SDsalsaguy
01-08-2004, 02:41 AM
New Year’s Eve 2004
So… here’s a post that’s been waiting to be written for several days now (it’s been a little hectic with classes starting back up this week, etc.). I was originally thinking of writing this as a “happy thought” post but realized that that would place it in the DA forum, and this is too much about dance to go there. Anyway, enough rambling on my part, here’s the shpiel…
Let me start off with New Year’s Eve… I was invited to one of the two salsa parties happening in town that night. One of the local DJs and one of the local promoters got together to put on this particular event and both, independently of each other, ended up inviting me to be there. While I’ve thanked each, in person, I just want to say how very much I appreciated their respective invitations. It’s always nice to feel welcome, but even nicer to feel wanted and valued! :D
Well, one of the salseras there (who was among those performing that night) happens to be one of my favorite partners to dance with. We don’t frequent the same clubs on a regular basis, so it is always a treat to get a chance to dance with her and, on this particular evening, the mix of regulars and not-so-regulars provided several opportunities for us to dance. After our first dance, as I was escorting her off the floor I told I told her “it was a pleasure, as always,” to which she responded that she’d just been talking to someone else about how much fun it is to dance with me. Well, let me tell you all, that pretty much made my New Year’s Eve right then and there. This was actually the second time she’s told me this, so seems unlikely to be a fluke. And it means a lot to me, for several reasons. For one thing, she’s a better dancer than I am. She also regularly dances with several guys who are better dancers than I and, exacerbating this, we dance somewhat different basic styles.
I guess the only “downer” of the evening was one of the three DJs. The DJ who was hosting is my favorite DJ in SD, so he was great, and the other SD DJ there plays with him regularly so was also good. The organizer who helped put on the event *loves* to bring down LA DJs though... Now I realize that everyone has their own tastes, but to my mind this guy, who was supposed to be “one of the best in LA” just sucked! In all fairness one of the performers there that night told me that he (the performer) had heard him (the DJ) somewhere else before and that it had been awesome, but that tonight was just terrible. In his first set the LA DJ mixed three merengues together so that there was 15 minutes of merengue straight, without even a break between songs! Who in G-d’s name likes that? I mean seriously now, even if you like merengue, you might appreciate a chance to switch partners or something, no? :roll: :headwall:
In a similarly telling detail, there was one guy, in the entire evening, who, as he took the floor with a partner, backed straight into me and never so much as looked around to apologize. As I watched this same guy dancing later I also noticed a variety of shines performed, over several measures, without looking in his partners direction even one…guess what? He turned out to be the LA DJ’s brother! :evil: (Just as an aside, I swear to G-d that – as much as it may not seem like it – there are *many* LA salsa dancers who I very much enjoy dancing with and/or admire! My gripe is only with the “only turbo, look at my spins and tricks, is my partner good enough for me to look good” crowd.)
Tragically the LA DJ was the one who played the last set of the night so, very much related to the issues MapleLeaf Salsero raises here (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=1935), I was rather hesitant to approach the salsera I enjoy so much since only faster songs were being played and we do not connect as well for these. Actually, the last three songs of the night were all of the ultra-turbo variety. What type of moron finishes off New Year’s Eve with three back to back turbo salsas? :headwall: Anyhow, given how rarely I see this particular salsera I decided I didn’t want to let the opportunity pass me by so did dance with her a couple of more times, but it did sort of leave a bad taste in my mouth…we didn’t connect as well as we had earlier (and as I knew would be the case given the music) and I very much regret that those were our last dances of the night. I just hate to think that I left her with a less enjoyable dance than we started out with… :cry:
An interesting twist involved a small group (probably about 10-15 people) from some other New Year’s party in the same hotel dropping in at the very end of our event who all applauded after each song as we wrapped up our event. As a larger issue this was pretty illustrative of the different eyes that dancers and lay people see dance with as well as different frames of reference…what they thought of as applause worthy displays were, in my mind, disappointing conclusions to the night.
Anyway, I was invited to an after party at the DJ’s house after our event wound down. I was one of the first people back to the house and, while we were waiting for the others to arrive, one of the other salseros completed making my night with a couple of comments. Apparently he too had observed my last dance of the night with the salsera I mention above and said that he had enjoyed vicariously being along for the ride, just watching us. I thanked him for the compliment but also had to lament the fact that that was our last song/dance of the evening (for the reasons already specified). He said that surprised him and then went on to say that watching that one dance alone, and his vicarious experiencing of it, had been worth coming back into town for…he had just got back from Germany where he’d been for Christmas! :D As if that wasn’t good enough, he also went on to allay some of my concerns regarding that last dance having been something of a disappointment to her, telling me that she seemed to look serious most of the time but there were many times during our dance where she would just beam. :D
A bunch of additional people later, several snacks, a good salsa DVD, a couple more dances, a cup of coffee, and several bottles of water later I called it a night, came home, and got to work on compiling The 2003 DF Awards (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=1862).
…and that was my New Year’s Eve, con salsa, 2004! :D
So… here’s a post that’s been waiting to be written for several days now (it’s been a little hectic with classes starting back up this week, etc.). I was originally thinking of writing this as a “happy thought” post but realized that that would place it in the DA forum, and this is too much about dance to go there. Anyway, enough rambling on my part, here’s the shpiel…
Let me start off with New Year’s Eve… I was invited to one of the two salsa parties happening in town that night. One of the local DJs and one of the local promoters got together to put on this particular event and both, independently of each other, ended up inviting me to be there. While I’ve thanked each, in person, I just want to say how very much I appreciated their respective invitations. It’s always nice to feel welcome, but even nicer to feel wanted and valued! :D
Well, one of the salseras there (who was among those performing that night) happens to be one of my favorite partners to dance with. We don’t frequent the same clubs on a regular basis, so it is always a treat to get a chance to dance with her and, on this particular evening, the mix of regulars and not-so-regulars provided several opportunities for us to dance. After our first dance, as I was escorting her off the floor I told I told her “it was a pleasure, as always,” to which she responded that she’d just been talking to someone else about how much fun it is to dance with me. Well, let me tell you all, that pretty much made my New Year’s Eve right then and there. This was actually the second time she’s told me this, so seems unlikely to be a fluke. And it means a lot to me, for several reasons. For one thing, she’s a better dancer than I am. She also regularly dances with several guys who are better dancers than I and, exacerbating this, we dance somewhat different basic styles.
I guess the only “downer” of the evening was one of the three DJs. The DJ who was hosting is my favorite DJ in SD, so he was great, and the other SD DJ there plays with him regularly so was also good. The organizer who helped put on the event *loves* to bring down LA DJs though... Now I realize that everyone has their own tastes, but to my mind this guy, who was supposed to be “one of the best in LA” just sucked! In all fairness one of the performers there that night told me that he (the performer) had heard him (the DJ) somewhere else before and that it had been awesome, but that tonight was just terrible. In his first set the LA DJ mixed three merengues together so that there was 15 minutes of merengue straight, without even a break between songs! Who in G-d’s name likes that? I mean seriously now, even if you like merengue, you might appreciate a chance to switch partners or something, no? :roll: :headwall:
In a similarly telling detail, there was one guy, in the entire evening, who, as he took the floor with a partner, backed straight into me and never so much as looked around to apologize. As I watched this same guy dancing later I also noticed a variety of shines performed, over several measures, without looking in his partners direction even one…guess what? He turned out to be the LA DJ’s brother! :evil: (Just as an aside, I swear to G-d that – as much as it may not seem like it – there are *many* LA salsa dancers who I very much enjoy dancing with and/or admire! My gripe is only with the “only turbo, look at my spins and tricks, is my partner good enough for me to look good” crowd.)
Tragically the LA DJ was the one who played the last set of the night so, very much related to the issues MapleLeaf Salsero raises here (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=1935), I was rather hesitant to approach the salsera I enjoy so much since only faster songs were being played and we do not connect as well for these. Actually, the last three songs of the night were all of the ultra-turbo variety. What type of moron finishes off New Year’s Eve with three back to back turbo salsas? :headwall: Anyhow, given how rarely I see this particular salsera I decided I didn’t want to let the opportunity pass me by so did dance with her a couple of more times, but it did sort of leave a bad taste in my mouth…we didn’t connect as well as we had earlier (and as I knew would be the case given the music) and I very much regret that those were our last dances of the night. I just hate to think that I left her with a less enjoyable dance than we started out with… :cry:
An interesting twist involved a small group (probably about 10-15 people) from some other New Year’s party in the same hotel dropping in at the very end of our event who all applauded after each song as we wrapped up our event. As a larger issue this was pretty illustrative of the different eyes that dancers and lay people see dance with as well as different frames of reference…what they thought of as applause worthy displays were, in my mind, disappointing conclusions to the night.
Anyway, I was invited to an after party at the DJ’s house after our event wound down. I was one of the first people back to the house and, while we were waiting for the others to arrive, one of the other salseros completed making my night with a couple of comments. Apparently he too had observed my last dance of the night with the salsera I mention above and said that he had enjoyed vicariously being along for the ride, just watching us. I thanked him for the compliment but also had to lament the fact that that was our last song/dance of the evening (for the reasons already specified). He said that surprised him and then went on to say that watching that one dance alone, and his vicarious experiencing of it, had been worth coming back into town for…he had just got back from Germany where he’d been for Christmas! :D As if that wasn’t good enough, he also went on to allay some of my concerns regarding that last dance having been something of a disappointment to her, telling me that she seemed to look serious most of the time but there were many times during our dance where she would just beam. :D
A bunch of additional people later, several snacks, a good salsa DVD, a couple more dances, a cup of coffee, and several bottles of water later I called it a night, came home, and got to work on compiling The 2003 DF Awards (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=1862).
…and that was my New Year’s Eve, con salsa, 2004! :D