February 27, 2006
Intermediate – Joe Davids
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic closed
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead with 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn for follower ending closed (hair comb) (rocking motion)
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead and full traveling counterclockwise turn for follower ending in R-L check (rocking motion to help minimize traveling)
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare (forward for follower and back) and lead follower into stationary double turn with R-L with R-L coming down as follower is nearly finished with first turn (I think the speed of R-L coming down can be made too fast – I have been aware of this for a little while now but I’m still not leading this consistently well) so that R-L ends behind follower’s L waist – on 7, leader can do a swivel turn (full clockwise) – change connection to L-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 R hand on follower’s front L shoulder – rock basic into cross body lead and traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn for follower (rock forward on 5) [note: follower has free R hand styling opportunity on 1,2,3] – R hand on follower’s back to get back into closed position
1,2,3,5,6,7 change line (turn line around by 180) and L-L hat and end with cross body lead simple
Improver – Joe Davids
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic closed
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead with 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn for follower ending closed (hair comb) (try to stay connected throughout)
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body ending open – switch to R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L showing and connecting – open break and Copa with R going to follower’s R waist and fully committed to Copa as opposed to reverse cross body lead (unlike as taught by LA teachers? hmm…) – follower’s turn is led with L-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L hat for leader and cross body lead
As I have now come to expect, the material was covered thoroughly and exhaustively and apparently with long-range plan – apparently it’s a 20-week plan. Supposedly, we should expect 3 more weeks of zippering down. If I’m not completely comfortable with this maneuver after few more lessons, I should consider myself retarded and probably should give up Salsa.
Shine snippet of interest
Slave Suzy Q
1 L foot cross over in front of R foot
3 L foot cross back
5,6,7 L foot Suzy Q
1 R foot cross over in front of L foot
3 R foot cross back
5,6,7 R foot Suzy Q
I’m getting near the point where I almost feel like I know way more shines than I am likely to find the opportunity to use except in special circumstances with a select number of dance partners. Still, it’s probably better to know too much rather than too little.
I stayed until shortly after 11 PM after the class. The Latin Collective representatives tonight were Joe Davids and Russell. Joe brought along a huge pile of fliers for Guildhall event advertising. According to the flier, the second Guildhall event will be held in May – so the Guildhall party will apparently start as once every 2 months event. With caveat that my opinion should not count for anything here (as many will attest that I know nothing and that I am wrong all the time), I think this makes perfect sense.
I’m probably about 80% recovered - definitely nowhere near peak condition.
I’m not sure where my dancing is going. Is it in a transitional phase, transformational phase or a minor slump? Or are my priorities changed? Or maybe I’m a little burnt out? Is it because of my determination to cut down? Is it because of some possibly strained relationships? Next few Salsa outings should go long in figuring it out.
Disclaimer: To the best of my knowledge and ability, there is nothing in this post intended to be hurtful about anyone or derogatory about any subject with the possible exception of negativity towards the author and that only to keep my ego in check. Not everything written in this post is about what happened tonight, and it might be safer to assume that a statement is likely to be about something other than tonight unless stated explicitly. Also try to avoid assuming that I’m talking about you in particular (unless stated explicitly, of course). Other than trying to do as well as I can because I feel that I might as well if I’m doing it, I don’t take any of this very seriously and I hope others don’t either – at least not to the point of becoming unhappy.
Gingerly dipping my toes back into Salsa
February 25, 2006
Johnny & Serap’s Big Salsa Party 2
The party was held at Frank and Lee Center – a part of the Addenbrooke’s Hospital complex. The dance hall shape was a large octagonal space serving as the main floor with a smaller rectangular space leading to the bar. Diverse mix of people from all over both familiar and unfamiliar to me was present, dancing, chilling or socializing. It seemed to me that Johnny & Serap were pleased with how the party turned out. Highlight of the party for me – happenings during a Michael Jackson song reminding me of a certain freakish moment.
The beginner lessons were scheduled to start at 7 PM and the party proper would have started by no later than 8:30 PM. As for me, I missed essentially the first half of the party as I arrived around 10:30 PM, which was just as well because I wanted to minimize amount of dancing I did tonight for a number of reasons. In order to help achieve this aim, I wore more layers of clothing than I needed and wore slippers instead of normal shoes to the party. Thus I didn’t notice that the dance floor was nice and slippery until I changed to my other shoes about half an hour after my arrival.
As of early Friday evening, I was thinking that I would not be able to attend tonight’s party. This was because although my conditions were slowly improving but not quickly enough. Thus when I found myself in much better condition (relatively speaking) this morning, several thoughts entered my mind including, “This is the kind of big improvement I told Johnny that I would need to have for me to go to his party” and “I’m still not in good enough condition for a normal night of dancing” and “I should do what I can to show there’s room and demand for a big monthly Salsa social in a larger venue in Cambridge.” Once I arrived, one more thought came to my mind, “I don’t want to be seen as recklessly risking other people into catching whatever bug that I had.” I must admit that this last thought is a little bizarre considering that I was already there and some diseases can be transmitted without body contact. That I considered the risk of infection spreading from me very low and that there were other people who came to party without fully having recovered from their own illness are somewhat beside the point. Anyhow, during my time at tonight’s party I ended up only doing some shines, which was enough of an exercise - as my muscles have barely begun to recover from aches and mass loss. I'm guessing I lost about 3-4 pounds in body weight over last 3-4 days. With the British diet, it may take months if not several weeks to regain that.
Prognosis for near future. I don’t expect any more dramatic improvement – I only get one such event per illness. I expect to have fair bit of muscle soreness for another 2-3 days. Some activities (e.g. sitting in front of computer at work and driving) may continue to aggravate soreness for a week or two. I probably won’t make this blog private and inaccessible despite some temptations. My voice and breathing may not return to normal for about a week.
Chances of going to SOS tomorrow – zero (driving long distance is not a good idea for me right now).
Chances of going to Club Salsa upcoming Monday – well over 50%.
Johnny & Serap’s Big Salsa Party 2
The party was held at Frank and Lee Center – a part of the Addenbrooke’s Hospital complex. The dance hall shape was a large octagonal space serving as the main floor with a smaller rectangular space leading to the bar. Diverse mix of people from all over both familiar and unfamiliar to me was present, dancing, chilling or socializing. It seemed to me that Johnny & Serap were pleased with how the party turned out. Highlight of the party for me – happenings during a Michael Jackson song reminding me of a certain freakish moment.
The beginner lessons were scheduled to start at 7 PM and the party proper would have started by no later than 8:30 PM. As for me, I missed essentially the first half of the party as I arrived around 10:30 PM, which was just as well because I wanted to minimize amount of dancing I did tonight for a number of reasons. In order to help achieve this aim, I wore more layers of clothing than I needed and wore slippers instead of normal shoes to the party. Thus I didn’t notice that the dance floor was nice and slippery until I changed to my other shoes about half an hour after my arrival.
As of early Friday evening, I was thinking that I would not be able to attend tonight’s party. This was because although my conditions were slowly improving but not quickly enough. Thus when I found myself in much better condition (relatively speaking) this morning, several thoughts entered my mind including, “This is the kind of big improvement I told Johnny that I would need to have for me to go to his party” and “I’m still not in good enough condition for a normal night of dancing” and “I should do what I can to show there’s room and demand for a big monthly Salsa social in a larger venue in Cambridge.” Once I arrived, one more thought came to my mind, “I don’t want to be seen as recklessly risking other people into catching whatever bug that I had.” I must admit that this last thought is a little bizarre considering that I was already there and some diseases can be transmitted without body contact. That I considered the risk of infection spreading from me very low and that there were other people who came to party without fully having recovered from their own illness are somewhat beside the point. Anyhow, during my time at tonight’s party I ended up only doing some shines, which was enough of an exercise - as my muscles have barely begun to recover from aches and mass loss. I'm guessing I lost about 3-4 pounds in body weight over last 3-4 days. With the British diet, it may take months if not several weeks to regain that.
Prognosis for near future. I don’t expect any more dramatic improvement – I only get one such event per illness. I expect to have fair bit of muscle soreness for another 2-3 days. Some activities (e.g. sitting in front of computer at work and driving) may continue to aggravate soreness for a week or two. I probably won’t make this blog private and inaccessible despite some temptations. My voice and breathing may not return to normal for about a week.
Chances of going to SOS tomorrow – zero (driving long distance is not a good idea for me right now).
Chances of going to Club Salsa upcoming Monday – well over 50%.
Placed on physically unable to perform list
February 22, 2006
It doesn't feel very good to try to walk or expose myself to cold air. It's probably a flu or a very strong common cold. Don't expect to see me dancing for next several days unless there's a dramatic and rapid improvement - I'm not betting on this. I really hate it, but there isn't much I can do about it. Have a great time y'all without me!
It doesn't feel very good to try to walk or expose myself to cold air. It's probably a flu or a very strong common cold. Don't expect to see me dancing for next several days unless there's a dramatic and rapid improvement - I'm not betting on this. I really hate it, but there isn't much I can do about it. Have a great time y'all without me!
There was a gaping hole in my Salsa knowledge!
February 20, 2006
Joe Davids was back – this time with Russell and without Dawn. I’m finding his instructions quite useful. It’s great that he teaches 2-3 different variations of the routine. While in the class and with “doctored” followers, the most difficult versions are often doable. However, I find that in social dance situations, I have to use the simplest version or simplify things even more than the simplest version taught in order to lead the move and stay in time to the music. Perhaps in time, I will be able to lead more difficult versions when I become more comfortable with the simplest possible versions. Also, I was surprised to see that ALL of the material taught in the improver class was new to me – or at least I don’t recall seeing this material before in any of my previous 200+ classes. Amazing. I wonder if this sort of thing will happen again if I were to learn with yet another new teacher.
Intermediate routine - Latin Collective (Joe Davids)
(Joe’s preference would be that his classes are technique based not routine based, but I’m going to keep to my format)
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead stationary double clockwise turn for follower with L-R coming down (straight) after the first turn so that it ends up wrapping follower with L-R connection positioned behind follower’s R waist – leader turns full clockwise on 7 (not a hook turn, R foot slightly back on 5, L foot in place on 6, turn around on 7/8 squeezing (I don’t recall the exact wording of the instruction) feet together – in any case, I don’t think I’m comfortable enough with this routine to try this additional leader’s turn without mucking up the next part)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward (leader takes small steps backwards on 1,2,3,5,6,7 while follower is turned around 1/4 counterclockwise by 3) and bring follower further forward for what ends up being 1 1/2 free traveling counterclockwise turn (2 1/2 is possible too) with hands going down to indicate number of rotations being asked for and to mark final position (leader’s footwork is R foot pointing towards the line on 5, step into the path through which follower passed with L foot (forward and to L) on 6 and turn 1/4 clockwise to face follower – I found this surprisingly tricky. For me an easier option was to stay essentially where I was and then to lead a cross body lead next)
1,2,3,5,6,7,1,2,3,5,6,7 simple shine (Suzy Q) - how to spot follower finishing a shine - cross body lead using R hand on follower’s back and offering L hand but giving an option to the follower for taking up the offered hand (there was a bit about forward (along the follower’s line rather than into it) body posture on 3 used for several different reasons)
Short interesting shine snippets
1 L foot tap
2 L foot forward and start to turn around clockwise
3 R foot together for a tap
4 R foot forward (now facing backwards as turning around 1/2 is completed)
5 L foot together for a tap
6 L foot forward and start to turn around clockwise
7 R foot together for a tap
8 R foot forward (now facing forward again as turning around 1/2 is completed)1,2,3,5,6,7 basic
1 turn around 1/4 clockwise as L foot cross over in front of R foot
2 R foot slightly to side
3 L foot point to L (towards original forward position and start turning around)
5 complete turning around 1/2 counterclockwise as R foot cross over in front of L foot
6 L foot slightly to side
7 R foot point to R (towards original forward position and start turning around again)
a playful variation of above is as follows
1 turn around 1/4 clockwise as L foot cross over in front of R foot
2 R foot slide sideways as L foot is pointed to L on heels
3 L foot close in slightly (and transfer weight)
5 complete turning around 1/2 counterclockwise as R foot cross over in front of L foot
6 L foot slide sideways as R foot is pointed to R on heels
7 R foot close in slightly (and transfer weight)
It would appear that shines are getting increasing attention in Cambridge. There even was a question about when shines should be initiated. Possible answers included chorus and instrumental section. I imagine instrumental solo might be a possibility although in general I suppose anytime it feels right is an option too especially for people who are still trying to get into habit of using shines and become comfortable with them.
Improvers
1,2,3,5,6,7 back basic from open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 In-and-out from open hold and into another open hold (also did into closed hold with follower learning to have their L hand over their chest to avoid getting tangled)
1,2,3,5,6,7 back basic
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa from open hold and into another open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 back basic
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa from open hold and into closed hold (with follower doing a haircomb with L hand in part to avoid getting tangled again – a haircomb out of necessity – neat concept)
As I mentioned earlier, the material for improvers was new and revelatory for me. It makes sense that in-and-out and Copa could be done from open hold now that I have seen it. I should think that this version would be considered the most basic fundamental Copa and in-and-out. I simply didn’t know this before because I hadn’t seen it done this way after over 200 hours of Salsa classes; other versions of Copa started either with crossed hold, R-R hold. R-L hold with the connection behind follower’s back R waist, or L-L hold with the connection behind follower’s back R waist (also with R-R). Perhaps I did see this before, but I have no recollection of it.
Turn combo exercise level I
2 o’clock turn
broken left
half and half turn
prepare and turn full clockwise stationary on 1,2,3 and prepare and turn full counterclockwise on 5,6,7
For followers, turn combo I was done with a haircomb for 2 o’clock turn and double-flare for broken left and without the last two turns for the last measure. Nice exercise. I hadn’t practiced 2 o’clock turn or broken left since last May in Sergio’s CDC classes (I think Sergio called it 3 o’clock, not 2 o’clock). I hope to see level II and level III soon – in fact I may find that these turn combo exercises might end up being one of the most useful thing from the Latin Collective classes because spinning is a big weakness here in Cambridge except for a very small number of most experienced dancers.
I stayed until just past 11 PM for some dancing and fair bit of practicing. In many ways, I found tonight’s session very useful. I hope there will be more.
Joe Davids was back – this time with Russell and without Dawn. I’m finding his instructions quite useful. It’s great that he teaches 2-3 different variations of the routine. While in the class and with “doctored” followers, the most difficult versions are often doable. However, I find that in social dance situations, I have to use the simplest version or simplify things even more than the simplest version taught in order to lead the move and stay in time to the music. Perhaps in time, I will be able to lead more difficult versions when I become more comfortable with the simplest possible versions. Also, I was surprised to see that ALL of the material taught in the improver class was new to me – or at least I don’t recall seeing this material before in any of my previous 200+ classes. Amazing. I wonder if this sort of thing will happen again if I were to learn with yet another new teacher.
Intermediate routine - Latin Collective (Joe Davids)
(Joe’s preference would be that his classes are technique based not routine based, but I’m going to keep to my format)
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead stationary double clockwise turn for follower with L-R coming down (straight) after the first turn so that it ends up wrapping follower with L-R connection positioned behind follower’s R waist – leader turns full clockwise on 7 (not a hook turn, R foot slightly back on 5, L foot in place on 6, turn around on 7/8 squeezing (I don’t recall the exact wording of the instruction) feet together – in any case, I don’t think I’m comfortable enough with this routine to try this additional leader’s turn without mucking up the next part)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward (leader takes small steps backwards on 1,2,3,5,6,7 while follower is turned around 1/4 counterclockwise by 3) and bring follower further forward for what ends up being 1 1/2 free traveling counterclockwise turn (2 1/2 is possible too) with hands going down to indicate number of rotations being asked for and to mark final position (leader’s footwork is R foot pointing towards the line on 5, step into the path through which follower passed with L foot (forward and to L) on 6 and turn 1/4 clockwise to face follower – I found this surprisingly tricky. For me an easier option was to stay essentially where I was and then to lead a cross body lead next)
1,2,3,5,6,7,1,2,3,5,6,7 simple shine (Suzy Q) - how to spot follower finishing a shine - cross body lead using R hand on follower’s back and offering L hand but giving an option to the follower for taking up the offered hand (there was a bit about forward (along the follower’s line rather than into it) body posture on 3 used for several different reasons)
Short interesting shine snippets
1 L foot tap
2 L foot forward and start to turn around clockwise
3 R foot together for a tap
4 R foot forward (now facing backwards as turning around 1/2 is completed)
5 L foot together for a tap
6 L foot forward and start to turn around clockwise
7 R foot together for a tap
8 R foot forward (now facing forward again as turning around 1/2 is completed)1,2,3,5,6,7 basic
1 turn around 1/4 clockwise as L foot cross over in front of R foot
2 R foot slightly to side
3 L foot point to L (towards original forward position and start turning around)
5 complete turning around 1/2 counterclockwise as R foot cross over in front of L foot
6 L foot slightly to side
7 R foot point to R (towards original forward position and start turning around again)
a playful variation of above is as follows
1 turn around 1/4 clockwise as L foot cross over in front of R foot
2 R foot slide sideways as L foot is pointed to L on heels
3 L foot close in slightly (and transfer weight)
5 complete turning around 1/2 counterclockwise as R foot cross over in front of L foot
6 L foot slide sideways as R foot is pointed to R on heels
7 R foot close in slightly (and transfer weight)
It would appear that shines are getting increasing attention in Cambridge. There even was a question about when shines should be initiated. Possible answers included chorus and instrumental section. I imagine instrumental solo might be a possibility although in general I suppose anytime it feels right is an option too especially for people who are still trying to get into habit of using shines and become comfortable with them.
Improvers
1,2,3,5,6,7 back basic from open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 In-and-out from open hold and into another open hold (also did into closed hold with follower learning to have their L hand over their chest to avoid getting tangled)
1,2,3,5,6,7 back basic
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa from open hold and into another open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 back basic
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa from open hold and into closed hold (with follower doing a haircomb with L hand in part to avoid getting tangled again – a haircomb out of necessity – neat concept)
As I mentioned earlier, the material for improvers was new and revelatory for me. It makes sense that in-and-out and Copa could be done from open hold now that I have seen it. I should think that this version would be considered the most basic fundamental Copa and in-and-out. I simply didn’t know this before because I hadn’t seen it done this way after over 200 hours of Salsa classes; other versions of Copa started either with crossed hold, R-R hold. R-L hold with the connection behind follower’s back R waist, or L-L hold with the connection behind follower’s back R waist (also with R-R). Perhaps I did see this before, but I have no recollection of it.
Turn combo exercise level I
2 o’clock turn
broken left
half and half turn
prepare and turn full clockwise stationary on 1,2,3 and prepare and turn full counterclockwise on 5,6,7
For followers, turn combo I was done with a haircomb for 2 o’clock turn and double-flare for broken left and without the last two turns for the last measure. Nice exercise. I hadn’t practiced 2 o’clock turn or broken left since last May in Sergio’s CDC classes (I think Sergio called it 3 o’clock, not 2 o’clock). I hope to see level II and level III soon – in fact I may find that these turn combo exercises might end up being one of the most useful thing from the Latin Collective classes because spinning is a big weakness here in Cambridge except for a very small number of most experienced dancers.
I stayed until just past 11 PM for some dancing and fair bit of practicing. In many ways, I found tonight’s session very useful. I hope there will be more.
Monthly Salsa Social at Guildhall, Cambridge
February 20, 2006
First advertisement for the monthly Salsa party in Cambridge is out now at londonsalsa.co.uk.
--
Saturday 25th March 2006
from 7pm until 1am
The Latin Collective & Salsa Allegra present the Launch Party of the monthly Saturday Party nights featuring guest masterclasses and guest showcases all set in the stunning rooms of the Cambridge Guildhall.
The venue boasts superb wooden dance floors, excellent acoustics and licensed bar.
7-8.20pm masterclasses in Salsa on1 at 4 levels (beg, imp, int & adv) Then 8.20pm-1am non-stop dancing to the hottest salsa, mambo, merengue & bachata from Djs JD, Sally & guests
The Guildhall, Cambridge, CB2 3QJ
Prices: £12(non-mem) / £9 (mem or with flyer) / £6 (NUS)
--
I think we have seen that Cambridge can support large Salsa parties in bigger venues from the examples like the Big Salsa Party hosted by Johnny & Serap back in October last year. By the way, there is another Big Salsa Party by Johnny & Serap on February 25th, which also should be good and may serve as a possible indicator to show how successful the Guildhall event will be. Notwithstanding a possible backlash or bias against big outsiders being involved (I personally don't see how all the pluses would not overwhelm any perceived or potential negatives), the Guildhall event should be a smash - probably superior to any Salsa-related weekly Saturday events in London (or for that matter as good as or better than all but couple of the very best London weekly Salsa events based upon what little I have seen and read).
First advertisement for the monthly Salsa party in Cambridge is out now at londonsalsa.co.uk.
--
Saturday 25th March 2006
from 7pm until 1am
The Latin Collective & Salsa Allegra present the Launch Party of the monthly Saturday Party nights featuring guest masterclasses and guest showcases all set in the stunning rooms of the Cambridge Guildhall.
The venue boasts superb wooden dance floors, excellent acoustics and licensed bar.
7-8.20pm masterclasses in Salsa on1 at 4 levels (beg, imp, int & adv) Then 8.20pm-1am non-stop dancing to the hottest salsa, mambo, merengue & bachata from Djs JD, Sally & guests
The Guildhall, Cambridge, CB2 3QJ
Prices: £12(non-mem) / £9 (mem or with flyer) / £6 (NUS)
--
I think we have seen that Cambridge can support large Salsa parties in bigger venues from the examples like the Big Salsa Party hosted by Johnny & Serap back in October last year. By the way, there is another Big Salsa Party by Johnny & Serap on February 25th, which also should be good and may serve as a possible indicator to show how successful the Guildhall event will be. Notwithstanding a possible backlash or bias against big outsiders being involved (I personally don't see how all the pluses would not overwhelm any perceived or potential negatives), the Guildhall event should be a smash - probably superior to any Salsa-related weekly Saturday events in London (or for that matter as good as or better than all but couple of the very best London weekly Salsa events based upon what little I have seen and read).
SOS in crisis
February 19, 2006
Shine of the day (Level 3 – taught by the tall guy and Miriam)
1 L foot forward with R foot crossed behind L foot (no weight on R foot)
2 R foot back
3 L foot together
5 R foot back
6 L foot in place and R foot cross behind L foot (no weight on R foot)
7&8 R foot back and L foot cross in front of R foot (no weight on L foot)
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic
8 both feet slide backwards (keeping rest of the body staying in place for as long as possible)
1,2,3 basic
5 R foot back (pointing slightly to R?)
6 L foot slide long forward with R foot coming along
7,8 cha cha cha
1 L foot cross over in front of R foot
2 R foot slightly back
3 L foot slightly back and to L of R foot
4 R foot cross over in front of L foot
5 L foot slightly back
6 R foot to normal standing position
7 L foot cross over in front of R foot
1 R foot cross over in front of L foot
3 L foot cross over in front of R foot
5,6,7 R foot cross over in front of L foot while keeping weight on L foot and R foot slide to R and back to L and crossing over in front of L foot (arms can be pointing directions opposite of R foot at the same time)
1 start over (infinite loop)
Arm and body movement during the shine seemed fairly natural to me (aside from the last 5,6,7, which took a small amount of practice).
Partner work
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead a stationary double clockwise turn for follower with L-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead ending with 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn for follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader’s pivot full clockwise turn followed by double stationary clockwise turn for follower with L-R and with leader turning 1/2 clockwise and switching to R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and R-R goes over follower’s head while making L-L connection in front and lead follower into traveling full clockwise turn with L-L low for a wrap (R hand can be used for this lead with it on follower’s R shoulder) – leader positioned slightly to R of follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and turn follower around 1/2 clockwise with switch to R-L and lead follower to free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn ending with leader’s L hand catching follower’s back reaching from her L side
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower forward and reach for follower’s back with R hand from her R side and lead her into traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn with leader also turning counterclockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 change the line by 180 and cross body lead
The next to last bit was voted over a simpler version. I tweaked my shoulder while trying this. Otherwise, this seemed like nothing more than a simple review of things I’ve seen many times. Maybe I’m also reaching a point of diminishing returns with Level 3 classes at SOS. The shine was piece of cake as well with caveat that just because I could do this in class setting does not mean I could lead the routine or do the shine with ease in social dance setting with fast tempo song.
I arrived at 6:45 PM in part because the organizers said that they plan to start classes at 6:45 PM this week. The classes started at 7 PM with another announcement that they will try to start the classes at 6:45 PM next week. Many of the people, whom I have come to enjoy dancing with at SOS, were absent tonight. While finding dance partners was not a problem still, they were missed. The music tonight was a little weird. They played TWO Bachata tracks as well as TWO Cha Cha Cha tracks. A small number of Salsa tracks were Cuban. After having been to some SOS nights with nothing but Salsa, this was a bit of a surprise and a turn-off for me. Because of Ray Barretto passing away this week, at least 3 Barretto tracks were played. I think I recognized two of the three (one was Indestructible, which is a bit too fast for my taste) – the DJ seemed to have chosen the fastest Barretto songs available. [note added later: Ray Barretto tracks were apparently Swing La Moderna, Indestructible, El Hijo de Obatala, and Que Viva La Musica.] They tried to make a tribute to Ray Barretto couple of times during the night, but it seemed to have caused more confusion than anything else – especially as to whether people were supposed to dance to these tribute songs or not. There were two birthday dances – also announced in a sloppy manner. There were all kinds of technical problems – including something like 20 seconds of total sound system failure. The volume of the music was never very high to begin with and it was further lowered during the last hour – actually make it last 3/4 hour because SOS decided to close 15 minutes early once again – like last week. It would seem that whatever soundproofing work they have done (if any) was not deemed sufficient. I wonder if things like early closure and forced lowering of the music volume caused some people to stay way this week. If the kind of problems that plagued SOS tonight were to continue, I think they’ll be in big trouble. As for me, I’m trying to cut down on my Salsa activities a little. With the problems continuing at SOS and also with M11 road works causing traffic delays, I feel a lot less inclined to return to SOS regularly – certainly not every week.
Despite it all, dancing was pretty good on the whole. However, I’m also beginning to notice a lot of sloppiness too. I guess I’m sloppy too but… As I was leaving, yet another person (someone I danced with for the first time) asked me whether I was going to be at Bar Salsa tomorrow night. Hmmm. I really ought to make time for Bar Salsa one of these days, but I really should try to cut down!
I’m going to be at Club Salsa on Monday and Thursday this week. This is by no means an endorsement or a statement to the effect that these two nights are better than others in Cambridge; I have my own reasons for finding these two nights particularly intriguing at the moment. As for other days of the week, my first priority will be work – meaning unless I will not shortchange or sacrifice work to go Salsa dancing.
Another thought… I wonder if I have been badmouthing various things about Salsa lately in order to help me cut down the amount of time I’m spending on going out dancing? Amusing thought, but probably wrong. My life-long training to be analytical and critical of everything is the real reason - that plus lack of discretion and time and inability to stop myself from flaunting and showboating and generally making a big spectacle of myself. As I said elsewhere, I'm going to take a break from being critical or overly negative for a little while.
Shine of the day (Level 3 – taught by the tall guy and Miriam)
1 L foot forward with R foot crossed behind L foot (no weight on R foot)
2 R foot back
3 L foot together
5 R foot back
6 L foot in place and R foot cross behind L foot (no weight on R foot)
7&8 R foot back and L foot cross in front of R foot (no weight on L foot)
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic
8 both feet slide backwards (keeping rest of the body staying in place for as long as possible)
1,2,3 basic
5 R foot back (pointing slightly to R?)
6 L foot slide long forward with R foot coming along
7,8 cha cha cha
1 L foot cross over in front of R foot
2 R foot slightly back
3 L foot slightly back and to L of R foot
4 R foot cross over in front of L foot
5 L foot slightly back
6 R foot to normal standing position
7 L foot cross over in front of R foot
1 R foot cross over in front of L foot
3 L foot cross over in front of R foot
5,6,7 R foot cross over in front of L foot while keeping weight on L foot and R foot slide to R and back to L and crossing over in front of L foot (arms can be pointing directions opposite of R foot at the same time)
1 start over (infinite loop)
Arm and body movement during the shine seemed fairly natural to me (aside from the last 5,6,7, which took a small amount of practice).
Partner work
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead a stationary double clockwise turn for follower with L-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead ending with 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn for follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader’s pivot full clockwise turn followed by double stationary clockwise turn for follower with L-R and with leader turning 1/2 clockwise and switching to R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and R-R goes over follower’s head while making L-L connection in front and lead follower into traveling full clockwise turn with L-L low for a wrap (R hand can be used for this lead with it on follower’s R shoulder) – leader positioned slightly to R of follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and turn follower around 1/2 clockwise with switch to R-L and lead follower to free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn ending with leader’s L hand catching follower’s back reaching from her L side
1,2,3,5,6,7 lead follower forward and reach for follower’s back with R hand from her R side and lead her into traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn with leader also turning counterclockwise
1,2,3,5,6,7 change the line by 180 and cross body lead
The next to last bit was voted over a simpler version. I tweaked my shoulder while trying this. Otherwise, this seemed like nothing more than a simple review of things I’ve seen many times. Maybe I’m also reaching a point of diminishing returns with Level 3 classes at SOS. The shine was piece of cake as well with caveat that just because I could do this in class setting does not mean I could lead the routine or do the shine with ease in social dance setting with fast tempo song.
I arrived at 6:45 PM in part because the organizers said that they plan to start classes at 6:45 PM this week. The classes started at 7 PM with another announcement that they will try to start the classes at 6:45 PM next week. Many of the people, whom I have come to enjoy dancing with at SOS, were absent tonight. While finding dance partners was not a problem still, they were missed. The music tonight was a little weird. They played TWO Bachata tracks as well as TWO Cha Cha Cha tracks. A small number of Salsa tracks were Cuban. After having been to some SOS nights with nothing but Salsa, this was a bit of a surprise and a turn-off for me. Because of Ray Barretto passing away this week, at least 3 Barretto tracks were played. I think I recognized two of the three (one was Indestructible, which is a bit too fast for my taste) – the DJ seemed to have chosen the fastest Barretto songs available. [note added later: Ray Barretto tracks were apparently Swing La Moderna, Indestructible, El Hijo de Obatala, and Que Viva La Musica.] They tried to make a tribute to Ray Barretto couple of times during the night, but it seemed to have caused more confusion than anything else – especially as to whether people were supposed to dance to these tribute songs or not. There were two birthday dances – also announced in a sloppy manner. There were all kinds of technical problems – including something like 20 seconds of total sound system failure. The volume of the music was never very high to begin with and it was further lowered during the last hour – actually make it last 3/4 hour because SOS decided to close 15 minutes early once again – like last week. It would seem that whatever soundproofing work they have done (if any) was not deemed sufficient. I wonder if things like early closure and forced lowering of the music volume caused some people to stay way this week. If the kind of problems that plagued SOS tonight were to continue, I think they’ll be in big trouble. As for me, I’m trying to cut down on my Salsa activities a little. With the problems continuing at SOS and also with M11 road works causing traffic delays, I feel a lot less inclined to return to SOS regularly – certainly not every week.
Despite it all, dancing was pretty good on the whole. However, I’m also beginning to notice a lot of sloppiness too. I guess I’m sloppy too but… As I was leaving, yet another person (someone I danced with for the first time) asked me whether I was going to be at Bar Salsa tomorrow night. Hmmm. I really ought to make time for Bar Salsa one of these days, but I really should try to cut down!
I’m going to be at Club Salsa on Monday and Thursday this week. This is by no means an endorsement or a statement to the effect that these two nights are better than others in Cambridge; I have my own reasons for finding these two nights particularly intriguing at the moment. As for other days of the week, my first priority will be work – meaning unless I will not shortchange or sacrifice work to go Salsa dancing.
Another thought… I wonder if I have been badmouthing various things about Salsa lately in order to help me cut down the amount of time I’m spending on going out dancing? Amusing thought, but probably wrong. My life-long training to be analytical and critical of everything is the real reason - that plus lack of discretion and time and inability to stop myself from flaunting and showboating and generally making a big spectacle of myself. As I said elsewhere, I'm going to take a break from being critical or overly negative for a little while.
Ray Barretto dies at age 76
February 18, 2006
A few different versions of his obituary can be found in LA Times, NewJersey.com, Associated Press and of course The New York Times.
The first Ray Barretto track I heard was Acid - courtesy of Sergio at CDC. My initial reaction was, "Is this Salsa?" Acid gets played a lot especially in class settings and often for practicing shines at SOS and at Salsa Congresses.
Check his album Salsa Caliente De Nu York! to sample some of his biggest Salsa hits (courtesy of Amazon).
A few different versions of his obituary can be found in LA Times, NewJersey.com, Associated Press and of course The New York Times.
The first Ray Barretto track I heard was Acid - courtesy of Sergio at CDC. My initial reaction was, "Is this Salsa?" Acid gets played a lot especially in class settings and often for practicing shines at SOS and at Salsa Congresses.
Check his album Salsa Caliente De Nu York! to sample some of his biggest Salsa hits (courtesy of Amazon).
Salsa Romantica at the LeL, St. Ives
February 17, 2006
Sally intermediate
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic closed hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead with 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn with L-R high
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break with L-R and approach follower on the right side with R hand on follower’s L shoulder (or was it just me who used this L hand on shoulder stuff?) and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling clockwise turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 switch to R-L open break? or was it cross body lead? and 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn for follower – bring R-L down so that it ends up behind follower’s R back waist – leader does hook turn ~7 (try to end so that getting into cross body position is easy for the next part) and switch to L-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 connect with R-R – cross body lead and 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn for follower to get back into open position
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead and into 1 1/2 traveling turn with R-L low throughout and L-R high temporarily for a wrap
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to 1 1/2 stationary clockwise turn with R-L on follower’s R shoulder (L-R could be behind leader’s head)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower forward and into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn with L-R going down and up
1,2,3,5,6,7 switch to crossed hold with L-L on top and into cross body lead and into Titanic
1,2,3,5,6,7,1,2,3,5,6,7 follower’s styling (R foot cross over L foot on 1, L over R on 2, R over L on 3, bring leader’s R hand to follower’s stomach, undulate, lead self into 1 1/2 clockwise turn to get back into open position) … as leader, you just let follower do whatever she wants
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader’s hat with L-L and cross body lead (with extra turn if desired)
The routine was fairly long but it felt like more of an improver level class compared to many of the Sally’s intermediate classes at Club Salsa last year. So not only do different teachers have different definition of intermediate, but a same teacher may use a different definition depending on the venue (or students). On second thought, maybe the difficulty of the material is the same and that I simply got better so that this routine feels like a piece of cake now. Now if harder stuff would just get easier to do consistently.
It seemed like most of the Cambridge regulars (and not a regular at LeL) who decided to venture out to LeL tonight might have been men rather than women. I could be wrong. Some people I haven’t seen for a long time are apparently regulars here.
The venue is very large. The dance floor takes up perhaps 1/3 of the floor space or perhaps less. The dance floor alone is essentially the same size as entire danceable surface (and not just the main floor) of Club Salsa. Some obstacles like pillars/beam exist to make the effective danceable area smaller; this is similar to Po Na Na Cambridge. Some parts of the floor were sticky, but it might have due to spilled drink and may not be a permanent problem.
There must have been at least 4 different DJs tonight of varying quality. There was a stretch of 4-8 songs I liked because it reminded me of SOS, but this stretch also included my 3 rejections for a dance in a row. I don’t think anyone else said no to me before or after - so it was just bad timing. Either that or I asked wrong people at wrong time. I didn't expect to hear New Swing Sextet (an oldie from 1969) (Also see links here. It is listed in Mr. Bongo's catalog) and wasn't able to find a dance partner of it. Oh well – a lot of good songs wasted. Even in London, there are people who don't like that song (My Favorite Things), possibly because they had bad experience with it or perhaps because it's overplayed there - I have no idea.
Joe Davids and his friends made an appearance – a mild surprise for me. They certainly made the evening more interesting although I really didn’t feel like I took full advantage of it. By the way, even if Joe’s dancing is nothing to write home about (he did a demonstration/show on-2), he does really well coming off as appearing considerate, caring and well-meaning towards other people. This shows off not just in his dancing but also in his interactions with people when not dancing as well. He certainly impressed heck out of me – it’s no surprise that he’s successful in the Salsa world. Assuming that the way I have seen him act is the way he is most of the time if not all the time (and I’m beginning to suspect that he’s like this most of the time – although I imagine that he must have some ruthless side too in order to be a successful businessman), he should have no problem extracting loyalty from his underlings and his customers. I also liked his friends a lot more than I did the first night – familiarity might have helped. Having said that, I still am not enthused with his music choices from last couple of times at Club Salsa.
Nobody's perfect. Vishal for one I think is amazing for having started and keeping up Club Salsa in a small market like Cambridge. However, when he comes in to substitute as the DJ, my gut reaction is, "Oh well. The music selection is going to get very limited. And he's going to use those annoying tricks like looping and fusing." Also, I'll never claim that I'm perfect.
In any case, maybe I should stop complaining and try not to be seen too critical. After all, having seen some of the other clubs in London other than SOS, I would venture to guess that Club Salsa stacks fairly well compared to many places in London. But hey - it could always get better!
For the most part, dancing tonight felt incomplete for me – parts were just not adding up although there were snippets of nice interesting moments – mostly me showing off. My dances do not have to be perfect – in my case, it never is (I always make some mistakes) – and not many evenings are magical; I just want it to be closer to perfect and more frequently magical. Oh well. I guess I’m being greedy because life is pretty good right now all things considered. Not to say that I live in the best of all possible worlds or that life is happiness indeed, I know of people who are envious of kind of life I have had - at least on paper and without a full context. Whatever. In any case, I might have to give myself another dose of SOS this weekend.
Sally intermediate
1,2,3,5,6,7 basic closed hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead with 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn with L-R high
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break with L-R and approach follower on the right side with R hand on follower’s L shoulder (or was it just me who used this L hand on shoulder stuff?) and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling clockwise turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 switch to R-L open break? or was it cross body lead? and 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn for follower – bring R-L down so that it ends up behind follower’s R back waist – leader does hook turn ~7 (try to end so that getting into cross body position is easy for the next part) and switch to L-L
1,2,3,5,6,7 connect with R-R – cross body lead and 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn for follower to get back into open position
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead and into 1 1/2 traveling turn with R-L low throughout and L-R high temporarily for a wrap
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead follower to 1 1/2 stationary clockwise turn with R-L on follower’s R shoulder (L-R could be behind leader’s head)
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower forward and into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn with L-R going down and up
1,2,3,5,6,7 switch to crossed hold with L-L on top and into cross body lead and into Titanic
1,2,3,5,6,7,1,2,3,5,6,7 follower’s styling (R foot cross over L foot on 1, L over R on 2, R over L on 3, bring leader’s R hand to follower’s stomach, undulate, lead self into 1 1/2 clockwise turn to get back into open position) … as leader, you just let follower do whatever she wants
1,2,3,5,6,7 leader’s hat with L-L and cross body lead (with extra turn if desired)
The routine was fairly long but it felt like more of an improver level class compared to many of the Sally’s intermediate classes at Club Salsa last year. So not only do different teachers have different definition of intermediate, but a same teacher may use a different definition depending on the venue (or students). On second thought, maybe the difficulty of the material is the same and that I simply got better so that this routine feels like a piece of cake now. Now if harder stuff would just get easier to do consistently.
It seemed like most of the Cambridge regulars (and not a regular at LeL) who decided to venture out to LeL tonight might have been men rather than women. I could be wrong. Some people I haven’t seen for a long time are apparently regulars here.
The venue is very large. The dance floor takes up perhaps 1/3 of the floor space or perhaps less. The dance floor alone is essentially the same size as entire danceable surface (and not just the main floor) of Club Salsa. Some obstacles like pillars/beam exist to make the effective danceable area smaller; this is similar to Po Na Na Cambridge. Some parts of the floor were sticky, but it might have due to spilled drink and may not be a permanent problem.
There must have been at least 4 different DJs tonight of varying quality. There was a stretch of 4-8 songs I liked because it reminded me of SOS, but this stretch also included my 3 rejections for a dance in a row. I don’t think anyone else said no to me before or after - so it was just bad timing. Either that or I asked wrong people at wrong time. I didn't expect to hear New Swing Sextet (an oldie from 1969) (Also see links here. It is listed in Mr. Bongo's catalog) and wasn't able to find a dance partner of it. Oh well – a lot of good songs wasted. Even in London, there are people who don't like that song (My Favorite Things), possibly because they had bad experience with it or perhaps because it's overplayed there - I have no idea.
Joe Davids and his friends made an appearance – a mild surprise for me. They certainly made the evening more interesting although I really didn’t feel like I took full advantage of it. By the way, even if Joe’s dancing is nothing to write home about (he did a demonstration/show on-2), he does really well coming off as appearing considerate, caring and well-meaning towards other people. This shows off not just in his dancing but also in his interactions with people when not dancing as well. He certainly impressed heck out of me – it’s no surprise that he’s successful in the Salsa world. Assuming that the way I have seen him act is the way he is most of the time if not all the time (and I’m beginning to suspect that he’s like this most of the time – although I imagine that he must have some ruthless side too in order to be a successful businessman), he should have no problem extracting loyalty from his underlings and his customers. I also liked his friends a lot more than I did the first night – familiarity might have helped. Having said that, I still am not enthused with his music choices from last couple of times at Club Salsa.
Nobody's perfect. Vishal for one I think is amazing for having started and keeping up Club Salsa in a small market like Cambridge. However, when he comes in to substitute as the DJ, my gut reaction is, "Oh well. The music selection is going to get very limited. And he's going to use those annoying tricks like looping and fusing." Also, I'll never claim that I'm perfect.
In any case, maybe I should stop complaining and try not to be seen too critical. After all, having seen some of the other clubs in London other than SOS, I would venture to guess that Club Salsa stacks fairly well compared to many places in London. But hey - it could always get better!
For the most part, dancing tonight felt incomplete for me – parts were just not adding up although there were snippets of nice interesting moments – mostly me showing off. My dances do not have to be perfect – in my case, it never is (I always make some mistakes) – and not many evenings are magical; I just want it to be closer to perfect and more frequently magical. Oh well. I guess I’m being greedy because life is pretty good right now all things considered. Not to say that I live in the best of all possible worlds or that life is happiness indeed, I know of people who are envious of kind of life I have had - at least on paper and without a full context. Whatever. In any case, I might have to give myself another dose of SOS this weekend.
People, Space and Music
February 16, 2006
Ivan & Sally Intermediate (I probably will need to re-examine this note thoroughly)
crossed hold L-L on top
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead into Titanic
1,2,3,5,6,7 hands down and up on 1,2,3 and then follower is turned around 5 (1/2 to 3/4 turn clockwise depending on the speed of music) with R-R (L-L is let go), catch follower’s L hand with L hand (follower’s hand should be at waist level) and stop follower’s clockwise motion and lead her into a full counterclockwise stationary turn instead
[note: A similar type of catch, stop and lead a stationary counterclockwise turn can be done from an open position starting with normal hold – in this case, R-L is usually at chest level rather than waist level so L-L catch and stop would happen at chest level rather than at waist level. I think I saw this version first in a class by Sergio and probably saw it again one or more times thereafter. Because of this experience, I kept having my L hand at chest level instead of at waist level and thus failing to connect properly in practices after the class. In cases where the follower can easily see the hand being offered, the hand in question can be at a higher elevation. In cases where it’s not so easy for the follower to see the hand well in advance (e.g. because follower was facing away), maybe trying to make new connections at or closer to waist level is a good practice in general. In any case, I’ll have to test this and see if it is a useful general principle.]
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break on 1 – reconnect R-R and overtake (somewhat like reverse cross body lead but instead of facing follower on 3/4, keep body forward and towards the direction from which the follower came from with R-R pointing back towards the direction from which the leader came from) – disconnect L-L – lead follower into traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn with R-R toss (moving in counterclockwise motion) and reconnect L-R by leader’s L waist
[note: I think there was another version taught in the class but I can’t remember the details of this alternate version.]
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn with L-R ending in a wrap at follower’s L back waist
1,2,3 open break and overtake follower from right with R-L connection made at higher elevation and with L-R kept low
5,6,7 keeping a very neutral lead and thus not giving a turn signal, go around to follower’s R side – both now facing the same direction – stay in line and stay close – L-R is no longer wrapping follower on 8 and is pointing forward
1,2,3 get back to follower’s L side with L-R ending up wrapping follower with the connection at follower’s front R waist (bring L-R back on 1 and over follower’s head to get to this position)
5,6,7 lead follower to walk backwards together
1,2,3,5,6,7 L foot back and into open cross body position – lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling clockwise(?) turn and end with L-R toss under R-L to get back into open hold (as opposed to double crossed hold – this could be done during basic on next 1-8)
Because I did not have access to my laptop after the Thursday class/club and because I had no time on Friday, this note was written down during wee hours of Saturday morning. I most certainly will need to go through this routine with a dance partner make sure that this note is essentially correct. This was a toughie to write because of having to wait an extra day before putting it down on paper.
During the second hour of the classes, I sat in on the improver class this time in part because there didn’t seem to be large excess of leaders this week. The class was about Reverse cross body lead with some fillers like pivot turns and hats. I think next week’s lessons for improvers will be about Copa. Ivan’s designs for the improver class may be evolving (a pure speculation on my part). During the first couple of weeks, improver classes were seemingly about doing easier version of intermediate class routines. This was followed by one-time only Cuban class. I didn’t see the material for the improver class for last two weeks so I could only guess the material taught then. Based in part upon what I saw and heard today, I would guess that the classes this week and next couple of weeks are designed to build towards the intermediate workshop to be held on March. It seems like a very reasonable plan designed so that most people who attends all the classes and the workshop should have excellent chance of becoming highly proficient with many variations of cross body leads with turns and reverse cross body/Copa. This would make sense especially if last two weeks of improvers dealt with cross body leads with turns (often ending in wraps). Hmm. I could easily envision Ivan’s six weeks of improver classes being remarkably similar to part of a syllabus proposal for 8-week Salsa course I wrote up for fun back in December (unpublished) but with a workshop to cap it off. It would make a great deal of sense to teach double stationary turns for the Thursday improver class couple of days before the workshop (and quite possibly ~10 days before the workshop as well).
For someone to venture to a high profile London venue to dance NY/LA/CBL style Salsa at social level and have a decent chance of getting good number of dances, ability to lead or follow a double stationary turn with ease is essentially a requirement. A follower who finds double turns challenging is likely to be unsteady when doing 1 1/2 traveling turns and often failing to stay in line during this maneuver. If the follower cannot stay in line during 1 1/2 turns, a good (or at least a careful or conservative) leader would not be willing to lead it in more crowded conditions (unfortunately a fairly sparse conditions at Club Salsa would be considered packed in many other places) and probably refrain from using large part of his repertoire. Thinking about this more, I think this might be one reason why many other leaders abandon using CBL with rather large number of followers, with whom I am a lot more willing to try to lead CBL – even if I don’t always succeed in keeping follower to stay in line consistently. I’m not sure if what I’m doing is causing more harm than good in the long run. I seem to have become quite adept at predicting/anticipating/correcting aberrant movements from the follower to a point where compensating for follower has almost become second nature. Again, I'm not sure if this is all good. At this point, the only thing that really bothers me is dancing with followers who cannot stay in time to music in addition to being erratic and wild. I usually try my best to avoid people who cannot stay in time (with exceptions made sometimes for people I have known for a long time), but I can’t always avoid them – sometimes by mistake and sometimes because I don’t think I’m really allowed to refuse a dance when a follower asks me.
What are most important factors in having an enjoyable night of dancing? I would rank - #1 people you dance with, #2 dance space and #3 music. Some people may order them differently and I may reorder them in the future. Convergence of all three factors working out in one’s favor for most of the night is not common – but then again, I suppose there will always be times when it’s more fun than usual or just as when it’s not quite as fun doing anything. As long as things get better as times goes by most of the times (as it has for me thus far), I should be and would be content.
I was pleased and somewhat surprised to hear Pantera Mambo (by LA 33 (La Treinta y Tres)) being played by Ivan during the club hours. Last week, someone was trying to convince Vishal to get this song and album (seemingly without much success). I like this song (I’ve heard this at both SOS and at the Brit Salsafest) quite a bit so I had been looking into buying a copy for myself (I should add that there are many other songs I like just as much). I feel that people at Club Salsa don’t get to hear a lot of new music (songs released in 2005 or even 2004) or classic old music (from 50’s, 60’s, 70’s or even 80’s!). Even when new music is available, DJs are sometimes afraid to use it. For example, I was flabbergasted to learn that Vishal had the album "I Love Salsa" by N'Klabe (or at least I think that's what he said when I played a track from the album few Sundays ago) but never played anything from it.
Many Salsa CDs are not easy to find. In the case of LA 33, I had only found two internet sellers in my initial search - Descarga and Prodland. Both sellers are less than perfect. Descarga is rather expensive both in terms of CD pricing and shipping cost. Descarga supposedly isn’t very fast with their delivery either. Prodland has been really bad about responding to my purchase requests; they often don’t have what they advertise as being available. When something is not available, they simply cancel the order rather than shipping it when it becomes available without much of an explanation. Prodland also takes fairly long to process orders. Amazon and other vendors accessible via Amazon (I have dealt many times with a very-well run an Amazon-affiliated company called Caiman) are much better about speed of delivery as well as offering CDs at lower cost, but their selections are fairly limited. I talked about all with Ivan (who by the way apparently is a staunch believer in anti-piracy and supporting musicians – I on the other hand generally prefer to buy my own copy of music I like (I probably bought over 300 CDs in my lifetime) but I must also have 5-10 CDs worth of music I copied from my parents), and he recommended a UK based vendor specializing in Latin music called Mr. Bongo.
I liked tonight’s dancing – a lot - it didn't really matter that it wasn't SOS or Congress quality. I should be and would be content as long as it keeps getting better and better.
Ivan & Sally Intermediate (I probably will need to re-examine this note thoroughly)
crossed hold L-L on top
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead into Titanic
1,2,3,5,6,7 hands down and up on 1,2,3 and then follower is turned around 5 (1/2 to 3/4 turn clockwise depending on the speed of music) with R-R (L-L is let go), catch follower’s L hand with L hand (follower’s hand should be at waist level) and stop follower’s clockwise motion and lead her into a full counterclockwise stationary turn instead
[note: A similar type of catch, stop and lead a stationary counterclockwise turn can be done from an open position starting with normal hold – in this case, R-L is usually at chest level rather than waist level so L-L catch and stop would happen at chest level rather than at waist level. I think I saw this version first in a class by Sergio and probably saw it again one or more times thereafter. Because of this experience, I kept having my L hand at chest level instead of at waist level and thus failing to connect properly in practices after the class. In cases where the follower can easily see the hand being offered, the hand in question can be at a higher elevation. In cases where it’s not so easy for the follower to see the hand well in advance (e.g. because follower was facing away), maybe trying to make new connections at or closer to waist level is a good practice in general. In any case, I’ll have to test this and see if it is a useful general principle.]
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break on 1 – reconnect R-R and overtake (somewhat like reverse cross body lead but instead of facing follower on 3/4, keep body forward and towards the direction from which the follower came from with R-R pointing back towards the direction from which the leader came from) – disconnect L-L – lead follower into traveling 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn with R-R toss (moving in counterclockwise motion) and reconnect L-R by leader’s L waist
[note: I think there was another version taught in the class but I can’t remember the details of this alternate version.]
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling counterclockwise turn with L-R ending in a wrap at follower’s L back waist
1,2,3 open break and overtake follower from right with R-L connection made at higher elevation and with L-R kept low
5,6,7 keeping a very neutral lead and thus not giving a turn signal, go around to follower’s R side – both now facing the same direction – stay in line and stay close – L-R is no longer wrapping follower on 8 and is pointing forward
1,2,3 get back to follower’s L side with L-R ending up wrapping follower with the connection at follower’s front R waist (bring L-R back on 1 and over follower’s head to get to this position)
5,6,7 lead follower to walk backwards together
1,2,3,5,6,7 L foot back and into open cross body position – lead follower into 1 1/2 traveling clockwise(?) turn and end with L-R toss under R-L to get back into open hold (as opposed to double crossed hold – this could be done during basic on next 1-8)
Because I did not have access to my laptop after the Thursday class/club and because I had no time on Friday, this note was written down during wee hours of Saturday morning. I most certainly will need to go through this routine with a dance partner make sure that this note is essentially correct. This was a toughie to write because of having to wait an extra day before putting it down on paper.
During the second hour of the classes, I sat in on the improver class this time in part because there didn’t seem to be large excess of leaders this week. The class was about Reverse cross body lead with some fillers like pivot turns and hats. I think next week’s lessons for improvers will be about Copa. Ivan’s designs for the improver class may be evolving (a pure speculation on my part). During the first couple of weeks, improver classes were seemingly about doing easier version of intermediate class routines. This was followed by one-time only Cuban class. I didn’t see the material for the improver class for last two weeks so I could only guess the material taught then. Based in part upon what I saw and heard today, I would guess that the classes this week and next couple of weeks are designed to build towards the intermediate workshop to be held on March. It seems like a very reasonable plan designed so that most people who attends all the classes and the workshop should have excellent chance of becoming highly proficient with many variations of cross body leads with turns and reverse cross body/Copa. This would make sense especially if last two weeks of improvers dealt with cross body leads with turns (often ending in wraps). Hmm. I could easily envision Ivan’s six weeks of improver classes being remarkably similar to part of a syllabus proposal for 8-week Salsa course I wrote up for fun back in December (unpublished) but with a workshop to cap it off. It would make a great deal of sense to teach double stationary turns for the Thursday improver class couple of days before the workshop (and quite possibly ~10 days before the workshop as well).
For someone to venture to a high profile London venue to dance NY/LA/CBL style Salsa at social level and have a decent chance of getting good number of dances, ability to lead or follow a double stationary turn with ease is essentially a requirement. A follower who finds double turns challenging is likely to be unsteady when doing 1 1/2 traveling turns and often failing to stay in line during this maneuver. If the follower cannot stay in line during 1 1/2 turns, a good (or at least a careful or conservative) leader would not be willing to lead it in more crowded conditions (unfortunately a fairly sparse conditions at Club Salsa would be considered packed in many other places) and probably refrain from using large part of his repertoire. Thinking about this more, I think this might be one reason why many other leaders abandon using CBL with rather large number of followers, with whom I am a lot more willing to try to lead CBL – even if I don’t always succeed in keeping follower to stay in line consistently. I’m not sure if what I’m doing is causing more harm than good in the long run. I seem to have become quite adept at predicting/anticipating/correcting aberrant movements from the follower to a point where compensating for follower has almost become second nature. Again, I'm not sure if this is all good. At this point, the only thing that really bothers me is dancing with followers who cannot stay in time to music in addition to being erratic and wild. I usually try my best to avoid people who cannot stay in time (with exceptions made sometimes for people I have known for a long time), but I can’t always avoid them – sometimes by mistake and sometimes because I don’t think I’m really allowed to refuse a dance when a follower asks me.
What are most important factors in having an enjoyable night of dancing? I would rank - #1 people you dance with, #2 dance space and #3 music. Some people may order them differently and I may reorder them in the future. Convergence of all three factors working out in one’s favor for most of the night is not common – but then again, I suppose there will always be times when it’s more fun than usual or just as when it’s not quite as fun doing anything. As long as things get better as times goes by most of the times (as it has for me thus far), I should be and would be content.
I was pleased and somewhat surprised to hear Pantera Mambo (by LA 33 (La Treinta y Tres)) being played by Ivan during the club hours. Last week, someone was trying to convince Vishal to get this song and album (seemingly without much success). I like this song (I’ve heard this at both SOS and at the Brit Salsafest) quite a bit so I had been looking into buying a copy for myself (I should add that there are many other songs I like just as much). I feel that people at Club Salsa don’t get to hear a lot of new music (songs released in 2005 or even 2004) or classic old music (from 50’s, 60’s, 70’s or even 80’s!). Even when new music is available, DJs are sometimes afraid to use it. For example, I was flabbergasted to learn that Vishal had the album "I Love Salsa" by N'Klabe (or at least I think that's what he said when I played a track from the album few Sundays ago) but never played anything from it.
Many Salsa CDs are not easy to find. In the case of LA 33, I had only found two internet sellers in my initial search - Descarga and Prodland. Both sellers are less than perfect. Descarga is rather expensive both in terms of CD pricing and shipping cost. Descarga supposedly isn’t very fast with their delivery either. Prodland has been really bad about responding to my purchase requests; they often don’t have what they advertise as being available. When something is not available, they simply cancel the order rather than shipping it when it becomes available without much of an explanation. Prodland also takes fairly long to process orders. Amazon and other vendors accessible via Amazon (I have dealt many times with a very-well run an Amazon-affiliated company called Caiman) are much better about speed of delivery as well as offering CDs at lower cost, but their selections are fairly limited. I talked about all with Ivan (who by the way apparently is a staunch believer in anti-piracy and supporting musicians – I on the other hand generally prefer to buy my own copy of music I like (I probably bought over 300 CDs in my lifetime) but I must also have 5-10 CDs worth of music I copied from my parents), and he recommended a UK based vendor specializing in Latin music called Mr. Bongo.
I liked tonight’s dancing – a lot - it didn't really matter that it wasn't SOS or Congress quality. I should be and would be content as long as it keeps getting better and better.
Arriving later and with diminishing returns
February 15, 2006
I didn't getthere to Club Salsa until 10:45 PM - latest arrival thus far yet. Things were beginning to wind down by the time I arrived - fairly normal for a weeknight at Club Salsa. I ended up having only four low-key dances and some shine practices. If I cannot get there earlier, maybe I should just call it a night from now on.
One thing I noted was that with just 2 Bachata CDs, I arguably have the best and most up-to-date collection of Bachata music in Cambridge. Between my 2 CDs, I have 10 Bachata songs I would rather listen and dance to over any of the Bachata that is currently being played at Club Salsa. Wednesdays is the only night at Club Salsa when more than a couple of Bachata track is played on a given night, and on other nights one or two same tired tracks gets played if at all (added Feb 17). Maybe what I need to do is to bring my music collections to Club Salsa more often. I think the Salsa song selection at Club Salsa also is very limited (some nights are better than others) but I am very unsatisfied with the Bachata selectionsare just dreadful.
For whatever it's worth, Bachata songs I'd play from my 2 CD collection are as follows (in no particular order)
by Toque D'Keda - Te Extrano, Debo Pensar, Pecado, No Me Resigno, Lamento Boliviano, Quiero Hacerte el Amor
by Dominic M - Ven Tu, Senora, La Quiero, You Will Remember Me
[Note: I usually don't bother showing changes I made to the original post, but I thought certain things might lose context otherwise (see comments below).strikethroughs indicate deletions from the original post while underlines show additions to the original post.]
I didn't get
One thing I noted was that with just 2 Bachata CDs, I arguably have the best and most up-to-date collection of Bachata music in Cambridge. Between my 2 CDs, I have 10 Bachata songs I would rather listen and dance to over any of the Bachata that is currently being played at Club Salsa. Wednesdays is the only night at Club Salsa when more than a couple of Bachata track is played on a given night, and on other nights one or two same tired tracks gets played if at all (added Feb 17). Maybe what I need to do is to bring my music collections to Club Salsa more often. I think the Salsa song selection at Club Salsa also is very limited (some nights are better than others) but I am very unsatisfied with the Bachata selections
For whatever it's worth, Bachata songs I'd play from my 2 CD collection are as follows (in no particular order)
by Toque D'Keda - Te Extrano, Debo Pensar, Pecado, No Me Resigno, Lamento Boliviano, Quiero Hacerte el Amor
by Dominic M - Ven Tu, Senora, La Quiero, You Will Remember Me
[Note: I usually don't bother showing changes I made to the original post, but I thought certain things might lose context otherwise (see comments below).
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