Guilty pleasures

March 20, 2006

Intermediate - Latin Collective with Joe Davids

1,2,3,5,6,7 basic Mambo
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare and lead stationary clockwise double turn for follower with L-R lead ending with 1/2 turn leader’s counterclockwise turn on 7 for a drop catch to end with R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break and bring follower forward (while moving slightly to L to make path for the follower) windmill lead for 1 1/2 traveling clockwise turn for follower – connect L-L underneath R-R by 7/8
1,2,3,5,6,7 Copa with R-R moving around high in counterclockwise motion on 2,3 and around follower’s head to end on her L shoulder while L-L end on follower’s R waist with back of leader’s L hand facing follower’s waist – lead follower forward with L-L on waist and R-R is lowered directly to lead follower into a counterclockwise traveling turn (lowering of R-R might be delayed to make this 1 1/2 turn maybe) – in any case, the idea is to get R-R positioned behind follower’s R waist on 8
[some fun variations can be tried from here – I think this will get covered in next couple of weeks]
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead with 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn for follower (delay raising R-R until follower is turned about 1/2 at least)
1,2,3,5,6,7 funny hat (new for me thus awkward – R-R goes over leader’s head with leader’s R elbow pointing sharply along the line towards the follower) with R-R for leader ending with cross body lead

Improvers - Latin Collective with Joe Davids

Third variation of Copa fake was taught along with a repeat of simplest version of last week’s Copa fake possibly with some refinement
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead – switch to R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 L-L over R-R – Copa fake– R-R is used for open break and to bring follower forward on 1,2,3 and is kept low while L-L is raised on 2/3 and kept ahead of follower in Pizza man position – follower is allowed to move forward on 5 and led into 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn – follow the hand and turn 3/4 clockwise with L-L lowered to chest level so that L-L ends up behind leader’s R back shoulder blade
1,2,3,5,6,7 get into closed body hold position with R going in between leader and follower (while using a part of R arm to help lift follower’s L hand to top of leader’s shoulder for closed hold) while getting into cross body lead position and lead simple cross body lead with L hand being offered

another variation
5,6,7 after Copa fake and L-L led 1 1/2 traveling clockwise turn – leader turns full clockwise on 7 following the follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 get into cross body position - L-L hat for leader and cross body lead

Dancing afterwards was highly enjoyable. It was a lot more fun than it perhaps deserved to be – it was somehow great although there wasn’t any dance that could have been called outstanding from a purely technical standpoint. I almost felt a little guilty (for lack of better words) for having such a good time. My best explanation for what happened is that most of my dance partners were seemingly getting a big kick out of dancing with me all night long and I was feeding off it. I could add that there’s been a lot of this lately. Another possibility is not feeling any pressure about avoiding mistakes contributed and feeling free to try some unusual stunts (e.g. a triple turn as a part of a short combination – done successfully only at the Brit Salsafest prior to tonight). Whatever the reason, I guess I shouldn’t complain.

On a slightly different topic, Joe announced that the Guildhall event this Saturday has been moved to the big hall. If so, the maximum of 186 is no longer valid. I got the impression from this announcement that Joe has either sold large number of tickets (presumably in London) or have detected high level of interest from sources Sally was not counting on. I meant to ask Joe for a clarification on this, but I forgot to ask afterwards. Considering the fact that there were well over 100 people at Sally’s Salsa Romantica Party at the LeL few weeks ago, I guess it’s very possible that sticking to the small hall will lead to many people being turned away. Very interesting. I suppose the worst-case scenario is that there will be plenty of space to dance. In any case, this blurb definitely should come with a disclaimer because I could very well have misunderstood, misinterpreted or misheard parts of Joe’s announcement.