So ... how was your dance weekend? [Archive]

salsachinita

05-17-2004, 11:16 AM

My weekend was an event packed one, but I didn't feel 100%, so I didn't dance as much (or as well) as I normally would.

I went to a workshop on Sunday.

Now, for those of you lucky ducks going to L.A Congress, watchout for GianCarlo & Liz of Latinissimo from Melbourne.......! They are our own version of Luis & Joby.

There were 3 workshops. (1) Connection & lead/follow (2) Spins & Shines (3) Advanced tricks. If you do all three it's $60, or two for $50. Very reasonable.

After watching the demo, my partner 'El Washing Machine' decided that he wasn't confident to lead me through the advanced tricks, being unfamiliar with their style. So we only ended up doing the first two.

Eventhough L.A. style as such is far from our comfort zone, we were clearly the most experienced club dancers there. So apart from learning the style/pattern, we watched everyone else worked through the connection & related issues. My partner had a harder time learning to lead unfamiliar patterns, while I have managed to follow everyone relatively easily (& somehow got everyone to crack up in laughters by being a clown). Ironically, when we rotated to be with each other, we stuff the whole thing up completely ! I guess we slip back into our normal auto-pilot mode, having danced together for so many years .

The spins were by far the toughest for me, as expected. I never did managed to spot, despite being shown repeatedly over the years (& now). My partner was pretty good at it though, we compensated for eachother over the years, but I still want to be able to hold it on my own !

On the other hand, I found shines really easy, as all the moves were pretty much what I do normally during descarga. I just don't structure them that way! My partner usually sits out the descargas, so he finds it challenging.

I had to sit down for the last 15 mins......not feeling 100% & exhausted.

It was a good experience overall. The comments we would like to make were perhaps the complete lack of emphsis on musicality. Apart from the last 10 mins or so, no music was being played....no wonder so many people have trouble with staying on beat, let alone playing with the music ! The students from this kind of learning environment also felt compelled to memorise routines move by move. This is a perfect condition to create pattern dancers !

Genesius Redux

05-17-2004, 11:47 AM

I didn't dance at all--except for in the show I'm doing. :|

TemptressToo

05-17-2004, 12:06 PM

Is that the show you told me about involving the pole and naughty lingerie? I hope so, I am soooooo looking forward to those photos. ;)

My dance weekend involved my usual three hours of ballroom on Saturday evening. As the Roy Jones fight was going on (and I live in Pensacola), most of the older people stayed home or went to parties. So, it ended up being a group of us 20-somethings. It was a lot of fun.

And the good news...my tango, because I hate it, is getting better. Jason was laughing at me because I was mad I had to dance it. He said my technique and form and steps were better than people who loved to dance it. You are supposively not supposed to smile while tango-ing...and I wasn't. Apparently, I was expressing the proper amount of whatever it takes to tango well. I still hate it though...

April

Genesius Redux

05-17-2004, 12:29 PM

You are supposively not supposed to smile while tango-ing...and I wasn't. Apparently, I was expressing the proper amount of whatever it takes to tango well. I still hate it though...

April

:lol: No--you're supposed have this look on your face like "I eat my mate after sex." :lol:

April--Sugar--believe me, nobody has ever wanted to see me pole dance.... :lol:

TemptressToo

05-17-2004, 01:30 PM

<<Normally, this face cannot convey "I eat my mate" after anything. I look too innocent. ;)

Genesius Redux

05-17-2004, 01:33 PM

Not to those of us who have gotten to know you.... :wink:

And with this post, the Boy from Tennessee passes the girl from the UK....

danceguy

05-17-2004, 08:15 PM

Humm...the IRU thread has a good indicator of my dancing weekend. Friday night went dancing out of town...danced with my friend a few and the one girl I asked to dance turned me down...hardly anyone was there. Major bummer. Sunday evening...went to a new venue...again, no dancers there and danced more with the same friend. She's a great dancer but I so wanted to dance with different people! :oops: :?

Left there and buzzed 20 miles north to get to my regular Sunday night venue...arrived at almost 9 pm and asked the security guy what the crowd was like. He said "there's seems to be a lot of ladies" and I was in there so fast people thought I might have teleported! I set my things down and within 30 seconds I was on the floor dancing! :P

There were a lot of ladies...I stayed until closing (about 3 hours) and danced more than I ever have...went home and got to bed at 2 am and woke up at 6:30...I'm exhausted today but last night was so theraputic...can't wait until this Friday! :banana:

SG

SDsalsaguy

05-17-2004, 08:30 PM

First weekend that I've hit salsa clubs Fri., Sat., & Sun. nights in a looooooooooong time. *MUCH* fun!!! Hadn't actually been out on Sunday in months... got some great dances in with people I don't see very often! :D

dnquark

05-18-2004, 12:07 AM

squirrel

05-18-2004, 06:18 AM

my weekend sucked!

my regular salsa night on thursday was mostly merengue... on friday I got invited to this salsa party, thrown by an acquintance of mine, where there was anything else but salsa (actually there was some salsa, one CD of Celia Cruz I'm not crazy about, 'cause of the salsa-hiphop mix) so we went to the club and the music sucked!... on saturday, the music sucked, as always...

Sabor

05-18-2004, 09:11 AM

It was a good experience overall. The comments we would like to make were perhaps the complete lack of emphsis on musicality. Apart from the last 10 mins or so, no music was being played....no wonder so many people have trouble with staying on beat, let alone playing with the music ! The students from this kind of learning environment also felt compelled to memorise routines move by move. This is a perfect condition to create pattern dancers !

i see what u mean chinita.. and probably that is a factor contributing to less musicality and more patterns by dancers.. but.. on the other hand its largely a business.. the nature of workshops makes time very limitted.. accordingly, they cram the most number of patterns in the time available becasue that is usually what the students look for or their priority at this stage.. and leave the musicality part for the students themselves to work on later at their leisure..and with help from others more experienced dancers.. because dancing and playing with the beat is a totally different animal here.. this is what makes or breaks a dancer.. and would take much more time to teach than in a 2-3 day workshop.. so its kind of phases.. which should go first .. well thats prob'ly a whole arguement on its own cause it depends on each individual innate talents and perception :wink:

salsachinita

05-18-2004, 10:55 AM

Absolutely, Sabor!

For that reason I've decided NOT to teach.......

tsb

05-18-2004, 05:17 PM

Stanford's annual Big Dance - 9 pm to 6 am. Was part of the winning polka relay race team along with 3 other couples, got to remember why cross-step waltz is the best dance ever, for half a minute did role reversed reverse redowa successfully, danced a few line dances (bus stop, jitterbug stroll, chicken dance). A fun schottische; left turning polka; a few magnificent rotary waltzes... A faked tango, a faked mazurka. And the usual assortment of lindy, nc2s, salsa, hustle.

If you aren't jealous, you should be :)

have we met? i've been to richard's last two waltz weeks in the summer.

i'm too old for redowa (torn acl & ruptured achilles - and that's just my left leg).
---------------------
p.s. ballroom friday night, saturday night a wedding reception for two people who met in my old salsa class, got to be thun-darr the sun god (see pg. 263, item #34 in 95 theses 95 in garrison keillor's lake woebegone days for the reference, not to mention a little insight into my upbringing :P) with students who joined class after i left. one girl in particular gave me the eyes-glazed "i didn't think i could do that" look after i put her though about 6-7 multiple turns and she made a point of finding me & giving me a big hug when she left.

ahh, it's great to be king...

oh yeah , a little swing dancing sunday night.

ShyDancer

05-18-2004, 05:53 PM

Mine was fantastic!! (I was going to use bold capitals there with the huge font setting, just so you get an idea of how great)

Took a Jive lesson with a teacher Ive never had before, he was fabulous, Id danced 1 dance with him and he picked up where I was needing help.
An hour later I was dancing it really well, even he was a little suprised. He explained everything so well, and really seemed to care if I got it right.
Then I spent 3 hours at a social dance, which Id have to say was the most fun Ive had yet.
Dancing a cha cha I was led into a pile of spins and turns I had no idea how to do, I just let him lead them, he was catching me well and it really felt like I was dancing :lol: :lol: :lol: We laughed and had a lot of fun.
I cant have done too badly as he asked me to dance again later in the night.

DancePoet

05-18-2004, 06:04 PM

Another dance weekend!

On Saturday, I attended a workshop on dance competitions held at my studio. A husband and wife amateur dance couple provided the information and answered questions. They are also involved in helping organize and judge dance competitions. Very informative.

Then I had a private lesson with a fellow student to work on things learned in a recent foxtrot group class. And after dinner it was back to the studio for the Saturday Night Social. Usually I attend on Fridays and spend time with my so on Saturdays, but this week the scedule worked out differently, and therefore I had the opportunity to view the same couple from the workshop demonstarte a series of International style dances that they do in competition. Very nicely performed!

On Sunday, three group lessons involving Waltz, Rumba, and Foxtrot.

I'd say that was plenty! And fun!

pygmalion

05-18-2004, 06:20 PM

Whew! sounds like fun. :D

xwaltz

05-19-2004, 04:18 AM

pygmalion

05-24-2004, 08:06 AM

Any good stories? 8) :D

danceguy

05-24-2004, 12:30 PM

See my post in Random Thoughts...I had a horrible dance weekend...so looking forward to better dancing in the future! :?

On a good note, I talked with some people from my local club and it looks like they are going to start making trips out of town for Salsa...and I can't wait since I'm growing bored with our dance scene in my area. Its so sporadic and its no fun at all when the men outnumber the women almost 4 to 1! :shock:

My privates have been paying off...since I see now where I've been making mistakes and where to put my energy to improve...so at least I have a direction to take my dancing for now... :D

SG

etchuck

05-24-2004, 01:26 PM

My dance weekend... well, we had a good dance Friday evening. The only dance no one wanted to dance to in my mix was a Cajun waltz... which was too bad. Everyone else pretty much endured everything else I threw out. Personally, I didn't to a lot of dancing though because my foot started to hurt after wearing my dance sneakers.

Saturday morning: ran 5K in 31 minutes. My foot was still hurting. Went to farewell party Saturday afternoon. It was like 90 F here.

Saturday night, I went dancing at the studio where the other dance I'll be "working at" will be held next weekend. Not a lot of people. But I did get to meet the other mystery American-style dance instructor who I have heard about. Nice fellow. Perhaps one day in my life, but I don't know his credentials well enough.

Sunday morning, went to work for a few hours. Afternoon went to another farewell party. My foot still hurts.

Sunday night was a swing night. Again, I didn't dance too much. But it was highlighted by a demo by Wes and Debbie (in advance of their workshops and performances at Grand Nationals). Then the little kids took the floor with a jive/swing routine that was really cute. Then karaoke.

youngsta

05-24-2004, 07:17 PM

tj was in town burning up the Denver dancefloors! Great to see you again man, come back and visit again soon! :D

pygmalion

05-24-2004, 08:55 PM

salsachinita

05-25-2004, 02:00 AM

Pretty event-packed weekend........not bad for near-winter here 8) .

Still recovering from my cold but sick of staying home, I went club hopping on Friday and ended up dancing til closing time back at the first one. Meet & dance with some visitors from Sydney (Cubans...!), got my fix!

Sat was one of those big functions where the whole building turned into a big salsa venue, with 4 rooms, 2 bands, & 2 DJs. Events like this always seem to draw the now-less-regulars out of the woodworks. I cuaght up with sooooooo many people I havn't seen in ages :D eventhough I was stuffed & didn't dance as much as I'd like to (bloody salsa shoes won't allow for too many hours on my feet :x chatting time included!).

Sun at our regular venue. I ended up doing a few quality numbers with one of the local instructors (no idea who he was at the time we met) whom I've recently started dancing with socially. A newbie friend commented on how he thought was the best I've been lead by anyone :shock: ......that I was getting 95% of his leads (so does that mean I usually get less :? :oops: ?).

Over this weekend a few more things came to mind, fit for DF discussion. I will go through them in my head before I share them........

MacMoto

05-25-2004, 06:46 AM

Any good stories? 8) :D
Just back from the SalsaMed Festival weekend (7 hours flight delay meant I got home around 5am this morning instead of 10pm last night :evil:).

It was great!!!
:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:
I'm so glad I went. I'll definitely go back next year.
More details later... got to run.

pygmalion

05-25-2004, 07:31 AM

Cool. Glad you had fun. :D

goldfish

05-25-2004, 11:44 AM

fantastic!! i hadn't done salsa for the longest time. partly because although i've had fun salsa dances, i've never had a grrreaat salsa dance. just dances that were fun, sometimes very fun, just not WOWW material. but this saturday i had it! a really fantabulous salsa dance! he had a sense of humour (amongst other things :notworth: ) that showed in the way he danced, which i'd never come across before in salsa.

one dance from a great lead that popped outta nowhere, but it made my night. my weekend actually teehee. :bouncy:

and it makes me want to be a better dancer heh. cause i'm in that awkward beginner-intermediate stage. got to start salsa classes again, and was totally inspired. maybe this weekend i'll get up the guts to ask him for his name (i was a bit stunned. and forgot!:tongue: ) . and for a dance!

SDsalsaguy

05-25-2004, 12:27 PM

Glad to hear you had such a good time MacMoto! And that you had such a great dance goldfish!

Funny with that whole salsa/humor thing. I remember salsa dancing with someone new to town last year (who came from a Lindy background) and, in response to some of my clowning antics, said "I didn't know they did that in salsa!" :shock:

goldfish

05-25-2004, 09:04 PM

SDsalsaguy

05-25-2004, 09:13 PM

yes that's it exactly. i never realized anyone would *want* to be funny in salsa. which is why i got more excited about lindy, cause you could totally cut loose and laugh on the dance floor :lol: :lol: but it's nice to crack old stereotypes. maybe it's the nature of the music lindy hop gets danced to as well? i've been wondering if there's anything in salsa music that gets that kind of mood going...
I know I've posted it somewhere before, but one of my initial salsa inspirations and mentors had a moto that I always try to live up to... if I fail to get a laugh or at least a smile during a dance, I have failed.*

* Certainly the mood of some salsa music isn't the most conducive to getting a laugh (although much can be), but it always calls for a smile!

goldfish

05-25-2004, 09:25 PM

SDsalsaguy

05-25-2004, 09:29 PM

i want to dance with you!

good motto for the follow too. but it's harder for the lead cause you have to think and plan. i smile pretty easily as a follow but one time i tried leading and WHOA. i was focusing so hard i must've looked pretty grim :evil:
Any time goldfish, the pleasure would be all mine.

And, in case I wasn't clear enough, the moto is about getting a laugh/smile from my follower, whoever she may be, each and every song... in dancing *with* her and leading her in such a way that I am rewarded by her smile/laugh.

dancin_feet

05-25-2004, 09:45 PM

My weekend was fabulous! See "Well I did it!" thread in General section for details.

05-26-2004, 05:51 PM

This seems to be a good place as any to give my Denver salsa vacation report.

I went to Denver last weekend, and went dancing with friends.

On Friday, it was "Blue Ice", a club which opened up last fall (I think). A little on the small side. Parking was easy to find. I didn't care for the DJ since he played music just like he did at another club which died last summer.

It was good seeing a lot of people that I haven't seen in almost a year. Saw and spoke with Mr. Sassy Hips aka Youngsta. Got in a bunch of dances.

Saturday, I got invited to a smallish party (30 people) where we had total control of the music. Nice wood floor to dance on, and I knew just about everyone. A very good, safe, comfortable party.

Sunday, I went to the D-Note. Wow, was I shocked! :shock: Lots of new faces and it was pretty crowded. Kudos to Joseph Snowhawk who teaches there. He must be doing a good job of promoting the club, too.

Music, for the most part, was pretty good. A little too many merengues for my taste, but certainly better than other clubs/DJ's. My friends and I were some of the last to leave that night, and one of my friends got the DJ to play one more song.

What a nice weekend! Now I need a break, since I have been dancing 8 of the past 9 nights! Whew!

youngsta

05-26-2004, 06:36 PM

It's wierd T, Harry Jay has been playing some REAL good stuff at Blue Ice and then all of a sudden this past Friday...crap! And we were waayyyyy short on followers that night. Just a bad evening overall :( I did get a couple good dances though.

D'note was crazy packed! I really, REALLY don't like the salsa Luis plays though. To commercial for me. But I love the club and Joseph is good peeps so I'm there like clockwork! :lol: Great to see you again man.

05-27-2004, 05:42 PM

It's wierd T, Harry Jay has been playing some REAL good stuff at Blue Ice and then all of a sudden this past Friday...crap! And we were waayyyyy short on followers that night. Just a bad evening overall :( I did get a couple good dances though.

I totally know what you're saying, R. I still had fun, at least.

D'note was crazy packed! I really, REALLY don't like the salsa Luis plays though. To commercial for me. But I love the club and Joseph is good peeps so I'm there like clockwork! :lol: Great to see you again man.
Good seeing you, too - you must be enroute to the Congress shortly?

It was fun dancing with everyone. I have to admit that I was particularly impressed with Cece's dancing - she handled everything that I've learned over the past year perfectly. Especially impressive since I was throwing stuff at her that isn't done in Denver, plus she's been dancing mostly On2. Yet she handled everything with ease. Very nice!

So much fun! I've skipped only two nights, and already I'm craving some more!

salsachinita

05-30-2004, 02:04 AM

My dancing of the week really starts on Wednesdys.

This Wed past I had a blast as usual at my regular R&B/salsa venue. the highlight being 3 perfect salsa songs with my all-time-favourite partner (who hasn't been around much lately).......the last two songs were squeezed in between R&B tunes (as I whipered to the DJ: 'Would you plz put some salsa on for me...? I wanna dance with XXX before we leave."); the DJ knew to put on our favourite songs 8) .

That just made my night :bouncy: !

What made it even more special was the fact that he didn't dance to show off this time (as he normally would). We danced at the quiet end of the club, and really played with the music. He danced with me because he wanted to dance :shock: :P :D !

salsachinita

05-30-2004, 02:19 AM

Been dancing heaps this weekend.......almost no time for DF :shock: :lol: !

Friday night we now have a new regular venue. We had fun this Fri past eventhough there were too many followers as usual :roll: .....so the guys there got totally danced-out at the end of the night!

I finally learnt to follow our new addition from Cuba *almost* seamlessly 8) .......a pretty cool accomplishment in my book as he's got his own groove/timing.

A fair numbers of regulars are away at the L.A. Congress so there were more room at our Sat regular venue. It was a really good night too, despite that fact that I still wasn't 100%.

Highlight: got told by one of my favourite leads (a great but humble visiting salsero from Israel) that I am close to being his ideal follower :shock: !

I was like :banana: :banana: :banana: !

Sagitta

05-30-2004, 09:23 AM

A non dancing weekend. I did watch a couple videos and I think that I have figured out the Chicago steppin' basic, plus when turns and other moves are usually done -- on the 3-5 of the 8 count basic. :) Now must work on translating that knowledge into actual dancing. This upcoming Friday is a social dance so perhaps I can get a song played and see whether I can work it. :)

Kate

05-30-2004, 10:19 AM

My weekend was dancey. :P

pygmalion

05-30-2004, 11:58 AM

It's not over yet, I hope. :wink: :D

Genesius Redux

05-30-2004, 06:28 PM

Sucks. Everybody's going to King's Island and eating bad hot dogs. The studio's closed!

Guess I'll just lay out by the pool. Such a hard life!

danceguy

05-31-2004, 02:05 AM

Well after the dissapointing dance closer on Friday, I went out to two Salsa venues tonight. Both went quite well...had some great dances...but a few things happened that were emotionally unsettling, but such is life.

I'm setting plans in motion for checking out new dance venues out of town. I had hoped to go with a few other people, but I think its going to just be me...and perhaps that's the way it should be. ;)

SG

DiAnAoN1

05-31-2004, 03:36 PM

Lets see...Friday was really fun and I definitely got my "Salsa Fix" :D, unfortunately I couldnt go dancing on Saturday, but I did go last night and since most people dont have to work today (memorial day) the club was beyond packed!! It was ridiculous so I only got a couple good dances but I did meet a great group of dancers that I always admired so now were making plans to go dancing on Wed!!

MacMoto

06-05-2004, 03:16 AM

Had a good night last night. It was actually rather quiet, but the leaders who turned up were all very good, and there was plenty of space on the floor. Good leader/follower ratio too -- a rare thing. Some of the people have been to the Africando concert in London, so the DJ played lots of Africando. :D Also a really lovely cha cha cha with one of my favourite leaders. :D :D

I was actually a bit off last night -- I seem to be unconsciously trying to avoid putting weight on the knee I hurt two weeks ago (while in Spain -- come to think of it, I haven't reported on my SalsaMed Festival experience properly yet, have I?), and it puts me on the wrong footing. The pain also detracts my attention from the lead. I sat out a lot more songs than I normally do. Still, it was a very enjoyable night. I'm supposed to be going out again tonight, and there's also an afternoon social on Sunday, but I think I should give (at least) one of them a miss. Next weekend's going to be a good one, and I want to be able to dance without worrying about the knee.

pygmalion

06-05-2004, 07:06 AM

So when's the SalsaMed review? Hmm? :wink:

Sagitta

06-05-2004, 09:38 AM

Good weekend dancing so far. Social dance yesterday night. Sucked at ECS as usual, which renewed my determination to learn lindy soon. Latin dancing was good. Taught a couple people salsa basics while swing was playing, so that worked fine. Also did two foxtrots to swing music. :) Going to go do swing tonight so I can do some more foxtrot! :lol:

Hey MacMoto!! While resting that bum knee how about doing some typing and giving us your review of salsamed?

pygmalion

06-05-2004, 10:38 AM

So you did end up going last night. I had a feeling you were going to sit it out, and rest. I'm glad you had a good time. 8)

MacMoto

06-06-2004, 05:30 AM

Hey MacMoto!! While resting that bum knee how about doing some typing and giving us your review of salsamed?
Soon, I promise! :lol:

I ended up going out with a friend last night. The plan was to just sit and watch most of the time, and at first I did. Then the DJ played lots of non-salsa music :x, and by the time the set went back to salsa, I had to grab someone and dance -- had a pretty good dance with someone I used to struggle to keep up with. Then, people just kept coming up to me asking to dance, and I had to oblige... lots of merengue, not enough salsa, but hey, I was happy when I left.

Haven't decided about today's afternoon social...

pygmalion

06-06-2004, 08:02 AM

Sounds like you had a good time, sore knee and all. 8)

salsachinita

06-06-2004, 12:02 PM

My weekend totally rocked!

Started from Wed (good) Thur (ok, because I was sore from the gym *yes, I've just joined*) Fri (started slow but got busy & didn't sit down)

Sat I stayed home to finish my quilt.

Sun, just now, I've come back from a fantastic night 8) . "Los Rumberos" rock, so do my partners El Washing Machine, Wet Towel, (didn't dance with SideShow Bob) and best of all, "Rico" (see 'Dance names' & 'Ten Sexiest Men' threads :wink: )!!!!!!

*guys, you know who you are :P*

I had more than made up for missing Saturday night 8) ........didn't stop dancing!

There's another party tomorrow night. I'm sure it would be fun!

Sagitta

06-06-2004, 01:48 PM

My weekend is rocking.

Social dance Friday, where I got a "proud moment", Saturday a so-so rueda performance, pretty good swing dance from 8:15-11:00p.m., followed by a retirement party for a Columbian / white American couple. danced with ladies as a leader, then when they thinned out danced with two guys as a follow, teaching them "the cool moves" plus just some dancing. Tried out a little back leading vs proper following....Got over at 1:00, and today....teaching a casino rueda class (going early to put some music and just to get my groove on) followed by swing dance, with swing choreography, a couple latin songs?, and funky smooth playing to the music. But an early night at ten. Only had 4 hours of sleep last night, so a good thing too. :)

DancePoet

06-06-2004, 03:44 PM

Had practice on Friday with my Am/Am partner. We are getting much better at our foxtrot grapevine. And we are both changing how we do the right side fans for tango.

Then I was planning on heading home to take care of some responsibilities, but just couldn't resist the social dance after practice. :)

(Responsibilities taken care of Saturday Morning!)

No dancing on Saturday as usual, but Sunday included a private lesson with my Am/Am partner, another hour of practice, and a group Waltz lesson.

Not bad.

MacMoto

06-07-2004, 07:39 AM

Haven't decided about today's afternoon social...
I went. A lot more people than normal, good music, great vibes. Probably danced a bit more (okay, a lot more :oops:) than I should have (even though I went there late so I couldn't overdo it). That's the problem of becoming a regular -- there are simply too many people I must dance with now.

squirrel

06-07-2004, 07:52 AM

:)

Salsa dancing on Thursday - too much merengue

Shoot a TV show on Friday, then went out eating and then Salsa dancing

Went to a Salsa party on Saturday...

Just went out for a beer last night

Dead tired now... :)

MacMoto

06-07-2004, 08:07 AM

Here's my report on the SalsaMed Festival (21-23 May) I promised...

This was my first ever weekender. It was a lot smaller in scale than major international congresses, with an attendance figure of a few hundreds rather than thousands, which made it less intimidating for a backwater salsera like me. As you would expect from a Salsa-UK event in Spain, the English and Spaniards were the biggest groups, but there were also people from other countries. There were parties at night Friday, Saturday and Sunday and workshops during the day Saturday and Sunday. The venue was a very nice 4-star hotel in a small resort near Salou, in Costa Dorada, and the holiday package included accommodation at this hotel or 4-star resort complex next-door on half-board basis, plus flights and transfers.

Workshops ran from 11.00 to 6.30 (or 7.45 if you took optional classes) and were organised based on fixed classes, i.e., you would indicate your skill level at the time of booking and would be given a pass to the class of your level on arrival. You would be allowed to move to a different class if the class you were placed in turned out to be too easy or too hard (I started in improvers and switched to intermediate), but you wouldn't be able to choose which workshops to attend freely. The advantage of this system was that you would have regular "classmates", which made it easier to make friends. Also, all the teachers taught all the classes at least once, so you wouldn't get the usual problem of overcrowding in classes given by famous/popular teachers. The drawback was that you wouldn't be able to take, for example, higher intermediate classes in LA style along with beginners' Cuban, so people familiar with only one style struggled to keep up with some of the workshops. I was going to do all 12 workshops but was too tired and had to skip the Sunday optional class. I really liked Susana Montero's classes -- very good breakdown of moves with lots of small tips to make things flow smoothly. Also enjoyed Edie and Al's workshop, which was inspirational and fun if a bit fast-paced. I also took Edie's ladies styling workshop (optional), which was all about her "freedom concept". You are probably familiar with this if you have her styling video, but it was all new to me and very interesting.

Parties started at 11pm, but dancing didn't really get going until well after midnight. I left around 3.30., but I hear hardcore dancers stayed until 5am. There was a show time during each night, including a "world premiere" of Edie and Al's new show on Saturday (a sequel to their robot piece but this time with a Wild West theme -- very entertaining). The most memorable, however, was the cross-dressing competition on Sunday with a "Miss World" contest (see photos on the Salsa-UK website (w w w.salsa-uk.com/images/HOF/SalsaMed2004/01/Page2.html) -- spot Al and Nelson Flores in drag :shock:). Outside of the show times, it was very much a straight no-chaser salsa/mambo affair (over the 3 nights, the DJs played two cha cha's, two bachatas and no merengues! :shock:), but I felt that, considering the overall amount of dancing during the event and the varied skill levels of participants, there were a bit too many turbo salsas and not enough variety. I sat out a lot more songs than I normally do.

:D :D :D's: Meeting lots of salsa people. I was apprehensive about going alone, but by the end of the holiday I made many friends, both in and outside my class.
Dancing with my "dream partner" :D :D :D -- I had my best dance ever with a complete stranger! We clicked instantly, and he led me beautifully. Even multiple spins didn't spoil it. I danced with him only a couple of times but made sure my last dance was with him, and when I thanked him, he complemented on how light I felt. I went back to my apartment like this -> :bouncy:
Witnessing cross-dressed Edie and Al dancing in reversed roles -- hilarious! One of my classmates I got friendly with managed to get a trophy dance with Edie.
Seeing a beautiful bachata performance.
Watching London dancers dancing in the airport waiting room (I would have joined in if it hadn't been for my injury).

:( :( :('s: Falling and hurting my knee on arrival at my hotel. It didn't hurt at that time, but obviously dancing day and night wasn't the best thing to do... by the time I got home it was twice the size and I was limping.
Not dancing very well at the parties -- especially Saturday night, when I was too tired after 6 workshops. The marble floor didn't help either. Not only was it hard on your feet, it got sticky as the party went into full swing and the temperature (and humidity) rose. Isn't it funny you can have your best dance ever on an off night nursing a sore knee?
Not having time for anything other than dancing. It was my first visit to Spain, and all I saw was the hotel, a couple of beach-side cafes and the airport. I think I'll opt for the 1-week package next time, which gives lots of free time for exploring the area as well as excursions to clubs in Barcelona.
Realising that I probably won't have a chance to dance with my "dream partner" again... :cry:
Having to wait at the airport for 9 hours for my flight home -- my flight was delayed over 7 hours. I got home around 5am looking like a living dead.

squirrel

06-07-2004, 08:24 AM

Wow... MacMoto... sounds like a really nice weekend

salsachinita

06-07-2004, 08:32 PM

Sounds like fun! Wish I was there :D !

Realising that I probably won't have a chance to dance with my "dream partner" again... :cry:

:shock: You mean you didn't grab his contact details (or get him on DF :wink: ).......? The Salsa global network might lead you back to each other. It's a small world afterall 8) .......don't give up hope, sista!

dancin_feet

06-07-2004, 09:00 PM

This weekend is going to be bad because there is a National event being held for the studio in another state and I can't afford to go! :cry:

All the studios will be closed from Friday to Monday while the instructors are interstate with their "rich" students who could make the trip. I hate being poor!!!

Oh well, I'll just have to see if I can get together with other poor dancing friends and have a coffee or maybe dinner so that we can console each other! :roll:

Sagitta

06-07-2004, 09:39 PM

Wow!! The week has barely started and you are worrying about the weekend? :shock:

My weekend is going to be a quiet one too, but that's fine with me. I have so many things that I want to do and never have time for. Hang out with my non-dancing friends, maybe do some web page stuff, extra dance practice time...look into chicago steppin' or breakdancin' a little more...perhaps work on ballroom so I don't forget everything...maybe a private to learn the lindy swingout... :)

MacMoto

06-08-2004, 01:06 AM

Hang out with my non-dancing friends,
So... some of us still have those, huh? :lol: :lol:

dancin_feet

06-08-2004, 01:19 AM

Wow!! The week has barely started and you are worrying about the weekend? :shock:

I live for my dancing. Working is just a way to earn money to dance and kill time between classes!!! :lol:

squirrel

06-08-2004, 02:07 AM

dancin_feet... this is the very truth! I do the same... working pays the bills and allows me to get involved in dance-related stuff...

I WISH I WERE RICH!!!!

SDsalsaguy

06-08-2004, 02:30 AM

LOL... I used to say that grad school was what I did just to keep busy until all the salsa clubs opened up at night! :wink: :lol:

squirrel

06-08-2004, 03:05 AM

SD... LOL...

MacMoto

06-08-2004, 05:09 AM

Work...

... is where I check DF. :lol: :lol:

SDsalsaguy

06-08-2004, 02:31 PM

:lol:

Good one MacMoto... and, based on the times of day that most people login and the fact that weekend participation is much slower, I'd say you're far from the only one! :lol:

salsachinita

06-08-2004, 02:33 PM

That, and the fact that we dance addicts go out DANCING on weekends rather than staying in from of the pc......... :wink: !

dancin_feet

06-08-2004, 08:28 PM

Weekends and at night .......

Yes during the day at work is the only time I have to check DF as well!! so guess I'm never really away from dancing at all!! :lol:

MacMoto

06-09-2004, 08:56 AM

:shock: You mean you didn't grab his contact details (or get him on DF :wink: ).......?
I know, I know! My brain stops working when dancing starts, and after a particularly good dance I'm on such a high I'm totally incoherent... :oops:

squirrel

06-10-2004, 03:44 AM

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

WOW... I totally sympathise with you, MacMoto!

Tasek

06-13-2004, 04:22 AM

Needed a place to vent, so here goes,

bad weekend of dancing :(

Earlier this week some dumbass hit me with a shopping cart in the supermarket, hurt my right knee.

Friday: if not for my knee this would have been a great night, good turnout, good music, good atmosphere, got in a couple of excellent dances early on, then my knee started acting up, and there was me, sitting everything out, while everyone else was having a good time :( damned frustrating, left early.

Saturday: Went to an end of season dance of one of the local dance schools, got there before it got real crowded, managed a few decent dances. Then it got crowded, and "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing" as a lot of the people there demonstrated; they knew some 'big' moves, yet didn't quite get that when the dancefloor is crowded you keep it small, and if you do hit someone, please be so polite as to apologise, or at least acknowledge it, pisses me of; some **** steps into you, and then goes on with a straight face as though the dancefloor is exclusively theirs, and this happened quite a few times last night :evil: :(
And again my knee acted up :(

A few good moments, but overall it sucked this weekend :( :( :(
Ah well, thank you for letting me rant, needed to get it off my chest, no more dancing planned until thursday, so my knee should get a chance to heal again, and i'll give it another try next weekend.

SDsalsaguy

06-13-2004, 04:26 AM

Sorry to hear about the knee thing Tasek, that sucks. :(

As far as the "dancers" you describe... :evil: :x :evil:

MacMoto

06-13-2004, 04:45 AM

:friend: As a fellow knee injury sufferer, I feel for you... it totally sucks. Take care.

pygmalion

06-13-2004, 07:52 AM

Here's hoping next weekend will be better, Tasek. Love that signature line, btw. Dave Barry is a personal favorite. 8)

Sagitta

06-13-2004, 08:13 AM

My sympathies Tasek. I have quite a few knee problems, so I know what it must be like. Then on top of that those uncouth dancers. [Shakes head.]

My dancing weekend was a non-dancing weekend. But my house is looking as it should again after the wreck caused by the Ithaca festival weekend, and I have lots of good home-cooked food - a good variety. :D

Tasek

06-13-2004, 08:24 AM

Thanks for the kind words people.

As far as those 'dancers' go, i'm guessing that a lot of them have probably never danced 'in the wild' before, this dance was the first time they danced outside of class, so they still have to learn some things about floorcraft and etiquette, just together with the knee, and the frustrations from friday still on my mind, I just wasn't in the right mood to be patient and just shrug it off. Ah well, let's just hope they'll learn.

MacMoto

06-14-2004, 07:52 AM

My weekend...

Friday -- absolutely fantastic! :banana: :banana: :banana: My no. 1 favourite monthly, and I wasn't disappointed. The music just got better and better, and it was impossible to sit out songs. Many of my favourite leaders were there, and I also had some amazingly good dances with guys I'd never danced with before -- a couple of additions to my list of fave leaders. :D

Saturday -- no dancing... got rather depressed and was very tempeted to go out but decided to be nice to my poor knee.

Sunday -- another monthly. Had to skip the class at the beginning and had to leave early before the night really got going, but managed to get a dance from two of the best dancers and did much better than my previous attempts. I wouldn't say good, but much better so I'm happy. :D

squirrel

06-14-2004, 08:00 AM

I could have had a fantastic weekend... if the atmosphere in the club weren't so tense... Local inter school fights... Gosh I hate them!

Good music on both Thursday and Friday...

Saturday I went to a new club - no Salsa, but I was with my friends and had a great time anyway...

Sunday went to play pool... good day!

And now instead of working I am writing on the forums...

Sagitta

06-14-2004, 08:02 AM

I'm glad that the weekend was overall a more positive experience MacMoto. :)

Sunday was my best day. I spent some time dancing with someone after the salsa rueda class yesterday night, as she wanted to learn some cool moves. Also spent some time talking with the instructor whom I am going to be taking privates from for salsa. Talking about what we want to cover, when we will start etc. She talked about how she noticed that my technique and styling seems to have come a long way and she mentioned that she never noticed that I was musically challenged!! hmmm... :? I wonder what "musically challenged" means, and if I am or I am not musically challenged. :? is this just an excuse.....food for thought. :)

Phil Owl

06-14-2004, 08:40 AM

You know what I've noticed? Weekends are a very, very slow time in DF. I can only assume everybody's out dancing. So what gives, folks? How was your dance weekend?

Did you do a workshop or a comp or class or lesson? Aren't you just dying to share what you've been up to the past two days?

Do tell. :wink: 8)

This Owl had a good one! Went to the Atlanta USABDA's monthly dance at Dance City Ballroom. I must say, for ballroom , this was one very friendly crowd! :wink:

I finally got to meet a person from Dancescape.com there and encouraged her to log on here at Dance Forums.

Surprised to find I got my Cha-Cha back (hadn't done it for a while) with a vengance, swing and hustle strong as ever, rhumba needed dusting off and some WD-40 though.

All told, this Owl flew home quite happy

danceguy

06-14-2004, 12:56 PM

I missed two dances this weekend! :cry: :(

My car was in the shop...and it ended up staying a few extra days (still haven't got it back!)...and I was under the weather as well...so no dancing at all...:oops:

However...once I get my car back today (which just had a major overhaul), I'll be driving all over the place to go dancing...man...I can't wait! :car:

I think this is one of the few times I have gone over a week without any Salsa....ahh...this is no good...must...go....dancing....:headwall: :roll: ;)

SG

MacMoto

06-15-2004, 10:44 AM

I think this is one of the few times I have gone over a week without any Salsa....ahh...this is no good...must...go....dancing....:headwall: :roll: ;)
A week without salsa :shock: -- haven't had that for a loooong time... since the New Year holiday, when a nasty cold knocked me out. The first time back dancing after that was awesome though. :D
Hope you've had a good dance, SG.

danceguy

06-15-2004, 11:44 AM

Yeah, this is a major bummer...and I'm still without wheels...but I do have a private this Friday and plan to go dancing this weekend...help...I'm suffering from lack...of...Salsa....losing...my mind....

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! :D :headwall: :oops:

SG

DancePoet

06-15-2004, 11:49 AM

Did the usual social on Friday night after practice with my competition partner. On Saturday attended the studio's 1st Anniversary Dance...spectacular! Great food, great dancing, great performances!

Then on Sunday, a lesson with my comp. partner, more practice, and then another group Waltz lesson.

(Snuck in 9 holes of golf Sunday afternoon and the weather was so nice!)

Sagitta

06-15-2004, 11:51 AM

Well SG you can live vicariously through the salsa exploits of others. My dancing started on Sunday and will go on every night until this Friday, with only one day being non-salsa - foxtrot/swing tomorrow night. :) A good week, a really good week. :D

Tasek

06-15-2004, 12:03 PM

Showoff!! :wink:

Sagitta

06-15-2004, 12:12 PM

:P

[WEll since I'm showing off, anyway... :wink: :) My shortest post ever above!!]

MacMoto

06-16-2004, 05:16 AM

Yeah, this is a major bummer...and I'm still without wheels...but I do have a private this Friday and plan to go dancing this weekend...
Friday! :shock: That's bad... you have my sympathy.
Having said that, I'm a weekend only dancer and not sure if I get to dance much this weekend... Saturday afternoon classes may be the only opportunity I get. :(

salsachinita

06-17-2004, 08:17 AM

Well, it's the middle of the week for me & I still havn't reported on my weekend just past :oops: .........

It was a long weekend for us, so Sunday night was absolutely packed but as this place loves us, we got to dance in our 'created' VIP space & had a blast....! El Washing Machine & I still rock, not to mention the very first salsa instructor couple (still together after 15 years) of Melbourne paid us a surprised visit. Long live the ledgends :notworth: ! It was such a previledge for us to share our limited dancing space with them 8) .

Prior to that, Fri night was quiet, with both Rico & SideShow Bob absent, and Sat was good as usual. wed & Thur prior to that were also on the quieter side.

This week, I ended up (helping) to teach a couple of classes. Man, do I agree with what Edie said (something like "teaching takes care of the need to dance, but at the same time it doesn't give you the same satisfaction as a fix...") 100%.......I do prefer to nurture my hand-picked newbies out there at the clubs :wink: .

My week of dancing usually begins on Wed, but I was so tired after helping SideShow Bob with the class & we have the same issue of girls out-numbering guys by 3 times :x . Instead of contributing the problem, I removed myself from it all & went home. Not in the mood to wait in line.

Staying home tonight also. It's cold & raining out there. No doubt Rico & the usual crew will have fun though 8) .

Will report back on the rest of the weekend to come.

MacMoto

06-19-2004, 06:12 AM

This week, I ended up (helping) to teach a couple of classes. Man, do I agree with what Edie said (something like "teaching takes care of the need to dance, but at the same time it doesn't give you the same satisfaction as a fix...") 100%.......I do prefer to nurture my hand-picked newbies out there at the clubs :wink: .
We seem to be doing the parallel path thing again. :shock:
I've just helped a teacher friend of mine in a beginners class. Found it rather frustrating, in spite of the fact that I was only doing something I do quite often anyway when social dancing... it somehow felt different. Had to go out afterwards for a spot of "real dancing" for my fix. I don't think I would like to be a teacher...

squirrel

06-19-2004, 07:22 AM

The weekend started more or less ok :) I am quite tired though and don't know if I will go dancing tonight!
:roll: :oops: :(

pygmalion

06-19-2004, 08:00 AM

:shock: :shock: Skipping a Saturday night dance?!? You must be exhausted.

Get some rest, if you need it. 8) There'll be dancing another day. Probably tomorrow. :wink: :lol:

squirrel

06-19-2004, 08:21 AM

Saturdays are horrible nights for dancing in my country!
Almost no salsa music! Just lots of other bad music!
And yes, I am exhausted, but that has never been an issue... :lol: :lol: I'd still go if the music were good! :roll: :oops: :twisted:

Sagitta

06-19-2004, 09:07 AM

Sorry to hear about that Squirrel!! :( Does the next night hold any better promise?

My FRiday was good. :)

salsachinita

06-21-2004, 09:29 AM

Will report back on the rest of the weekend to come.

Although I had a frustrating start, the weekend turned out great :D !

Finally, after mths of talking, my new practice partner & I got together for our little self-help practice sessions. We worked through some of the materials he brought back from Cuba........inte/advanced casino moves.

We had so much fun for both Sat & Sun afternoons. Very satisfying experience to learn with a good lead who shares your goal 8) .

Then Sat night was surprisingly good.....especially when I was feeling so deprived from the night before, AND well-warmed up from the afternoon :wink: . It was also a catch-up session, as many people I havn't seen for a while all decided to turn up :D !

Sunday night was always good, even if my fav leads are not always there. I had a few dances with wild leads & actually did a pretty decent "Juan Pachanga" with SideShow Bob :shock: :D ......!

This week's dancing shall begin again :wink: .......

pygmalion

06-21-2004, 07:21 PM

I'm not sure whether I hope you get that job you're considering or not. It sounds like you're having such a blast working freelance and having all that flexibility. 8)

salsachinita

06-22-2004, 01:13 AM

I'm not sure whether I hope you get that job you're considering or not. It sounds like you're having such a blast working freelance and having all that flexibility. 8)

My thoughts exactly, Jenn. 'Tis why I havn't been trying too hard for the last couple of years. My agent is yet to call me back, so we will see.

These days I'm seeing life as a dance. I'm open to be lead........by destiny.

squirrel

06-22-2004, 02:25 AM

Salsachinita... :) I'm keeping my fingers crossed... :)

MacMoto

06-26-2004, 06:04 AM

Had a good night of dancing last night (Friday). The live band wasn't really all it was cracked up to be (and a song should never last half an hour :evil:), but I had lovely dances with one of my favourite leaders, did rather well with two leaders I usually have problems getting good connection with, and had lots of fun with people I'd never danced before. I love playful leaders who respond to what I do. :D I had a permanent grin on my face the whole night.

salsachinita

06-26-2004, 02:34 PM

Just came back from a fantastic night 8) . I was on........!

Eventhough I had pulled a muscle on my shoulder earlier in the week, I was dancing close to my best tonight (and I wasn't even going to go out tonight)!

Then we hung out in the street a bit catching up with everybody in the 'brotherhood', then went for coffee/pizza where we caught up with the rest. Alex from Lady Salsa just came back from Cuba, now working with some of the best dancers doing a new show. Can't wait to see it!

It's strange, I've had little luck with Sat nights for as long as I can remember. All of a sudden, my best nights are two Satuardays in a row :? .....go figure.

More dancing/haning out tomorrow. What can I say? Sundays rock 8) .

salsachinita

06-26-2004, 02:34 PM

Just came back from a fantastic night 8) . I was on........!

Eventhough I had pulled a muscle on my shoulder earlier in the week, I was dancing close to my best tonight (and I wasn't even going to go out tonight)!

Then we hung out in the street a bit catching up with everybody in the 'brotherhood', then went for coffee/pizza where we caught up with the rest. Alex from Lady Salsa just came back from Cuba, now working with some of the best dancers doing a new show. Can't wait to see it!

It's strange, I've had little luck with Sat nights for as long as I can remember. All of a sudden, my best nights are two Satuardays in a row :? .....go figure.

More dancing/hanging out tomorrow. What can I say? Sundays rock 8) .

Tasek

06-27-2004, 04:13 AM

Bloody football :( (for you non-euros, the european championship is being played atm)

There's an open air festival in town this weekend and last night there was a good salsa band playing, supposed to be starting at nine, however since the dutch team lucked their way into the quarterfinal, the performance was pushed back till after the game, got there shortly before the end of regular playing time, but ofcourse it was a tie, so had to spend an hour there, surrounded by football fans, waiting for the extra period to end, and then for the match to be decided by penalties.

Fortunately the band was good, got in a couple of very good dances, did enjoy myself, but still too bad that if it hadn't been for that game, the band would have played longer, they still had to stop at the same time (permits and such)

MacMoto

06-27-2004, 07:21 AM

Kali Ma

06-27-2004, 07:49 AM

Bloody football :( (for you non-euros, the european championship is being played atm)
Tasek, I feel for you. Scotland's not even in it but nights when football is on are still quieter than normal, with a noticeable shortage of men. (I'm backing the Dutch, by the way. It will be good to see them do well after they knocked us out in spectacular style... :twisted:)

Oh, yeah! My sympathies as well, Tasek... You're right, MacMoto, the last two weeks have been incredibly lead-poor. Went out last Thursday, and the man-to-woman ratio was about 1 to 6. I finally had a good one last night; friends and I went to an open-air event with live music (Salsa Loca from Denmark), and the balance of the universe was restored (Germany's out of the running, so...!). I must've danced about five hours straight...nothing like a little salsa deprivation to get ya goin!

Tasek

06-27-2004, 12:33 PM

Hmm, haven't really noticed that effect over here, maybe the dutch salseros aren't often also football fans, wouldn't have minded having relatively more girls available, that way I could actually start liking the football hype

salsachinita

06-28-2004, 01:01 AM

I'd had such a fabulous weekend, that I've completely forgotten about Robert Charlemagne's workshop on Sunday :shock: !

Side Show Bob (fr UK) is a personal friend of his. He reminded me last night at the end of the night..........just as well I never booked or paid.

That said, I was having way too much fun to care :wink: !

It's just that I totally scewed up Robert's leads last time he visited, I'd just like to see how I would go now. Just to satisfy my curiosity, really :? .

MacMoto

06-28-2004, 05:31 AM

I'd had such a fabulous weekend, that I've completely forgotten about Robert Charlemagne's workshop on Sunday :shock: !

It's just that I totally scewed up Robert's leads last time he visited, I'd just like to see how I would go now. Just to satisfy my curiosity, really :? .
Robert's coming to Scotland to teach at our Summer Ball! :banana: :banana: :banana:
I've bought my ticket so no way I'm gonna miss it. The workshop's supposed to be improvers/intermediate level -- I hope I can keep up.

Sagitta

06-29-2004, 08:42 AM

Had a good night of dancing last night (Friday). The live band wasn't really all it was cracked up to be (and a song should never last half an hour :evil:)

I've never heard of this either!! :?

salsachinita

07-05-2004, 12:04 AM

Well, it was a long week for me, with the Cuban legends from "Bar at Buena Vista" show in town!

Wed night it all started. Alejandro (from Lady Salsa) is now working with some of the best dancers in a new dance troup called "Katumba". They were doing a show at our regular salsa/R&B club, with special guests from the Buena Vista group.

I got to dance with some of the most respected including Eric Turro (a trophy, as well as a treasure dance :D !). This guy is amazing. It's also the first time he's been performing out of Cuba :D !

Thursday night got even better. The otherwise crowded floor of our favourite club is cleared simply because we wanted to see the masters at play! They did an amaziing rueda........so tight & vibrant!!!!!!

Friday night I was attending a gig from a Sydney group. The Buena Vista guests were at another event. My night started slow but ended with a few great numbers.

Saturday was good at our regular spot, if a little too crowded :roll: ...... for some reasons unknown all of the people with really bad floorcraft were there :x .......ouch! Once again the Buena Vista people were too tired after the show, so none of the promised 'guest appearance' actually took place :roll: !

That said, I went to see the show & I have one word: "Wow!" :notworth:

My Sunday night brought on this thread: http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=4373

Afterwards, I took Carlos Gonzales (one of the legends from Buena Vista) to our regular descarga, where he received a truly warm welcome from all my musician/dancer friends :D . He was very impressed with the band :banana: !

MadamSamba caught up with us there too 8) !

Now that we've had such a great weekend, this coming one is going to seem dull no matter what :roll: ..........

Sagitta

07-05-2004, 12:54 AM

Great time Friday night at the Social Dance mix, with Latin being the predominant dance towards the end. While it does not compare to SC's dances just having someone come running to you and asking for a dance is a great reward in itself!! :D

Saturday quiet night at home...mass on Sunday you know... :(

Sunday night djing a milonga. Djing went well after a shakey start with a mini-confrontation. Someone was explaining to me that you don't play a milonga and a tango in the same tanda!!! Anyway, he was in a cranky mood and his wife told him that it was a tango, albeitedly a fast tango. After all it was the start of the evening! :shock: His mood improved later on. Anyway the night improved for me as it progressed and many people thanked me for djing and so that was good.

I found out something interesting...I might have mentioned this before... there is great cross-fertilization between AT and salsa. :D There is just something about the two dance styles that make them fit well. So all you salseros/as out there try AT, and all you tangueros/as should check out salsa!

MacMoto

07-05-2004, 07:32 AM

I flew to London late Friday afternoon. My flight was delayed (all planes from Heathrow were grounded due to thunder storms), so I missed most of the open-air festival part of Latin Splash, although I did manage to get almost an hour's worth of dancing in the salsa tent. I then met up with Templeria and her friends and went to the after party with them (thanks Templeria, for a fun night :D). I was going to leave around 1am but ended up staying until well after 3. At least I managed to get a good dance fix. There was one guy in particular with whom I connected instantly, who really made my night :D (see http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?p=63449#63449 ). I think I danced 5-6 songs with him altogether (and I didn't have to ask!). Some other good dances too (despite the sticky floor killing my spins), some with guys I had met at SalsaMed. There were show breaks at the party, during which we were treated to performances by Frankie Martinez and Johnny Vasquez among others. Johnny also sang (no trophy dances but at least I can brag about dancing to Johnny Vasquez's live singing :lol:).

On Saturday I went to a salsa club in Soho with another girl from Scotland who was attending the same training course (the main purpose (supposedly :lol:) of my being in London), who used to dance salsa. The club was a touristy sort of place with not very many dancers (certainly not really good ones), but that was probably just as well considering the tiny dancefloor. Stayed there for about 2 hours and danced more or less non-stop. Not much to be said about the quality of dancing, but it was nice to be in demand 8). My companion also had a good time, and I'm hoping that she will join me on Friday at my favourite monthly in Edinburgh.

pygmalion

07-05-2004, 07:56 AM

Oh. It sounds like you are having such a BLAST! Definitely 23 pounds worth. :D

MacMoto

07-05-2004, 09:10 AM

Not sure about 23 pounds' worth (a Scot speaking here :lol:) but yes, it was a good weekend.

pygmalion

07-05-2004, 09:13 AM

:lol: :lol: Understood. One must have value for one's money. Absolutely! :wink: :lol:

salsachinita

07-06-2004, 03:42 AM

Random thought: how come only a handful of us dominate this thread???

Don't other members have interesting weekends to share :? ?

We got enquiring minds here, you know :wink: !

MacMoto

07-06-2004, 05:31 AM

Perhaps many DFers dance only on weekdays?
Or they dance every day of the week so weekends are nothing special?

MacMoto

07-12-2004, 04:54 AM

Well, I'll just have to keep monopolising this thread since I've had another good weekend :D.

Friday was my favourite monthly in Edinburgh, and it didn't disappoint. Less people turned up than last month but the club was still full of my favourite dancers, with more room to dance without getting stepped on! The girl I went dancing with last Saturday came along for a couple of hours and told me she was going to start taking classes :D.

Saturday, classes in the afternoon (very good. Hard, but good), dancing in Glasgow to a live band at night. The band, La Mecanica from Cuba, came to Glasgow a couple of months ago and liked it so much they decided to record a live CD here 8). They were excellent -- unfortunately, dancing wasn't :(. This club always gets very hot and overcrowded, and it was worse than usual this night. Doing a cross body lead was like running the gauntlet, diving and ducking to avoid flying elbows. Then you get the drunks... (this club is always bad for men who can't dance asking you to dance then proceeding to either yank your arm out trying to turn you or go for a "crotch contact hold" :evil:). *Sigh* I suppose I did get some good dancing with some of my Glasgow favourites early in the night, and as I say, the band was good...

There were two events on Sunday, one in Glasgow and the other in Edinburgh, and I went for the Edinburgh one (I thought about doing both but was too tired). This was my first time at this venue, and it was a lovely setting on the waterfront overlooking the Royal Yacht Britannia. I had to leave early and missed the opportunity to dance with some of my favourite leaders who turned up just as I was leaving, but both the band (Rumba Caliente, an Edinburgh band with a close tie with Salsa Celtica) and the DJ (same guy who DJ'd on Friday) were brilliant, and I was reasonably pleased with my dancing :D (the lesson I got on Saturday turned out to be very useful).

So that's the good news -- the bad news is next weekend is going to be a quiet one. I suppose I can't complain, considering the summer ball (tickets are going fast) is the weekend after.

Sabor

07-12-2004, 05:08 AM

yesterday i got asked to dance 5 times.. complimented videod and photographed by people i dont know :shock: ... hmm must be my limeys .. must be! i just know it.. they were matching my ears very well yesterday :mrgreen:

squirrel

07-12-2004, 07:55 AM

good... congrats!
I had a partying weekend!
Thursday I danced - good day, nice music!
Friday my school threw a party! It was nice, but I kinda exagerrated with the beer :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:
Saturday - went to a wedding... had loads of fun!

salsachinita

07-12-2004, 07:57 AM

:nope: Sabor, you're priceless :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: !

Well, my weekend was a good one too. Despite the fact that we regulars copped a great deal of rough traffic on Friday night (due to the poor/lack of practice of floorcraft :x ), overall it turned out to be another winner of a weekend 8) .

There was a big party elsewhere on Sat so our regular spot was quieter than usual. All the people who turned up were such friendly bunch (total absence of ego on a Sat night......not bad!), we all got our fix with enough floorspace to boot :D !

I ended up dancing with a lot of the instructors that havn't been seen for a while. Knowing that I'm following them better now really makes my night 8) .

After a great practice session Sunday afternoon, I was almost too tired to descarga at Night Cat that night. Got my fix (a good one too) with Rico then it pretty much concluded another weekend :P ........

Sagitta

07-12-2004, 08:51 AM

Pretty good weekend. Some zydeco dancing Friday night, a b'day party on Saturday, and a filled Sunday. Practicing rueda, learning and dancing a little waltz, some swing, playing with the music with this lady, dancing as a follow, a little AT... :D

MacMoto

07-13-2004, 01:28 AM

I ended up dancing with a lot of the instructors that havn't been seen for a while. Knowing that I'm following them better now really makes my night 8) .
I know what you mean... cool! 8)

Kali Ma

07-14-2004, 06:28 AM

Sagitta

07-14-2004, 08:04 AM

Pretty good weekend. Some zydeco dancing Friday night

:shock: You dance zydeco? That is SO coool! :D My first ever partner dance experience was with zydeco; it was only two evenings in New Orleans about six years ago, but it was such fun! How long have you been doing it? (Sorry about the mini-hijack :oops: ) Don't worry about the hijack. The topic will get back on topic, eventually! :wink: :) I just started dancing last year, and so I've been dancing less then a year. I'll do zydeco if there isn't Latin, or AT.

I don't have a weekend sometimes. Dancing just goes on and oe, one day flows into the next, dancing at night comes morning, work, sleep, eat, and dance....

DancePoet

07-14-2004, 07:49 PM

Squirrel: Were you really counting Thursday as the weekend? ;)

Last "weekend" I took my 2nd V. Waltz class on Thursday, attended the studios social on Friday, and attended my first "open" AM social on Saturday.

The AM social was different. Music selection very different then my studio. Floor ok, except for a column in the middle, and half the hall lit while the other half was not. Crowd seemed small, so I was told. Although it is summer. Way to many hustles played in the mix, and that's coming form someone who likes hustle.

salsachinita

07-14-2004, 11:39 PM

Were you really counting Thursday as the weekend? ;)

Hey, my weekends officially starts on Wednsdays :lol: !!!!!!

While we are at it, I had a blast last night tearing up the floor out there with my new partner 8) . Good compatibility rocks :!:

squirrel

07-15-2004, 03:00 AM

My weekend starts tonight! Wish me luck!

MacMoto

07-15-2004, 03:38 AM

Good luck squirrel! :D
You lucky people... I have to wait until Friday :(. Hope the usual suspects will all turn up in Edinburgh tomorrow night -- I'm in the mood for some LA style dancing.

07-15-2004, 07:20 AM

Random thought: how come only a handful of us dominate this thread???

Don't other members have interesting weekends to share :? ?

We got enquiring minds here, you know :wink: !

Lol! I didn't do any dancing last weekend, but I did have a nice time catching up with some college friends that I haven't seen in years.

This weekend I'm going to this Hustle event next door from where I'm staying. I don't dance hustle, as I've only taken one lesson a couple of years ago. But according to the schedule, it's supposed to have salsa, too.

Then on Saturday - it's off to Vegas for a bachelor party!

borikensalsero

07-16-2004, 10:52 AM

this is such a discriminatory thread!!! I haven’t dance on the weekends for a while!!! All I do is outdoor stuff during the summer!!! Not fair!! Not fair!!! How will I share my stories if I can’t do it here!!

someone, quick, point me to the authorities!! :kissme:

salsachinita

07-18-2004, 02:33 AM

Oh, Boriken :ladiesma: !

Ok, here's the review of last night's blast:

"Bar at Buena Vista" made a brief re-visit to Melbourne last night. The official after party took place at Viva. I was the transfer between the theatre & club.

After rounding up the cast members (who were still in the mood to kick on), I found out that Eric Turro, el meastro who had hurt his knee earlier, was NOT supposed to dance unless it was the official show. He was so keen to be with the people, that he suggested that he ONLY dances with his dance partner from the show.

Needless to say it was nothing short of being spectacular 8) . I simply wished that whatever I've personally learnt from him can also be observed/absorbed by all patrons from last night. As my friend puts it in his thankyou e-mail:

I have never seen Cuban dancing like what I saw last night it was fantastic. I think everyone was awe-struck.

It wasn’t so much the moves (which were great) it was more HOW they moved. Strong, smooth, totally grounded.

Hearing comments like this really makes all the efforts worthwhile :D !

The others include Siomara (forgot her surname :oops: ) & Carlos Gonzales (brother of Juan de Marco of original Buena Vista project), both of whom got on stage and did a few numbers with the band, including "Dos Gardenias" :D !

It's was times like this I REALLY wished someone had recorded the whole thing. This would be one of those nights that will go down history (at least for my local scene) 8) ...........

I shall post the photos soon......Viva might have some on their websites too.

Sagitta

07-18-2004, 03:29 AM

Super fabulous weekend. Friday night got some culture at museum opening, followed by Carribean band on the arts quad at cornell, latin dance at one place, followed by latin dance at another.

Today local band? at State park. Out of the world latin music, and so grabbed their CD. Then an afterparty from 9 to 3;300...I'm bac from that. Danced with a good dancer from Washinton DC area and she complimented me on my smoothness. Hmmm...was it the alcholo? Am I becoming a drunkard? I take back my words about not being able to danec after a drink or two. :oops: :)

Tomorrow...milonga!! :D :banana:

MacMoto

07-19-2004, 07:34 AM

Friday night, off to Edinburgh to the "club with a tree" for my salsa fix, believing this was going to be a quiet weekend... The DJ played a surprisingly good set, which I wouldn't normally expect at this venue. And my new shoes worked a treat! :D I was much more stable in them.

Saturday, went to classes after about 3 1/2 hours sleep, still believing this was going to be a quiet weekend. Then I was told about a salsa house party... Nice setting, good food, good company and loads of dancing with some rueda action. I was exhausted towards the end of the night, dancing with my eyes closed (well okay I do that often anyway, but not usually because I can't keep them open! Wine probably didn't help either...). Left the place after 3am.

Sunday evening, back to Edinburgh for a monthly. I seriously thought about giving it a miss but was told that it was going to be the last ever (the promotors have been losing a lot of money apparently). This was the first ever social dancing venue I went to when I was a beginner, so I had to go and give a good send off. I was only there for about 2 hours, but it turned out to be a great evening -- it never ceases to amaze me that there always seem to be more fav leads to be "discovered". Where have they been in the last 6 months? And I was on! Must be my new shoes 8).

And this was supposed to be my quiet weekend... :lol: Next stop: the masquerade salsa ball on Saturday!
:banana: :banana: :banana:

Sagitta

07-19-2004, 07:40 AM

The "magical" new shoes! :wink: :)

DWise1

07-19-2004, 09:54 AM

First time posting on this thread. Please be gentle [grin].

There are three possible venues every Friday (WCS/etc, Lindy, Salsa), but I'm nursing a minor injury that I'm trying to let heal in time for Camp Hollywood in two weeks, so I opted out of Friday.

But Saturday we had a WCS workshop for "mass confusion", which is a kind of WCS rueda that the school had choreographed for fun some time back. That was followed by their Country night which featured C2S, WCS, Hustle, NC2S, etc. A lot of their friends from before showed up and it was a wilder crowd than usual.

Then Sunday I finally got back to my Lindy class for the first time this month (no class on 4 Jul, then last weekend was reserve duty). They went to "Lindy bomb" a place after class, but I opted out because of my injury (at least that was as good an excuse as any).

DancePoet

07-19-2004, 06:10 PM

Squirrel starts her "weekend" on Thursdays. And Salsachinta starts her's on Wednesdays? Oh my! What's a guy to do?

Well ... ok ... now that I think of it, I could come up with some ideas!

Fly to Austrailia on Tuesday into Wednesday, dance with Salsachinta on Wednesday...fly overnight to Rumania to dance with Squirrel...return to U.S. overnight in time for local social dance on Friday to start my real weekend! Not sure this could really happen, but I can dream!

Oh ... right ... how'd my weekend go? Did the usual Friday night social. Went to a different studio for a Saturday night social where I got to do this wonderful tango with a woman much better then I (see "Dancing Up!" thread for details). And on Sunday took a private lesson where I reviewed transitions from one basic V. Waltz series of steps to another.

Overall, very satisfied!

dancin_feet

07-19-2004, 06:19 PM

Did nothing dance related last weekend. Spent most of it reading the latest Harry Potter book which has finally come out in paperback. Went out with friends on Saturday night for dinner and got talked into having seafood buffet. Fantastic meal but now I have to watch my money for the next few weeks to pay for it! :x

This weekend will be different.

Have dancing this Friday night, an in studio dancing comp on Saturday afternoon in Waltz, Foxtrot and Tango, and dinner with mum on Sunday night for her birthday. And all this time I am going to try and finish my HP book! Busy busy busy.

pygmalion

07-19-2004, 06:37 PM

I'm pretty sure the paperback is not yet available in the US. Better not be, since I paid for the hard back version not so long ago!! :evil:

cy_phi

07-20-2004, 07:48 AM

Sagitta

07-20-2004, 08:07 AM

cy_phi

07-20-2004, 08:19 AM

My dance weekend was great as usual. I'm a regular at Ryles Dance Hall on Saturday nights. Kind of like 'Norm!' on Cheers.

I know Ryles has been mentioned in previous threads, and for those of you who've never been to Cambridge [MA], and are looking for a place to shake your booty, go to Ryles. It's probably the only venue of its kind in the area that goes until 2AM.

What sort of dancing is done there? No point in dancing until 2 if it isn't a style I like, is there? :?

Well, as advertised, it's Swing and Salsa on Saturday nights. As the evening progresses, Cha Cha, Rumba, Bachata, Samba, WCS, Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot [most people do swing instead], VW. I haven't heard any requests for Paso Doble yet :) ...but anything goes on Saturday nights.

If you are a dedicated Salsero/Salsera, you should go to Sophia's in Boston on Wednesday nights, Ryles on Thursday nights, and El Bembe in Boston on Friday nights [live band, during the fall & winter]. El Bembe is the name of the event not a club. [www.salsaboston.com]

Sagitta

07-20-2004, 08:43 AM

Thanks! Useful info...would be great having it in the Best Salsa Clubs (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=1554&start=60) thread. :)

cy_phi

07-20-2004, 08:54 AM

Thanks! Useful info...would be great having it in the Best Salsa Clubs (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=1554&start=60) thread. :)

Done as requested. :)

MacMoto

07-21-2004, 07:34 AM

Did nothing dance related last weekend.
:!: :!: :!: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:
Can't remember the last time I had a weekend without any dancing. Let me see... was that New Year? (I had flue and was confined to bed.)

Still, seafood buffet sounds good.

Sagitta

07-21-2004, 10:29 AM

MacMoto

07-25-2004, 07:34 AM

Went to Edinburgh on Friday to the "club with a tree". Many of the regulars didn't show, presumably because of good dances happening in Edinburgh on Saturday and Sunday. Music wasn't very good either so left early.

Saturday was our third half-annual salsa ball in Edinburgh. I was there from 7.30pm to do Robert Charlemagne's workshop. It was great to see everyone, both from Edinburgh and Glasgow, under one roof and all dressed up. My dance with Robert Charlemagne was embarrasingly bad :oops:, but I had some fine dances from my favourite leaders from Glasgow and Edinburgh. Danced salsa with my AT teacher too -- though I think I prefer dancing tango with him :lol:. He says I'm picking tango up quite well :D.

Today, I'm tempted to go back to Edinburgh (a really good monthly is on tonight) but probably should give it a miss. Sleep deprivation is taking its toll now :(.

Sagitta

07-25-2004, 11:18 AM

Nothing on Friday. So there!

A good time yesterday night! A really good dance mix...except for the merengues. :( The salsas invited a lot of playing and not just moves. That makes for a good night for me. My cha cha is getting better...I'm liking cumbia more and more. :)

I'm on the top of the world after being down for a while! :wink: I'm back. :D :banana:

dancin_feet

07-25-2004, 05:57 PM

Well I'm back from my sick bed over the weekend. Didn't stop me from dancing though! :lol:

Went out to a dancing party on Friday night (dosed up on drugs) where I had two really challenging dances with my instructor and the owner of the studio. Rare to have them both at the same party so it was great.

Dosed myself up again to go in a mini comp on Saturday in Foxtrot, Waltz and Tango. Didn't get anything, but when you do get a place they have a system where you are handicapped, so seeing as I got a couple of ribbons early in the year, I'm basically handicapped out of the running now!! :P Doesn't matter, it's all good fun and you get to see how some of the newbies are progressing.

Didn't have anything official on Sunday but I did work on my WCS routine. I have come up with some choreography for the bridge section of the music so will see what my instructor thinks of that tonight.

salsachinita

07-25-2004, 08:02 PM

I've had a quiet (ish) weekend.

Wed, not many good leads showed up, so i had my fix with a friend and was home by midnight.

Thur, a fun night with a bit more room to dance (hooray!), even if I was not dancing that well.

Fri, had dinner at a place where one of our local band was playing. Did the social rounds, took my friend home (with the intention of going dancing after that), but ended up staying at her place watching a movie 8) .

Sat, my good run on Sat continues. Everyone there were still on a high from last week. A lot of the regulars didn't turn up so there were sooooo much room (yipee!). Had a treasure dance with one of my favs and we got told by ppl that it was the best we've ever done :D ! Also had a few good numbers with El Washing Machine.

Last night, went to visit Rico (who was sick :( ) before going dancing. Many of our local instructors turned up, including Alex from Lady Salsa. We had some serious fun!

This coming week will be a busy one. I shall report back soon.

salsachinita

07-25-2004, 08:07 PM

DancePoet

07-25-2004, 09:47 PM

If I continue to include Thursday like Squirrel does, had the group V. Waltz lesson on Thursday, Friday did a semi private Quickstep lesson with three friends, followed by dinner at a nice Italian restaurant, and then the social dance. We had 35 people at the social so it was a big night for us! Then Saturday I went to another social at the same place with less people, as usual on Saturdays, but a nice evening none the less! Nothing on Sunday, heaven forbid!

Hey dancin_feet, hope you are feeling better soon. :)

dancin_feet

07-25-2004, 10:54 PM

Hey dancin_feet, hope you are feeling better soon. :)

Still feeling mediocre, but well enough to come to work (damn!!). I'm skipping a lunchbreak so that I can get home a bit earlier to have a snooze and a recharge before my 2.5 hours of dance classes tonight!

Nothing keeps me away from dance class!! :D

Sagitta

07-26-2004, 01:29 AM

I actually had a good time AT dancing. For once I did more than just walking. And my upcoming week will be a good one as well. We have a live band for latin night on Tuesday, may check out a milonga in Geneva, NY, on Friday...travelling further and further for dance. Wait a moment! Milonga Sunday, milonga Friday and practica on Tuesday. Latin on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Oh my god!! AT is catching up with my other latin! :shock:

MacMoto

07-26-2004, 03:13 AM

My dance with Robert Charlemagne was embarrasingly bad :oops:

So was mine :cry: ....... especially more embarrasing as he was the one who asked me & I had no idea who he was :shock: at the time........

Did you find it hard to follow him, or was it just me :? ..........??
Yes, I did -- following someone for the first time is often difficult, but clearance problems made it worse (I kept getting stuck! :oops: It would probably help if you were tall and had long arms...). A beginner girl who was apparently watching the whole proceeding told me later how good I looked dancing with him and I thought "huh??" :shock: :? :?: :oops:

I decided to be sensible for once and stayed at home on Sunday to rest. Not much dancing scheduled on next two weekends... I may have to wait for a while before I get my next (proper) fix :(. Addiction is a terrible thing, isn't it?

07-26-2004, 09:06 AM

Well, I finally got out and about to explore the "new" local scene. It was a bit far (45 minute drive), not that many dancers (about 20 total), but hey, I got my dance fix taken care of.

Apparently, Thursdays is the big night of the week around here, so looks like my weekend definition will include Thursdays like a couple of you.

salsachinita

07-26-2004, 09:09 AM

8) Welocme to the Weekday Salsaholic's Club, TJ!

pygmalion

07-26-2004, 09:26 AM

I decided to be sensible for once and stayed at home on Sunday to rest. Not much dancing scheduled on next two weekends... I may have to wait for a while before I get my next (proper) fix :(. Addiction is a terrible thing, isn't it?

It's probably just as well that things will be slow for you for a while. How's that knee of yours? :)

07-26-2004, 09:38 AM

8) Welocme to the Weekday Salsaholic's Club, TJ!

Lol!

Admittedly, I’ve always danced more on the weekdays than the weekends. The weekends tend to get overly crowded with suggles.

MacMoto

07-26-2004, 09:42 AM

How's that knee of yours? :)
Much better now, thanks :).

Sagitta

07-26-2004, 09:48 AM

07-26-2004, 12:16 PM

8) Welocme to the Weekday Salsaholic's Club, TJ!

Lol!

Admittedly, I’ve always danced more on the weekdays than the weekends. The weekends tend to get overly crowded with suggles.

suggles / snuggles? Another flirt nomination in the making for the 2004 awards?

Nope, nothing of the sort.

Suggles - Harry Potteresque description of non-salsa dancers. Typically found in the middle of the dance floor with 6-12 others forming a large circle and generally swaying with cigarrette in one hand, drink in the other. Will typically mark their territory by spilling aforementioned drinks in the middle of the dance floor, hence leaving it undanceable for the rest of the night. Term first heard on salsamafia.com.

MacMoto

07-27-2004, 02:41 AM

Suggles - Harry Potteresque description of non-salsa dancers. Typically found in the middle of the dance floor with 6-12 others forming a large circle and generally swaying with cigarrette in one hand, drink in the other. Will typically mark their territory by spilling aforementioned drinks in the middle of the dance floor, hence leaving it undanceable for the rest of the night. Term first heard on salsamafia.com.
:lol: :lol: :lol:

salsachinita

08-01-2004, 12:19 PM

This week I didn't dance that much (compared to my usual amount).

The pain on left foot turned out to be tendonitis :cry: .........I rested for a few days but when nuts by Saturday night........so went out dancing regardless.

Now, Sunday night (or early hrs of Mondy) after salsa at two different venues, with some of my favourite salseros, I feel satisfied but a little sore.........

MacMoto

08-02-2004, 09:50 AM

The pain on left foot turned out to be tendonitis :cry: .........I rested for a few days but when nuts by Saturday night........so went out dancing regardless.
I should be telling you to have a break from dancing for a little while and let your foot heal but I won't since I found this advice impossible to follow when I injured my knee :roll:. I hope strapping works.

My weekend -- dancing Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon plus three classes on Saturday. On Friday, a guy I had never seen before asked me to dance. I agreed and took my position assuming he was a non-dancer or a beginner. Within seconds I realised I was wrong -- he was an AMAZING dancer! I didn't know what had hit me :shock:. Where had he come from!? On the Saturday night social, I started very badly -- embarrasing, really -- but picked up later much to my relief. I suppose I was tired... (3 classes on one hot day takes a lot out of you). Sunday was probably the best of this weekend -- had great fun dancing with some musically playful leaders 8). All in all, I think it was a good birthday weekend.

salsachinita

08-02-2004, 09:56 AM

Don't you just love surprises from strangers who turn out to be great salseros?!

I'm glad you had fun! Thanks for the well-wishes :D !

peachexploration

08-02-2004, 04:46 PM

pygmalion

08-02-2004, 04:58 PM

Um. I see I need to direct some people (who shall remain nameless LOL) to the dance injuries thread, where it clearly states that, when injured, you should rest. :roll: :wink:

etchuck

08-02-2004, 05:30 PM

Dance weekend:

Met Vin! :)

Saturday dance from 7:30 to 1am (ballroom, zydeco, "gumbo mix", and swing). Ballroom DJ for the first set, and got the house rockin'. It was so hot, I was watching people dance, and noticed my shirt was near soaked! (Again, this is BALLROOM!) The final tally was around 150 people attending (we also had a swing DJ at 10:30, though not as many people showed up as expected).

Sunday: 3 hours of Argentine tango fundamentals, followed by 3 hours of salsa dancing. Not that Vin and I danced the entire time. (Okay, he did more dancing than me I think ;) .)

Lots of fun... y'all should visit. :)

It appears this multi-DJ dance idea is fairly popular, so our next one we're thinking of will fall October 30 (the next time a fifth Saturday pops up).

DWise1

08-02-2004, 07:05 PM

DancePoet

08-02-2004, 09:30 PM

Had my last V. Waltz lesson on Thursday for the time being. The group class has ended without enough interest to have a 2nd month of classes. Yet, that's probably ok. Toughest dance I've tried to learn so far, and plan to spend some time practicing, and working on technique in private lessons.

Friday attended the usual social dance.

Saturday met with my instructor and a dance partner to begin working on our first performance together! It looks like we will be doing a foxtrot to Robbie Williams version of "Beyond the Sea". (Maybe I'll give details elsewhere.) Followed this up with practicing the starting routine a half dozen times before attending an evening social dance.

pygmalion

08-03-2004, 09:06 AM

DWise1

08-03-2004, 03:09 PM

One word: Camp Hollywood.

It was my first swing camp. Too much information to assimilate. Competitions were great. So were the bands.

I thought I wouldn't be able to drag myself in to work today, but physically I felt fine. Mentally (ie, sleep-wise), so-so. Next year I'll see about getting a room there instead of commuting.

I even bucked tradition and bought a camp t-shirt. I know I'm going to need it to change into next year.

Thumbs up? would you recommend it to others?
Yes, though mind you I have no other camps to compare it to.

I had missed the Laughlin Desert Swing Camp last year and it wasn't held this year (organizers had other commitments). Friends who had gone to that complained the Camp Hollywood (CH) started too late in the day (10AM compared with Laughlin's 8AM), and Laughlin offered more classes compared to CH's four hours a day.

My only real problem was that I needed to commute home (40 miles one-way) to let the dog in to keep him from becoming coyote chow which limited my being able to stay and dance or just enjoy the music. There's something to be said about dancing til you drop as opposed to needing to keep enough in reserve to drive home.

I assume that there are swing camps all over the country as well as in other countries (Herräng in Sweden comes immediately to mind), so I would recommend even just getting involved in a local one if you've never gone. Being exposed to new material and to other instructors really helps. Plus at the competitions you get to see moves that you never thought were possible (and start to learn some of them in some of the classes). Our instructor says that everybody's dancing goes up a notch after attending camp (guess I've just got small notches [grin]).

Funny story:
One couple teaching had put on a very impressive show the night before with several aerials. While teaching us very different move, non-aerial, a girl shows up to class about 15 minutes late (it could happen that we would leave one class and go to another, like I left the Big Apple to go audit Double Bug). The instructors stopped and welcomed her and just for her benefit showed her what the routine was. Only they went into this incredible aerial that nearly scared the poor girl away. Remember how in cartoons you would see two critters chasing each other and they would be going up and down this guy? Up from between the legs, across the belly and chest, over one shoulder, down the back, up from between the legs, ... continuously in a blur. That's how he was shooting his partner around him. I still have no idea how he was doing it.

Come to think of it, that girl who had come in late, I don't remember ever seeing her again.

MacMoto

08-09-2004, 06:02 AM

What I thought would be a quiet weekend for dancing turned out to be a full but very unusual one...

Friday, Glasgow. A TV crew from BBC Scotland was at the club. They were making a documentary about a couple and wanted to film a dancing scene (the couple's learning salsa, apparently). It was early so only a handful of dancers were there, and I turned out to be one of them... :oops:. I think I should find out the name of the programme, although I'm not sure if I want to see it...

Saturday, classes in the afternoon (the second, cha cha class was good -- I really enjoyed it :D), "Latin-themed BBQ" at local hotel in evening. Not many dancers and the BBQ wasn't anything to shout about, but the music was good and we danced a lot anyway.

Sunday, the Edinburgh Festival Parade. We were told to arrive by 12.30, but then had to wait for hours for our turn. There was a samba float near our salsa bus, and they were already in party mood, playing music while we waited (our own salsa band on our bus was happy to sit and drink beer -- provided free by our sponsor -- rather than providing free entertainment). When our turn came, we followed the bus, trying to walk and dance at the same time as well as handing out bead necklaces to kids watching the parade, and it was all over in less than half an hour. It was a gloriously sunny day, and we were all grateful for the free beer that awaited us at the end of the road. I usually avoid Edinburgh during the Festival (gets really, really busy with tourists) but it was fun to be part of it.

salsachinita

08-09-2004, 09:31 AM

Wow, sounds like fun :D !

Mine was quietish but great. Quality dancing & lots of hanging out :wink: !

Despite all the dramas with my feet (& against advice of all friends/doctors) I went dancing, as usual. I managed to fit my itchy swollen feet into my jazz practice shoes 8) .

Met up with my (new) partner at the club on Thursday & did a few good numbers with a good friend recently returned from Cuba. He didn't want to be back & I really don't blame him......

Fri venue was too packed to dance properly. I would've had a better time if El Washing Machine (my old partner) didn't get so jealous with Rico :roll: ......what is it with some guys....?

Sat night, I was ON. Out danced everyone 8) . We had a blast with both Rico & MadamSamba there!

Sunday was more hanging than dancing.......got my fix from Rico & Gangsta, two of my absolute favourites :D , so I was happy.

This weekend turned out to be a busy one packed with non-dancing activites. I've hardly had a chance to do any DFing.....so shall be on for a while tonight :wink: !

etchuck

08-09-2004, 10:21 AM

Had a grand time swing dancing. Lavay Smith was in town, and the last ticket count from the organizer said we had maybe around 300 paid. The band was definitely great, although some people were saying their sets were too long. Believe me, I'd rather have a long set with each musician doing his virtuoso section and keep dancing than a short set. If you get too accustomed to DJ dances (where each song should be 3-4 minutes), then dancing to a live band is totally different.

MacMoto

08-09-2004, 10:26 AM

Quality dancing & lots of hanging out :wink: !

Quality, if not quantity -- that's good 8). Pleased to hear it, sista.

DancePoet

08-09-2004, 07:57 PM

Oh no! No more dancing on Thursday's planned for this month. My weekend starts on Friday again!

Friday: Quickstep lesson with friends, dinner, social dance.

Saturday: Suppose to be a lesson with partner whom I'm working on a performance with and then practice with her, but she didn't make it. Lesson with instructor anyway. Social dance at a different studio.

Sunday: Quickstep lesson with friends. Private lesson with focus Waltz.

Phil Owl

08-16-2004, 09:56 AM

This Owl had good one, looks like Dance City Ballroom in ATL is becoming one of my regular haunts.

I did lots more cha-cha than I had in a while and really am appreciating this dance all over again! I got some good Hustles and swing in too, even did MORE foxtrots in one evening that I had in ages.

Add to this one VERY friendly crowd (and for mixed ballroom, far friendlier than I've encountered anywhere), this Owl was flying home happy.

Sagitta

08-16-2004, 10:24 AM

No dancing for me this past weekend. I needed the break! I'm going to having a crazy week starting on Tuesday. Dancing every single night of the week, all the way up to Sunday. :banana: :bouncy: :banana:

People here at work already think I'm acting weird!!

twnkltoz

08-16-2004, 01:28 PM

I had a fabulous weekend! Went to Stars Ballroom in Novato, CA with Gumby and my brother. Had a great bolero lesson with Ted Ross, and gumby and I got lots of dances with Ted, who's wonderful, and my brother, who's no slouch.

Last night was Capital Swing's monthly dance (WCS). Had a lesson with our rhythm coach, then got a couple of good dances in before leaving. I was dancing with my dentist who happens to be a great dancer (competes in advanced or masters depending on his mood) and with whom I haven't danced in a long time. After we danced, he said, "your west coast style has changed!" with a happy, approving smile. I guess that means they've managed to beat all the ballroom right out of my wcs. ;)

DancePoet

08-16-2004, 06:15 PM

A low key dance weekend. One social dance last Friday, and that's it.

MacMoto

08-17-2004, 04:03 AM

I wasn't feeling too well this weekend...

It didn't stop me going to my no. 1 favourite monthly on Friday though. It was a great night, as usual. I got there before 9.30 and stayed there till the end (1am), dancing almost non-stop except maybe about 5 songs (comfort/watering breaks)... Someone told me later that he wanted to dance with me but everytime he looked for me I was on the dancefloor with someone else... :oops: I also went to my Saturday classes, but I was so tired when I came out, I had to cancel my planned outing to Glasgow (we weren't sure if there was any salsa there anyway). I also had to give up on the idea of going to the Sunday milonga in Edinburgh :(. Definitely next week...

On the bright side, my house looks a lot tidier now that I actually spent a weekend in it and gave it a good going-over :lol:.

ShyDancer

08-17-2004, 06:14 PM

I had quite a good one! I finally had a night where I danced every dance, even one I didnt know .. but that was what made it so good! It was a NV dance so by the end of the song I pretty much knew what needed to be done and the second song went on with very few mistakes even though the technique was lacking but Im sure in the next few weeks that will pick up fairly quickly as this paticular rhythm is my strongest.

Also did Cha Cha Slide at the end of the night... 4 of us did much to the amusement of others! It was only our 2nd time doing it so it was lots of fun, I was in my street shoes by this stage and found it so hard to move on the floor!
Must go find that cha cha slide thread..I know its here somewhere!

twnkltoz

08-17-2004, 06:17 PM

What are NV dances?

salsachinita

08-17-2004, 11:02 PM

Ok, this is a late report to my weekend :oops: ........

I have a cold & gave it to a lot of my friends......so my salsa scene is full of coughers right now :roll: .

On the bright side: we have a visiting international instructor in town, keeping us busy :wink: . The legendary Gupson Pierre, originally from Montreal, now based in Singapore. This dude is super cool 8) .

Our Sunday Night Cat band had managed to impress our guest :D .....

Now all I got to do, is to learn the grooves of NY on2 8) .......

I shall post some more later.......

salsachinita

08-21-2004, 06:05 AM

Just wanna quickly post something before I run off to salsa.......

This past Wed, at our regular spot, I had a few fantastic treasure dances with Gupson & my friend SugarGlider :D .

We did one of those neat things where I was passed between the two of them, during the same song :bouncy: !

:banana: Great fun :banana: ! The last time I did this was with CapricornDancer & a visiting salsero from Sydney 8) .........

pygmalion

08-21-2004, 06:43 AM

Sounds like a blast!! :bouncy:

Sagitta

08-21-2004, 12:13 PM

A good question!! :? :) So far not bad. About 3:30 last night I ask a lady to dance, and we danced 6 songs in a row. First song wasn't too good as she did not really do circular style dancing. I asked her and she said that she prefered slot-like dancing. So, I did 50/50 and cut out half of the casino style moves I do. Worked out pretty well. Then there were the cha chas. I think I shoudl teach cha cha in the intermediate class on Monday since that was the only dance that I looked somewhat decent on the dance floor. Oh, yes met Boriken and volleybgrl... :)

danceguy

08-21-2004, 07:50 PM

And...where is the good scuttlebutt and some pictures of you all? We're all waiting! :D ;) :P

I'm off to Salsa in a few hours...gotta clean my car, wash my dancing clothes...will post a report later on this evening...well or tomorrow morning. ;)

SG

pygmalion

08-21-2004, 07:54 PM

Oh, yes met Boriken and volleybgrl... :)

What!?! :shock: You meet two DFers and treat it as an afterthought?????

SDsalsaguy

08-21-2004, 10:56 PM

Oh, yes met Boriken and volleybgrl... :)

What!?! :shock: You meet two DFers and treat it as an afterthought?????
Yeah, what's with that??? :shock: :shock: :shock: :wink:

danceguy

08-22-2004, 12:56 AM

Yeah! Not many DF folks have met our legendary Saint Boriken...we wanna hear all the groovy details! :D

Just back from some Salsa...I went to a new venue I'd never been to before...and it was just well...lame! I don't know how to explain it...there was a lot of people...but the energy of the crowd just didn't feel right to me.

I had one great dance with the first lady I asked...but the second promptly said no and had some lame excuse...and I almost said to her "oh I'm sorry...I thought you were here to dance, not sit there in the corner and be a snot!"...I then veered over to a very cute Latina I had met during the lesson...and another guy beat me to her! Well, he was a little dude and I couldn't just picked him up and tossed him out the door, but I figured maybe he needed that dance more than I did! :P

Here's the best part...after just an hour I decided to call it quits...and I was making my way to the door I looked up at this older lady who glanced my way and said "no thanks!"...and I was laughing inside because my last thought on Earth would be to ask her to dance! :lol: :twisted: :lol:

I couldn't believe the poor floorcraft of some of the dancers there...during just one dance I had several people crash into me...and I had to really keep an eye on the lady I was with and even she was surprised...it was like stepping into a war zone. :shock: :? :roll:

Oh well, onward and upward...my first and last time at that place! Thank goodness there are still three other venues that I will be able to attend each week. :wink: :D

SG

Sagitta

08-22-2004, 05:15 AM

Imagine my first congress and I cannot feel the music. Everyone is out there dancing and so I want to dance but I just cannot feel it!! I wonder whether I'll ever have the courage to attend another congress again, or even dances elsewhere, and how I could ever teach salsa, and what sort of salsa I have been teaching the past couple lessons. After that trauma it was lucky that I mentioned B and VBG!!

Pacion has said everything about B. What else is there to add?

Tonight, however was phenomenal. Seen Kiwimambo dancing also - great dancer.

pygmalion

08-22-2004, 06:38 AM

It will get better. Just enjoy as much as you can. Stressing out will only make it less likely that you'll feel the music.

Sagitta

08-22-2004, 11:47 AM

It will get better. Just enjoy as much as you can. Stressing out will only make it less likely that you'll feel the music.

Thanks P. Unfortunately it doesn't matter how stressed out I am. For instance, in the latin beginner class I taught twice, I have to use songs that I don't quite feel and though I have no problem keeping the beat (I have other problems like calling out how to excute the move just ahead of the music so people can practice it...) while I move to the music it feels like eating stale bread. Being nailed and hung from a cross! One of the main reasons I chose to dance salsa and tango was because I love feeling the music.

Yesterday night a really good follower told me that I danced on2 with her!! :oops: Never realized it. I was enjoying the music and did what came naturally.

peachexploration

08-22-2004, 12:29 PM

Sagitta, I'm so glad you guys are having a great time!!!! :D

danceguy

08-22-2004, 08:04 PM

etchuck

08-22-2004, 08:11 PM

My weekend is simply to stay at home and mix my music together for the Friday dance I'm running. Unfortunately I'm having issues with my Digital License Management that none of my WMA's can play on my computer now. That's really frustrating and until I get that resolved (could have something to do with Windows XP SP2???) the three pieces I downloaded won't make the playlist. :(

I guess the undergrads will have to deal with all '80's music now. ;)

pygmalion

08-22-2004, 08:27 PM

:shock: Heaven forbid! :wink: :lol:

salsachinita

08-22-2004, 09:31 PM

We had a couple more great nights hanging out with the legendary Gupson 8) . He didn't dance that much, after so many hours of teaching....but when he DID dance......WOW :D !

Another instructor from Perth joined us on Sat night. I had a few treasure numbers with him :o .....!

Being a host rocks :notworth: !

danceguy

08-23-2004, 12:05 AM

I had another disappointing evening. Went to my usual Sunday night spot...and during the lesson there was 10 guys...and no ladies! This was a sign that I should've turned and walked about...but finally ONE lady showed up.

Very few women...most of them ones on my ever-growing greylist...and more and more guys kept showing up. Like last night, I danced only once, but it was a great dance... 8)

I stayed for an hour and finally called it a night...I guess some days its just bad astrology or something. :headwall:

I'm really glad I'm starting to branch out...my new Wed night venue is 35 miles from here and I couldn't believe how much fun I had there. Looks like I'm going to be heading out of town more now...there's just no way to grow as a Salsero with the extremely limited scene in my area. :evil:

Ok...enough ranting...looks like I'll have to wait until Wednesday to get my fix... :roll: :oops: :x

SG

Sagitta

08-23-2004, 12:40 AM

Hi Sagitta,

Well I imagine that going to a large Salsa event for the first time is a shocker to anyone...it has always been that way for me especially when I was first starting out.

If you haven't spent a lot of time in Salsa clubs...it is quite a different world. Several DF members have talked about this (myself, SD and Youngsta come to mind). I'm just at the point where I'm confident enough to go to new venues on my own and ask people to dance that I've never seen before...a new person in my usual spot is no biggie...but going outside of your comfort zone is a good way to grow. :wink:

Thanks for the words SG. Unfortunately it was the music. Unless I can really feel the music so that it almost becomes almost part of me I find it hard to ask anyone. Even at my usual venues, such as my weekly Tuesday night, and I know quite a few people sitting, whom I can ask and will get a yes. Unless I have something that I want to share I cannot dance. My heart bleeds, I suffer when if I'm asked and do try. :cry: I almost walked out last Tuesday night. Just like at the milonga tonight. Only one song that really appealed to my dancing spirit and I had a friend's camera that I had to get rid of, so missed out on that! :x I tried a couple dances that had sort of okay songs, but just wasn't into it. It's simply a painful phase, I guess.

MacMoto

08-23-2004, 05:33 AM

Not a lot of salsa, but I designated this weekend to be a "people" weekend, and so it was. I think I should do this more often...

On Friday I had lunch with a colleague (whom I'm in the middle of persuading to take up salsa dancing). We've known each other for a long time but have only started talking properly recently. In the evening I went to Edinburgh with a salsa friend to see a fringe dance show called Salsa Invasion, in which a couple of teachers I know (though not my teachers) danced. It showed the various music and dance styles that influenced the development of salsa, starting from its African roots, then on to things like Yambu, American dancehall, hustle, hip hop, jazz, ballroom... both my friend and I really enjoyed it. Then we went to eat and catch up with news, and we went for a bit of salsa dancing afterwards. I was off (wrong shoes) and didn't dance as much as I normally do, but it was a fun night.

On Saturday I met up with a former colleague and good friend for a cup of tea instead of going to my usual afternoon salsa classes, then at night went to a salsa friend's party. It wasn't a dance party (lots of non-dancers were there too -- I'm so not used to parties where you just meet people, eat, drink and talk :oops:), but us salsa dancers still managed to dig up a small CD player and a couple of CDs and danced anyway. Rueda in a carpeted living room full of people drinking is no easy task... but we did it! :lol:

On Sunday I was back in Edinburgh for a spot of tango -- and I really enjoyed it this time, despite still being pretty pathetic at it (being a beginner isn't fun :oops: :() and not knowing anyone. The music doesn't seem to affect me badly anymore. I had to leave early but wanted to dance more. I'm now thinking about somehow going through to Edinburgh on Tuesday for tango...

danceguy

08-23-2004, 10:39 AM

Sagitta,

I know exactly what you mean...I'm sure you've seen some of my posts here on DF...some nights I'm like "what the !#@#$# I am doing trying to be a Salsero...this sucks!" and I come close to giving it all up.

I believe it was Pygmalion who said that I seem to have a love/hate relationship with Salsa...which is a sure sign that I'm hooked. I didn't agree with this at first...but after I gave it some thought I realized it was true.

I have my ups and downs...but I try to always see the positive in my experiences and instead of giving up...allow it to inspire me to become better. Its tough now because I'm dancing more again and starting to really fall in love with Salsa again...but some of my recent dances (see above) have left much to be desired.

Regardless, I'm going to stick with it...besides I wouldn't want to dissapoint the other DF Salsa folks, would I?

You never know...*the plan* may come true one day...and if it does I'll need to sharpen my skills so I can dance with all those wild Aussie Salseras. ;)

Take care!

SG

P.S. I expect a full report on your dances with JS very soon. :D

danceguy

08-23-2004, 10:48 AM

DancePoet

08-23-2004, 09:49 PM

scorpionguy wrote: "...but the second promptly said no and had some lame excuse...and I almost said to her "oh I'm sorry...I thought you were here to dance, not sit there in the corner and be a snot!"..."

Lol!

I had an experience like this recently, but I just nodded and kept quite, too. In the long run this is likely best, yet sometimes, well, it is awfully tempting.

DancePoet

08-23-2004, 09:54 PM

Friday: Quickstep lesson, followed by dinner, and then a social dance.
Saturday: Social dance.
Sunday: Another Quickstep lesson!

Gumby

08-24-2004, 01:13 PM

I've actually had two great dance week ends in a row - yipee

Two weeks ago went with twinkltoes and her brother to different dance studio's practice party for a change of pace and had the best social dance of my life with one of the dance pro's from the other studio. We danced a foxtrot and as soon as he realized that I could play (i.e. American it up real good) we took off. Even more than the fact that I was following great and doing some really cool moves was the fact that I felt this very good dancer was actually enjoying himself. I dance pro/am and yet I never get good soical dances with my teacher cause he is always teaching and never satisfied. So actually feeling like I was giving my partner a good time dancing at a higher level was great!!! :P

Monday I went into our dance studio and found out that a guy I just met emailed the studio manager and asked who the "red headed bombshell" was and why he hadn't been previously introduced. Rumor has it that he is just a crazy and incorrigle flirt but who care! I am now and for all time a 'redheaded bombshell" and don't you forget it.

8)

MacMoto

08-24-2004, 03:19 PM

Sounds great, Redheaded Bombshell :wink: -- you go girl! :banana: :banana: :banana:

Spitfire

08-24-2004, 03:53 PM

Well, this past weekend was great. Friday night I drove up to Tempe in the Phoenix area which I like to do every so often. I wanted to do so since the place I generally go to moved to a new location and it's even better then the old one. This being the Paragon Dance Studio; very nice floor and quite large. 8)

Saturday was the monthly USABDA dance. Those are always fun. 8)

salsachinita

08-29-2004, 06:35 PM

This past weekend was one of the best we've had......eventhough I dance considerably less than I normally would :shock: !

All I can say is salsa friends rock & the fact that Rico is leaving is starting to sink in :cry: .......

dancin_feet

08-29-2004, 11:54 PM

Had a great dancing weekend.

Friday had the usual dance party, always great fun.

Saturday we had an in house studio comp in Cha, Rumba and Triple Swing. Both my instructor and the studio owner have been trying to get me to spice up my dancing, and while I can do it, I simply choose not to because it feel weird to do it in practice. Well I spiced it up big time for the comp and I got a 2nd for Cha and a 3rd for Triple Swing! I quite expect to hear a "I told you so" when I go to class tonight! After the comp I went out Saturday night for dinner with a group of dancing friends and danced into the wee hours of the morning.

Sunday I spent part of the day rearranging my dance bragging shelf, because the new additions wouldn't fit!! :lol:

danceguy

08-30-2004, 01:20 AM

Had a pretty good night of Salsa this evening...and I finally got to dance a Bachata...first time in months! And my best dance was with a complete stranger...in fact most of them were! :)

SG

MacMoto

08-30-2004, 05:14 AM

My weekly update :lol:.

Friday, Edinburgh, the "club with a tree" had lots of non-dancers. It didn't look promising when I went in and my heart sank, but the music was top notch, and things picked up later. The last dance I had really made my night. Although I've danced with the guy only a couple of times before, he's now a candidate for my top fave league. :D

Saturday, a class in the afternoon and monthly at night. This one has been really quiet the last couple of months, and the music wasn't great, but I did get some good dances and left the place happy enough. Danced with a very well known Cuban style teacher from Glasgow for the first time -- some his moves were totally crazy!

Sunday, Cuban workshops (son, casino-style salsa and rueda) with a (very gorgeous :lol:) guest teacher from Santiago de Cuba called Miguel Angel, followed by a Sunday version of my no. 1 favourite monthly (same venue and DJs). I danced son for the first time and loved it -- so sexy! I could feel the rhythm and got into the swing of it quite easily. Managed to get a dance with the (gorgeous -- oops I'm repeating myself) teacher too :wink:. I started expecting the typical Cuban style dancing I'm used to in Glasgow, but his was nothing but! Some of the moves were almost "circular LA" :shock:. I had to leave very early to catch my train and even had to turn down an invite from a very very good visiting salsero :cry:. Didn't have enough time to dance with all my favourite leaders either. Still, overall I had a fun afternoon and evening.

squirrel

08-30-2004, 05:48 AM

I didn't have such a great weekend...
I think I broek a toe (it's swollen and hurts a lot!) so I could barely dance on Friday and Saturday... :( I mostly sat down... Also I had classes which I had to go to... you don't wanna know how it felt to teach the basic steps when you're in pain! Still... I had to!

MacMoto

08-30-2004, 06:00 AM

Squirrel -- sorry to hear about your toe. Hope it heals quickly. Take care.

Lita_rulez

08-30-2004, 06:35 AM

Actually, very good weekend salsawise for me.

First time in over a month I did not go out of town for the week end, so I got to enjoy dancing !

Saturday night, dancing on the peer of the seine, from 9h30 PM to 2h00 AM. The weather was beautifull (not to hot, no rain...) I could not believe we had that much room to dance in. It usually gets overly crouded around 11 until 1, but not this time. Good music (exept for 2 hardcore timba sets to many) enough good follow and lead that you could have a genuine good time (though many "stars" were missing), and a lot of people comming back from hollidays (so a load of gorgeous ladies tanned and dressed to kill !)

Sunday, got up around 11, had a small fruity breakfeast, and after a few anoying things (like laundry...) took of around 2:30 for a BBQ at a friends' house. Ended up eating in the garden and dancing salsa outdoors until 10:00 PM, with a load of follow I had either not seen in a long time or did not know. Great salsa time (and the food and the drinks helped the mood a bit also), really enjoyed discovering severall follow, and also got paid a beautifull compliment 8)

So all in all, I'd say a very good salsa week end. Though I do feel a bit sleep deprived, wich is not all that good of an idea given that I do have to dance in front of everyone for my birthday to night :shock:

Oh well, who cares, I had a blast this week end anyway !

P.S.
Sorry to hear that squirrel, get well soon !!

Spitfire

08-30-2004, 06:50 AM

Very good this weekend. The studio had a biker theme dance Saturday; had to purchase a motorcycle t-shirt as I have no such apparel. There was music by a live band. One of the members is married to an instructor at the studio. The first time in a long time since there was a live band. 8)

08-30-2004, 01:24 PM

Just back from some Salsa...I went to a new venue I'd never been to before...and it was just well...lame! I don't know how to explain it...there was a lot of people...but the energy of the crowd just didn't feel right to me.

I had one great dance with the first lady I asked...but the second promptly said no and had some lame excuse...and I almost said to her "oh I'm sorry...I thought you were here to dance, not sit there in the corner and be a snot!"...I then veered over to a very cute Latina I had met during the lesson...and another guy beat me to her! Well, he was a little dude and I couldn't just picked him up and tossed him out the door, but I figured maybe he needed that dance more than I did! :P

Here's the best part...after just an hour I decided to call it quits...and I was making my way to the door I looked up at this older lady who glanced my way and said "no thanks!"...and I was laughing inside because my last thought on Earth would be to ask her to dance! :lol: :twisted: :lol:

I couldn't believe the poor floorcraft of some of the dancers there...during just one dance I had several people crash into me...and I had to really keep an eye on the lady I was with and even she was surprised...it was like stepping into a war zone. :shock: :? :roll:

Hey SG,

Just wanted to point out - look what you wrote here... The very reason why salseras that you don't know are turning you down is because of how many salseros have poor floorcraft. If stranger = poor floorcraft most of the time, then the salseras will end up being very wary of dancing with someone they don't know.

08-30-2004, 01:33 PM

I had a great salsa weekend. Flew back for a wedding in Seattle where two of my salsa friends were getting married. Lots of salsa being played at the reception, and I even got to dance with Liz Lira.

That night got my fix at the Century Ballroom. Didn't even get to dance with everyone that I wanted to dance with. A very fun night!

salsachinita

08-30-2004, 08:25 PM

..........and I even got to dance with Liz Lira.

:shock: DO TELL!!!!! A trophy/treasure dance no doubt......!

So how's everyone in Seattle...?

DancePoet

08-30-2004, 09:24 PM

Friday: Social Dance
Saturday: Social Dance

Highlight: Saw a couple do a fabulous Art Tango! Again I am tempted to learn, but need to find a teacher.

08-30-2004, 09:28 PM

..........and I even got to dance with Liz Lira.

:shock: DO TELL!!!!! A trophy/treasure dance no doubt......!

Yuppers! And the most important part is that she's a really, really (did I mention really?) nice person, too.

As I've mentioned before, that's the definitive sign of a "World Class" salser@ versus the wannabes.

So how's everyone in Seattle...?
Good, good. There was a great energy level and lots of good music. Almost made me forget the incredible heat inside! (Must remember to keep hydrated!) But hey, just plop me down in front of a fan after a fast long song, and I'm happy.

I guess I have really modified my style to the Seattle scene, in that it's a lot more comfortable dancing with the locals there than here on the East Coast! :? But I'm adjusting - in a year, I'll probably have adjusted to the NoVA scene, too.

salsachinita

08-30-2004, 09:33 PM

youngsta

08-30-2004, 09:40 PM

Had a completely awesome dance weekend! As a matter of fact the last three weekends have been just off the charts. :D I think I'm going through another stage of my salsa development. Doing more freestyle movements, my 'style' is becoming more and more unique every time out. Even women I regularly dance with notice the differences. I'm really curious to see how things turn out.

08-30-2004, 09:42 PM

After spending the past couple of weeks hangin' & dancin' with the legendary Gupson Pierre, I can soooooo see that I'm gonna suck in East Coast........so I do know what you mean, TJ!

Ooo, he's a world class instructor. I used to dance all the time with a former student of his. If/when you get comfortable with his dancing/lessons, you'll be able to dance with just about everyone!

Did our boy CapricornDancer make his presence yet in Seattle :wink: ?

There were bunches of visiting salser@s from Vancouver, so if there was a new face in town, I probably lumped him/her in with the rest of them, so he'll have to answer for himself.

ShyDancer

08-31-2004, 09:55 PM

Ok so technically its not the weekend but whats a day or 2 added to ones "weekend" ?

I had a fabulous night last night! Went to a new place, one that Ive been wanting to go to for a while. The social and classes sounded great.
I got there only to be told that the dance they were doing in the class I wanted to attend was Excelsior Schottise--a gold level dance :shock: I nearly picked up my shoes and left :lol: I honestly thought I had thrown myself in deep :? I decided to stick around anyway..I didnt know anyone and I didnt have to go back if I made a complete fool of myself.
To my utter suprise and delight I picked it up quickly and in about 20 minutes I was up to the same standard at everyone else in the class.
Its always nice to come to the realisation that you arent as bad as you consider yourself to be :D And that your teachers may just be telling the truth when they say you are more advanced than the rest of your class :lol:

So that is my moment of enlightenment for the year :lol:

salsachinita

09-02-2004, 12:14 PM

After a couple of weeks of relatively tame weeks, I did 1.5hrs of non-stop salsa marathorn (even during the time when the DJ was playing anything but salsa :P ) with one of my friends (for the time being I'm thinking up a cool nickname for him :wink: ).

I must say it was one of the most fun I've had in ages, eventhough we were both sloppy & off beat (attempt to play with on2 :roll: ).

I guess it goes to show that to make your night a :banana: one, you don't have to be at your best performance, as long as you are having world-class fun :wink: ........!

Note to self: must remember to have fun more often :roll: .......I tend to get too analytical & self-critical :evil: .

danceguy

09-02-2004, 12:24 PM

Sounds great Salsachinita! I didn't dance much last night - but I had a great time regardless. The few dances I had were a lot of fun...met some nice girls that I hope to see next time. :D

The DJ played some great tunes...in fact I thought it was all quite good...the only bad part was when Idilio came on there was no one to dance with...sitting down for my favorite songs always is a bummer....:(

SG

TemptressToo

09-02-2004, 05:14 PM

Nada...no dancing at all.

I vacationed in Orlando with the boyfriend. I was busy riding roller coasters. ;)

Sagitta

09-04-2004, 01:26 AM

So Friday was not bad. Friday, meaning tonight. Place wasn't as hopping as last time, but still an excess of followers. I danced with two strangers two dances. The second one matched my style. I'll report that in the stanger dance thread, as well... However, I had fun dancing with the two ladies that I came with. Photos will go up within 24 hours, but I'm not sure if there is anything to them. One never had danced salsa before and so I just could dance the basic and play with the basic. I also did cha cha, bachata and merengue with her. The other had some more experience. At the end of the night the one with barely any experience before in latin expressed an interest in attending some latin classes, probably the ones that I help out with on Monday. So to me that was a successful night! :banana: By the way BTM these two ladies do Argentine tango. You better come along and join them otherwise you eventually may have no AT followers!! This way you can at least win a few of them, or try to win them back. :wink: :)

MacMoto

09-06-2004, 04:58 AM

Friday night, Glasgow. Smaller crowd than usual for this venue, due probably to their recent change of entry charging policy. A bit more room to dance in, and a lot less gropers... Had an unexpected trophy dance :D (see http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?p=81310#81310), and also danced with some salseros I've been meaning to dance with for quite a while.

Saturday, class in the afternoon, non-dance outing with a salsa pal in the evening.

Sunday, back to Glasgow for afternoon social. Some of my favourites who normally turn up here were no show :(, but Mr Cobo was back :D.

All in all, a good weekend.

Sagitta

09-06-2004, 10:14 AM

Sunday milonga for about two hours... Having 8 a.m. classes is the pits!!

ShyDancer

09-07-2004, 06:02 PM

After and hours worth of one dance I remembered why I dont like the NV Tango Time dances :lol:

09-08-2004, 01:59 PM

Another nice dance weekend.

Was out in Denver for a wedding. Saw youngsta getting his groove on at Blue Ice on Friday night. Nice one, R!

Spent Saturday night dancing at the D-Note for the wedding celebration.

youngsta

09-11-2004, 03:15 PM

Sagitta

09-11-2004, 03:44 PM

Welll...Friday night got better and better as the good news rolled in...and today I must celebrate. There is a tequilla party which I probably will go to. Probably will be dancing there, too...

pygmalion

09-12-2004, 03:53 PM

Hmm. Dancing? Tequila? Dancing? Tequila?

I guess it's your choice. :wink: :lol:

Laura

09-12-2004, 04:32 PM

My dance week was awesome because my partner, whom I've been waiting for for 10 months, is back on the floor again. We had a blast getting together and taking class and practicing again.

pygmalion

09-12-2004, 05:10 PM

Ohh!!!! Fantastic!!!

Enjoy. 8)

Pacion

09-12-2004, 05:26 PM

Man you were burning up the floor yourself! I watched you dance with that girl Sabrina I think her name is--very smooth TJ! 8) I'd never danced with her before so I grabbed her like two songs later. She's good!

Always nice to see you drop by man!!

So tj! Do you have a report on Sassy Hips aka Youngsta, for us :wink: Enquiring minds would like to know :lol:

Sagitta

09-13-2004, 12:23 AM

Hmm. Dancing? Tequila? Dancing? Tequila?

I guess it's your choice. :wink: :lol:

Both of course. Why do I need to choose if I can enjoy both?

danceguy

09-13-2004, 12:34 AM

Pretty good dancing tonight...just stayed for a few hours...and I was so proud of myself for not getting involved in the drama that I see going on in my local scene. Last time I took a step back and really saw how I was acting...and I sure felt ashamed...so out of character for me... :oops: :? :oops:

I had to remind myself that I'm there to dance...no display of ego, no territorial BS...just there to smile, dance and meet folks. :P

Got in early, had a few fun dances, and then got out when the getting was good! :D

Hmm, I went dancing 3 times this week...and next week there is Salsa Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat and Sunday! Don't know if I will make all of them...but at least I won't be able to say there aren't any dances going on. ;)

SG

Lucretia

09-13-2004, 02:48 AM

The "Salsa Crusaders" started their mission in my little town last weekend.

We where 30 salsa dancers at an “afterwork venue” a company had at the restaurant that is placed almost above the salt sea. A terrific rueda show, a partnerdance show and a “try-on” salsa for everyone to enjoy. There where about 250 persons who took their first salsa steps that night.

You should have seen the joy in their eyes, what a happiness. But as responsible for this salsa activity I was almost as happy when I saw the glances and the happy smiles from the people who had the nerves to stay in the bar, among them the vicepresident of this company. He was really enjoyed and thanked us for this activity. I was so proud of the dancers and I was so happy we succeeded.

Well I didn’t have time to dance so very much. I was running like a fool to take pictures and to record film on my DV. There will soon be more Salsa Crusaders activities so I need good pictures for advertisement.

But I had a great dance with our “Swedish west coast Salsa Grandpa”. A marvelous dancer with lots of time and lots of big hugs. Every girl just love to dance with him, they are almost hanging around his neck. He is a lovely person, a lovely dancer and do nothing else than dance nowadays. He has retired from work. What a life, going out for dancing and hugging young girls. All the time…

/Lucretia

ps.

I forgot to tell you. Our mission is:

1. grow the salsa community
2. get somewhere to dance
prefereably pursuade an already etsablished club to start salsa
3. more students to the classes so our teacher will survive