Good dancing

Ah, that's better: tired, dazed and dehydrated. That's what Friday mornings are supposed to feel like (though missing the train to work after limping to the station wasn't in the plan). In other words, I had a good night in the Toad last night.

Some really good dancers there, including the Spanish woman who used to dance in Bath, and the welcome return of Harriet who's as brilliantly elegant and precise as ever. Definitely the best person to dance with in limited space: even if there isn't room to do interesting moves she'll make the basic stuff look special.

Had a rather lively dance to 'Cuba Queridos' with Vicky, and then a couple of gentle dances with the other Vicky (who speaks Spanish, so I got some tips on which Latin American novel to read next).

I also followed up the tip Paul G-S gave me on Sunday about my pivot turn: thanks Paul, it turned it from something that works with some people into a move where I'm in control and my partner feels relaxed.

And went I wasn't dancing there were dancers who were worth watching. Being a normal competitive male I tend not to be easily impressed by other male dancers, but I did enjoy watching the guy from Bristol with the two-tone shoes who was doing some lovely stuff dancing with Lucy. He's not just good when he dances with experts - he can also make less talented women look like stars.

Spare a thought for Christalla, who was taking the beginners' class - she was invaded by forty freshers and had to dance standing on the bar so that everyone could see her!

New list of Cardiff salsa nights

If there is no comment by a night, it means I haven't been to it (or heard comments from others about it) recently. I'm only listing nights with a reasonable amount of time for free dancing afterwards rather than those that are classes only.

Tuesdays at La Tasca (Cuban)
7pm-7.45pm Beginners, 8pm-8.45pm Improvers, 9pm-9.45pm Intermediate, Freestyle until 11.30pm (includes rueda)
Friendly, authentic Cuban classes from Sabina.

Thursdays at O'Neills, St Mary Street
8:00-10 Beginners, Improvers, Intermediate classes; dancing til 'late'.  A new home (it'll be familiar to long-time Cardiff dancers) for this popular night. Good teaching from Andy Witt, Kate James and Gemma Bailey. The classes are LA-style but the music is varied and very danceable (including Cuban, bachata and sometimes zouk). Good teaching.

Thursdays at La Tasca (Cuban)
Beginners 7, Improvers 8, Rueda 9, dancing until 11.
Friendly, authentic Cuban-style classes with Sabina.

Saturday (mixed styles)
Free dancing in La Tasca. Good music and live percussion. Sometimes it's overrun by drunk muggles - best avoided on big match nights - but it's usually got a real buzzing atmosphere. There are some good dancers there who you don't see dancing anywhere else, usually including some real Cuban-style dancers for those who like dancing in circles. It runs from 11 until 2 and it's free.


OTHER EVENTS
Roger M Wilson runs a nice relaxed Wednesday night in Revolución de Cuba in the Friary, usually with a live band; monthly Friday salsa parties (normally the last of the month) with guest teachers in O'Neills in St Mary Street, and monthly Sunday night salsa 'chill' nights in Revolución de Cuba.

-----

Fun

I shouldn't go on about how much I enjoy the Wharf in case you all start going and we end up with a scrum like the Toad, but here goes.

I nearly didn't go last night as I thought everyone would be away at the Congress, but it was still worth the trip. Even though I was only there for an hour I was on my feet almost continuously. There weren't that many people there, but they were pretty much all people I like dancing with. Good to see Sarah back on the scene: Paul G-S, there for the first time, asked me who she was and commented on how good she was. Good music, good dancers and plenty of space - a great way to end the weekend or start the week, depending on how you look at it.

Last night there was the added thrill of trying to ensure that neither me nor my partner ended up on our arses: the floor was like a skating rink, which did cramp my style a bit. I think someone needs to get the management to change the polish they're using...

Added bonus: even though the Wharf isn't a non-smoking pub the dance area is non-smoking so I didn't go away smelling like an ashtray.

Fiesta Havana

Stevie's just sent me a list of the regular guest teachers on Wednesdays at Fiesta Havana in Bristol, for those of you who want to plan your dancing for the month.

First Wednesday of the month: Henry Vina
Second Wednesday: Helena and Nicolai (Fuego Latino)
Third Wednesday: Mauricio or Zane (LatinMotion)
Fourth Wednesday: Saher or Osbanis and Helena
Fifth Wednesday: Saher or MoFlex and Helena.

Salsa levels one and two are taught by Nigel Maye each week. Ian teaches la rueda on the first Wednesday of the month.

Changes...

A couple of changes to salsa in Cardiff.

Callaghans ends on Tuesday - they're going out with a bang by getting Osbanis and Iris de Brito to perform. They perform at 9.30 but they'll be dancing all night, and it's free.

And there's a new latin night on Wednesdays in the Toad, so we now have free dancing seven nights a week again.

Excellent class last night - all the women liked the move from the second class, and when I tried it out on someone who hadn't been in the class, she said it was 'lovely'. Andy, if you're reading this, more of the same please!

Argh...

I've been putting off going for months but the doctor's just told me that the reason my big toe joint on my right foot hurts is arthritis. I'm only 48! (And I was told only the other week by a kind Cardiff salsera that I "don't look or dance my age".)

I've got a nasty feeling that it's four years of tapping vigorously on the four and the eight that's done it. Fortunately the doctor didn't tell me to stop dancing, but I'm going to have to be careful from now on : (

Bristol dance day

Not as many Cardiff people I expected in Bristol on Saturday, but we met some friendly Bristol dancers.

Got off to a slow start: Nigel turned up very late (and with no explanation) for his merengue/bachata class, by which time Martin had started it but couldn't get the sound system working. So we did a bit of merengue but I didn't get to learn any bachata which was the reason I'd opted for it.

Things really picked up in the second class - Styling'n'Attitude with Helena and Mo. Really refreshing, with the emphasis on varying the pace, and on men doing simple styling to give the woman space to do their own thing (rather than constantly doing learnt sequences, or 'exercises' as Mo called them). They also had a really neat trick where the woman takes control and stops a cross-body lead halfway through to do a body roll - I can just imagine how that would go down with those men who already complain about styling, but I thought it was great.

For the third session I went for Nigel's salsa/hip-hop, thinking that would be less strenous than samba. Big mistake: I've still got stiff legs two days later. But I did learn how to make a certain Cardiff dancer scream when I tried out one of the moves on her later! (I should point out that it was what she thought I was going to do, rather than the move itself, that made her scream...)

Fourth was Helena and Mo again: clear teaching and a good straightforward sequence.

Rather than doing Maurizio's advanced class, I thought I'd cool down with some gentle rueda, but I found Ulisse and Cressida's class frustrating. I think if you're teaching rueda with beginners in the class you should teach some standard moves and then get them swapping partners fairly early on and focusing on the rhythm. Instead of which we got some non-standard and cheesy stuff, which was amusing but not very useful. When we did eventually get going the timing of his calling was all over the place. (Apparently Maurizio's class was very good.)

I was tired by the evening. Good floor and good music, but I wasn't dancing very well. Militsa and the gang's samba show was good. Later there was a flamenco display, which was impressive but went on a bit, disrupting the salsa atmosphere. Then Ulisse did an interminable rueda at which point I decided it was time to go.

Verdict? The best workshops were really good, but I think I'd have had a better time if I'd just gone for the day, come home for a shower, and then gone to La Tasca.

This week

I've missed the Wharf for a couple of weeks because of work, which isn't doing my dancing any good. Won't be there this Sunday either : (

O'Neills was pretty thin on the ground on Monday, which is a shame as Phil Heath was standing in for John which meant good music.

And it took me ages to get going in the Toad last night - a couple of people I danced with said the same thing. I think it's partly because it was crowded early on, and partly because the music was a bit odd. I finally started getting in the groove with a nice dynamic dancer whose name I don't know (and must find out - I tend not to ask young women's names the first time I dance with them in case they think I'm on the pull, and then somehow never get round to asking).

I noticed a small blonde woman with short hair who looked like a good dancer and though "must ask her for a dance later" - but then she asked me for one and I realised it was Carys. She was looking great but she was having to introduce herself to all the people she knew because nobody recognised her. A couple of dances with her and I really started enjoying myself: let's hope she starts coming regularly again.

Bristol

According to the box office 'loads' of people from Cardiff are going to Bristol (see previous post) on Saturday. Tomorrow is the last day for advance bookings, which work out cheaper than buying tickets on the day (£33 for all the day workshops excluding the tango salon, plus the night event). The box office number is 01179877877.

Cuba and its music: from the First Drums to the Mambo

I've recently finished Ned Sublette's book. It's hefty - over six hundred pages - but it's the best book I've read on any form of popular music. It's the antithesis of Frank Zappa's description of rock journalism ("People who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, for people who can't read.")

Sublette, a New York musician and music broadcaster, has undertaken a phenomenal amount of research covering a period stretching from prehistory to the fifties. One of the things the book seeks to do is to show how Afro-Cuban music has been a huge but hidden influence on other Western popular music, including jazz and rock and roll (after all, 'Louie Louie' is a chachachá).

There are lots of fascinating and provocative ideas in the book. He shows that the difference between North American and Afro-Cuban music basically has its origins in different regions of Africa, with 'swing' originating in deserts and savannahs and 'clave' having its roots in the forests. He also shows how earlier black African musical influences had already been important in shaping the European musics which mixed with the music of the slaves in Cuba to produce Afro-Cuban music.

Throughout the book he links the music with its social context, whether that context is seventeenth-century Africa, mediaeval Spain, or twentieth-century Cuba. Because of this it doesn't always make easy reading as some of the history which produced the music we love today included horrific brutality. But if you have any interest in Latin music (and perhaps even if you don't) it's a fascinating book and well worth taking the time to read.

Names

There's a woman I've been dancing with off and on for years who's told me her name at least three times and I've forgotten it three times. Not sure why - she's a good dancer. I thought this was a bit embarrassing, and I didn't want to ask her again, so I thought I'd ask the other guys who dance with her regularly. It turns out none of them can remember her name.

At least they didn't get it wrong: one woman danced with me a long time under the illusion that my name is Brian. I mean, getting my name wrong is one thing, but Brian?

Pointy shoes

I've come across a few sartorial hazards on the dancefloor recently: a contact lens dislodged by flying braids, and getting stung by the end of a fringed leather belt. Here's another one: those pointy shoes that end about four centimetres in front of the woman's toes. I expect to be able to tell where a woman's feet are without looking, but not in this case - not only did I trip over her feet, but at one point she managed to trip over them herself without any assistance from me...

La Cachaçaria

Finally managed to get there last night (and to work out the keyboard combination for the cedilla!) It's a small, civilised cocktail bar downstairs in Las Iguanas. When I arrived Than was playing chillout music for the cocktail drinkers and there was only one woman dancer there. Fortunately that woman was Laura who's a lovely light dancer, and Than soon built up the tempo. It was very quiet because people were avoiding the football fans, but Andy and Lucy turned up later. It's a nice venue: not quite as small as I'd imagined from Than's description. The floor is smooth but not ideal for spinning. Definitely worth calling in for anyone who hasn't had enough of a salsa fix on a Thursday.

Coordination

A bit of coordination and consultation might not go amiss on the Cardiff salsa scene.

I'm reluctant to criticise Andy: I have a lot of respect for his teaching, and I know he's one of the few teachers in Cardiff whose livelihood is based on teaching. But I still think it's unfortunate that he's decided to start his own rueda course just after Kate's got back from the States, when she has a well-established reputation as a rueda teacher and leader.

(It's also hardly a great idea for Mikey to be running Zync on Tuesdays, the same night as Callaghan's which is the only other night run by Spanish speakers.)