November 2, 2008
It was that time of the month? Kidding aside, it does seem like SOS is becoming a once a month affair. Thus far going less frequently has made the experience more consistently enjoyable. Also it does seem like I’m still evolving and generally getting more confident from one month to next.
Roger thought there were more guys than usual and at higher calibre than usual tonight. I didn’t notice anything. Heck, I couldn’t be bothered to check out the girls to see who’d be good to dance with after a short while because nothing really stood out. I ended up asking people who I either knew was good or people who looked like they might be pretty good. It worked for most part.
Overall the dances were almost unanimously excellent. Pretty much the only exception was a dance fairly early in the evening with a total beginner with little sense of moving in time to the music; that song felt really long. Amusingly another guy asked her right after me – possibly because it was so obvious that she was a beginner. My partner right afterwards was a somewhat inexperienced intermediate and danced a little too big. Fortunately, I had tons of room so it was not a problem – the dance was pretty fun in fact. Again amusingly another guy (pretty good lead I might add – and maybe a little picky as well) grabbed her right afterwards. In both cases, I really doubt I would have been so eager to dance with either of my partners if I had been watching. Did I make them look better than they were or did they think they could do better than me? Pretty much every dance felt really good. It has been a long time since I felt like I was locked-in and totally in the zone for such an extended length of time.
It wasn’t like I can thank the musical selection for this. I think it was Julian the Duke who was the DJ. He played better than average set for him, but I would not have called it special or spectacular. Songs played included Mentirosa, Tiembla, El Cantante, Mambo Is Here To Stay (Latin Giants of Jazz), Cosas Nativas, Lluvia (Willie Rosario?), Chango Ta Beni (German Villarreal), Hace Tiempo (after a technical difficulty with the start of previous song). Cha Cha selections were better than usual by SOS standard. Thankfully Julian skipped Avisale A Mi Contrario once again.
Between one-fourth to one-third of my dances were done On2. I’m getting to a point where my On2 is almost indistinguishable from my On1 in terms of comfort level. At least that is how it felt tonight. I felt confident enough to finally ask Miriam for a dance; it went fine except the song ended a little too quickly and a little too abruptly for me. It’s probably silly for me to judge her, but she is very nice to dance with.
No Leon. No Tamambo. I think Mauro was in charge. Sharon was there and seemed to be getting her money’s worth. Other people I said hello to included Sean, Amir and that guy I had brief chat with at the last Scala and SDE.
Prediction: O 54 M 45. 370+ EV. 56 Senate (+ 2 Ind).
It's the dancer, not the style
October 31, 2008
Halloween on a Friday might not be the ideal Salsa night because everyone and their friends will have their own party. Heck, CS wasn’t the only place holding a “special” Salsa party in Cambridge this time. It did bring in more people dressed up in costumes compared to previous years, however. I didn’t wear a costume. I did wear a shirt I had never worn before – Vish seemed to like it. It was a little itchy.
Quick roundup. Singapore – no. Royston – yes. The team – no, no and no with one exception from an old captain. Hardcore Cubans – no again except for the heads. So what did that leave? The hardcore regulars – the ones you can more or less depend on every week and have been doing so since before my time. I suppose the new regulars – Big, Small, Penguin-shirt, the new Asians, the beautiful Liars, etc. Sharon, Will, Lorraine.
Dancing highlight. My first dance in some 776 days made me exclaim, “Finally!” Was it worth the wait? Yes. I could have danced with her all night. Did I? No. I am not exactly popular with some crowds, and I think some of their brain might explode if I tried and succeeded. It might be akin to trying to subvert one of the revered leaders of a rival religion. Can’t we agree that good people are good regardless of their religion and move on?
I found myself on the front row for the return of the human vibrator inadvertently. Yes, I’m referring to Leandro, who was as entertaining as last time.
Playlist
La Paella – Jose Alberto “El Canario” (1)
La Cartera – Orchestra Harlow
Clasiquiendo Con Ruben – Afro-Cuban All-Stars
Solo Se Que Tiene Nombre De Mujer – Angel Canales
Chanchullo – Fania All-Stars
Miye Na We – Africando
Descarga Cubana – Cal Tjader
Si Tu Te Vas – Juan Luis Guerra
Hoja En Blanco – Monchy & Alexandra*
Perla Fina – Monguito*
Guaguanco Del Gran Combo – El Gran Combo
Ahora Si – Ismael Miranda
El Jibaro – Orquesta Flamboyan* (2)
(1) This got Joe to sing along. I saw Leandro dance to this one and Angel Canales later.
(2) Ouch. This was a poor Cha Cha dance for me.
Total = 13 songs. 1 Merengue. 1 Bachata new. 2 Cha Cha including 1 new. 9 Salsa including 1 new.
Vish played two more Cha Cha after me. I think it means there may have been more Cha Cha played than Merengue, Bachata, or Reggaeton tonight. Salsa was abandoned after 2.
Halloween on a Friday might not be the ideal Salsa night because everyone and their friends will have their own party. Heck, CS wasn’t the only place holding a “special” Salsa party in Cambridge this time. It did bring in more people dressed up in costumes compared to previous years, however. I didn’t wear a costume. I did wear a shirt I had never worn before – Vish seemed to like it. It was a little itchy.
Quick roundup. Singapore – no. Royston – yes. The team – no, no and no with one exception from an old captain. Hardcore Cubans – no again except for the heads. So what did that leave? The hardcore regulars – the ones you can more or less depend on every week and have been doing so since before my time. I suppose the new regulars – Big, Small, Penguin-shirt, the new Asians, the beautiful Liars, etc. Sharon, Will, Lorraine.
Dancing highlight. My first dance in some 776 days made me exclaim, “Finally!” Was it worth the wait? Yes. I could have danced with her all night. Did I? No. I am not exactly popular with some crowds, and I think some of their brain might explode if I tried and succeeded. It might be akin to trying to subvert one of the revered leaders of a rival religion. Can’t we agree that good people are good regardless of their religion and move on?
I found myself on the front row for the return of the human vibrator inadvertently. Yes, I’m referring to Leandro, who was as entertaining as last time.
Playlist
La Paella – Jose Alberto “El Canario” (1)
La Cartera – Orchestra Harlow
Clasiquiendo Con Ruben – Afro-Cuban All-Stars
Solo Se Que Tiene Nombre De Mujer – Angel Canales
Chanchullo – Fania All-Stars
Miye Na We – Africando
Descarga Cubana – Cal Tjader
Si Tu Te Vas – Juan Luis Guerra
Hoja En Blanco – Monchy & Alexandra*
Perla Fina – Monguito*
Guaguanco Del Gran Combo – El Gran Combo
Ahora Si – Ismael Miranda
El Jibaro – Orquesta Flamboyan* (2)
(1) This got Joe to sing along. I saw Leandro dance to this one and Angel Canales later.
(2) Ouch. This was a poor Cha Cha dance for me.
Total = 13 songs. 1 Merengue. 1 Bachata new. 2 Cha Cha including 1 new. 9 Salsa including 1 new.
Vish played two more Cha Cha after me. I think it means there may have been more Cha Cha played than Merengue, Bachata, or Reggaeton tonight. Salsa was abandoned after 2.
Salsa Del Este 2008
October 25, 2008
The day started with my absentee ballot back on my door. Oh well. At least there probably is enough time left to send it again. Slowly but (hopefully) surely things are moving along to complete my exit strategy. Pent up pressures of long list of task from the summer seem to be slowly dissipating. Soon enough the era of the blog might be considered the time when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Maybe the “oppressed” will re-emerge from the caves. Who knows? It will be beyond my control (and care) anyway.
On to Salsa Del Este. Nice venue! It’s miles better than Chilford, where the first SDE was held. The room used is better than almost everything else I’ve seen in the UK - better than London Mary Ward Hall or Royal National Hotel (sites of SOS London), Scala, Cambridge Guildhall, Coventry Colliery Club or Park Hall Hotel (Salsa Kingdom). It was not a big downgrade from places like Blackpool Winter Gardens Royal Empress Ballroom or Spanish Hall (minus the gaudy ceilings) used for the Britfest or BIC ballrooms used for the last UK Congress. Nice and spacious and with a sound system, which was most remarkable for being innocuous (i.e. no painfully loud spots or silent spots – I don’t even remember where the speakers were located!).
I arrived around 9:40 as the classes were wrapping up. The Singapore contingent was the first group I ran into. I initially mistook Angie for Isabel but covered it up until I revealed my mistake at the end of the night to Haihan. There were plenty of familiar faces – the Pure Salsa crew, the Royston trio, Raj, Sam, Johnny, Sharon, Will, Laura, Dimitrios, but there were quite a few surprise no-shows as well – Ivan foremost. Big but not Small. Polly mentioned that Andrea is back in London. Serap was not feeling well apparently. I’d add that there was surprisingly small overlap between the CS party last night and tonight – mostly because the entrenched regulars really don’t travel.
The music choice was not especially to my liking for the first half. After a few timba/son, I decided to throw Mauricio a curveball by requesting a Charanga of his choice. The first one he played was rather obscure, and he played a few more during the second half of the party. I was tempted to ask for another request or two but never got around to it (it would have been either a Cha Cha – there was one played during the second half of the party – or Cal Tjader, which would be have been a bigger challenge).
For whatever its worth, the songs I remember being played during the second half included El Cantante, Muneca (Alfredo De La Fe), Descarga La Moderna, Lejos De Ti, Hong Kong Mambo (Duste remix or possibly a modified version of it), Moliendo Café (unknown version), Pedro Navaja. The second half playlist in fact was quite similar in tone to how I might have picked the songs if I were the DJ. I think the first half songs included Bamboleo (Fania All Stars), Babarabatiri (Willie Rosario).
I probably danced with people outside Cambridge scene for just about half of the songs. I’m guessing I had about 25-30 dances altogether. Perhaps one third of the dances were On2. More shines than typical even by Congress standards.
Here I bury four paragraphs worth of stuff I’m keeping private (for my own amusement only).
Minor things of note. Chris B is no longer with puresalsa (not included in the slide show - maybe it merely reflected his absence for tonight only)? Chris S went out of the way to say hello – much appreciated. Moe Flex is – has a great personality.
The performances were – easy to watch. Three were from Irene Miguel productions – more performer-driven rather than costume-driven for a change. Artsy but not flowery. The last one involved a trio from Salsology with Sally getting a hometown center stage partnered with Mushi. If nothing else it worked out well for height purposes. Chris was partnered with Emma. The girl making up the third couple (on left) was one of very few people I failed to ask for a dance – among the people I had marked as one of the people I definitely wanted to ask. For me the best part was that I found perspective partners among performers as well as from their entourage (as well as teacher’s entourage).
Summary. I really enjoyed this one. For me anyway, it was an excellent facsimile for a Congress night and arguably better than an average SOS night. By the way average means 50th percentile and certainly does not mean bad. Certainly I rate this one level higher than that one Coventry party last year. This evaluation does not account for the price of the evening or the travel required.
The day started with my absentee ballot back on my door. Oh well. At least there probably is enough time left to send it again. Slowly but (hopefully) surely things are moving along to complete my exit strategy. Pent up pressures of long list of task from the summer seem to be slowly dissipating. Soon enough the era of the blog might be considered the time when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Maybe the “oppressed” will re-emerge from the caves. Who knows? It will be beyond my control (and care) anyway.
On to Salsa Del Este. Nice venue! It’s miles better than Chilford, where the first SDE was held. The room used is better than almost everything else I’ve seen in the UK - better than London Mary Ward Hall or Royal National Hotel (sites of SOS London), Scala, Cambridge Guildhall, Coventry Colliery Club or Park Hall Hotel (Salsa Kingdom). It was not a big downgrade from places like Blackpool Winter Gardens Royal Empress Ballroom or Spanish Hall (minus the gaudy ceilings) used for the Britfest or BIC ballrooms used for the last UK Congress. Nice and spacious and with a sound system, which was most remarkable for being innocuous (i.e. no painfully loud spots or silent spots – I don’t even remember where the speakers were located!).
I arrived around 9:40 as the classes were wrapping up. The Singapore contingent was the first group I ran into. I initially mistook Angie for Isabel but covered it up until I revealed my mistake at the end of the night to Haihan. There were plenty of familiar faces – the Pure Salsa crew, the Royston trio, Raj, Sam, Johnny, Sharon, Will, Laura, Dimitrios, but there were quite a few surprise no-shows as well – Ivan foremost. Big but not Small. Polly mentioned that Andrea is back in London. Serap was not feeling well apparently. I’d add that there was surprisingly small overlap between the CS party last night and tonight – mostly because the entrenched regulars really don’t travel.
The music choice was not especially to my liking for the first half. After a few timba/son, I decided to throw Mauricio a curveball by requesting a Charanga of his choice. The first one he played was rather obscure, and he played a few more during the second half of the party. I was tempted to ask for another request or two but never got around to it (it would have been either a Cha Cha – there was one played during the second half of the party – or Cal Tjader, which would be have been a bigger challenge).
For whatever its worth, the songs I remember being played during the second half included El Cantante, Muneca (Alfredo De La Fe), Descarga La Moderna, Lejos De Ti, Hong Kong Mambo (Duste remix or possibly a modified version of it), Moliendo Café (unknown version), Pedro Navaja. The second half playlist in fact was quite similar in tone to how I might have picked the songs if I were the DJ. I think the first half songs included Bamboleo (Fania All Stars), Babarabatiri (Willie Rosario).
I probably danced with people outside Cambridge scene for just about half of the songs. I’m guessing I had about 25-30 dances altogether. Perhaps one third of the dances were On2. More shines than typical even by Congress standards.
Here I bury four paragraphs worth of stuff I’m keeping private (for my own amusement only).
Minor things of note. Chris B is no longer with puresalsa (not included in the slide show - maybe it merely reflected his absence for tonight only)? Chris S went out of the way to say hello – much appreciated. Moe Flex is – has a great personality.
The performances were – easy to watch. Three were from Irene Miguel productions – more performer-driven rather than costume-driven for a change. Artsy but not flowery. The last one involved a trio from Salsology with Sally getting a hometown center stage partnered with Mushi. If nothing else it worked out well for height purposes. Chris was partnered with Emma. The girl making up the third couple (on left) was one of very few people I failed to ask for a dance – among the people I had marked as one of the people I definitely wanted to ask. For me the best part was that I found perspective partners among performers as well as from their entourage (as well as teacher’s entourage).
Summary. I really enjoyed this one. For me anyway, it was an excellent facsimile for a Congress night and arguably better than an average SOS night. By the way average means 50th percentile and certainly does not mean bad. Certainly I rate this one level higher than that one Coventry party last year. This evaluation does not account for the price of the evening or the travel required.
Frank Santos and Natalie Baltao take their turn at CS
October 24, 2008
Time of arrival – around 9:40 PM. That’s my alibi for tonight. No Joe. I think there were four classes. One was led by the guests Frank Santos and Natalie Baltao in the new corner. Main floor was occupied by Vish looking a little harried. I think the other two were led by --- geez, I don’t know their names --- I’ll try to find out for myself and maybe for this blog soon but for now I’ll call them – the big guy and the small guy. Hopefully no one’s offended.
So unexpectedly I led off as the DJ of the night. It sounded like Haihan might show up as a DJ, but he didn’t. No Steph – as expected more or less. No Ivan – hmm. Jane was helping with teaching, I think. Mark showed up later. Sally was there too – briefly. Johnny. Rajiv. Here’s my playlist – shorter than expected – not that I really cared.
Playlist
Songorocosongo – Hector Lavoe (1)
Huracan – Bobby Valentin (2)
Sin Sentimientos – Grupo Niche (3)
Porque Adore – Mark Dimond & Frankie Dante (4)
Se Me Fue – Conjunto Yumuri (5)
Que Bonito Es Puerto Rico – Jose Alberto “El Canario” (6)
(1) Starting with a song 7 min 50 sec long is definitely unconventional, but I wasn’t sure if I was starting off until less than a minute before starting. I put the song on long time before that half-guessing that I might be taking it out if someone else wanted to start. I think a lot of people waited a long time for this song to end – thinking that surely it won’t go on for so long.
(2) Frank’s dancing.
(3) Still going. With Jane if I remember correctly.
(4) Crowd disperses a little. Frank and Natalie were together on the floor very briefly for this.
(5) I took the opportunity to ask Natalie for a dance. On2.
(6) I had next two songs lined up (Oscar D’Leon followed by Santiago Ceron), but Vish took over instead. He started with a Bachata, a hiccup of Bachata, mostly instrumental Salsa which got progressively faster (I was dancing with Jane on this one) and following it with three really fast songs in a row starting with Timbalero by El Gran Combo. Timbalero has BPM of ~250. It was played at -5%, which would bring it down to a little under 240 BPM. Here are some other fast songs in comparison – Fuego A La Jicotea (207-210 BPM), Merecumbe (204-219 BPM), Un Verano En New York (204-221 BPM). How do they compare to slow songs? How about La Llave (165 BPM), Ahora Quien (168-179 BPM), Perdoname (158 BPM – original studio version).
Total = 6 songs all Salsa nothing new.
After starting my first dances with Natalie and Jane, I was a little at a loss as how I was going to proceed. It gave me a pause for a little to start with, but it got easier as night went along. I actually managed a second dance with Natalie later (second time was On1, which ended up being a shine-fest) also. I daresay I left a favorable impression – if nothing else by simply having danced more than once with her. Part of the difficulty early on with finding partners was that many of the girls seemed busy chatting, which I was reluctant to interrupt.
Fru was there with her friends. I think they are more of Saturday irregulars. It was nice to see them anyway and I danced a few with them.
Other dances. I kept drifting into On2 timing while dancing with Sharon to Cuando Te Vea (German Villarreal version). I never quite got into dancing Salsa with a recent newcomer – haven’t got her name but she has ballet background. How about that one with Aileen – one which she always start off by saying she’s not used to whatever style she called it (it really makes little difference in my opinion – the person makes bigger difference than the style). There was a visitor from Essex I had few dances with – Cecille I think? There were several with another newcomer with no name and no background. A dance with Louise to a rather corny song was preceded with a Zouk joke, complimentary.
Frank and Natalie's performance piece was done to Aguzate (not all of it) by Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz. I couldn't see anything past the wall of people, however.
I was there until closing time chatting with Vish about the last week's post, etc. Next up. SDE.
Time of arrival – around 9:40 PM. That’s my alibi for tonight. No Joe. I think there were four classes. One was led by the guests Frank Santos and Natalie Baltao in the new corner. Main floor was occupied by Vish looking a little harried. I think the other two were led by --- geez, I don’t know their names --- I’ll try to find out for myself and maybe for this blog soon but for now I’ll call them – the big guy and the small guy. Hopefully no one’s offended.
So unexpectedly I led off as the DJ of the night. It sounded like Haihan might show up as a DJ, but he didn’t. No Steph – as expected more or less. No Ivan – hmm. Jane was helping with teaching, I think. Mark showed up later. Sally was there too – briefly. Johnny. Rajiv. Here’s my playlist – shorter than expected – not that I really cared.
Playlist
Songorocosongo – Hector Lavoe (1)
Huracan – Bobby Valentin (2)
Sin Sentimientos – Grupo Niche (3)
Porque Adore – Mark Dimond & Frankie Dante (4)
Se Me Fue – Conjunto Yumuri (5)
Que Bonito Es Puerto Rico – Jose Alberto “El Canario” (6)
(1) Starting with a song 7 min 50 sec long is definitely unconventional, but I wasn’t sure if I was starting off until less than a minute before starting. I put the song on long time before that half-guessing that I might be taking it out if someone else wanted to start. I think a lot of people waited a long time for this song to end – thinking that surely it won’t go on for so long.
(2) Frank’s dancing.
(3) Still going. With Jane if I remember correctly.
(4) Crowd disperses a little. Frank and Natalie were together on the floor very briefly for this.
(5) I took the opportunity to ask Natalie for a dance. On2.
(6) I had next two songs lined up (Oscar D’Leon followed by Santiago Ceron), but Vish took over instead. He started with a Bachata, a hiccup of Bachata, mostly instrumental Salsa which got progressively faster (I was dancing with Jane on this one) and following it with three really fast songs in a row starting with Timbalero by El Gran Combo. Timbalero has BPM of ~250. It was played at -5%, which would bring it down to a little under 240 BPM. Here are some other fast songs in comparison – Fuego A La Jicotea (207-210 BPM), Merecumbe (204-219 BPM), Un Verano En New York (204-221 BPM). How do they compare to slow songs? How about La Llave (165 BPM), Ahora Quien (168-179 BPM), Perdoname (158 BPM – original studio version).
Total = 6 songs all Salsa nothing new.
After starting my first dances with Natalie and Jane, I was a little at a loss as how I was going to proceed. It gave me a pause for a little to start with, but it got easier as night went along. I actually managed a second dance with Natalie later (second time was On1, which ended up being a shine-fest) also. I daresay I left a favorable impression – if nothing else by simply having danced more than once with her. Part of the difficulty early on with finding partners was that many of the girls seemed busy chatting, which I was reluctant to interrupt.
Fru was there with her friends. I think they are more of Saturday irregulars. It was nice to see them anyway and I danced a few with them.
Other dances. I kept drifting into On2 timing while dancing with Sharon to Cuando Te Vea (German Villarreal version). I never quite got into dancing Salsa with a recent newcomer – haven’t got her name but she has ballet background. How about that one with Aileen – one which she always start off by saying she’s not used to whatever style she called it (it really makes little difference in my opinion – the person makes bigger difference than the style). There was a visitor from Essex I had few dances with – Cecille I think? There were several with another newcomer with no name and no background. A dance with Louise to a rather corny song was preceded with a Zouk joke, complimentary.
Frank and Natalie's performance piece was done to Aguzate (not all of it) by Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz. I couldn't see anything past the wall of people, however.
I was there until closing time chatting with Vish about the last week's post, etc. Next up. SDE.
No Brawls Thankfully
October 17, 2008
That was different! No more of the same old uneventful boring night. Instead the night was action-packed, at least for me.
Vish was away; I don’t know where. Joe was going to leave early. In fact I think Joe only played 2 or 3 songs so I was in the DJ booth right after arriving. Joe suggested keeping the speed of the songs slow but upbeat – a lot of beginners around. I looked around. It was no different than usual.
Johnny was there early. I think they had to change the teaching venue at the last minute and couldn’t use the venue for social afterwards so most people moved over to CS tonight. No Serap though; I haven’t seen her in ages.
Playlist
Momposina – Santiago Ceron (1)
Sientate Ahi – Oscar D’Leon
Camina Prende Y El Fogon – Conjunto Yumuri
La-La-La – Direct Latin Influence (2)
Almendra – German Villarreal (3)
El Menu – El Gran Combo
Prestame Tu Mujer – Grupo Gale
Soulsa – Estrellas Caiman (4)
This Moment – Azabache
Dos Locos – Monchy & Alexandra (5)
El Agua Del Clavelito – Johnny Pacheco
Asi Son – El Gran Combo (6)
Boranda – Sonora Poncena (shortened remix) (7)
Mentirosa – Louie Ramirez & Ray De La Paz
La Libertad – Rey Reyes
Esta Cobardia – Frankie Ruiz
Mambologia – Maximo Rodriguez & Sus Estrellas Panamenas
Nadie Como Ella – Marc Anthony
No Aguanto Mas – Celia Cruz & Johnny Pacheco
Pecado – Toque D Keda
Que Bonito Es Puerto Rico – Jose Alberto “El Canario”
Swing La Moderna – Ray Barretto (8)
Dejame En Paz – Johnny Colon (9)
Salchicha Con Huevos – Jimmy Sabater con Son Boricua (10)
Bamboleo – Fania All Stars
Ven A Medellin – Grupo Gale
Juana Pena – Willie Colon (11)
Ojala Que Llueve Cafe – Juan Luis Guerra
No Hado Facil – Monchy & Alexandra* (12)
Cuando Te Vea – Tito Puente
Yay Boy – Africando
Que Bonito Es Sonar – Jimmy Bosch
Cairo – Orquesta Cheo Diaz (-5%)*
Ajiaco Caliente – Eddie Palmieri
El Cepillo – Fulanito
I Wanna Love You – Pablo Bachata
Mambo Mongo – Mongo Santamaria (Fania) (13)
Esas Lagrimas – Gilberto Santa Rosa
Quiero A Morir – DLG (Dark Latin Groove)*
Rompe – Daddy Yankee
A Pedir Su Mano – Juan Luis Guerra
Playa Fa Sho – Toby Love
Ay Amor, Cuando Hablan Las Miradas – Orquesta Guayacan (14)
Caballo Viejo – Roberto Torres
El Negrito De Batey – Direct Latin Influence
Quiero Enamorarte – Marco Ferretti
Periodico De Ayer – Hector Lavoe (15)
Bailando – Frankie Ruiz
Aicha – Africando (16)
Otra Oportunidad – Jimmy Bosch (17)
(1) Definitely slow. Upbeat? Well... maybe not especially. Contrast is good.
(2) Steph got me for this one. On2. After I stopped the next track from playing at the same time. DJ techinque-wise, it wasn't the smoothest of the nights. Dancewise, we both went off time once or twice. I wasn’t quite settled in. It didn’t stop people from watching and commenting afterwards. Playing the next song was a little messy.
(3) Haihan and Weishen are here. No Ivan, Mark or Jane.
(4) Sally is here too promoting Salsa Del Este. She stole my pen a few times causing confusion.
(5) A girl (Turkish?) asked me to dance to this one. Another surprise! New partner for new dance with some irregular timing made this a challenge. I also picked a difficult song to transition into.
(6) Sally stole my pen again! I borrowed one from Steph.
(7) I got into a really interesting (maybe call it heated) argument around here. Apparently someone scratched [let’s say Mr. X’s] car, and X thought it was me. Again. I say again because X convinced me about two years ago that I probably did (and I gave him my insurance info and called my insurance company to pay him for repairs). It wasn’t me this time. Unfortunately it seemed quite impossible to convince him otherwise. Two years ago, I had a reason to think that I might have been responsible, but this time there was absolutely nothing that made me think it happened again. X claimed that it must have happened last Friday. However, I arrived at CS before X (while the lessons were still underway) and left after X (at the time of early closing). Nowadays I almost always park in an isolated space away from all other cars when coming to CS, and last Friday was no different. Moreover X had not even parked in the same car park! Amazing. X then tried to suggest that it might have happened on a Wednesday. I haven’t been to CS on Wednesdays in more than a year! How about the week before? Again I am pretty sure I parked away from all other cars. I suspect for last 2-3 months if not more, I always arrived before X and left after X. For whatever its worth, I don’t remember even coming near hitting any car anywhere for years anywhere let alone CS. It was quite bizaare. I felt like I was in some alternate reality or such. The only thing X could focus on was the color of paint left on his car, which he claimed matched mine (like red/burgundy is such a unique color). In the end I could do little but laugh about it. I wasn’t the only one laughing. No one will believe claim like this based on color of the paint. X claimed that his car paint was on my bumper – I have no idea what that was about except maybe he was trying to browbeat me into admitting something I did not do. Two years ago, it didn’t take much for him to convince me that I was responsible. Why was it so easy for me to admit the “truth” back then (actually tonight’s incident makes me wonder if I was really responsible two years ago) yet I would be so intent on “lying”? Maybe I’m being really stupid writing this account, but then again it seemed like X was telling anyone and everyone that I hit his car. So it’s not like this is going to make things any worse. Maybe X will apologize to me for false accusation, intimidation and throwing insults next time - maybe not. It doesn’t matter to me. One last humorous point - the incident did keep me from visiting the toilet for about half an hour or so; I didn’t want to get punches thrown at me.
(8) Pavlov reaction from Haihan.
(9) Nice reaction from that old timer who knew Tony from way back.
(10) Another with Steph.
(11) Party pooper from Haihan.
(12) Wow. I didn’t realize I went so long without playing something brand new.
(13) Spinfest with Steph.
(14) Rajiv still here and dancing with Sharon on this one. He’s doing some different things. Cool.
(15) I stopped Sharon from leaving for a dance with her.
(16) This was supposed to be the last song.
(17) Cries of one more song led to this one with lights left on. I also ended up dancing (starting with simple sway then a couple of basic steps) with woman who just came down moments ago - at her male escort's request.
Total = 50 songs. 1 Cha Cha. 1 Reggaeton. 4 Merengue. 5 Bachata including 1 new. 39 Salsa including 2 new.
I got me a ticket for Salsa Del Este party. Other excitements included a broken wine bottle in the DJ booth. Cristian and Sandra made a very brief appearance at the end of the night. Did Sally request Bachata?
That was different! No more of the same old uneventful boring night. Instead the night was action-packed, at least for me.
Vish was away; I don’t know where. Joe was going to leave early. In fact I think Joe only played 2 or 3 songs so I was in the DJ booth right after arriving. Joe suggested keeping the speed of the songs slow but upbeat – a lot of beginners around. I looked around. It was no different than usual.
Johnny was there early. I think they had to change the teaching venue at the last minute and couldn’t use the venue for social afterwards so most people moved over to CS tonight. No Serap though; I haven’t seen her in ages.
Playlist
Momposina – Santiago Ceron (1)
Sientate Ahi – Oscar D’Leon
Camina Prende Y El Fogon – Conjunto Yumuri
La-La-La – Direct Latin Influence (2)
Almendra – German Villarreal (3)
El Menu – El Gran Combo
Prestame Tu Mujer – Grupo Gale
Soulsa – Estrellas Caiman (4)
This Moment – Azabache
Dos Locos – Monchy & Alexandra (5)
El Agua Del Clavelito – Johnny Pacheco
Asi Son – El Gran Combo (6)
Boranda – Sonora Poncena (shortened remix) (7)
Mentirosa – Louie Ramirez & Ray De La Paz
La Libertad – Rey Reyes
Esta Cobardia – Frankie Ruiz
Mambologia – Maximo Rodriguez & Sus Estrellas Panamenas
Nadie Como Ella – Marc Anthony
No Aguanto Mas – Celia Cruz & Johnny Pacheco
Pecado – Toque D Keda
Que Bonito Es Puerto Rico – Jose Alberto “El Canario”
Swing La Moderna – Ray Barretto (8)
Dejame En Paz – Johnny Colon (9)
Salchicha Con Huevos – Jimmy Sabater con Son Boricua (10)
Bamboleo – Fania All Stars
Ven A Medellin – Grupo Gale
Juana Pena – Willie Colon (11)
Ojala Que Llueve Cafe – Juan Luis Guerra
No Hado Facil – Monchy & Alexandra* (12)
Cuando Te Vea – Tito Puente
Yay Boy – Africando
Que Bonito Es Sonar – Jimmy Bosch
Cairo – Orquesta Cheo Diaz (-5%)*
Ajiaco Caliente – Eddie Palmieri
El Cepillo – Fulanito
I Wanna Love You – Pablo Bachata
Mambo Mongo – Mongo Santamaria (Fania) (13)
Esas Lagrimas – Gilberto Santa Rosa
Quiero A Morir – DLG (Dark Latin Groove)*
Rompe – Daddy Yankee
A Pedir Su Mano – Juan Luis Guerra
Playa Fa Sho – Toby Love
Ay Amor, Cuando Hablan Las Miradas – Orquesta Guayacan (14)
Caballo Viejo – Roberto Torres
El Negrito De Batey – Direct Latin Influence
Quiero Enamorarte – Marco Ferretti
Periodico De Ayer – Hector Lavoe (15)
Bailando – Frankie Ruiz
Aicha – Africando (16)
Otra Oportunidad – Jimmy Bosch (17)
(1) Definitely slow. Upbeat? Well... maybe not especially. Contrast is good.
(2) Steph got me for this one. On2. After I stopped the next track from playing at the same time. DJ techinque-wise, it wasn't the smoothest of the nights. Dancewise, we both went off time once or twice. I wasn’t quite settled in. It didn’t stop people from watching and commenting afterwards. Playing the next song was a little messy.
(3) Haihan and Weishen are here. No Ivan, Mark or Jane.
(4) Sally is here too promoting Salsa Del Este. She stole my pen a few times causing confusion.
(5) A girl (Turkish?) asked me to dance to this one. Another surprise! New partner for new dance with some irregular timing made this a challenge. I also picked a difficult song to transition into.
(6) Sally stole my pen again! I borrowed one from Steph.
(7) I got into a really interesting (maybe call it heated) argument around here. Apparently someone scratched [let’s say Mr. X’s] car, and X thought it was me. Again. I say again because X convinced me about two years ago that I probably did (and I gave him my insurance info and called my insurance company to pay him for repairs). It wasn’t me this time. Unfortunately it seemed quite impossible to convince him otherwise. Two years ago, I had a reason to think that I might have been responsible, but this time there was absolutely nothing that made me think it happened again. X claimed that it must have happened last Friday. However, I arrived at CS before X (while the lessons were still underway) and left after X (at the time of early closing). Nowadays I almost always park in an isolated space away from all other cars when coming to CS, and last Friday was no different. Moreover X had not even parked in the same car park! Amazing. X then tried to suggest that it might have happened on a Wednesday. I haven’t been to CS on Wednesdays in more than a year! How about the week before? Again I am pretty sure I parked away from all other cars. I suspect for last 2-3 months if not more, I always arrived before X and left after X. For whatever its worth, I don’t remember even coming near hitting any car anywhere for years anywhere let alone CS. It was quite bizaare. I felt like I was in some alternate reality or such. The only thing X could focus on was the color of paint left on his car, which he claimed matched mine (like red/burgundy is such a unique color). In the end I could do little but laugh about it. I wasn’t the only one laughing. No one will believe claim like this based on color of the paint. X claimed that his car paint was on my bumper – I have no idea what that was about except maybe he was trying to browbeat me into admitting something I did not do. Two years ago, it didn’t take much for him to convince me that I was responsible. Why was it so easy for me to admit the “truth” back then (actually tonight’s incident makes me wonder if I was really responsible two years ago) yet I would be so intent on “lying”? Maybe I’m being really stupid writing this account, but then again it seemed like X was telling anyone and everyone that I hit his car. So it’s not like this is going to make things any worse. Maybe X will apologize to me for false accusation, intimidation and throwing insults next time - maybe not. It doesn’t matter to me. One last humorous point - the incident did keep me from visiting the toilet for about half an hour or so; I didn’t want to get punches thrown at me.
(8) Pavlov reaction from Haihan.
(9) Nice reaction from that old timer who knew Tony from way back.
(10) Another with Steph.
(11) Party pooper from Haihan.
(12) Wow. I didn’t realize I went so long without playing something brand new.
(13) Spinfest with Steph.
(14) Rajiv still here and dancing with Sharon on this one. He’s doing some different things. Cool.
(15) I stopped Sharon from leaving for a dance with her.
(16) This was supposed to be the last song.
(17) Cries of one more song led to this one with lights left on. I also ended up dancing (starting with simple sway then a couple of basic steps) with woman who just came down moments ago - at her male escort's request.
Total = 50 songs. 1 Cha Cha. 1 Reggaeton. 4 Merengue. 5 Bachata including 1 new. 39 Salsa including 2 new.
I got me a ticket for Salsa Del Este party. Other excitements included a broken wine bottle in the DJ booth. Cristian and Sandra made a very brief appearance at the end of the night. Did Sally request Bachata?
Slogging Into Michaelmas
October 10, 2008
Okay. The students are back. Haihan, Mark, Weishen, Steph. Ditto Ivan. Does this mean students are gone too? Andrea, Polly? No Jane today meant a severe shortage on follower's side. Notable addition from Singapore is Nicole, who I suppose is might be at about Agnes's level few years ago.
Both Haihan and Stephanie said they hardly went dancing during summer. Steph commented that she's going to need a few weeks to get back into shape. I suspect she's right. Sadly even a very rusty Stephanie is ... (thought better left unsaid).
I think Joe went a little too far in diluting the genre so that even when he played perfectly reasonable songs, some people were blowing raspberries. It might have caused Vish to get cold feet as well. Incidentally he commented that he couldn't remember when he did not DJ on Fridays (when he was here of course) as he called for the last song shortly after 1:30. Last time it happened? Aug 29 and Aug 1 before that.
I chatted with Ivan briefly about the CDC Salsa classes. Even he didn't know who was going to be teaching the Monday classes. It starts in 3 days! I might add that it would have made more sense to hold the class on Tuesdays or Thursdays. I'm guessing that Sally is planning on continuing her Monday classes at St. Ives.
Playlist
Hasta El Fin – Monchy & Alexandra
Camina Prende Y El Fogon – Conjunto Yumuri
Tu No Me Has Visto Miguel – Sonora Matancera? (Javier Vazquez)
Geisha Girl – Louie Ramirez
Sama Thiel – Africando*
Tu Tu Ta Ta – Eddie Palmieri*
El Swing De Fruko – Fruko Y Sus Tesos (-5%)
Loco De Amor – Evolucion A R
Espiritu Burlon – Santiago Ceron
Bilongo – Charanga De La 4 (refined remix)
Cualquiera – Oscar D’Leon
Sonando – Poncho Sanchez
Gotas De Lluvia – Grupo Niche
Ublabadu – Fania All Stars (canta: Hector Lavoe)
Ran Kan Kan – Tito Puente (Live at Birdland)
Caballo Viejo – Roberto Torres (1)
El Apartamento – Willie Rosario
Dos Locos – Monchy & Alexandra
Si Tu Cocinas Como Caminas – Henry Fiol
Con Eso – El Gran Combo
Oye La Banda – Jose Alberto “El Canario”
Me Enamorado De Ella – Juan Luis Guerra
Musica Ligera – Toque D Keda
Ole Gitana – Ismael Miranda & Junior Gonzalez
Otra Oportunidad – Jimmy Bosch
(1) This was for a birthday dance – it was played for less than 2 minutes.
Total = 25 songs. 1 Merengue. 3 Bachata. 1 Cha Cha. 20 songs including 2 new.
Sergio wasn't there to given demonstration of leads more subtle than mine.
Okay. The students are back. Haihan, Mark, Weishen, Steph. Ditto Ivan. Does this mean students are gone too? Andrea, Polly? No Jane today meant a severe shortage on follower's side. Notable addition from Singapore is Nicole, who I suppose is might be at about Agnes's level few years ago.
Both Haihan and Stephanie said they hardly went dancing during summer. Steph commented that she's going to need a few weeks to get back into shape. I suspect she's right. Sadly even a very rusty Stephanie is ... (thought better left unsaid).
I think Joe went a little too far in diluting the genre so that even when he played perfectly reasonable songs, some people were blowing raspberries. It might have caused Vish to get cold feet as well. Incidentally he commented that he couldn't remember when he did not DJ on Fridays (when he was here of course) as he called for the last song shortly after 1:30. Last time it happened? Aug 29 and Aug 1 before that.
I chatted with Ivan briefly about the CDC Salsa classes. Even he didn't know who was going to be teaching the Monday classes. It starts in 3 days! I might add that it would have made more sense to hold the class on Tuesdays or Thursdays. I'm guessing that Sally is planning on continuing her Monday classes at St. Ives.
Playlist
Hasta El Fin – Monchy & Alexandra
Camina Prende Y El Fogon – Conjunto Yumuri
Tu No Me Has Visto Miguel – Sonora Matancera? (Javier Vazquez)
Geisha Girl – Louie Ramirez
Sama Thiel – Africando*
Tu Tu Ta Ta – Eddie Palmieri*
El Swing De Fruko – Fruko Y Sus Tesos (-5%)
Loco De Amor – Evolucion A R
Espiritu Burlon – Santiago Ceron
Bilongo – Charanga De La 4 (refined remix)
Cualquiera – Oscar D’Leon
Sonando – Poncho Sanchez
Gotas De Lluvia – Grupo Niche
Ublabadu – Fania All Stars (canta: Hector Lavoe)
Ran Kan Kan – Tito Puente (Live at Birdland)
Caballo Viejo – Roberto Torres (1)
El Apartamento – Willie Rosario
Dos Locos – Monchy & Alexandra
Si Tu Cocinas Como Caminas – Henry Fiol
Con Eso – El Gran Combo
Oye La Banda – Jose Alberto “El Canario”
Me Enamorado De Ella – Juan Luis Guerra
Musica Ligera – Toque D Keda
Ole Gitana – Ismael Miranda & Junior Gonzalez
Otra Oportunidad – Jimmy Bosch
(1) This was for a birthday dance – it was played for less than 2 minutes.
Total = 25 songs. 1 Merengue. 3 Bachata. 1 Cha Cha. 20 songs including 2 new.
Sergio wasn't there to given demonstration of leads more subtle than mine.
Same As It Ever Was
October 6, 2008
Cooler head prevailed or so I thought to delude myself. In any case, it had been a while since I saw how things were on Mondays. The answer was no different than the way I left it: dance with everyone who stays behind and it last until 11 or so. I would guess that this week was below average still. Johnny said there were more people last week, and Steve said it wasn’t very good. Vish incidentally was away with another gig. As I was told Sergio, Friday is still the best bet. Of course for vast majority a quiet night can be great for stress-free practice time, and tuition should be same as Friday but with more space.
Cooler head prevailed or so I thought to delude myself. In any case, it had been a while since I saw how things were on Mondays. The answer was no different than the way I left it: dance with everyone who stays behind and it last until 11 or so. I would guess that this week was below average still. Johnny said there were more people last week, and Steve said it wasn’t very good. Vish incidentally was away with another gig. As I was told Sergio, Friday is still the best bet. Of course for vast majority a quiet night can be great for stress-free practice time, and tuition should be same as Friday but with more space.
Seven Week Itch? Whatever.
October 5, 2008
The urge to dance at SOS was not the critical factor. In fact I was getting quite used to not going to SOS after not having made the trip for several weeks. Sure the long hiatus would have been a reasonable excuse but the clincher was the idea that a change in setting – getting on a train with a computer but without internet connection – might do something to get on with writing that letter I have been putting off. So I said temporary goodbye to distraction otherwise known as work, politics (yes, we can!) and play and got on the train making a pointed omission to bring a book to read to clinch the deal. It was going to be a one-way deal of course but it’s still better than nothing, and the inward trip went as planned. Some progress was made – not extensive, but every small step is a minor victory.
Now onto SOS itself. A quote of Fruity’s “Oh dear, oh dear” might have been appropriate given relative dearth of followers especially of the type I am used to dancing with. It meant exploring options I had been reluctant to take for reasons I cannot even remember. It turned out to a good thing – I think I found another favorite – lovely all around and seemingly into what I was doing even if I couldn’t completely shake off the idea that it might have been for a show. I suppose I might know better after another dance next time I see her. After a solid first couple of hours, the final hour turned into exquisite category. This would have to place tonight at the top quartile for this year – it rivalled the brilliant night the week before Hamburg.
A part of the reason was that Julian the Duke went away from playing his usual consistently mediocre repertoire. For a change, he didn’t play Avisale A Mi Contrario. On the other hand, he played songs like Ajiaco Caliente and Clave Mambo, neither of which I did not get around to dance to unfortunately. Other than two uninspired Cha Cha (why is that I rarely hear neither simple solid Cha Cha nor brilliantly weird funky Cha Cha in London?) and questionable final song of the evening (Sonero Del Barrio by Tabaco and Ron is the best he could think of???), it was a quite excellent mix overall. About a third of my dances were On2 – no big problems to speak of despite lack of practice (well – at least nothing more than usual).
One of the first people I saw was Quentin – back from NYC. He commented that there were a lot of new good dancers in London now while checking out one guy in particular – I got a good look at him later and it was Nelson Flores. What the heck was he doing here? No Veronica. I might add what the heck was Quentin not taking advantage of the NYC On2 scene? I also saw Roger for the first time in a while. Heck, seemingly all the guys I know were there including Sean, Simon, Andrew and Amir but none with their female counterpart. I only got a chance to say hello to some of them. It was amusing to see Jamil seemingly having integrated into the On2 community in London. Oh I almost forgot – Goldilocks was there too. Ditto for Liam and the other London kid from last week.
So it was a nice trip overall. Not gratuitous. It was also somewhat productive – in dance and in other matters. Insightful in some ways especially with a move I had been working on forever. It’s amazing how much difference a few centimeters could make – or maybe about 5-10 centimeters in this case to add a little bit of clarity of direction. Heck, playing it right could lead to some amusing variation also.
Here concludes another episode full of gobbledegook to try the patience of likes of NP.
[note added later: The Nelson question was answered in Sally's regular post - he's teaching a performance course in London now with Irene. No doubt he's doing other guest gigs too.]
The urge to dance at SOS was not the critical factor. In fact I was getting quite used to not going to SOS after not having made the trip for several weeks. Sure the long hiatus would have been a reasonable excuse but the clincher was the idea that a change in setting – getting on a train with a computer but without internet connection – might do something to get on with writing that letter I have been putting off. So I said temporary goodbye to distraction otherwise known as work, politics (yes, we can!) and play and got on the train making a pointed omission to bring a book to read to clinch the deal. It was going to be a one-way deal of course but it’s still better than nothing, and the inward trip went as planned. Some progress was made – not extensive, but every small step is a minor victory.
Now onto SOS itself. A quote of Fruity’s “Oh dear, oh dear” might have been appropriate given relative dearth of followers especially of the type I am used to dancing with. It meant exploring options I had been reluctant to take for reasons I cannot even remember. It turned out to a good thing – I think I found another favorite – lovely all around and seemingly into what I was doing even if I couldn’t completely shake off the idea that it might have been for a show. I suppose I might know better after another dance next time I see her. After a solid first couple of hours, the final hour turned into exquisite category. This would have to place tonight at the top quartile for this year – it rivalled the brilliant night the week before Hamburg.
A part of the reason was that Julian the Duke went away from playing his usual consistently mediocre repertoire. For a change, he didn’t play Avisale A Mi Contrario. On the other hand, he played songs like Ajiaco Caliente and Clave Mambo, neither of which I did not get around to dance to unfortunately. Other than two uninspired Cha Cha (why is that I rarely hear neither simple solid Cha Cha nor brilliantly weird funky Cha Cha in London?) and questionable final song of the evening (Sonero Del Barrio by Tabaco and Ron is the best he could think of???), it was a quite excellent mix overall. About a third of my dances were On2 – no big problems to speak of despite lack of practice (well – at least nothing more than usual).
One of the first people I saw was Quentin – back from NYC. He commented that there were a lot of new good dancers in London now while checking out one guy in particular – I got a good look at him later and it was Nelson Flores. What the heck was he doing here? No Veronica. I might add what the heck was Quentin not taking advantage of the NYC On2 scene? I also saw Roger for the first time in a while. Heck, seemingly all the guys I know were there including Sean, Simon, Andrew and Amir but none with their female counterpart. I only got a chance to say hello to some of them. It was amusing to see Jamil seemingly having integrated into the On2 community in London. Oh I almost forgot – Goldilocks was there too. Ditto for Liam and the other London kid from last week.
So it was a nice trip overall. Not gratuitous. It was also somewhat productive – in dance and in other matters. Insightful in some ways especially with a move I had been working on forever. It’s amazing how much difference a few centimeters could make – or maybe about 5-10 centimeters in this case to add a little bit of clarity of direction. Heck, playing it right could lead to some amusing variation also.
Here concludes another episode full of gobbledegook to try the patience of likes of NP.
[note added later: The Nelson question was answered in Sally's regular post - he's teaching a performance course in London now with Irene. No doubt he's doing other guest gigs too.]
Six Months To Go
October 3, 2008
Weird night. It seemed like only the hard-core regulars and newcomers were present. Perhaps a lot of people went away on a vacation before school starts next week. No Ivan. No Rajiv. None from that circle in fact. Maybe a sizeable contingent made their way to the rumored El Gran Combo concert in London.
Joe as usual started off. Among songs he played and I found striking were Rumbera (Willie Chirino) and Perdios (Monchy & Alexandra). Other songs included Swing La Moderna (Mandingo Y Su Son) and Merecumbe (Johnny Colon).
Other than a small birthday crowd (with birthday song well after 1 AM) and a brief appearance by Cristian to put up some posters for another attempt at starting Sunday gigs, hardly anyone seemed to come in after lessons finished. Steve was there, but he was there taking lessons too. Oh I almost forgot – Johnny showed up like he did last week. Another contingent might have been from that language school.
Playlist
Tiembla – El Gran Combo*
Ken Moussoul Guis Li – Africando
Cosas Nativas – Frankie Ruiz*
La-La-La – Direct Latin Influence
Tu Musica Popular – Don Perignon
Cuando Te Vea – German Villarreal
Don Lengua – Santiago Ceron
Rebelion – Joe Arroyo*
No Es Una Novela – Monchy & Alexandra
Pastorita – Conjunto Yumuri
A El – Oscar D’Leon
Isla Del Encanto – Orquesta Broadway
Che Che – New Swing Sextet
Dime Que Quieres – El Gran Combo
El Cayuco – Tito Puente (short version)
Tu Nuevo Amor – Ismael Miranda & Junior Gonzalez
Total = 16 songs. 1 Bachata. 1 Cha Cha. 14 Salsa including 3 new.
Vish finished the evening keeping things typical – Lo Bonito Y Lo Feo (Grupo Niche), Sey (Africando) before turning to somewhat more irregular tunes like Asia Mood (Tito Puente), Besitos De Coco (Azabache) and Descarga La Moderna (Ray Barretto).
A lot more repeat dances than usual – I was somewhat in the mood and it wasn’t like there were a whole lot of people to choose from. Should I be looking forward to kids coming back for school? Not sure. Who’s coming back? Haihan, Mark, Stephanie. Anyone else?
Weird night. It seemed like only the hard-core regulars and newcomers were present. Perhaps a lot of people went away on a vacation before school starts next week. No Ivan. No Rajiv. None from that circle in fact. Maybe a sizeable contingent made their way to the rumored El Gran Combo concert in London.
Joe as usual started off. Among songs he played and I found striking were Rumbera (Willie Chirino) and Perdios (Monchy & Alexandra). Other songs included Swing La Moderna (Mandingo Y Su Son) and Merecumbe (Johnny Colon).
Other than a small birthday crowd (with birthday song well after 1 AM) and a brief appearance by Cristian to put up some posters for another attempt at starting Sunday gigs, hardly anyone seemed to come in after lessons finished. Steve was there, but he was there taking lessons too. Oh I almost forgot – Johnny showed up like he did last week. Another contingent might have been from that language school.
Playlist
Tiembla – El Gran Combo*
Ken Moussoul Guis Li – Africando
Cosas Nativas – Frankie Ruiz*
La-La-La – Direct Latin Influence
Tu Musica Popular – Don Perignon
Cuando Te Vea – German Villarreal
Don Lengua – Santiago Ceron
Rebelion – Joe Arroyo*
No Es Una Novela – Monchy & Alexandra
Pastorita – Conjunto Yumuri
A El – Oscar D’Leon
Isla Del Encanto – Orquesta Broadway
Che Che – New Swing Sextet
Dime Que Quieres – El Gran Combo
El Cayuco – Tito Puente (short version)
Tu Nuevo Amor – Ismael Miranda & Junior Gonzalez
Total = 16 songs. 1 Bachata. 1 Cha Cha. 14 Salsa including 3 new.
Vish finished the evening keeping things typical – Lo Bonito Y Lo Feo (Grupo Niche), Sey (Africando) before turning to somewhat more irregular tunes like Asia Mood (Tito Puente), Besitos De Coco (Azabache) and Descarga La Moderna (Ray Barretto).
A lot more repeat dances than usual – I was somewhat in the mood and it wasn’t like there were a whole lot of people to choose from. Should I be looking forward to kids coming back for school? Not sure. Who’s coming back? Haihan, Mark, Stephanie. Anyone else?
Meeting Terence
September 27, 2008
2 PM to 4 PM Drill Hall, London – near Goodge Street underground station.
I missed the 12:15 PM train, which might have enabled me to run some errands at Oxford Circus before the class started. So with a slower 12:30 PM train, I went directly to Drill Hall. At the front desk, I asked for Terence Levine (pronouncing it to rhyme with vine) and was corrected (rhyming with bin). Room 3, second floor.
Four men were in the narrow corridor outside the room, which was still occupied. I picked out Terence as the oldest gentleman. I recognized Andrew. The third I learned later was Matt from Bath. The fourth was waiting for a different room. Then another two people arrived – one of them in our group. It felt claustrophobic. I went back to the stairs, and waited until the room was cleared.
It wasn’t clear what the previous occupant were doing. I only remember there being a blonde woman (by herself?) and no one standing or moving. The fifth guy (not in our group) went into the room at the same time as the rest of us. One of the early arrivals carried in a portable CD player. I guessed that the piano in the room would not get used – you never know for certain.
First impressions of Terence. Other than his obvious age, I would have trouble picking him out in a roundup. I thought the photo on DJ Yuca’s article was only mildly helpful – at least from my memory. Unusual haircut – especially on the back. It reminded me that I am way overdue for a haircut. In any case, I wouldn’t say that he had the most memorable face – not particularly distinctive or striking. Well preserved.
Four more people arrived a little later – three of them girls. That’s not too bad – especially given that Salsa internet forums are dominated by men – unlike the Salsa world in general (Ballroom internet forums are another matter). A group of three including DJ Yuca were from Leicester. This meant that the Londoners were distinct minority here. Amusing but perhaps not surprising.
The class was fairly fast-paced and dealt mostly with basic steps of many different dances. First up was Bolero, which reminded me of Ballroom Rumba – but not quite so stiff. It made me think that such basic step can be quite flexible and used in rather large number of musical settings. Not necessarily optimal but not necessarily completely out of character either. Next up was Danzon box step quickly leading to Mambo box step to forward and back basic to give it all a historic context.
Next up was cross-over (a.k.a. New Yorker), which is seen rarely in social Salsa dancing although common enough in Cha Cha. Arguably the segment, which came closest to a turn pattern, came around here starting with cross-over, followed by back spot turn (or stationary clockwise turn for follower) followed by what was called scallop.
Terence suggested that scallop does require that follower be aware of the move meaning it’s probably not leadable for someone unaware of it. Of course there is lead involved. I thought the footwork timing might be slightly easier with On2 timing, but I don’t think this was the case with follower I had at the time (who was not used to On2 timing in the first place).
Footwork for leader is as follows. On1 timing in this case…
7 R to R somewhat wide and establish two-handed open hold
1 L cross over in front of R
3 L cross over behind R
5 R cross over behind L
6 L slightly to L
7 R together or at least change weight to R
I won’t bother with On2 timing – obvious enough for me. On to follower’s footwork (which the leader leads her into, helped if she knows what she's supposed to do)…
1 R cross over behind L
2 weight transfer to L
3 R cross over in front of L
5 L cross over in front of R
6 R to R
7 L together
So it’s essentially mirror image footwork. The lead is done with both hand connected. It’s really more of frame lead of course, rather than leading with arms.
Dancing on the Clave was funky. This involves dancing outside the bars of music – or you get back to the original position after 6 bars of music. Too little time was spent to see how it would feel.
Last or near the end was the distinction between Guajira and Cha Cha. One is On1 and the other is On2. I actually missed the distinction because I could hear where the cha-cha-cha steps should be coming based upon the beats with Guajira music Terence used. However, it seemed that this was because I was not paying attention to the melody.
There were fair bit of technical stuff in terms of holds, being grounded, etc. For me specifically Terence observed that I was dancing on balls of my feet often without getting my heels down completely to complete the steps. He also noted that I must have become very accustomed to doing it this way and that changing it would take a long time. I’d imagine he would have an interesting reaction to how Ivan does it. In any case, I’d want to change it before I could change it. It’s something to think about.
It was an interesting experience. Would I do it again? Probably. Is the whole thing financially viable for Terence? I have no answer to that. My natural tendency is to be conservative in anyone’s ability to raise interest level. Maybe youtube video shot by DJ Yuca (unfortunately shot vertically) will help.
2 PM to 4 PM Drill Hall, London – near Goodge Street underground station.
I missed the 12:15 PM train, which might have enabled me to run some errands at Oxford Circus before the class started. So with a slower 12:30 PM train, I went directly to Drill Hall. At the front desk, I asked for Terence Levine (pronouncing it to rhyme with vine) and was corrected (rhyming with bin). Room 3, second floor.
Four men were in the narrow corridor outside the room, which was still occupied. I picked out Terence as the oldest gentleman. I recognized Andrew. The third I learned later was Matt from Bath. The fourth was waiting for a different room. Then another two people arrived – one of them in our group. It felt claustrophobic. I went back to the stairs, and waited until the room was cleared.
It wasn’t clear what the previous occupant were doing. I only remember there being a blonde woman (by herself?) and no one standing or moving. The fifth guy (not in our group) went into the room at the same time as the rest of us. One of the early arrivals carried in a portable CD player. I guessed that the piano in the room would not get used – you never know for certain.
First impressions of Terence. Other than his obvious age, I would have trouble picking him out in a roundup. I thought the photo on DJ Yuca’s article was only mildly helpful – at least from my memory. Unusual haircut – especially on the back. It reminded me that I am way overdue for a haircut. In any case, I wouldn’t say that he had the most memorable face – not particularly distinctive or striking. Well preserved.
Four more people arrived a little later – three of them girls. That’s not too bad – especially given that Salsa internet forums are dominated by men – unlike the Salsa world in general (Ballroom internet forums are another matter). A group of three including DJ Yuca were from Leicester. This meant that the Londoners were distinct minority here. Amusing but perhaps not surprising.
The class was fairly fast-paced and dealt mostly with basic steps of many different dances. First up was Bolero, which reminded me of Ballroom Rumba – but not quite so stiff. It made me think that such basic step can be quite flexible and used in rather large number of musical settings. Not necessarily optimal but not necessarily completely out of character either. Next up was Danzon box step quickly leading to Mambo box step to forward and back basic to give it all a historic context.
Next up was cross-over (a.k.a. New Yorker), which is seen rarely in social Salsa dancing although common enough in Cha Cha. Arguably the segment, which came closest to a turn pattern, came around here starting with cross-over, followed by back spot turn (or stationary clockwise turn for follower) followed by what was called scallop.
Terence suggested that scallop does require that follower be aware of the move meaning it’s probably not leadable for someone unaware of it. Of course there is lead involved. I thought the footwork timing might be slightly easier with On2 timing, but I don’t think this was the case with follower I had at the time (who was not used to On2 timing in the first place).
Footwork for leader is as follows. On1 timing in this case…
7 R to R somewhat wide and establish two-handed open hold
1 L cross over in front of R
3 L cross over behind R
5 R cross over behind L
6 L slightly to L
7 R together or at least change weight to R
I won’t bother with On2 timing – obvious enough for me. On to follower’s footwork (which the leader leads her into, helped if she knows what she's supposed to do)…
1 R cross over behind L
2 weight transfer to L
3 R cross over in front of L
5 L cross over in front of R
6 R to R
7 L together
So it’s essentially mirror image footwork. The lead is done with both hand connected. It’s really more of frame lead of course, rather than leading with arms.
Dancing on the Clave was funky. This involves dancing outside the bars of music – or you get back to the original position after 6 bars of music. Too little time was spent to see how it would feel.
Last or near the end was the distinction between Guajira and Cha Cha. One is On1 and the other is On2. I actually missed the distinction because I could hear where the cha-cha-cha steps should be coming based upon the beats with Guajira music Terence used. However, it seemed that this was because I was not paying attention to the melody.
There were fair bit of technical stuff in terms of holds, being grounded, etc. For me specifically Terence observed that I was dancing on balls of my feet often without getting my heels down completely to complete the steps. He also noted that I must have become very accustomed to doing it this way and that changing it would take a long time. I’d imagine he would have an interesting reaction to how Ivan does it. In any case, I’d want to change it before I could change it. It’s something to think about.
It was an interesting experience. Would I do it again? Probably. Is the whole thing financially viable for Terence? I have no answer to that. My natural tendency is to be conservative in anyone’s ability to raise interest level. Maybe youtube video shot by DJ Yuca (unfortunately shot vertically) will help.
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