September 30, 2005
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower to a pivot clockwise turn on 5,6,7 and switch to R-R
1,2,3 overtake follower on the right side like Enchufe and use L hand on follower’s R shoulder to stop further turn by follower
5,6,7 hook turn (optional: lower body during hook turn with bent knees)
1,2,3,5,6,7 (version 1) standard Copa with L-L connection being made on 1 or 2 and with R hand on follower’s waist on 3/4 (dead end)
(version 2) end Copa while stopping follower after a single turn with R hand on follower’s stomach
1,2,3 walk around on the right side keeping follower stationary and getting into what is essentially an open position (probably ending to left of follower?)
5,6,7 lead follower to a counterclockwise half turn (not completely sure) with L-L high and R hand ending on her R shoulder
1,2,3 walk backwards together in same position (L-L high and R hand on her R shoulder) with follower in counterclockwise manner (180 degrees is fine - could try for 360 but I found it a little difficult)
5,6,7 lead follower forward and into a 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn to get back to open position
I predicted that version 2 was going to be difficult to pull off. I managed it couple of times with some of the participants in the class afterwards. However, I failed to do it with Serap who sat out because of uneven number of students.
I had some extra time early in the evening so I decided to come early to see how Johnny & Serap taught beginners (and improvers/intermediates). I'm sorry to say that the beginner class was a bit of a mess. There were six people altogether being taught by Serap, four women and two men. Both men apparently came with their own partner. One pair was complete novices; they managed to begin to learn basic "mambo" step and side-to-side for the entire class. Another pair was doing three basic steps plus cross body lead. Two women were being taught cross body, cross body with 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn, cross body with 1 1/2 clockwise turn and Setenta. No one was staying in time to the music although my recollection is that no one (aside from Mauricio) tried to teach this to absolute beginners in Cambridge in anything more than perfunctory manner (although Sean mentioned that his timing might have been different - not quite on-1 that is). After about 10 minutes of watching, I couldn't take it anymore and jumped in to help first with the two women. Later on, I moved on to the absolute beginners. I think this had to be one of the worst examples, but I could see why I felt I didn't learn anything from Johnny & Serap's class last year; there simply is too much gap to bridge from beginner class to improver/intermediate class to advanced class. I meant to discuss this with Johnny & Serap later, but I forgot.
Dancing during the club hours was pretty good in the beginning but became less inspiring rather quickly. Instead of dancing, I talked with few different people about my blog and possible problems with it. My initial intent was to simply document routines taught in classes I attended and later share them with small number of people (before this week, 2 set of teachers and 3 students). After a while, it also served as something of a "Salsa diary" for me taking on more and more Salsa-related things. For example, I recorded things I learned about Salsa aside from simple (or complex) routines - after all, Salsa is not simply about moves-moves-moves and even moves can be either well-led or poorly led in a way that a simple notes (or even some of my more detailed notes) cannot convey. I recorded some milestones (having dances that were marked improvement over others) also. Some social things including people's real names (in part for me to help remember them, at least in the beginning) and other nonsense also started accumulating. Then, I started to simply enjoy the writing process as well and I sometimes emulated newszine format - albeit with an audience of handful of people. Or at least that was what I thought after spending a short amount of time during which I examined the level of traffic this blog was getting with help of a web counter program. Of course, things did not stay the same - with no effort on my part to increase traffic, I found a steady increase in traffic. This terrified and excited me at the same time. Terrified because I was afraid someone may find some of the contents objectionable and excited because - well, who doesn't like some attention now and then? I talked with some of the people I told about the blog to get some feedback and started making some changes. Meanwhile, the traffic keeps increasing - I even start finding evidence that some people are sending links to my blog via e-mail! On Thursday, Helen asks me about the blog and talks about putting a link to it on her Cambridge Rueda website. Anyhow, the people I talked to this evening were very helpful in starting the process of guiding me out of this quandary. So the first thing I'm doing is to remove all real names from this blog except for those of teachers and DJs in their public role in the Cambridge Salsa scene. I made one exception (Sean) for now because he assured me that he had absolutely no problem with the blog and trying to remove all reference to him would mean I would be delayed in removing others. I also will stop using anyone's real names in future entries among other things. More changes should be forthcoming pending inputs from other people.
Last Casino Rueda at Club Salsa – Moving next week to Parkside Gym
September 29, 2005
It would have helped if I looked at my notes from September 8 before tonight, except for Crusada, which I simply find difficult if I’m in on-5 group. I'll update the command names when list of moves become available later.
Pelota moderna (same description as last time)
1,2,3,5,6,7 enchufe doble finishing with R-R hold and a half clockwise turn for leader
1,2,3 enchufe with R-R
5,6,7 on place on 5 then move to next follower with a clap on 7
Pelota moderna something
same as Pelota but instead of moving to next follower, go into the center and come back with counterclockwise turn
something that sounds like Chevrolet
1,2,3 keep heels in place while moving toes - both feet point away from partner on 1, both feet point towards partner on 2, both feet point away from partner on 3
5,6,7 second half of Guapea
Sacala something
1,2,3 make R-L connection with next follower and do start of sacala, raising R-L on 3/4
5,6,7 lead follower for sacala = lead follower into the circle and back with clockwise turnaroud
1,2,3 give myself a hat while initiating Dile que no
5,6,7 finish Dile que no
command unknown
1,2,3 keep L-R connection intact and move past follower on the outside with R hand high
5,6,7 second half of Guapea with parriba follower – pushing off with a little more force on 5 and return
1,2,3,5,6,7 normal Guapea
Prima crusada??
1,2,3 on 1 is similar to Prima start but on 2,3 both hands go high – this is still different from two-handed Enchufe because follower is made to run clockwise – L-R ends behind leader’s head at neck level
5,6,7 L-R is disconnected and reconnected at back waist level
1,2,3 exchange places with leader passing inside the Rueda circle
,,, I forgot the rest
Prima something tres (or cinco or other odd number)
1,2,3 Adios/Prima start then let go R-L
5,6,7 go underneath L-R arch and turn counterclockwise to face follower
1,2,3 enchufe start
5,6,7 get arm-in-arm with follower (R-R)
1,2,3 go to next follower with L-L arm-in-arm (while leaders pass from outside the Rueda circle)
5,6,7 go to next follower with R-R arm-in-arm
if tres, use next 1,2,3,5,6,7 to circle around each other clockwise followed by 1,2,3,5,6,7 Dile que no
if cinco, repeat above and then use next 1,2,3,5,6,7 to circle around each other clockwise followed by 1,2,3,5,6,7 Dile que no
if siete (presumably), repeat twice and then use next 1,2,3,5,6,7 to circle around each other clockwise followed by 1,2,3,5,6,7 Dile que no
I forgot few things from last time...
Prima = Old Adios
Prima con la hermana = Old Adios con la hermana EXCEPT with change of partner after enchufe
Prima tia = I think this might have been Adios con la hermana until enchufe, followed by arm-in-arm followed by change of partner ... I'm going to need a reminder as we didn't do this one this week
Rueda is moving to Parkside Gym starting next Thursday (see CDC venue map – located to northeast of Parker’s Piece). It looks like my website is the first one in the internet to break this news as the Salsa in Cambridge website) hasn't done so yet. Another outing to the Sauce was apparently made after the class, but I had to leave early to meet with another group of people; as it was I had already missed a Curry outing with this group. Helen asked about my website. Yikes! Hopefully, Peter was her source. Helen also talked about a new website for her Cambridge Rueda group. This website is not ready yet – they’re waiting for the web designer to complete the work.
There was a farewell dance for a woman who has been taking Rueda for a few months, so all the men in the class danced with her for a single song. I had seen this for couple of men (first one happened in one of Rhona & Helen Rueda classes and the other was an instructor/DJ at SOS) before but this was the first time I saw it done for a woman.
Half of the floorboard has been removed last night, which took away the usual space for beginners. Flooding has caused havoc on these floors for second time this year and it must be costing a lot of time and money for Vishal to fix the place up. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes.
I was paying more attention to timing. It was nice to find myself in agreement with beat 1 with the Rueda group – that is until about the halfway point this evening. And then, I found myself off compared to everyone else for one song (no vocals in this one) – not just at the beginning but also throughout the song (it is possible that I was over-thinking and confused myself further by (mistakenly?) thinking that I must be right and others wrong). I don’t know the song name unfortunately, so it won’t be easy to figure out the reason for the discrepancy.
Crusada is still a disaster for me when I’m in on-5 group. I’m so used to breaking on-1 now that using my left foot on-5 is just impossible. I don’t know how others managed to get used it. I know that Peter had a lot of difficulty dancing on-5 also. I wonder if dancing on-2 (New York style - Eddie Torres) might end up being less disruptive compared to dancing on-5 because I would still be using my L foot on-6. Probably no; they’re probably no different in difficulty.
Dancing on Clave on the other hand if I ever decide to tackle the challenge probably will be even more difficult. I have been working on doing a write-up on the subject of timing but haven’t come up with anything satisfactory yet.
It would have helped if I looked at my notes from September 8 before tonight, except for Crusada, which I simply find difficult if I’m in on-5 group. I'll update the command names when list of moves become available later.
Pelota moderna (same description as last time)
1,2,3,5,6,7 enchufe doble finishing with R-R hold and a half clockwise turn for leader
1,2,3 enchufe with R-R
5,6,7 on place on 5 then move to next follower with a clap on 7
Pelota moderna something
same as Pelota but instead of moving to next follower, go into the center and come back with counterclockwise turn
something that sounds like Chevrolet
1,2,3 keep heels in place while moving toes - both feet point away from partner on 1, both feet point towards partner on 2, both feet point away from partner on 3
5,6,7 second half of Guapea
Sacala something
1,2,3 make R-L connection with next follower and do start of sacala, raising R-L on 3/4
5,6,7 lead follower for sacala = lead follower into the circle and back with clockwise turnaroud
1,2,3 give myself a hat while initiating Dile que no
5,6,7 finish Dile que no
command unknown
1,2,3 keep L-R connection intact and move past follower on the outside with R hand high
5,6,7 second half of Guapea with parriba follower – pushing off with a little more force on 5 and return
1,2,3,5,6,7 normal Guapea
Prima crusada??
1,2,3 on 1 is similar to Prima start but on 2,3 both hands go high – this is still different from two-handed Enchufe because follower is made to run clockwise – L-R ends behind leader’s head at neck level
5,6,7 L-R is disconnected and reconnected at back waist level
1,2,3 exchange places with leader passing inside the Rueda circle
,,, I forgot the rest
Prima something tres (or cinco or other odd number)
1,2,3 Adios/Prima start then let go R-L
5,6,7 go underneath L-R arch and turn counterclockwise to face follower
1,2,3 enchufe start
5,6,7 get arm-in-arm with follower (R-R)
1,2,3 go to next follower with L-L arm-in-arm (while leaders pass from outside the Rueda circle)
5,6,7 go to next follower with R-R arm-in-arm
if tres, use next 1,2,3,5,6,7 to circle around each other clockwise followed by 1,2,3,5,6,7 Dile que no
if cinco, repeat above and then use next 1,2,3,5,6,7 to circle around each other clockwise followed by 1,2,3,5,6,7 Dile que no
if siete (presumably), repeat twice and then use next 1,2,3,5,6,7 to circle around each other clockwise followed by 1,2,3,5,6,7 Dile que no
I forgot few things from last time...
Prima = Old Adios
Prima con la hermana = Old Adios con la hermana EXCEPT with change of partner after enchufe
Prima tia = I think this might have been Adios con la hermana until enchufe, followed by arm-in-arm followed by change of partner ... I'm going to need a reminder as we didn't do this one this week
Rueda is moving to Parkside Gym starting next Thursday (see CDC venue map – located to northeast of Parker’s Piece). It looks like my website is the first one in the internet to break this news as the Salsa in Cambridge website) hasn't done so yet. Another outing to the Sauce was apparently made after the class, but I had to leave early to meet with another group of people; as it was I had already missed a Curry outing with this group. Helen asked about my website. Yikes! Hopefully, Peter was her source. Helen also talked about a new website for her Cambridge Rueda group. This website is not ready yet – they’re waiting for the web designer to complete the work.
There was a farewell dance for a woman who has been taking Rueda for a few months, so all the men in the class danced with her for a single song. I had seen this for couple of men (first one happened in one of Rhona & Helen Rueda classes and the other was an instructor/DJ at SOS) before but this was the first time I saw it done for a woman.
Half of the floorboard has been removed last night, which took away the usual space for beginners. Flooding has caused havoc on these floors for second time this year and it must be costing a lot of time and money for Vishal to fix the place up. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes.
I was paying more attention to timing. It was nice to find myself in agreement with beat 1 with the Rueda group – that is until about the halfway point this evening. And then, I found myself off compared to everyone else for one song (no vocals in this one) – not just at the beginning but also throughout the song (it is possible that I was over-thinking and confused myself further by (mistakenly?) thinking that I must be right and others wrong). I don’t know the song name unfortunately, so it won’t be easy to figure out the reason for the discrepancy.
Crusada is still a disaster for me when I’m in on-5 group. I’m so used to breaking on-1 now that using my left foot on-5 is just impossible. I don’t know how others managed to get used it. I know that Peter had a lot of difficulty dancing on-5 also. I wonder if dancing on-2 (New York style - Eddie Torres) might end up being less disruptive compared to dancing on-5 because I would still be using my L foot on-6. Probably no; they’re probably no different in difficulty.
Dancing on Clave on the other hand if I ever decide to tackle the challenge probably will be even more difficult. I have been working on doing a write-up on the subject of timing but haven’t come up with anything satisfactory yet.
Another eerily quiet Wednesday evening at Club Salsa
September 28, 2005
Tonight was another surprisingly quiet night. What’s going on? Granted that I arrived about 10-15 min past 10 PM (delayed by Texas Hold’em, dinner and Space Race), it was strange to see the place not jammed packed for second week in a row. My best guess is that some people are getting ready for the next new thing – Sally’s Thursday classes, but maybe I should try coming slightly earlier before the classes end next time if it can be managed.
It was an improvement over last Friday – then again, last Friday was about as bad as it gets. I was rather feeling quite rusty today, especially in the beginning, and it took me a while to warm up. Usually, up to five dances at the beginning (regardless of quality of my partners) are essentially warm-ups and helps me figure out how good my form is that evening. I don’t know if how much of it is mental or physical, and I don’t know if I will always feel tentative at the beginning of a night. If I take an enjoyable class earlier in the evening, the number of these warm-up dances goes down to one or two (or even zero).
I talked with various people who went to the UK Congress. Many of the people said they enjoyed the experience while others added that they were still feeling tired and not recovered (presumably from lack of sleep). A striking (but not surprising) comment from a reader of this blog that struck my mind was, “There were so many good dancers and I felt a little out of the league.” This comment made me think of another conversation I had with the same person where I was asked whether I would recommend going to London for Salsa. I think my reply might have been something like, “Wait - try to get a little better before going.” Now that I think about it, I’m not sure if I completely agree with what I said. It probably would have been good for her to go once to see how good Londoners are. By the way, by London I really mean places like SOS and places of similar caliber; I really don't know the Salsa scene outside SOS. This could give her an idea about how much better she may want to become. Then with higher benchmark, she could take another 2-3 months to get better. At some point, her ability to get any better will be hindered by there simply not being enough good dancers in Cambridge. She could then take occasional trips to London (say once a month) to get to next level. In any case, same effect has been achieved by her trip to the UK Congress last weekend.
Anyone who’s any good in Cambridge probably benefited by trips to London (if they didn’t learn in London, New York, Los Angeles or another one of major Salsa scene. I would guess that someone like me who learned Salsa primarily and almost exclusively in Cambridge to get to my level is quite rare (I haven’t mastered any routines I learned at SOS (I could do them in class and sometimes after the class as well, but I couldn’t do them with people in Cambridge – this is not unlike some Johnny & Serap routines, which are doable only with very small number of people in Cambridge), but I did find London great for practicing what learned in Cambridge).
A reader of my blog (in fact the same person who made the original comment that led me to publishing my notes on the web) asked me about my shoes. A funny thing is I ended up telling very few people about my notes; now, I’m rather afraid to tell anyone because I’m writing too much junk that might end up upsetting someone for reasons I didn’t even think of. Somehow, more and more people are finding this blog (some by methods I can’t figure out). Many of these people live far away from Cambridge too! Creepy! Of course, what does that make me considering I keep on writing this crap? Anyway, getting back to shoes – I am now guessing that he might be considering getting dancing shoes. If so, I would first ask him (or anyone else learning Salsa dancing) whether he does a lot of turns. I think it might be good to get used to doing some multiple turns (I don’t necessarily mean double turns but possibly something like two turns in a row – a pivot turn on 1,2,3 followed by a hook turn on 5,6,7 for example) first using street shoes. It seems obvious but it is probably useful nevertheless to point out that having better shoes does not help in your ability to lead follower to move the way you direct her movement. Shoes become a big factor only after reaching a certain level. For women, I suspect she will get to this level sooner because she is always being asked to make turns after turns after turns, and having better pair of shoes means you can get away with using less power, which could help with staying in balance.
I think Vishal accused me of dancing Tango; he interrupted in middle of song to say, “This is not Tango.” I did take one Argentine Tango lesson earlier this year (Latin night by CDC), but I wasn’t doing anything remotely like things I learned in that class. It must be the traveling and exploitation of all that empty space.
Miscellaneous bits. Floorboards on the upper floor were being removed during the club hours and the place smelled like glue. Hmmm. I guess this may have had something to do with there being fewer people also? Late night and a rather empty floor led to demonstration and practicing of doing a triple turn (in 6 beats) by some night owls. It was amusing to watch (and join in as there were very few people watching to make fun of us). I started doing some mangled double turns during real dancing – might as well start doing it while there’s space!
Tonight was another surprisingly quiet night. What’s going on? Granted that I arrived about 10-15 min past 10 PM (delayed by Texas Hold’em, dinner and Space Race), it was strange to see the place not jammed packed for second week in a row. My best guess is that some people are getting ready for the next new thing – Sally’s Thursday classes, but maybe I should try coming slightly earlier before the classes end next time if it can be managed.
It was an improvement over last Friday – then again, last Friday was about as bad as it gets. I was rather feeling quite rusty today, especially in the beginning, and it took me a while to warm up. Usually, up to five dances at the beginning (regardless of quality of my partners) are essentially warm-ups and helps me figure out how good my form is that evening. I don’t know if how much of it is mental or physical, and I don’t know if I will always feel tentative at the beginning of a night. If I take an enjoyable class earlier in the evening, the number of these warm-up dances goes down to one or two (or even zero).
I talked with various people who went to the UK Congress. Many of the people said they enjoyed the experience while others added that they were still feeling tired and not recovered (presumably from lack of sleep). A striking (but not surprising) comment from a reader of this blog that struck my mind was, “There were so many good dancers and I felt a little out of the league.” This comment made me think of another conversation I had with the same person where I was asked whether I would recommend going to London for Salsa. I think my reply might have been something like, “Wait - try to get a little better before going.” Now that I think about it, I’m not sure if I completely agree with what I said. It probably would have been good for her to go once to see how good Londoners are. By the way, by London I really mean places like SOS and places of similar caliber; I really don't know the Salsa scene outside SOS. This could give her an idea about how much better she may want to become. Then with higher benchmark, she could take another 2-3 months to get better. At some point, her ability to get any better will be hindered by there simply not being enough good dancers in Cambridge. She could then take occasional trips to London (say once a month) to get to next level. In any case, same effect has been achieved by her trip to the UK Congress last weekend.
Anyone who’s any good in Cambridge probably benefited by trips to London (if they didn’t learn in London, New York, Los Angeles or another one of major Salsa scene. I would guess that someone like me who learned Salsa primarily and almost exclusively in Cambridge to get to my level is quite rare (I haven’t mastered any routines I learned at SOS (I could do them in class and sometimes after the class as well, but I couldn’t do them with people in Cambridge – this is not unlike some Johnny & Serap routines, which are doable only with very small number of people in Cambridge), but I did find London great for practicing what learned in Cambridge).
A reader of my blog (in fact the same person who made the original comment that led me to publishing my notes on the web) asked me about my shoes. A funny thing is I ended up telling very few people about my notes; now, I’m rather afraid to tell anyone because I’m writing too much junk that might end up upsetting someone for reasons I didn’t even think of. Somehow, more and more people are finding this blog (some by methods I can’t figure out). Many of these people live far away from Cambridge too! Creepy! Of course, what does that make me considering I keep on writing this crap? Anyway, getting back to shoes – I am now guessing that he might be considering getting dancing shoes. If so, I would first ask him (or anyone else learning Salsa dancing) whether he does a lot of turns. I think it might be good to get used to doing some multiple turns (I don’t necessarily mean double turns but possibly something like two turns in a row – a pivot turn on 1,2,3 followed by a hook turn on 5,6,7 for example) first using street shoes. It seems obvious but it is probably useful nevertheless to point out that having better shoes does not help in your ability to lead follower to move the way you direct her movement. Shoes become a big factor only after reaching a certain level. For women, I suspect she will get to this level sooner because she is always being asked to make turns after turns after turns, and having better pair of shoes means you can get away with using less power, which could help with staying in balance.
I think Vishal accused me of dancing Tango; he interrupted in middle of song to say, “This is not Tango.” I did take one Argentine Tango lesson earlier this year (Latin night by CDC), but I wasn’t doing anything remotely like things I learned in that class. It must be the traveling and exploitation of all that empty space.
Miscellaneous bits. Floorboards on the upper floor were being removed during the club hours and the place smelled like glue. Hmmm. I guess this may have had something to do with there being fewer people also? Late night and a rather empty floor led to demonstration and practicing of doing a triple turn (in 6 beats) by some night owls. It was amusing to watch (and join in as there were very few people watching to make fun of us). I started doing some mangled double turns during real dancing – might as well start doing it while there’s space!
Does one Salsa song count as Salsa outing?
September 26, 2005
The enticement this time was not Salsa dancing. After all, I didn't dance even once last time I was at Soul Tree, Also, anyone who went to UK Salsa Congress will have been planning to catch up on sleep. Even if there was no congress, Po Na Na really bites these days (although it might improve slightly once classes start as Jin predicted).
What intrigued me was a Beatles tribute band. I've heard one back in the States, but how would they compare to a UK version? Besides, Vishal handed me a free ticket for two last week. I was even tempted to invite a colleague from work until I thought better of it and went by myself as usual.
I found myself standing in a cue for about 15 minutes once I arrived at Soul Tree and found myself surrounded by Swiss expatriates. One thought that came to my mind immediately was, "I think I rather get a pass to avoid cues but which requires that I pay usual entree fee rather than a free entry pass."
The tribute band was fine, nothing objectionable. I could have brought some friends along and feel alright about it. After the their set was over (or after they decided to take an extended break), I went upstairs to see what the Salsa/Merengue scene was like.
Just like last time, Matrix DJ dude was spinning disks. A merengue, followed by another, followed by a Salsa, followed by four or five Latin pop. Hmm. I might have to retract my comment from last time - "It may work as bring your own dance partner if you want to dance."
The trouble is (well not exactly a trouble) that the place was quite busy with a lot of Latin or Spanish youths. I thought perhaps half of the crowd was singing along (some rather passionately, I might add) to every song being played. It wasn't a "dancer's crowd" although there were some dancing. Not exactly more impressive dancing than the type happening downstairs (where Vishal was playing some Techno, House or whatever) but with more raw emotion and/or energy.
It made me think of a statement I heard couple of weeks ago, which went something like "People from Colombia, etc. come here (UK) and find that they can't dance to their dance music." Perhaps I am reading their mood incorrectly, but my thought while observing this was "Maybe I shouldn't come here and show off by dancing Salsa the way I was taught because I think they may not appreciate having the place that reminds them of home get taken over by bunch of so-called dancers."
The enticement this time was not Salsa dancing. After all, I didn't dance even once last time I was at Soul Tree, Also, anyone who went to UK Salsa Congress will have been planning to catch up on sleep. Even if there was no congress, Po Na Na really bites these days (although it might improve slightly once classes start as Jin predicted).
What intrigued me was a Beatles tribute band. I've heard one back in the States, but how would they compare to a UK version? Besides, Vishal handed me a free ticket for two last week. I was even tempted to invite a colleague from work until I thought better of it and went by myself as usual.
I found myself standing in a cue for about 15 minutes once I arrived at Soul Tree and found myself surrounded by Swiss expatriates. One thought that came to my mind immediately was, "I think I rather get a pass to avoid cues but which requires that I pay usual entree fee rather than a free entry pass."
The tribute band was fine, nothing objectionable. I could have brought some friends along and feel alright about it. After the their set was over (or after they decided to take an extended break), I went upstairs to see what the Salsa/Merengue scene was like.
Just like last time, Matrix DJ dude was spinning disks. A merengue, followed by another, followed by a Salsa, followed by four or five Latin pop. Hmm. I might have to retract my comment from last time - "It may work as bring your own dance partner if you want to dance."
The trouble is (well not exactly a trouble) that the place was quite busy with a lot of Latin or Spanish youths. I thought perhaps half of the crowd was singing along (some rather passionately, I might add) to every song being played. It wasn't a "dancer's crowd" although there were some dancing. Not exactly more impressive dancing than the type happening downstairs (where Vishal was playing some Techno, House or whatever) but with more raw emotion and/or energy.
It made me think of a statement I heard couple of weeks ago, which went something like "People from Colombia, etc. come here (UK) and find that they can't dance to their dance music." Perhaps I am reading their mood incorrectly, but my thought while observing this was "Maybe I shouldn't come here and show off by dancing Salsa the way I was taught because I think they may not appreciate having the place that reminds them of home get taken over by bunch of so-called dancers."
CDC and Cambridge University website updates
September 24, 2005
CDC's new schedule is out. New classes start on Oct 6. Some highlights include -
Sergio is no longer teaching at CDC - it's down to one class for Russell and normal complement of classes for Rhona & Helen as far as CDC's Salsa schedule is concerned. I don't know when and if Sergio will get his independent class going. I also wonder how many people would be impressed enough by him to attend his classes. I think he has good level of credibility among cognoscenti, but trying to do everything by himself (my impression of the situation) cannot be easy - if he indeed gets around to launching the whole shebang.
[Updated September 26: Russell is teaching five classes, not one. All five of his classes are for beginners and improvers. Considering the lack of suitable salsa classes for me, I'm seriously considering taking up ballroom dancing as a lark.]
CDC Salsa event of the Michaelmas term is Salsa Night on Thursday, November 3rd. It's a free event.
Cambridge University's "Local Area" website has changed. To get to salsa dancing websites, you now have to go through additional windows (Leisure, Hobby & Recreation - then Dancing) to find information on Salsa.
CDC's new schedule is out. New classes start on Oct 6. Some highlights include -
Sergio is no longer teaching at CDC - it's down to one class for Russell and normal complement of classes for Rhona & Helen as far as CDC's Salsa schedule is concerned. I don't know when and if Sergio will get his independent class going. I also wonder how many people would be impressed enough by him to attend his classes. I think he has good level of credibility among cognoscenti, but trying to do everything by himself (my impression of the situation) cannot be easy - if he indeed gets around to launching the whole shebang.
[Updated September 26: Russell is teaching five classes, not one. All five of his classes are for beginners and improvers. Considering the lack of suitable salsa classes for me, I'm seriously considering taking up ballroom dancing as a lark.]
CDC Salsa event of the Michaelmas term is Salsa Night on Thursday, November 3rd. It's a free event.
Cambridge University's "Local Area" website has changed. To get to salsa dancing websites, you now have to go through additional windows (Leisure, Hobby & Recreation - then Dancing) to find information on Salsa.
A bit of a let down for my "first salsa anniversary" - Johnny & Serap Advanced
September 23, 2005
open hold is okay
1,2,3 similar to start of standard cross body except R-L is raised early on 3 to lead follower to about quarter counterclockwise twist/turn
5,6,7 lead follower to what amounts to 2 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn to get back into open
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic to give follower a rest
1,2,3 forward on 1, step behind follower on 2 and move as unit to turn around (180 degrees) on 3 ending in another standard cross body position
5,6,7 standard cross body finish with changing hands to R-R
1,2,3 standard Copa start ending with both arms extended
5,6,7 lead follower to swing to R on 5, back to L on 6, then lead her to step backwards to R on 7 (R-R goes over her head from her backside and thus ending with crossed hold with R-R on top)
1,2,3 switch holds so that L-L goes on top of the crossed hold (probably better to disconnect and reconnect with L-L) while getting into another cross body position
5,6,7 lead follower to a full counterclockwise traveling turn ending in Titanic position
1,2,3 hands are lowered then raised (standard prep step … L foot behind R foot on 1 works also)
5,6,7 lead follower to a stationary 1 1/2 turn with R-R only starting low, then ending with follower’s R hand released onto my R shoulder
1,2,3 open break on 1 then step around to R and behind follower with holds on both of follower’s arm to prevent any turns
5,6,7 go underneath follower’s L arm to get in front with weight on L foot
1,2,3 slide to R with R foot on 1, L with L foot while R goes back on 2, R with R foot while L goes back on 3 – this is choreographed so its value for dancing with non-regular partner is probably not high … offer R hand
5,6,7 catch follower’s R hand and lead her to a traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn
As noted above, latter part of the routine probably is not very useful. There were only two women taking the class while there were six men. Serap apparently was scheduled to arrive very late in the evening, not during the day as I originally expected. I think I might have stayed away had I realized this. Johnny played follower and he recruited another woman and Jay to play follower as well. As it turned out, Johnny and Jay ended up being the best practice partner for the class. Yikes! Actually, it was more amusing than stomach turning. It's almost needless to say that there was zero opportunity to practice the routine afterwards. Probably the most useful part is the beginning (which is often the case anyway because they usually get most amount of practice during the class). Although there was no one worth testing 2 1/2 traveling turn with tonight, I suspect that opportunity to practice will occur one day or another. Something like 2 1/2 traveling turn might be kind of show-off thing Mariella may want (or I could be completely wrong about this - after all, she doesn't speak English). Much of Johnny's classes end up having much material where the follower does very little, presumably because of disproportionate number of good male leaders who show up regularly compared to good female followers. I speculate that some of the more reliable followers are more likely to go to Wednesday's lessons instead because those lessons are easier for the leaders and therefore there are fewer debacles (yes, these definitely happen in Johnny's class more often and are more spectacular) Also, Johnny's classes lack quality control; there are many not-so-solid leaders in class (who would not be admitted into Cristian's "intermediate" class) - sometimes these even outnumber "solid" leaders and create much mayhem and confusion (for less solid, less confident followers) and annoyance (for better followers). Another possible reason for dearth of good followers in Johnny's class may be that the routine for men is considerably more demanding compared to Cristian's while the routine for women is on average is same as Cristian's (with more difficult spurts cancelled by a lot of very simple involving styling (an unpopular concept in Cambridge except for a select tiny elite minority)). As for the rest of the routine, up to Titanic on the whole is generally okay. I think this might be third Friday lesson in a row that I "got" but didn’t get to practice to perfection.
I also bought a ticket for Johnny & Serap’s salsa party. I hope this is much better than CDC’s Latin night earlier this year. I also hope it’s better than Peter’s party from a while ago (by Peter’s description, there were not many good dancers at that party). In any case, I was assured that I wasn't the first one to purchase a ticket. Later on, I wondered if this party had anything to do with upcoming performances of Lady Salsa at Cambridge Arts Theatre, but this did not seem to be the case as the Lady Salsa performances starts more than a full week after this party. I had heard (probably from the brochure the theatre sent me by mail) that a salsa-themed party will happen during the week of Lady Salsa. CDC's Salsa Night on Nov 3 fits this schedule better - no surprise since Helen & Rhona probably are involved in organization of both.
As for the club part of the evening, it was … brutal, much worse than expected. I ended up discussing with Vishal about who’s at the Congress and who was not here because of the UK Congress. of the names led me to exclaim “Oi me!” in my head. I am not exactly regretting my decision (or lack of one) to not attend the UK Congress given there being so many people from Cambridge there (which may lead to too much temptation to dance with the same people). I think Sean was quite underwhelmed by tonight, and he asked me about London. I replied that this week is probably not the weekend to go because of the Congress – probably next weekend. In any case, I can’t say Club Salsa was empty tonight because there were plenty of so-so dancers, even more non-dancers to keep the club and the dance floor surprisingly crowded. This evening thus was spent mostly impressing beginners and improvers – more with style (at least I like to think so) rather than moves-moves-moves - at least until I ran out of beginners and improvers. There was no real chance to get into the zone and there was nothing that came close to eureka moment (of course, both of these are pretty rare – maybe twice a month).
An amusing aside. There is a regular fixture in Cambridge Salsa scene who amuses me all the time because he would tell any new beginner/improver I ask for a dance that I'm an excellent dancer - the best! I don't know whether he says this for every other good male salseros, but I should add that he did this once in March or April when I clearly was still struggling and I took his comment as a joke - the woman I danced with that night was mostly amused and probably slightly annoyed afterwards. I waited until I got much better before asking this woman for a dance again, and I don't think she has any qualm about dancing with me now.
By the way, there was no fan club tonight. It was certainly flattering but a little frightening as well. So, if there is to be no more cheers, hooting, screaming, etc (whatever that would qualify as rock-star treatment), I’m absolutely fine with it. Even so, they would have made it two more dance partners (who cares if they're beginners on exceedingly slim-picking type of night as this?)
Perhaps the most interesting development of the evening happened just as I was about to leave. I got into a conversation with this dude who spent a lot of time dancing with taller of a pair of the good followers I wanted to dance with more often – the bastard! This happened because I decided to ask taller (and I thought better based on single dance each with them) of the pair in a final ditch attempt for a last dance before leaving (I had given up on the other because she excused herself a few times already on account of being very tired – believable enough since they hadn’t done this for a while). It was no big surprise that she declined (I fully expected this) – in fact, she declined one guy before me and another guy after me. These two were in such high demand tonight that I was mildly surprised that shorter of the pair agreed to a dance with Johnny around 1 AM. Anyhow, getting off these tangents, this guy was sitting next to the pair and conversing with them when I stopped by to ask my question and also to pick up my coat and backpack if the answer was negative. After I got my refusal (as already alluded, I would have been surprised if she had said yes), I sat down next to them to change my shoes. One thing led to another (i.e. the taller one of the pair being asked for a dance, and a song that the pair liked coming on leading the pair to go back to the floor to dance with each other), and the guy and I ended up sitting next to each other without any others around. Then we started talking (I think he started it but I don’t remember how) and ended up talking about dancing in Cambridge, dancing in London, Nelson Batista (and there being a long history of salsa in UK before Nelson), SOS, and Ronnie Scott’s (primarily a Jazz club but also apparently the first salsa venue in London - he recommended the place highly especially on Fridays). He thought I danced well, especially for someone who has been dancing for only a year (by the way, this so-called anniversary was a real letdown! - then again, nothing ever happens on my birthdays either), and talked about maybe getting together for some London outing. -- Are you going to be at Po Na Na this Monday? I said probably not because of the Congress, but I probably will be back at Club Salsa next Friday. Maybe next time we meet, we could talk more about it? Sure! -- Wow. I don’t recall seeing this guy much less speak to him before 5 minute before this; he told me that he hasn’t come to Club Salsa (or any other salsa dancing spot in Cambridge) for about 6 months - in part because of having to wait for good dances unlike in London. I was also introduced to his friend – I think he danced mostly with shorter of the pair – the bastard! Anyhow, this conversation turned out to really nice - regardless of whether anything more comes out of it.
open hold is okay
1,2,3 similar to start of standard cross body except R-L is raised early on 3 to lead follower to about quarter counterclockwise twist/turn
5,6,7 lead follower to what amounts to 2 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn to get back into open
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic to give follower a rest
1,2,3 forward on 1, step behind follower on 2 and move as unit to turn around (180 degrees) on 3 ending in another standard cross body position
5,6,7 standard cross body finish with changing hands to R-R
1,2,3 standard Copa start ending with both arms extended
5,6,7 lead follower to swing to R on 5, back to L on 6, then lead her to step backwards to R on 7 (R-R goes over her head from her backside and thus ending with crossed hold with R-R on top)
1,2,3 switch holds so that L-L goes on top of the crossed hold (probably better to disconnect and reconnect with L-L) while getting into another cross body position
5,6,7 lead follower to a full counterclockwise traveling turn ending in Titanic position
1,2,3 hands are lowered then raised (standard prep step … L foot behind R foot on 1 works also)
5,6,7 lead follower to a stationary 1 1/2 turn with R-R only starting low, then ending with follower’s R hand released onto my R shoulder
1,2,3 open break on 1 then step around to R and behind follower with holds on both of follower’s arm to prevent any turns
5,6,7 go underneath follower’s L arm to get in front with weight on L foot
1,2,3 slide to R with R foot on 1, L with L foot while R goes back on 2, R with R foot while L goes back on 3 – this is choreographed so its value for dancing with non-regular partner is probably not high … offer R hand
5,6,7 catch follower’s R hand and lead her to a traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn
As noted above, latter part of the routine probably is not very useful. There were only two women taking the class while there were six men. Serap apparently was scheduled to arrive very late in the evening, not during the day as I originally expected. I think I might have stayed away had I realized this. Johnny played follower and he recruited another woman and Jay to play follower as well. As it turned out, Johnny and Jay ended up being the best practice partner for the class. Yikes! Actually, it was more amusing than stomach turning. It's almost needless to say that there was zero opportunity to practice the routine afterwards. Probably the most useful part is the beginning (which is often the case anyway because they usually get most amount of practice during the class). Although there was no one worth testing 2 1/2 traveling turn with tonight, I suspect that opportunity to practice will occur one day or another. Something like 2 1/2 traveling turn might be kind of show-off thing Mariella may want (or I could be completely wrong about this - after all, she doesn't speak English). Much of Johnny's classes end up having much material where the follower does very little, presumably because of disproportionate number of good male leaders who show up regularly compared to good female followers. I speculate that some of the more reliable followers are more likely to go to Wednesday's lessons instead because those lessons are easier for the leaders and therefore there are fewer debacles (yes, these definitely happen in Johnny's class more often and are more spectacular) Also, Johnny's classes lack quality control; there are many not-so-solid leaders in class (who would not be admitted into Cristian's "intermediate" class) - sometimes these even outnumber "solid" leaders and create much mayhem and confusion (for less solid, less confident followers) and annoyance (for better followers). Another possible reason for dearth of good followers in Johnny's class may be that the routine for men is considerably more demanding compared to Cristian's while the routine for women is on average is same as Cristian's (with more difficult spurts cancelled by a lot of very simple involving styling (an unpopular concept in Cambridge except for a select tiny elite minority)). As for the rest of the routine, up to Titanic on the whole is generally okay. I think this might be third Friday lesson in a row that I "got" but didn’t get to practice to perfection.
I also bought a ticket for Johnny & Serap’s salsa party. I hope this is much better than CDC’s Latin night earlier this year. I also hope it’s better than Peter’s party from a while ago (by Peter’s description, there were not many good dancers at that party). In any case, I was assured that I wasn't the first one to purchase a ticket. Later on, I wondered if this party had anything to do with upcoming performances of Lady Salsa at Cambridge Arts Theatre, but this did not seem to be the case as the Lady Salsa performances starts more than a full week after this party. I had heard (probably from the brochure the theatre sent me by mail) that a salsa-themed party will happen during the week of Lady Salsa. CDC's Salsa Night on Nov 3 fits this schedule better - no surprise since Helen & Rhona probably are involved in organization of both.
As for the club part of the evening, it was … brutal, much worse than expected. I ended up discussing with Vishal about who’s at the Congress and who was not here because of the UK Congress. of the names led me to exclaim “Oi me!” in my head. I am not exactly regretting my decision (or lack of one) to not attend the UK Congress given there being so many people from Cambridge there (which may lead to too much temptation to dance with the same people). I think Sean was quite underwhelmed by tonight, and he asked me about London. I replied that this week is probably not the weekend to go because of the Congress – probably next weekend. In any case, I can’t say Club Salsa was empty tonight because there were plenty of so-so dancers, even more non-dancers to keep the club and the dance floor surprisingly crowded. This evening thus was spent mostly impressing beginners and improvers – more with style (at least I like to think so) rather than moves-moves-moves - at least until I ran out of beginners and improvers. There was no real chance to get into the zone and there was nothing that came close to eureka moment (of course, both of these are pretty rare – maybe twice a month).
An amusing aside. There is a regular fixture in Cambridge Salsa scene who amuses me all the time because he would tell any new beginner/improver I ask for a dance that I'm an excellent dancer - the best! I don't know whether he says this for every other good male salseros, but I should add that he did this once in March or April when I clearly was still struggling and I took his comment as a joke - the woman I danced with that night was mostly amused and probably slightly annoyed afterwards. I waited until I got much better before asking this woman for a dance again, and I don't think she has any qualm about dancing with me now.
By the way, there was no fan club tonight. It was certainly flattering but a little frightening as well. So, if there is to be no more cheers, hooting, screaming, etc (whatever that would qualify as rock-star treatment), I’m absolutely fine with it. Even so, they would have made it two more dance partners (who cares if they're beginners on exceedingly slim-picking type of night as this?)
Perhaps the most interesting development of the evening happened just as I was about to leave. I got into a conversation with this dude who spent a lot of time dancing with taller of a pair of the good followers I wanted to dance with more often – the bastard! This happened because I decided to ask taller (and I thought better based on single dance each with them) of the pair in a final ditch attempt for a last dance before leaving (I had given up on the other because she excused herself a few times already on account of being very tired – believable enough since they hadn’t done this for a while). It was no big surprise that she declined (I fully expected this) – in fact, she declined one guy before me and another guy after me. These two were in such high demand tonight that I was mildly surprised that shorter of the pair agreed to a dance with Johnny around 1 AM. Anyhow, getting off these tangents, this guy was sitting next to the pair and conversing with them when I stopped by to ask my question and also to pick up my coat and backpack if the answer was negative. After I got my refusal (as already alluded, I would have been surprised if she had said yes), I sat down next to them to change my shoes. One thing led to another (i.e. the taller one of the pair being asked for a dance, and a song that the pair liked coming on leading the pair to go back to the floor to dance with each other), and the guy and I ended up sitting next to each other without any others around. Then we started talking (I think he started it but I don’t remember how) and ended up talking about dancing in Cambridge, dancing in London, Nelson Batista (and there being a long history of salsa in UK before Nelson), SOS, and Ronnie Scott’s (primarily a Jazz club but also apparently the first salsa venue in London - he recommended the place highly especially on Fridays). He thought I danced well, especially for someone who has been dancing for only a year (by the way, this so-called anniversary was a real letdown! - then again, nothing ever happens on my birthdays either), and talked about maybe getting together for some London outing. -- Are you going to be at Po Na Na this Monday? I said probably not because of the Congress, but I probably will be back at Club Salsa next Friday. Maybe next time we meet, we could talk more about it? Sure! -- Wow. I don’t recall seeing this guy much less speak to him before 5 minute before this; he told me that he hasn’t come to Club Salsa (or any other salsa dancing spot in Cambridge) for about 6 months - in part because of having to wait for good dances unlike in London. I was also introduced to his friend – I think he danced mostly with shorter of the pair – the bastard! Anyhow, this conversation turned out to really nice - regardless of whether anything more comes out of it.
Eve of eve of UK Congress
September 21, 2005
With this being the last club evening before UK salsa congress organized by Salsa-UK, I was quite curious to see how this evening would turn out. I arrived a little later than usual – perhaps 5 or 10 minutes after the lessons were completed. It was one of the least crowded evenings I have seen on Wednesdays for quite some time. I suppose I’ll find out who is NOT going to the Congress Friday evening after the lessons. I also wonder if it would be poor night for SOS this weekend.
My original impression was that early part of the evening was rather uneven (although when I thought about it more, it really wasn’t that bad). The most problematic dance was with Argentinean Mariella (soon-to-be-instructor at my workplace); I felt really drained after two consecutive dances with her. This really reflects my shortcomings rather than her dancing abilities because I had it in my head that Mariella would want to look sensational performing difficult turns, etc., which I'm in short supply of and thus giving me something of a "performance anxiety". In addition, I was more flustered than usual whenever there was a miscommunication, which led to even more mental stress. A third dance with her later in the evening was also similar and I found it mentally and physically draining. Later dances with other people with a lot of space were unusually good, and I had fun traveling and using a lot of rotating cross body leads with large steps.
I got to see Cristian dance a lot more than usual tonight – with four or five different partners at least. Finally, this was an opportunity for me to evaluate how well he dances. His lead seemed smooth enough, his repertoire seemed fine also – probably not as extensive or flashy as Johnny and maybe slightly less moves-moves-moves compared to Johnny. I still think Ivan and Sergio both have cooler style. However the thing that struck me the most was that I was pretty sure that he wasn’t dancing on-1. I’m not much of an expert on on-2 (which I think breaks on-6 – or L foot forward for men during basic occurs on beat 6), but I don’t think he was dancing on-2 either. Also I don’t think he was dancing on-5 either. Hmmm. Of course, I am not completely positive than I can spot beat 1 consistently – I like to think so but it’s not impossible that I’m wrong. On the other hand, I was able to spot several other good dancers consistently dancing on-1 (at least as I count beat 1). I wasn’t able to declare one other leader with complex routines as dancing on-1 also but I am less sure about this. It should be interesting to see evaluate more dancers Friday.
Incidentally, this coming Friday will mark my one year anniversary for salsa – 364 days since my first salsa lesson with Johnny and Serap. Okay, one year has 365 days but it’s close enough.
Parts of the floor are still in pretty bad condition and should be considered hazardous (especially upper floor on the back). I'm probably going to associate that flooding incident with Hurricane Katrina for a long time.
I got into a conversation about insurance issue for Mariella, the Salsa instructor from Argentina. Apparently a quote they got from one company was for 300 pounds sterling for 3 months (?), which they thought was quite steep. It would seem to me that teaching salsa with insurance could become a money-losing proposition if the instructor were to teach only once a week. I have no idea whether each instructor would need to get a separate insurance. Do dance clubs like Club Salsa or dance societies like CDC insure all of their instructors as a group (or give subsidy to instructors?) How does it work with free lessons Club Salsa was offering a while ago?
With this being the last club evening before UK salsa congress organized by Salsa-UK, I was quite curious to see how this evening would turn out. I arrived a little later than usual – perhaps 5 or 10 minutes after the lessons were completed. It was one of the least crowded evenings I have seen on Wednesdays for quite some time. I suppose I’ll find out who is NOT going to the Congress Friday evening after the lessons. I also wonder if it would be poor night for SOS this weekend.
My original impression was that early part of the evening was rather uneven (although when I thought about it more, it really wasn’t that bad). The most problematic dance was with Argentinean Mariella (soon-to-be-instructor at my workplace); I felt really drained after two consecutive dances with her. This really reflects my shortcomings rather than her dancing abilities because I had it in my head that Mariella would want to look sensational performing difficult turns, etc., which I'm in short supply of and thus giving me something of a "performance anxiety". In addition, I was more flustered than usual whenever there was a miscommunication, which led to even more mental stress. A third dance with her later in the evening was also similar and I found it mentally and physically draining. Later dances with other people with a lot of space were unusually good, and I had fun traveling and using a lot of rotating cross body leads with large steps.
I got to see Cristian dance a lot more than usual tonight – with four or five different partners at least. Finally, this was an opportunity for me to evaluate how well he dances. His lead seemed smooth enough, his repertoire seemed fine also – probably not as extensive or flashy as Johnny and maybe slightly less moves-moves-moves compared to Johnny. I still think Ivan and Sergio both have cooler style. However the thing that struck me the most was that I was pretty sure that he wasn’t dancing on-1. I’m not much of an expert on on-2 (which I think breaks on-6 – or L foot forward for men during basic occurs on beat 6), but I don’t think he was dancing on-2 either. Also I don’t think he was dancing on-5 either. Hmmm. Of course, I am not completely positive than I can spot beat 1 consistently – I like to think so but it’s not impossible that I’m wrong. On the other hand, I was able to spot several other good dancers consistently dancing on-1 (at least as I count beat 1). I wasn’t able to declare one other leader with complex routines as dancing on-1 also but I am less sure about this. It should be interesting to see evaluate more dancers Friday.
Incidentally, this coming Friday will mark my one year anniversary for salsa – 364 days since my first salsa lesson with Johnny and Serap. Okay, one year has 365 days but it’s close enough.
Parts of the floor are still in pretty bad condition and should be considered hazardous (especially upper floor on the back). I'm probably going to associate that flooding incident with Hurricane Katrina for a long time.
I got into a conversation about insurance issue for Mariella, the Salsa instructor from Argentina. Apparently a quote they got from one company was for 300 pounds sterling for 3 months (?), which they thought was quite steep. It would seem to me that teaching salsa with insurance could become a money-losing proposition if the instructor were to teach only once a week. I have no idea whether each instructor would need to get a separate insurance. Do dance clubs like Club Salsa or dance societies like CDC insure all of their instructors as a group (or give subsidy to instructors?) How does it work with free lessons Club Salsa was offering a while ago?
Am I dancing in time?
September 20, 2005
Because of a conversation I had been listening in on dancing in time to salsa, I started asking myself, "Do I really know how to recognize beat 1? Maybe I should get one of those timing CDs?"
Then I decided to see if there was a cheaper (free) option on the web and found one.
I listened and muttered, "I'm confused. I don't understand their vocal instruction with just Conga." I had read about Clave and Conga but I never tried to break it down; I was told by Sergio to listen to all instruments to figure out the timing rather than try to lock on to one instrument. I ended up listening to the track with all instruments to see how I would count 1,2,3,5,6,7 in relations to Conga and then went back to the track with Conga and voice only to see if I was on time.
Yes, I'm on time! I'm so relieved! Of course, it's possible that the manufacturer of the CD is a fraud…
Because of a conversation I had been listening in on dancing in time to salsa, I started asking myself, "Do I really know how to recognize beat 1? Maybe I should get one of those timing CDs?"
Then I decided to see if there was a cheaper (free) option on the web and found one.
I listened and muttered, "I'm confused. I don't understand their vocal instruction with just Conga." I had read about Clave and Conga but I never tried to break it down; I was told by Sergio to listen to all instruments to figure out the timing rather than try to lock on to one instrument. I ended up listening to the track with all instruments to see how I would count 1,2,3,5,6,7 in relations to Conga and then went back to the track with Conga and voice only to see if I was on time.
Yes, I'm on time! I'm so relieved! Of course, it's possible that the manufacturer of the CD is a fraud…
Going back to old Johnny & Serap Intermediate class notes
September 18, 2005
During my conversation with Johnny, I claimed that I learned very little from their beginner and intermediate classes. This led me to look at the notes I took from their intermediate lessons from this spring, which then led to me making substantial corrections to certain routines taught - in particular notes for March 18 and March 11. Some, like notes from February 25, seem to be missing some vital information and thus are not completely decipherable.
So, do I still think I learned very little? Yes and no. A most telling vignette is that I still didn't know how to lead cross body lead properly in middle of December last year after having taken classes for 2 1/2 months. In our conversation Friday, Johnny recalled that seeing this - I responded, "Yeah, I know. I didn't manage CBL until attending SOS in January." (I should add that Josie Neglia's video also helped and that it probably took few more weeks of practice after SOS to perfect my technique ... all this can be gleaned in my "salsa history" prior to this blog, which i wrote in May). I see that many of the elements taught in the intermediate class are things I incorporated into my repertoire later on while others were things I had already learned from different classes (most notably Cuban routines from Rhona and Helen's CDC and Rueda classes and from Peter and Cinzia's classes, many of which unfortunately were taken before I started taking notes). What were obstacles to using Johnny's intermediate lessons? There are many including (1) lacking context - for example, how does one go from open hold to crossed hold in Copa and how does one go back to open hold thereafter without being a total klutz?, (2) not enough practice during the lesson to build confidence to try to use the learned routines during club hours (I had talked to Johnny & Serap about this many months ago so they have been more effort on this matter compared to when I started with their intermediate and advanced classes this spring). I would add that Cuban moves including ones taken from Johnny's intermediate classes were not particularly helpful in preparing me for more pure LA style taught in the advanced class.
During my conversation with Johnny, I claimed that I learned very little from their beginner and intermediate classes. This led me to look at the notes I took from their intermediate lessons from this spring, which then led to me making substantial corrections to certain routines taught - in particular notes for March 18 and March 11. Some, like notes from February 25, seem to be missing some vital information and thus are not completely decipherable.
So, do I still think I learned very little? Yes and no. A most telling vignette is that I still didn't know how to lead cross body lead properly in middle of December last year after having taken classes for 2 1/2 months. In our conversation Friday, Johnny recalled that seeing this - I responded, "Yeah, I know. I didn't manage CBL until attending SOS in January." (I should add that Josie Neglia's video also helped and that it probably took few more weeks of practice after SOS to perfect my technique ... all this can be gleaned in my "salsa history" prior to this blog, which i wrote in May). I see that many of the elements taught in the intermediate class are things I incorporated into my repertoire later on while others were things I had already learned from different classes (most notably Cuban routines from Rhona and Helen's CDC and Rueda classes and from Peter and Cinzia's classes, many of which unfortunately were taken before I started taking notes). What were obstacles to using Johnny's intermediate lessons? There are many including (1) lacking context - for example, how does one go from open hold to crossed hold in Copa and how does one go back to open hold thereafter without being a total klutz?, (2) not enough practice during the lesson to build confidence to try to use the learned routines during club hours (I had talked to Johnny & Serap about this many months ago so they have been more effort on this matter compared to when I started with their intermediate and advanced classes this spring). I would add that Cuban moves including ones taken from Johnny's intermediate classes were not particularly helpful in preparing me for more pure LA style taught in the advanced class.
Club Salsa - Wolfson College - Club Salsa
September 16, 2005
Serap is still away. Apparently both Johnny and Serap were away last week. I don’t know who the substitute teacher would have been last Friday had there had not been a flooding (Johnny speculated that it could have been Cristian).
Tonight’s lesson:
1,2,3 cross body lead start
5,6,7 complete cross body lead and turn 3/4 clockwise to get to basic position with L-R behind my back at waist level
1,2,3 full pivot counterclockwise turn with R-L raised
5,6,7 forward on 5 and half turn counterclockwise (to face away from follower) with L-R raised and let go – both of follower’s hand is to land on my R hand at waist level
1,2,3 open break on 1 and get to Titanic position (along the line as opposed to at the end of the line) with R-R and L-L connections outstretched
5,6,7 use R-R high (L-L kept low) to lead follower to a traveling counterclockwise turn (full turn) ending with follower facing away in front
1,2,3 R-R goes around by follower’s L side of head on 1 and return on 2,3 getting follower ready to travel along the line again
5,6,7 lead follower to a traveling 1 1/2 clockwise turn
1,2,3 R-R goes over follower’s head (hat) on 1 and is released with R landing on follower’s L shoulder and get into cross body lead position (L-L outstretched pointing to the line?)
5,6,7 lead follower to a normal 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn (helping with direction of turn with R hand on follower’s shoulder)
[more added Sep 18 - see below]
L-L hold for Copa
1,2,3 open break on 1, follower brought forward on 2,3 with L-L going over follower's head and then to point towards the direction from which she came from - positioning on 4 is what I have in past referred to as reverse cross body although this description is not quite satisfactory .. also refer to reverse cross body my feet positioning diagram except with follower's R foot stepped forward and overtaking leader's position. Also, R hand could be placed on follower's R shoulder to help in leading this move
5,6,7 lead follower to go back to her original position while turning essentially 1 1/2 turn counterclockwise (to a spectator, this will look like a very complicated double turn with change in direction going from beat 1 to 8)
1,2,3,5,6,7 (x2?) there were yet more routines, which I paid almost no attention to and thus cannot describe
There was more but I stopped paying attention as I decided to head off to meet with some friends to go to Salsa night at Wolfson College, which I had heard about from many different sources and I had wanted to check it out for some time.
The dance floor at Wolfson seemed pretty nice, especially compared to badly damaged floors at Club Salsa and Po Na Na. Pretty much everyone there was dancing Cuban style (or at least my idea of Cuban style). I thought neither the number nor the level of dancers were not particularly impressive although it’s quite possible that tonight was an anomaly; usually their Salsa night is held on Wednesdays. It was changed to Friday this week because of some Mexican holiday. I saw some of the familiar faces from Helen and Rhona’s CDC classes (also transplanted into their Rueda class). We didn’t stay very long (<1 hour total) because others in my party had to get up early tomorrow morning for a trip to Bath. I ended up dancing only twice while I was at Wolfson. I suspect I might have stood out because of lack of LA style Salsa dancers (I felt a little self conscious), but I don’t really know for sure. I don’t think I’ll go back to Wolfson College for Salsa on my own but I probably will give it some more try if I get talked into it.
I returned to Club Salsa (all in all, I was probably missing only for about 1 1/2 hour) just to catch the most crowded time of the night for more quality dancing. The evening’s dance essentially ended with a two-couple Rueda involving Johnny and two other occasional Rueda participants. A striking observation I made tonight was that sometimes (possibly depending on the song – it might have been “Ping Pong”) the follower might prefer a more forceful lead or interaction. I’ll have to consider this problem more thought.
One of what I jokingly referred to as my “fan club” berated me because I was too busy to dance with them tonight. They said they will be back next week. Yes. I am indeed in trouble.
A few tidbit from my conversation with Johnny. Johnny learned to dance LA style Salsa while he was in Los Angeles for one year (1997-1998), taking classes from someone named Albert Torres, who apparently taught Josie Neglia and Edie the Salsa Freak. This Alberto Torres (no relations to Eddie Torres) is now retired from teaching and is involved mostly in organizing various Salsa Congresses. Johnny claimed to know Josie also (I wasn’t clear in what context). Perhaps it’s technically incorrect to refer to Salsa dance style that predominantly uses cross body lead and dances on-1 as LA style (based upon my conversation with “Freddy”). However, since most of my routines (unless I’m using things from Casino Rueda) are from Johnny’s class, I think that I am perfectly justified in referring my dance style as predominantly LA style no matter what. We also talked about difficulty of transitioning from beginner classes to ntermediate class and then to advanced class. It is a problem for pretty much all classes but is more problematic in Johnny’s classes. Apparently Johnny and Serap realize this also and had talked about having four levels of classes instead of current three. On a slightly different topic, I mentioned to Johnny that he often overwhelm his dance partners with his large collection of moves, and he replied that sometimes he can’t help himself and that he might not be as good as he once was in being able to tailor his lead to varying level of follower’s abilities. By the way, my personal opinion on this is that dancing at or slightly above follower’s abilities is good (maximize and stretch).
My legs are not completely healed yet – I avoided doing any Sentada, but I didn’t really notice any discomfort once I was warmed up.
Serap is still away. Apparently both Johnny and Serap were away last week. I don’t know who the substitute teacher would have been last Friday had there had not been a flooding (Johnny speculated that it could have been Cristian).
Tonight’s lesson:
1,2,3 cross body lead start
5,6,7 complete cross body lead and turn 3/4 clockwise to get to basic position with L-R behind my back at waist level
1,2,3 full pivot counterclockwise turn with R-L raised
5,6,7 forward on 5 and half turn counterclockwise (to face away from follower) with L-R raised and let go – both of follower’s hand is to land on my R hand at waist level
1,2,3 open break on 1 and get to Titanic position (along the line as opposed to at the end of the line) with R-R and L-L connections outstretched
5,6,7 use R-R high (L-L kept low) to lead follower to a traveling counterclockwise turn (full turn) ending with follower facing away in front
1,2,3 R-R goes around by follower’s L side of head on 1 and return on 2,3 getting follower ready to travel along the line again
5,6,7 lead follower to a traveling 1 1/2 clockwise turn
1,2,3 R-R goes over follower’s head (hat) on 1 and is released with R landing on follower’s L shoulder and get into cross body lead position (L-L outstretched pointing to the line?)
5,6,7 lead follower to a normal 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn (helping with direction of turn with R hand on follower’s shoulder)
[more added Sep 18 - see below]
L-L hold for Copa
1,2,3 open break on 1, follower brought forward on 2,3 with L-L going over follower's head and then to point towards the direction from which she came from - positioning on 4 is what I have in past referred to as reverse cross body although this description is not quite satisfactory .. also refer to reverse cross body my feet positioning diagram except with follower's R foot stepped forward and overtaking leader's position. Also, R hand could be placed on follower's R shoulder to help in leading this move
5,6,7 lead follower to go back to her original position while turning essentially 1 1/2 turn counterclockwise (to a spectator, this will look like a very complicated double turn with change in direction going from beat 1 to 8)
1,2,3,5,6,7 (x2?) there were yet more routines, which I paid almost no attention to and thus cannot describe
There was more but I stopped paying attention as I decided to head off to meet with some friends to go to Salsa night at Wolfson College, which I had heard about from many different sources and I had wanted to check it out for some time.
The dance floor at Wolfson seemed pretty nice, especially compared to badly damaged floors at Club Salsa and Po Na Na. Pretty much everyone there was dancing Cuban style (or at least my idea of Cuban style). I thought neither the number nor the level of dancers were not particularly impressive although it’s quite possible that tonight was an anomaly; usually their Salsa night is held on Wednesdays. It was changed to Friday this week because of some Mexican holiday. I saw some of the familiar faces from Helen and Rhona’s CDC classes (also transplanted into their Rueda class). We didn’t stay very long (<1 hour total) because others in my party had to get up early tomorrow morning for a trip to Bath. I ended up dancing only twice while I was at Wolfson. I suspect I might have stood out because of lack of LA style Salsa dancers (I felt a little self conscious), but I don’t really know for sure. I don’t think I’ll go back to Wolfson College for Salsa on my own but I probably will give it some more try if I get talked into it.
I returned to Club Salsa (all in all, I was probably missing only for about 1 1/2 hour) just to catch the most crowded time of the night for more quality dancing. The evening’s dance essentially ended with a two-couple Rueda involving Johnny and two other occasional Rueda participants. A striking observation I made tonight was that sometimes (possibly depending on the song – it might have been “Ping Pong”) the follower might prefer a more forceful lead or interaction. I’ll have to consider this problem more thought.
One of what I jokingly referred to as my “fan club” berated me because I was too busy to dance with them tonight. They said they will be back next week. Yes. I am indeed in trouble.
A few tidbit from my conversation with Johnny. Johnny learned to dance LA style Salsa while he was in Los Angeles for one year (1997-1998), taking classes from someone named Albert Torres, who apparently taught Josie Neglia and Edie the Salsa Freak. This Alberto Torres (no relations to Eddie Torres) is now retired from teaching and is involved mostly in organizing various Salsa Congresses. Johnny claimed to know Josie also (I wasn’t clear in what context). Perhaps it’s technically incorrect to refer to Salsa dance style that predominantly uses cross body lead and dances on-1 as LA style (based upon my conversation with “Freddy”). However, since most of my routines (unless I’m using things from Casino Rueda) are from Johnny’s class, I think that I am perfectly justified in referring my dance style as predominantly LA style no matter what. We also talked about difficulty of transitioning from beginner classes to ntermediate class and then to advanced class. It is a problem for pretty much all classes but is more problematic in Johnny’s classes. Apparently Johnny and Serap realize this also and had talked about having four levels of classes instead of current three. On a slightly different topic, I mentioned to Johnny that he often overwhelm his dance partners with his large collection of moves, and he replied that sometimes he can’t help himself and that he might not be as good as he once was in being able to tailor his lead to varying level of follower’s abilities. By the way, my personal opinion on this is that dancing at or slightly above follower’s abilities is good (maximize and stretch).
My legs are not completely healed yet – I avoided doing any Sentada, but I didn’t really notice any discomfort once I was warmed up.
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