cuba Sextette (8)*
Songo Soron - Isidro Infante (9)*
Soy El Rey - Pete Rodriguez (10)
(1) I was a little late - in part because I was working on reorganizing my CD collection to fit the new case. Vishal was nowhere to be seen. Johnny played two songs including Esta Cobardia - Frankie Ruiz. I raised the volume and changed the light setting as preferred by Vish.
(2) The new organization is causing a minor havoc (just because it's new and big and cannot be moved around or be held in my hand). It would have been more interesting to play this song much later (for example after Cristian arrived). As it was, it was a little too fast at this time. I originally had You Rock My World on cue.
(3) Some girl asked for Reggaeton already! She threatened to leave in 20 minutes if Reggaeton was not played. Even Vishal would not play Reggaeton until 11 at the earliest and usually not until after midnight.
(4) I'm thinking that it's one of those nights. Lowering standard way down. Vishal played the same track about 30 minutes later.
(5) Vishal finally comes in and utters, "You've changed your mind about what to play. This is good. Commercial Salsa is what the Friday crowd wants." Ummm. Yeah. If so, I'm going to run out of songs very quickly. Besides, I'm not that interested in playing a lot of commercial Salsa. I might add that Michael Jackson probably made no money on this remix.
(6) Vishal comes in and says, "People don't like long songs (like this)". The song is a shade over 6 minutes. He considers taking over, and I talk him into letting me play one more.
(7) I danced to this one. It was not the smartest decision because it was my first dance and this song was very fast even slowed down. I think I was just trying my best to keep up with the song and doing rather little with it. Oh well.
(8) Some Merengue and Salsa later, I decide to start off with a Cha Cha. Big problem. Only half the sound is audible. Vocals section for example was completely missing. I could hear everything using the headphones but the speakers are not translating. Bloody hell!
(9) I meant to play El Pito but I was too stunned by the previous song debacle that I played the wrong song. It really didn't matter considering the crowd. I thought they rather liked it.
(10) Cristian comes into the DJ booth with his CD collection and asks, "Did Vish tell you?" No he did not. But I don't mind. This crowd is not for me, and I think I want to dance a bit tonight rather than DJ. The debacle with the speakers made me lose interest a great deal too.
17 Songs. 15 Salsa. 1 Bachata. 1 Cha Cha. 4 new songs.
There was a birthday but no birthday dance. Yup. That kind of night. Perhaps some people were saving themselves for an early morning session tomorrow. There was a short stretch where the dance floor was full for some songs here and there but it never stayed that way. Vishal ended up playing only one Reggaeton the whole night, which meant more Merengue than usual. Maybe a little more Salsa than usual later in the evening too.
Highly unusual night of dancing for me. My first dance was to Caravan as I mentioned earlier. Things settled down afterwards as songs simply became bland. Over the course of the evening, I must have danced at least 4 Merengue, 2 Bachata and 1 Reggaeton as well as whole lot of Salsa (compared to usual Fridays). A number of records were broken. It was very good for me.
One of the dances led to me getting scratched in my forehead with a fingernail. She came by later to examine the damage etc and said, "I hope your wife doesn't get upset about it." What? No worries there. The comment was downgraded to "girlfriend." Laughter. I looked at the damage next morning and exclaimed, "I look like Harry Potter!"
Overheard comment of the day (possibly misheard) - "He's going to break your heart."
Here's a fairly recent write-up on the topic on londonsalsa.co.uk. One view among many.
[Added 5 days later - My first instinct was to say along the lines of "Because he has no heart?" or "What about his heart?" I thought it may be too flippant so I went against stating such reactions. I'm still not sure if this is okay, but my mind kept wandering back - so there you go.]
Advice of the day for leads - especially ones with fairly large repertoire of moves. Start the dance slow. Gradually build it up. This is true even if you know your dance partner very well. Do this especially for first dance with a partner for the night. Do this especially if you are dancing with someone you never danced with. Do this even if this is your second, third or tenth dance with the same person that evening. I think it's important to build comfort level between you and your partner. Build your partner's confidence for herself and her confidence in you. Don't try to fit everything into one dance. There's no shame in repeating moves. Even advanced leads have finite number of moves. Eventually, you'll run out. There's no hurry. These are kind of things I have heard a number of times (and even wrote about once - using Susana Montero and SuperMario's LDA class on dancing etiquette as an excuse). Robert Charlemagne is another advocate of this type of approach.
I ended up dancing until nearly 2. There was a bit of snafu at closing time, which led to us being stuck downstairs for maybe 20 minutes or so. The evening ended with a little excursion involving sightseeing a windmill.
School’s back in session
October 5, 2006
Advanced with Sally
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL and 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn for follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 open hold – leader turns 1/2 clockwise into open CBL position and lead follower into full traveling counterclockwise turn with hands/connections by follower’s shoulders in a wrap
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare on 1,2,3 (keeping follower looking ahead rather than turning around – don’t pull follower back – also I think twist especially on 1 is superfluous and possibly destabilizing) and lead follower forward on 4 into 2 1/2 counterclockwise over and under turn with L-R ending behind follower’s L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break to bring follower in and let follower unwrap with 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn (I think Sally may have asked for 2 1/2 but for social dancing purposes, 1 1/2 may be nicer and gives follower a minor reprieve) – leader turns away from follower in clockwise turn and switching to R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower in on leader’s R side with R-R going over follower’s head and L-L connection made briefly in front – use R-R to lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn with free L hand on follower’s L shoulder to stop follower from overturning
1,2,3,5,6,7 this is tricky – follower is turning on 2,3 (there is no usual 1,2 preparation (?) – leader is somehow supposed to convey that a quick turn is being led here using R-R positioned to R and perhaps also with L hand being where it is as twin signals – not sure if this works easily – I have tried leading similar move but with a full turn starting on 3 rather than 2 … taken from LDA 3.3) for 1 1/2 stationary clockwise turn with R-R over and under to get R-R in front of follower’s stomach and to her L waist – hmm… I wonder if the turn could be started on 3 with follower landing forward on 5 with leader absorbing momentum – in any case follower is led straight back either on 5,6,7 (or perhaps 6,7 could work as well) with leader stepping into follower’s space and turning clockwise to face follower and switching to L-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower in into closed hold and move as unit full clockwise (Sergio in a conversation over dinner called this a spot turn)
1,2,3,5,6,7 continue turning as unit clockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 finish with CBL (somewhat like Dile que no might work)
Some comments from Sally included bits like do not pull follower back (during the preparatory part for the third measure) and excellent control but try to add more feeling (for the last maneuver ... I would say that adding feeling is easier with music and while in flow with the dance).
Sergio had suggested having a dinner after the class, so I met him at Chez Gerald at 9 to make full use of a £15 voucher he had. Nice meal. Better French Fries compared to McDonalds. I’m glad I didn’t ask for ketchup. One major topic was about challenges and possible approaches to teaching leading and following technique. Others included benefits and detriments of having structure (e.g. lines). We made it back shortly after 10.
The club was in full swing when we were back. School’s back in session! Notable returnees (who had been missed for few months) included Agnes, Mark and Nina. It was very lively.
I was somewhat surprised that Cyrille didn’t show but learned that he apparently cut his hand and was in a hospital getting treatment until 4 in the morning(?!).
Quote of the day 1 – “Please don’t quote me.”
Hmm. Let me see. I think that this was the second time you asked not to be quoted. Perhaps this really quote-worthy but it’s my blog so I can do whatever I want – as long as it doesn’t cause trouble. For whatever it’s worth, I hear such sentiment often and have heard it for so long that I almost think I could get away with repeating Homer Simpson and say “You’ve said it so many times that it’s lost all its meaning.” – except that I am still very flattered especially coming from someone so fabulous.
Quote of the day 2 – “It’s nice and peppy … in a good way … not the way donkey climbs either.”
Slightly unexpected. Mambo Of The Times – Joe Cuba Sextet.
Hmm… I just remembered that there were so many great people to dance with yet so little time that I didn’t even get a chance to ask at least 3 people I meant to ask. Yet at a later point I jokingly told Sergio that I might have to start leading him.
An interesting dance or two involved using almost nothing but a very high level of tension to have a fairly pleasant dance.
Pretty good music, especially early on until the beginning of Salsa Romantica, etc. overdose towards the end. Shakira (lambada-zouk?) was a surprise.
Apparently the Penguin is ready and was used. I missed it. Too busy dancing most of the time.
There was also a talk of SOS (and I thought I was going to try to cut down on SOS). I also forgot to get back to some people on this topic. Maybe tomorrow.
Advanced with Sally
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL and 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn for follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 open hold – leader turns 1/2 clockwise into open CBL position and lead follower into full traveling counterclockwise turn with hands/connections by follower’s shoulders in a wrap
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare on 1,2,3 (keeping follower looking ahead rather than turning around – don’t pull follower back – also I think twist especially on 1 is superfluous and possibly destabilizing) and lead follower forward on 4 into 2 1/2 counterclockwise over and under turn with L-R ending behind follower’s L waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break to bring follower in and let follower unwrap with 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn (I think Sally may have asked for 2 1/2 but for social dancing purposes, 1 1/2 may be nicer and gives follower a minor reprieve) – leader turns away from follower in clockwise turn and switching to R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower in on leader’s R side with R-R going over follower’s head and L-L connection made briefly in front – use R-R to lead follower into 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn with free L hand on follower’s L shoulder to stop follower from overturning
1,2,3,5,6,7 this is tricky – follower is turning on 2,3 (there is no usual 1,2 preparation (?) – leader is somehow supposed to convey that a quick turn is being led here using R-R positioned to R and perhaps also with L hand being where it is as twin signals – not sure if this works easily – I have tried leading similar move but with a full turn starting on 3 rather than 2 … taken from LDA 3.3) for 1 1/2 stationary clockwise turn with R-R over and under to get R-R in front of follower’s stomach and to her L waist – hmm… I wonder if the turn could be started on 3 with follower landing forward on 5 with leader absorbing momentum – in any case follower is led straight back either on 5,6,7 (or perhaps 6,7 could work as well) with leader stepping into follower’s space and turning clockwise to face follower and switching to L-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower in into closed hold and move as unit full clockwise (Sergio in a conversation over dinner called this a spot turn)
1,2,3,5,6,7 continue turning as unit clockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 finish with CBL (somewhat like Dile que no might work)
Some comments from Sally included bits like do not pull follower back (during the preparatory part for the third measure) and excellent control but try to add more feeling (for the last maneuver ... I would say that adding feeling is easier with music and while in flow with the dance).
Sergio had suggested having a dinner after the class, so I met him at Chez Gerald at 9 to make full use of a £15 voucher he had. Nice meal. Better French Fries compared to McDonalds. I’m glad I didn’t ask for ketchup. One major topic was about challenges and possible approaches to teaching leading and following technique. Others included benefits and detriments of having structure (e.g. lines). We made it back shortly after 10.
The club was in full swing when we were back. School’s back in session! Notable returnees (who had been missed for few months) included Agnes, Mark and Nina. It was very lively.
I was somewhat surprised that Cyrille didn’t show but learned that he apparently cut his hand and was in a hospital getting treatment until 4 in the morning(?!).
Quote of the day 1 – “Please don’t quote me.”
Hmm. Let me see. I think that this was the second time you asked not to be quoted. Perhaps this really quote-worthy but it’s my blog so I can do whatever I want – as long as it doesn’t cause trouble. For whatever it’s worth, I hear such sentiment often and have heard it for so long that I almost think I could get away with repeating Homer Simpson and say “You’ve said it so many times that it’s lost all its meaning.” – except that I am still very flattered especially coming from someone so fabulous.
Quote of the day 2 – “It’s nice and peppy … in a good way … not the way donkey climbs either.”
Slightly unexpected. Mambo Of The Times – Joe Cuba Sextet.
Hmm… I just remembered that there were so many great people to dance with yet so little time that I didn’t even get a chance to ask at least 3 people I meant to ask. Yet at a later point I jokingly told Sergio that I might have to start leading him.
An interesting dance or two involved using almost nothing but a very high level of tension to have a fairly pleasant dance.
Pretty good music, especially early on until the beginning of Salsa Romantica, etc. overdose towards the end. Shakira (lambada-zouk?) was a surprise.
Apparently the Penguin is ready and was used. I missed it. Too busy dancing most of the time.
There was also a talk of SOS (and I thought I was going to try to cut down on SOS). I also forgot to get back to some people on this topic. Maybe tomorrow.
It's gotta be the shoes (maybe)
October 2, 2006
Intermediate with Joe
1,2,3,5,6,7 crossed hold R-R on top – lead follower to stationary clockwise turn with L-R to L and repositioned so that follower’s arm is over leader’s arm and essentially behind leader’s L waist on 7 and R-L at about leader’s forehead level (leader’s forearm is just above leader’s eyebrows) on 8 – leader could be doing a preparatory type of movement on 5,6,7 (facing R, then L, then R)
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns clockwise under R-L with L-R tending to go higher behind leader’s back on 1,2,3 – 5,6,7 was a filler in place
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start (in this case meaning open break then R-L going over follower’s head) then lead follower to Copa turn (counterclockwise) letting go L-R and stopping follower after full counterclockwise turn with hands on both of follower’s shoulder
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare follower on 1,2,3 (I believe letting her step forward on 1) and lead her to overall 1 1/2 clockwise stationary turn – leader can turn on the spot as well – and get back to closed hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R hold with L-L connection in anticipation for Copa – Copa start followed by a fake so that follower is led into a 1 1/2 clockwise traveling (minimize traveling by bringing R-R back close to leader’s body on 6) somewhat like reverse cross body with L-L high and going over and behind leader’s head and R-R going around (in clockwise motion – the movement of R-R is in front of follower on 5 then brought back towards leader on 6 and continue moving in clockwise motion at follower’s waist level to move follower into a new lane at level with (and probably not quite behind leader) – R-R is more or less disconnected by 8 and leader’s R hand is probably on follower’s L hip/waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 bring follower forward around leader (behind leader seems more or less accurate) l,2,3 with L-L being brought low - lead an over and under for a 1 1/2 clockwise turn for follower with follower’s L hand ending behind her R waist – leader can do a swivel turn on 7 and switch to R-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa and free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn for follower
There were more men than women at the intermediate class once again. Joe played the part of follower. In many ways, I found him to be the most challenging follower for me to lead – at times a source of physical pain.
The club hour was on the quiet side. Not horrible, but a bit sparse. I had a myriad of dances at many levels - all quite fine.
Probably the most interesting dance I had tonight was with Sam – thanks to a grand convergence of planets. Kidding. I think it was because we were feeling the music in a similar way while being familiar enough with each other’s tendencies and having tons of space at the same time. In short, good luck. Within a minute of starting it was pretty clear that it was going to be a very good dance. Sam thought the dance worked nicely because the music was good. I’m less convinced that this song (not familiar to me) is inherently fantastic (for one thing – it felt a bit disco, which in my opinion is generally bad – although it’s possible that I will dance to it again and end up getting more nice and interesting results), but I was able to ride her enthusiasm for this song for this particular dance. I was surprised – in a good way of course – because it seemingly came out of nowhere and was heads and shoulders above all my previous dances with her. Maybe it was because of the shoes. It apparently looked pretty good to others according to reactions and comments glimpsed and gathered during and afterwards. The bad news is that many of my next dances with Sam may seem pedestrian by comparison because of increased expectations. The good news is that dances of similar caliber probably will happen again now and then when conditions are right.
Adam earlier in the evening had offered to videotape me dancing (apparently the one he recorded a while ago of me and Mimi was too dark to see much of anything and was not kept), and I suspect this one might have been a good one for recording. Oh well. You just never know when lightning will strike. Okay, enough with boring wordy analysis...
There isn't all that much else to write about. I almost forgot about the Cuban night starting tomorrow - not sure if I'll make an appearance. If so I probably should stick to Rueda or something like that. No tangible update on the Tony front.
Intermediate with Joe
1,2,3,5,6,7 crossed hold R-R on top – lead follower to stationary clockwise turn with L-R to L and repositioned so that follower’s arm is over leader’s arm and essentially behind leader’s L waist on 7 and R-L at about leader’s forehead level (leader’s forearm is just above leader’s eyebrows) on 8 – leader could be doing a preparatory type of movement on 5,6,7 (facing R, then L, then R)
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader turns clockwise under R-L with L-R tending to go higher behind leader’s back on 1,2,3 – 5,6,7 was a filler in place
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa start (in this case meaning open break then R-L going over follower’s head) then lead follower to Copa turn (counterclockwise) letting go L-R and stopping follower after full counterclockwise turn with hands on both of follower’s shoulder
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare follower on 1,2,3 (I believe letting her step forward on 1) and lead her to overall 1 1/2 clockwise stationary turn – leader can turn on the spot as well – and get back to closed hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R hold with L-L connection in anticipation for Copa – Copa start followed by a fake so that follower is led into a 1 1/2 clockwise traveling (minimize traveling by bringing R-R back close to leader’s body on 6) somewhat like reverse cross body with L-L high and going over and behind leader’s head and R-R going around (in clockwise motion – the movement of R-R is in front of follower on 5 then brought back towards leader on 6 and continue moving in clockwise motion at follower’s waist level to move follower into a new lane at level with (and probably not quite behind leader) – R-R is more or less disconnected by 8 and leader’s R hand is probably on follower’s L hip/waist
1,2,3,5,6,7 bring follower forward around leader (behind leader seems more or less accurate) l,2,3 with L-L being brought low - lead an over and under for a 1 1/2 clockwise turn for follower with follower’s L hand ending behind her R waist – leader can do a swivel turn on 7 and switch to R-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa and free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn for follower
There were more men than women at the intermediate class once again. Joe played the part of follower. In many ways, I found him to be the most challenging follower for me to lead – at times a source of physical pain.
The club hour was on the quiet side. Not horrible, but a bit sparse. I had a myriad of dances at many levels - all quite fine.
Probably the most interesting dance I had tonight was with Sam – thanks to a grand convergence of planets. Kidding. I think it was because we were feeling the music in a similar way while being familiar enough with each other’s tendencies and having tons of space at the same time. In short, good luck. Within a minute of starting it was pretty clear that it was going to be a very good dance. Sam thought the dance worked nicely because the music was good. I’m less convinced that this song (not familiar to me) is inherently fantastic (for one thing – it felt a bit disco, which in my opinion is generally bad – although it’s possible that I will dance to it again and end up getting more nice and interesting results), but I was able to ride her enthusiasm for this song for this particular dance. I was surprised – in a good way of course – because it seemingly came out of nowhere and was heads and shoulders above all my previous dances with her. Maybe it was because of the shoes. It apparently looked pretty good to others according to reactions and comments glimpsed and gathered during and afterwards. The bad news is that many of my next dances with Sam may seem pedestrian by comparison because of increased expectations. The good news is that dances of similar caliber probably will happen again now and then when conditions are right.
Adam earlier in the evening had offered to videotape me dancing (apparently the one he recorded a while ago of me and Mimi was too dark to see much of anything and was not kept), and I suspect this one might have been a good one for recording. Oh well. You just never know when lightning will strike. Okay, enough with boring wordy analysis...
There isn't all that much else to write about. I almost forgot about the Cuban night starting tomorrow - not sure if I'll make an appearance. If so I probably should stick to Rueda or something like that. No tangible update on the Tony front.
That’s that and it’s over and done with
October 1, 2006
It is finally the last of anticipated days of this week. Cyrille called in the middle of the afternoon to say that he’ll head to London early and meet us at SOS. Sergio and I took the train for 8 PM arrival. Liam was probably on the next train.
Cyrille was highly impressed with SOS as expected. By my standards, it was somewhat on a weak side – possibly because of there being a big surplus of men. While there were some usual good people to dance with, it felt like one had to be quick about getting a dance partner lest you miss out on all of the okay followers. I’m sure most women were not complaining though.
Music was okay but perhaps subpar in a sense that I only liked 2-3 songs at most.
I’m recognizing and being recognized by a lot of people. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. I wonder again if I would be better off coming less often.
Highlight of the day #1. This involved dancing with someone I could not agree upon timing with. At one point, she asked if I was dancing cross body on 1 and I replied that I was trying (if she would allow me). Later she claimed that she thought I was trying to dance on-2. That might make sense – maybe. Even now, I’m not sure what really happened there.
Highlight of the day #2. This also involved dancing with someone I could not agree upon proper timing. The big difference was that in this case, the issue was that there was absolutely no framework for an argument. No lead-follow agreement of any sort. Every move was a challenge and tug-of-war. After a while, I was so flabbergasted that I was completely amused and was made quite cheerful.
I don’t know. What does it mean when the highlights are disastrous dances?
Quote of the day 1 – “She likes chicken.
Quote of the day 2 – “We were equally matched in strength.”
Quote of the day 3 – “She’s equally dangerous with her kicks.”
No harm done - at least for me. My voice is still normal.
A memorable exchange – “Had I known that, I would have been tempted and thought about it for a second.” “I thought about it for more than a second.”
Ancient quote of the day – “So that I could learn more moves I cannot use. Why not?”
Sergio recalled that I wrote something like this on his sign-up sheet for on-2 class he was trying to organize about a year and half ago.
Okay. This week is over. Tonight was something of an anticlimax - probably caused by too high expectations. There’s nothing more to look forward to. Maybe that’s a good thing. I have now been in the UK for exactly three years.
Random phrases and ideas: Miss England. (Not a) Barbie doll. Arm wresting. Paella. A New York weekend. A football game at Manchester or West Ham or Bourdeaux. Hitting four corners of Cambridge.
It is finally the last of anticipated days of this week. Cyrille called in the middle of the afternoon to say that he’ll head to London early and meet us at SOS. Sergio and I took the train for 8 PM arrival. Liam was probably on the next train.
Cyrille was highly impressed with SOS as expected. By my standards, it was somewhat on a weak side – possibly because of there being a big surplus of men. While there were some usual good people to dance with, it felt like one had to be quick about getting a dance partner lest you miss out on all of the okay followers. I’m sure most women were not complaining though.
Music was okay but perhaps subpar in a sense that I only liked 2-3 songs at most.
I’m recognizing and being recognized by a lot of people. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. I wonder again if I would be better off coming less often.
Highlight of the day #1. This involved dancing with someone I could not agree upon timing with. At one point, she asked if I was dancing cross body on 1 and I replied that I was trying (if she would allow me). Later she claimed that she thought I was trying to dance on-2. That might make sense – maybe. Even now, I’m not sure what really happened there.
Highlight of the day #2. This also involved dancing with someone I could not agree upon proper timing. The big difference was that in this case, the issue was that there was absolutely no framework for an argument. No lead-follow agreement of any sort. Every move was a challenge and tug-of-war. After a while, I was so flabbergasted that I was completely amused and was made quite cheerful.
I don’t know. What does it mean when the highlights are disastrous dances?
Quote of the day 1 – “She likes chicken.
Quote of the day 2 – “We were equally matched in strength.”
Quote of the day 3 – “She’s equally dangerous with her kicks.”
No harm done - at least for me. My voice is still normal.
A memorable exchange – “Had I known that, I would have been tempted and thought about it for a second.” “I thought about it for more than a second.”
Ancient quote of the day – “So that I could learn more moves I cannot use. Why not?”
Sergio recalled that I wrote something like this on his sign-up sheet for on-2 class he was trying to organize about a year and half ago.
Okay. This week is over. Tonight was something of an anticlimax - probably caused by too high expectations. There’s nothing more to look forward to. Maybe that’s a good thing. I have now been in the UK for exactly three years.
Random phrases and ideas: Miss England. (Not a) Barbie doll. Arm wresting. Paella. A New York weekend. A football game at Manchester or West Ham or Bourdeaux. Hitting four corners of Cambridge.
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