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.