Best dancers

'Anonymous' - see comments for 'It only takes one dance' below - has asked me who I think the best dancers are. I'm a bit reluctant but here goes. Many people might make a different selection, but my current top three (in no particular order) would be: Gail, Lucy, Sue K.

But there are plenty of other women who I also rate highly and enjoy dancing with. The number of good women dancers has increased recently, which is a relief after several of my faves left Cardiff or acquired non-dancing boyfriends.

There's definitely a shortage of good male dancers (though there are quite a few who think they're good). Apart from Andy and Fred Astaire (see comments again - somebody's going to have to find out his name) I rate Thano, Kevin and Jordy. Thano looks really exciting (my former regular partner described dancing with him as like a roller-coaster ride); Kevin is very smooth and precise; Jordy isn't ostentatious but women rave about how good he is to dance with.

But I'm sure there are other good male dancers who I haven't noticed because what's good about their dancing is obvious to their partners but not to spectators.

Identity

Over on Salsacity 'Passionate salsera' has been trying to work out who I am (it's made clear on both this site and that one if you look far enough). One clue, PS - I've also posted there under my real name.

Email

Oops, let my free email account lapse so anyone who's tried to email at the address in my profile won't have got through. Should be sorted now.

La Tasca

Great night at La Tasca - I must get there more often. Most fun I've had out dancing for months.

It was dead quiet when I got there at 11, which meant an empty dance floor for the first dance with Laura (I think that's her name). She's a lovely fast, light dancer so it was a really good start to the night even though she claimed to be out of practice. We even got a round of applause (from a non-salsa group of spectators).

Surprised to see Liz and Theresa there. They must have a lot of stamina after going to the Claverton Rooms the previous night. I introduced Theresa to Jordy later on and he showed her what bachata and merengue are like with someone who really knows what he's doing (unlike me). I got to dance a nice fast Cuban track with Sofia later which was a great end to the evening - she really is fun to dance with.

Than's music was consistently great, from fast salsa to merengue, bachata and even samba at one point: it certainly isn't a pure salsa night. The dancefloor rapidly filled up with a few salsa people, a few slightly pissed non-salsa people and quite a few young Spanish people. Yes, of course it's limiting and I found myself sticking to moves that work in a tight space and forgetting the fancy stuff - though in a situation like that it's surprising what you can do with a partner who follows precisely if you're ready to react instantly to space appearing and disappearing.

So: don't go to La Tasca if you just want to practise your elaborate moves with other salsa dancers. Do go if you want to have fun with your dancing and are happy to go with the flow, at least for one night a week.

It only takes one dance

Had to drag myself out to the Toad last night. I'd been sweltering in London all day and didn't get home until nearly 9pm, but I decided I had to go as I hadn't been for weeks.

I definitely wasn't at my best, though I had a couple of good dances earlier on. Maybe it was me but I wasn't too impressed with the music.

I managed one reasonable bachata; then I made a complete mess of the next – with one of the best dancers there – while the guy next to me did some very elegant stuff with someone who didn't think she could dance bachata : (

I'd almost decided to go home, but I decided to have one last dance with one of my favourite dancers. She doesn't dance like anybody else - in fact it took me ages to get used to her style - but her dancing is so dynamic, graceful and imaginative (I'm running out of superlatives here) that I left on a real high.

(A similar thing happened to me the last time I went to the Claverton Rooms: I'd changed out of my dancing shoes and decided to relax and have a drink, when I noticed that someone I'd sussed as a good dancer was available; I shot across the room to nab her before anyone else did, and had the most enjoyable and exhilarating dance of the night.)

Another Tuesday night

Mikey from Peru is starting a new Latin night at Zync - formerly Sam's Bar - on Tuesday 5th July. There will apparently be themes, salsa classes twice a month, and early evening tapas. It's competing with Cuba and Callaghan's on the same night, which might be a bit ambitious.

Is that move any good?

I used to think that any move was good if it was learnt well enough, but I've since realised that just because a good teacher has taught it doesn't mean that a woman is going to like it. I remember taking ages learning a sequence only to be told by my commendably frank erstwhile dancing partner that it was 'crap', but that it was also crap when she danced it with the teacher. To take another example, having roadtested it (gently) a few times I'm convinced that nobody over five foot tall actually enjoys disappearing under my right armpit, being dragged sideways behind my back, and reappearing from under my left armpit.

So which moves am I going to keep? Any move that has had a positive comment from more than one woman - and any move where I've ever been complimented on my lead. Though that can come and go: I had one that always used to get a 'nice!' from my regular partner, and then I completely lost the plot with it for a couple of months (it works again now, much to my relief).

I definitely got into a bit of a rut relying on the same old moves (and too much spinning the woman) over the winter. I reckon to keep a competent partner entertained I need to include a few easy moves, one or two unusual or unexpected ones, some challenging ones so she can show how good she is, and one or two to make her laugh. I picked up a nice one from Angus last week which is going to be a definite for the 'unusual' category once I've refined the lead a bit.

Asere

Cuban band Asere have a gig at the Patti Pavilion in Swansea on 16th July - I'll be away, but they are also down to play St Donats on 3rd December so maybe I'll catch them there.

Angus

Got to Angus Peters' class at Bristol Golf Club last Thursday - only a 40 minute drive from Canton (and yes, I was sticking to the speed limit). The dance floor was a bit small and there weren't that many people there, but you could tell right from the warmup that it was going to be a good class. Angus' warmups and footwork are funky but easy to learn. And the class was as good as expected: very clear and structured, focusing on the key points for each move - I managed to pick the sequence up despite being in a post-migraine daze. Nice to have some new moves to bring back to Cardiff. Unfortunately I'm away the next week he's teaching there, but the plan is to get to Torquay on July 2nd for one of his regular Saturday workshops followed by dancing.

Not many people stayed around for the free dancing, and I wasn't really on form. Trying out new footwork in new shoes after a migraine isn't a good idea, as I discovered when I tripped over my feet and toppled into my partner. Fortunately the dancefloor was empty, the lighting was low and she reckoned that if she hadn't been watching my feet she wouldn't have realised it was a mistake!