No Oz bar

I thought I'd try the Oz bar last night but there was just football on the big screen and a couple of dancers waiting for something to happen. I asked the bar staff when the salsa was going to start and was told that it wouldn't, so those people who got upset about someone offering an alternative to John's Monday night can stop worrying.

O'Neills, on the other hand, was surprisingly busy. I had a cracking dance with Liz was was on great form, and finally got around to dancing with Charlie after three years of dancing salsa in Cardiff. Had a couple of other nice dances too.

Loosening up

Nearly didn't get there last night after spending all week travelling around England with work. Apart from being tired, the other thing that nearly sabotaged it was free access to a fitness suite in one of the hotels: I joined in a boxercise class under the impression it was going to be something like aerobics (and jumping around to music can't be that hard, can it?), but it was high-speed circuit training to techno music led by a woman with a six-pack. Fortunately by last night the stiffness was on its way out.

I got my second wind big time when I got to the Toad. It was a really nice night, the opposite of La Tasca last week (and different to what the Toad's usually like): not too many people there but most of them were people you'd want to dance with. Delighted to see that amusing and talented ***, who I've danced with in O'Neills, can now make it on Thursdays; and I had a nice dance with the amazingly precise dancer whose name I haven't found out yet. Apart from a couple of abrasive tracks the music was good too, nicely varied and quite relaxed. A couple of cumbia tracks: amazingly at least a third of the people on the floor were actually dancing cumbia to it...

You win some...

Memo to self: don't go to La Tasca on a wet international night. Dangerously drunk muggles filling the dance floor, hardly any women; and I couldn't leave early because I'd arranged to pick my daughter up from a party at 1am. I was assured by several people that it's usually really good. Music was good (Than) and I managed one good dance trying to keep Louise out of the way of lurching idiots, but I'd had enough by half twelve. Jordy and Sofia were just arriving as I left - I hope they had a better time than I did!

Status

I got asked recently why I didn't dance Leroc. I didn't want to cause offence by giving an honest answer so I muttered something about salsa being enough for me.

Got me thinking about the relative status of different dances. We salsa dancers know we're better than Leroc dancers, but who do they look down on? And who do we look up to? In my case it would be breakdancers: I'm not a big fan of the music but good breakdancing needs vastly more physical fitness, co-ordination and control than salsa. I remember reading once about professional ballet dancers and breakdancers trying out each other's disciplines: the breakdancers could handle the physical demands of ballet, but the ballet dancers found breakdancing a real challenge.

Up and down

The week started well on Sunday at the Wharf. Natalie was teaching: someone I know who normally goes to O'Neills enthused about how much she'd learnt.

Not many people there for the free dancing, but Sarah, Natalie and Lucy together meant more good dancers than you often get at other nights, and it was nice to dance with good dancers with plenty of space. Though Natalie was practising her lead which cut down on the amount of time any of them were available (I didn't get to dance with her at all). Lucy is one of those dancers who always makes me dance better: she's so good and so 'neutral' that it's very easy to lead much more precisely than usual.

Got to the Toad at ten to ten last night, expecting to find the class about to end, and found that the second class hadn't even started. I joined in: again, some neat moves, but very difficult to do in such a crowded setting. And Nigel didn't really teach the lead. Well, what he did was teach a lead (for the one where you turn a woman by her shoulder a couple of times then she ducks under) that would work with a skilled dancer who knew it was coming, but which is not nearly clear enough for most people. I tried it out in the free dancing and only got it to work when I resorted to my normal lead for that move (much to the relief of my partner, who was delighted that she finally managed to follow it). (SEE COMMENT BELOW).

Stupid dodgems again - in the class one man clouted my partner on the back and didn't even notice, and in the free dancing (which didn't start until nearly half past ten) I found myself actually choosing to dance near Tarzan because he was less dangerous than the people in the other half of the room.

And Kate, please keep Nigel away from the decks...that version of Aisha was atrocious!

New Monday night

There's a new Latin/salsa night on Mondays in the Oz bar in St Mary Street. Free dancing from 8-12. It's run by 'DJ Mikey P from Peru', so I would imagine it'll attract the Spanish/Latin American crowd - good for anyone who likes dancing Cuban style! Might try it as an alternative to O'Neills.

Nigel's class

Nigel Maye's class had good and less good points last night. Things I liked: it started with an exhilarating warmup (why doesn't Andy do those any more?). There were some really neat moves. The class picked up where it left off the previous week. Explaining the ladies' footwork.

Things I wasn't so keen on: very little swapping partners. For the women who got stuck with someone who didn't have a clue, this was really frustrating. And he doesn't go into nearly as much detail as Andy on getting the lead right.

Free dancing was the usual mayhem until eleven or so, including people who should know better. Had some nice dances despite struggling with a lingering cough/cold; and got complimented on my lead again - in English this time - by someone who makes it easy to lead precisely.

Sang along with 'Monton de Estrellas' and realised that I can't sing along in Spanish and think of interesting moves at the same time.

Booked my place at Pontins...

Cardiff salsa nights and classes

None of the promoters/teachers of the nights below have asked to be included in this list. It's provided purely as a source of information for dancers, particularly those who travel some distance and want to know which nights are worth going to.

If there is no comment by a class, it means I haven't been to it (or heard comments from others about it) recently.

Mondays at O'Neills - Cuban (ish)
Classes (beginners, then improvers, then intermediate) 7-9, dancing 9-12 (recently extended from 11)
Plus points:
John Pamplin's beginners' classes are popular and inclusive (though some of his jokes are pretty cheesy). Like a lot of dancers in Cardiff I started off with him. John's happy to dance with the punters (and women love dancing with him.) Plenty of space on the dancefloor. Quite a relaxed atmosphere.
Minus points:
The most expensive salsa classes in Cardiff, but not the best. Music quality a bit variable.

Tuesdays at Cuba (LA/CBL)
Classes 8.30 beginners, 9.30 improvers, dancing until 2
Plus points:
Music is usually good. Lively.
Minus points:
Full of drunks and students on the pull. Often stupidly crowded.

Tuesdays at Zync: themed nights, salsa classes twice a month, and early evening tapas. I haven't been yet but it's supposed to be good. It's run by Mikey from Peru and includes a mix of Latin music. Runs from 8 until 2 and costs £2.

Wednesdays at La Tasca (LA/CBL)
Taught by Tammi. Classes (beginners, then improvers, then intermediate) 8-10. No free dancing afterwards.

Wednesdays at the Toad
New Latin night. Dancing only, no classes. Not been yet.

Thursdays at the Toad (LA)
Classes: beginners, improvers, intermediate run concurrently from 8.30 - 10ish. Free dancing from just after ten until midnight or later.
Usually the biggest salsa night of the week, attracting people from Bristol as well as Cardiff. Teaching from Natalie, Kate, and Andy. All the teachers are good: Andy (intermediate) knows more about how to teach dancing than any other salsa teacher in Cardiff, with lots of individual advice and detail. Free dancing can be a bit of a manic scrum, but tends to get better later as it thins out. You get almost all of Cardiff's best dancers there at some time or another (and some of the worst!) and the music's usually good.

Friday
La Cachaçaria, downstairs in Las Iguanas (Mill Lane), on 19 August. Small dancefloor, free, 8pm-2am, Than plays good music.

Saturday
Free dancing in La Tasca. Good music and a live percussionist. Sometimes it's overrun by drunk muggles - best avoided on big match nights - but it's usually got a real buzzing atmosphere. It runs from 11 until 2 and it's free.

Sundays in the Wharf (LA)
Absolute Beginners: 7-8pm
Improvers: 8:00-8:45pm
Intermediate: 8:45-9:30pm
Free dancing 9.30-11
Good points: Andy's teaching (see above). Music is usually excellent. Nice relaxed atmosphere. Great music. Usually a few good dancers there (particularly women).
Minus points: Can be quiet. Finishes at 11.

Also:
Paul Gordon-Smith teaches beginners' courses at the David Lloyd Centre off Newport Road - you have to be a member.

Who goes to what nights? You get more older people on a Monday; younger on a Tuesday, particularly in Cuba. If you like Cuban style or come from Latin America you may find like-minded people later on Thursday in the Toad, and on Saturday in La Tasca.

Toadtime

Nigel Maye is teaching at the Toad for the next three weeks while Andy is in Brazil. I did his class last night which was great: entertaining but practical with some really interesting moves.

The free dancing was dodgy, though. Last week I hardly stopped dancing. This week, even though more of my favourite dancers were there, there were also far too many careless idiots and drunk muggles.

At one point Charlotte and I found what we thought was the only possible available space; after half a minute Billy No-Rhythm and his current squeeze appeared next to us. Not a welcome sight, particularly as I was winded by a flailing elbow the last time I danced near them.

I expect beginners to be a bit unaware of dancefloor etiquette, but there are far too many careless dancers around who have been dancing long enough to know better. Even in O'Neills, where there's normally enough space for everybody, I ended up having to take avoiding action twice on Monday (for the same couple, who seem to think everyone wants to watch them strutting around the dancefloor).

End of rant...

Salsacity/SalsaCardiff

I've removed Salsa Cardiff from the links on this site. I hadn't posted there for a while because, like most people I know who used to post there, I was fed up with innocuous posts being removed on a whim. I thought I'd try again, but he's still at it.

I was amused, however, to spot this response in a recent discussion about classes:

"The Toad is very good, but a monday night is much better, more room, great floor, and no strange men watching."

I wonder who she could mean?