Christmas

John's leaving event at O'Neills was good fun and I had some really enjoyable dances. Charlotte will be taking over from January. I've only every been to one of her workshops, at least four years ago: I thought it was really good with a lot of useful detail, and I hear that her classes in Swansea are popular.

This year there's salsa in Christmas week (hooray). Anna Constantinou will be running her Wednesday class at La Tasca on the 27th, with free dancing afterwards from 10-11.30.

Hope to see most of you at Irene's party on Friday.

ScalaLatina

While I was at O'Neills last night I picked up a flyer for a salsa trip to London organised by Bathsalsa on May 6th/7th. Basically it's a coach trip (from Bristol and Bath) to the huge ScalaLatina salsa night, with four-star accommodation and salsa workshops the afternoon before and the afternooon after. Quite tempting - click on the post title for more information.

End of an era

John Pamplin, who runs Monday nights, is leaving after Christmas. He's been teaching in Cardiff longer than anyone else, and I, along with a lot of others, are grateful to him for getting us started with salsa. Good luck for the future, John. Not sure what the future of Monday nights will be, but as it's a popular night I assume it will continue.

Christmas closing

Andy's just posted Christmas closing details on his site. Last Risa until 4th January is next week, 14 December. La Tasca keeps going until the 23rd, though. Don't forget Irene's party at the Electricity Club on 22 December.

DancaLatina's Christmas Party

How to confuse the person you're dancing with, number one: use a language she doesn't speak. I was so tired last Thursday that I started talking to Nuria in what was intended to be Spanish, then I thought about what I'd said and realised half of it was in Welsh... (I had been working through the medium of Welsh all day.) Nice dance, despite the linguistic confusion, to a long, gentle Latin jazz track. Andy's playing some really good stuff later on a Thursday night now.

This Thursday's Risa is the DancaLatina Xmas Party, with Santa fancy dress, Tony Lara's bachata class, and a Mario and Maria competition. Should be fun, and this week I haven't got to be in Swansea at 8.30 the following day so I should be able to stay late. Andy's been adding bachata to the end of the Thursday classes to get people up to speed for Tony's class. Good move, I think - I'd far rather do bachata than shines. (It's nice to mix up the beginners with the other dancers, as well.) Let's hope he makes it a regular feature.

Saturday

The Gate is a really nice venue (if a bit hot). Rohan was his usual charismatic self but he left the most interesting moves til last which left a few people struggling - I'd have preferred it if he'd dumped the shines and concentrated on the last couple of measures. One woman in the class had a novel excuse for not being able to keep up: she wasn't concentrating on what Rohan was saying because Nathalie was so "gorgeous"!

I was just about to compliment one woman in the class on her light following when she smacked me in the teeth with her elbow. She was mortified - fortunately it wasn't serious. I've done it myself a couple of times (a long time ago) so I knew how she felt.
I went to one of Dean Maynard's classes once where he said that he reckoned he'd been hit more times on the dancefloor than he ever had when he was a boxer.

Finally got round to calling a rueda with Tracey, Debbie and Dai, having chickened out and left it to Kate in Risa a couple of weeks ago. We survived, but I definitely need a lot more practice to get any good at it. Tracey and I then sneaked into a rueda Phil was calling, which was good.

Caroline Street was slippery with chip fat on the way to La Tasca. International night is not the best time to go there. Earlier on it was just about possible to carve out space for a dance, and there were some nice people to dance with. I quite enjoy the challenge of trying to dance in a small space, but by 1am it was impossible. Time to go home. (By the way, if you - like me - have trouble hearing the clave on most salsa tracks, Helen was playing them live in La Tasca, loud enough to hear upstairs.)

Photos

I've just posted the first of the pics I took on Thursday night on Flickr (click on the post title). There's only five, featuring Andy, Emma, Kevin, Nathalie, Stellan and Than plus the one here. I've got a few more that might be OK with a lot of Photoshopping when I get round to it - dancers aren't the easiest thing to photograph.

If anyone doesn't want their photos online please let me know. You're welcome to print them out for your own personal (non-commercial) use, and if you'd like a higher-res version please contact me.

Si tu sientes una pena

si ti sufres mil dolores
Yo tengo una receta
Para que tu te mejores
(If you feel a pain, if you're suffering a thousand sorrows, I've got a recipe that will make you feel better).

And the cure to your problems, according to the lyrics, is of course dancing. Works, too - though 'a thousand sorrows' is pushing it, one night in Risa and a frustrating and tiring week at work seems irrelevant.

Andy's intermediate class just seems to keep getting better. He spends the first half of the class focusing on getting basic technique absolutely right, and it's surprising how much difference very small adjustments make. Moves I've been doing for years, adequately, suddenly seem much nicer and more enjoyable. The sequence at the end was good, too.

At one point I found myself dancing with Sara and Helen one after the other, and decided to see if I could lead a double spin off that tricky lead at the end. No problem, so how about three...so of course the next one had to go one better. I'm not going to say who did the most but at one point we got to 5 (though by that time we were well into the next measure). It's easy with women with such good technique - they're both great to dance with, and I had a lovely dance with Sara in the free dancing later.

Nathalie was back (she's partnering Rohan at the Gate on Saturday). Really nice to dance with her again. I should be at the Gate on Saturday (if I'm really lucky I might even persuade Sarah with an h to come along).

Finally, quick non-salsa matter: if anyone knows where Jill, the talented hairdresser to Cardiff's salsa elite (and me...) is working now, could they tell me or ask her to get in touch? I desperately need a decent haircut and I know I'm not the only one!

Buena Vista Social Club

Just in case anyone's getting excited about the Buena Vista Social Club stars' gig at the Wales Millennium Centre on March 4th, I've just checked and there won't be anywhere to dance.

Shame they aren't at St David's Hall, where there's always a dance floor for Latin gigs.

Mondays

Good God, what's happened to John's record collection? A whole evening of good music (not a duff track before I left at 10.30) and apparently it's been like that for weeks. It makes a huge difference: I think I sat out two dances in an hour and a half. That and the downstairs Risa means things are definitely looking up in Cardiff.

I had some really nice dances. I got told that my lead had improved dramatically. That was interesting because I thought it was her that had improved, but maybe she feels lighter to dance with because I'm leading better.

Francophilia

Or should that be 'Frankiephilia'? As you can see from this clip (click on the post title), Kate's friend from France was so popular last night that he had to dance with three women at once. Sorry it's such a grimy phone video - I will take a decent camera to salsa one of these nights. He's also a great rueda caller: excellent timing, very clear and good moves.

The three fast ruedas I got involved in were the most fun I've had in weeks (and the best exercise I'd had for several days). I'm looking forward to the rueda improvers' course Kate's planning for the New Year. The lesson on Wednesday was great, particularly as Lee was there helping Kate with the teaching: she is so easy to dance with. Interestingly she never goes to salsa lessons, which tends to confirm my theory that if a woman has got rhythm and can really follow she can pick up pretty much else just by dancing.

I also had a dance with Lisa for the first time for months last night. I'd forgotten how good she is - quite inspiring and brings out the best in my dancing (yes Lisa, I'm afraid that's as good as my dancing gets!)

When the free dancing in Risa was upstairs I used to get to 11.30, hot and dehydrated, and wonder if I had the energy to stay any longer. Last night downstairs the time flew by: got to midnight and I wasn't the only one saying "Shit, is that the time? I've got to go to work tomorrow."

...and another one

And Stevie's got a Christmas party at Fiesta Havana in Bristol on Wednesday 20th December. I went last year and had a great time. Highly recommended. Unfortunately I have to be at the far end of the Afan Valley at half past eight the following morning, so I don't think I'm going to make it : (

More parties

Irene's organised a Christmas party on Friday 22 December in the Electricity Club in Pontcanna with Mauricio Reyes
8.00 Beginners/Improvers
9.00 Intermediate/Advanced.
Freestyle after, buffet included
Tickets £10
Door £12
Contact Irene 07877375317
Email irene102@hotmail.co.uk

Tammi's holding one on November 30th at Tiger Tiger - contact her at flaminheelssalsa@aol.com for more info. It's the day before Brean Sands - to which I can't go again this year : (

Finally, Stevie's got a New Year's Eve party at Fiesta Havana (at which Andy will be teaching). More info: www.salsamania.biz. It sounds really good.

Risa

Risa was great on Thursday - the atmosphere is so much better downstairs. It was particularly nice to see Lee and Anna (the scientists) again - I hadn't danced with Anna for years. Lee was impressed that she'd participated in an intermediate class in Cardiff in which all the men managed to lead the move. As I told them, the standard of dancing in Cardiff went down when they left but it's improved a lot recently.

Date for the diary: 25 November at the Gate, where Rohan Brown will be teaching. The Gate is a nice venue, and you can always go on to La Tasca afterwards.

A member of Descarga Cubana responded to my post below about the Burleigh Academy gig. I didn't intend any criticism of their musicianship, which was great (I particularly liked the horn section) but pacing a set to suit salsa dancers is difficult as we have quite specific musical needs. A name like 'Descarga Cubana' brings a lot of expectations about the kind of music you're likely to play and starting with a samba track wasn't a great idea. I would say the best advice is to focus on pure salsa tracks in the 45-55 bars per minute range. A bit less chachacha, and perhaps some boogaloo would be good. Andy plays a lot of it in his classes because it suits both beginners and experienced dancers but I imagine it's a lot less interesting to play than Latin jazz.

Paris

Just got back from trip to Paris with my younger daughter. Didn't get to any salsa, but we did see some cool breakdancing by Anvers tube, just near our hotel in Montmartre. (Le Regent - recommended as it's friendy, well located and easy to reach from the Gare du Nord). I'm definitely planning to go on a specifically salsa trip there sometime - there seems to be a lot going on.

Paris is where Kate learnt to salsa. Last night was the third week of her rueda course and at last she's managing to knock the group into some sort of shape. Things were starting to get properly lively and dynamic by the time we finished practising. We got to try calling the moves ourselves, which seemed to be going well until I called 'dame dos' which we hadn't covered and reduced the group to chaos...

Or not

Shame about Risa last night - the sound system downstairs was broken so we had to stay upstairs. At least the floor was a lot cleaner this week.

Risa

Yesss! The free dancing at Risa will continue to be in the downstairs bar, and it's now free. I think that now officially makes Thursday the best salsa night in Cardiff.

Name

I've decided to use my real name on this blog. Most people know who I am by now so a pseudonym is a bit pointless.

Saturday

Saturday at the Burleigh Academy wasn't a great night out. I was relieved when Andy turned up with his CDs as I couldn't take any more easy listening music. I started off dancing with Helen, who did an excellent job of staying upright and keeping smiling on a skating rink: the new floor was very slippery. Unfortunately when the band came on they didn't play much salsa and didn't play much that was danceable. At one point it became surreal: they announced "We're going to do the salsa" and an old man in a tropical shirt and straw hat led a kind of conga line while the band played "Everybody Salsa" (which isn't a salsa song).

They played a couple of chachacha numbers which got a few people on the floor, and then there was an interval while Andy did another lesson and then we got to dance to his CDs again. Nice to dance with Liz and Teresa who I hadn't seen for ages. A couple of songs into the interval they started on "Mambo Bueno" so I thought somebody - me and Liz - should dance, but it was a bit disconcerting to get the spotlight turned on us (fortunately it not for long). That was pretty much it for danceable tracks, and very soon everyone headed for La Tasca which was a lot more fun. Shame, because the venue has a lot of potential.

I heard that Pontyclun on Friday was great. Irene's running a Christmas party there on December 22nd.

There's also a Christmas party at Tiger Tiger on November 30th with Nigel Maye, organised by Tammi.

Oh well

I really was intending to start back on Spanish this year - I even went last week. When it came to it last night I just couldn't face sitting in a classroom for two hours after a day at work. Particularly as it's on a Thursday this year. I'm going to have to find another answer, maybe a combination of private lessons and a language exchange.

It was definitely the right decision. Despite the heat I thoroughly enjoyed the lesson in Bar Risa: the 'leading without touching' exercise was very entertaining and the last move of the night was a cracker. Even better, we all went downstairs for the free dancing which made so much difference: working air conditioning and a great atmosphere. I hope free dancing downstairs is going to be a regular thing now. Last night a few good dancers also came back after the summer, so I had some really good dances despite the sticky floor.

I'm not at Pontyclun tonight as you may have gathered: I decided three nights in a run is too much. Definitely planning to go to Burleigh Hall tomorrow, and then head on to La Tasca. I heard today that some people are planning to go from Burleigh Hall to Bath, which sounds a bit excessive - when I emailed the venue they said the band will be playing till midnight.

Salsa Bangor

My work involves travelling around Wales a fair bit, so I'm always on the lookout for a salsa event nearby. A couple of years ago I had a good time at a couple of nights in Bangor. There's a site now (see link above), which I assume is run by the same people.

If anyone knows of any other regular salsa nights in other bits of Wales I'd be interested to know, and I'll list them here.

Just noticed that there's yet another event on Saturday night - Stevie is running a reggaeton night at Fiesta Havana. I don't mind reggaeton later on at La Tasca when nobody's watching and I've danced away my inhibitions, but a whole night of it is a bit too much for me. I was assured the other night that I'm not too old for it (I hope she wasn't just being kind).

Lots of salsa

Loads of stuff coming up this week. Kate's rueda workshop starts in Tiger Tiger on Wednesday night; Thursday is Risa; on Friday Irene has a night at Pontyclun Rugby Club; Saturday there's a choice of Descarga Cubana in Newport, the Claverton Rooms in Bath, or La Tasca.

I went to O'Neills on Monday for the first time in ages, and had a good time. Actually I don't think John played a duff track, though as usual the mood is mellower than Andy's venues. Nice to be somewhere with good airconditioning and a non-sticky floor (though parts of the floor were actually a bit too well-polished).

Spanish evening class meant that I got to Risa too late to join in Andy's class. As Kate's class was short of men I joined in there. I could actually hear that Kate's feet were sticking to the floor. They really must get their cleaning sorted out.

It's quite useful dancing with improvers as it certainly makes you think about the lead. It also helps you to identify who's going to be good to dance with in the future: one girl in particular stood out as a really good, light follower and I'll be asking her for a dance in the free dancing the next time I see her.

The free dancing was fun but really hot again. As I was leaving - at just after half eleven - Lee and Kevin were arriving, having just been to tango class. Kevin said it was really useful for the lead (though from what women have said to me I'm surprised that his lead needs any improvement).

Wednesday nights

Que Pasa on a Wednesday night has been cancelled, which means the end of salsa in what was once the most popular venue in Cardiff on Thursday, responsible in my case for a lot of unproductive Fridays.

This means that Kate's rueda course, which starts next week, will now be at Tiger Tiger in Greyfriars Road. If you want to book see her at La Tasca tonight. If you need her contact details get in touch with me by clicking on the 'About me' where you'll find my email. (I don't publish individuals' direct contact details here in case they get deluged with spam.)

Descarga Cubana

Bit of a clash with the next Claverton Rooms: a ten-piece Latin band are playing the Burleigh Academy in Newport on 21 October. Think I'll go to that as it's a lot closer (and then go on to La Tasca afterwards).

Details here

The band's website doesn't seem to work at the moment, but according to Google's cached version they play "Nuyorican Salsa, Cha-cha-cha, mambo and Bossa with a splash of jazz and funk" despite their name (which means 'Cuban jam').

Salsa Noir

I couldn't make it on Friday - completely stuffed after a heavy week and the drive back from Wrexham. Apparently there were very few people there, but with a good contingent from Cardiff. Stevie's had to cancel the remaining events. Shame, as I was looking forward to the Cuban one. I think it may just be that Friday is a bad night - nobody has succeeded in sustaining a Friday night in Cardiff, for example.

I did get to La Tasca, though, and had a great time despite the lack of room. It's a bit limiting but it makes you concentrate on the basics rather than being flashy. Nice bit of serendipity at one point - I invented a move while compensating for a lead being misinterpreted due to lack of space and got a "nice" - trouble is I can't remember exactly what I did now.

Chester

I was up in Wrexham from Sunday until last night. I bought the Evening Leader in a failed attempt to find out what was on in town on Monday night. Actually I think it was a successful attempt: there wasn't anything on. One of the bigger stories concerned a local couple who were attempting to sell an empty Pot Noodle carton on Ebay.

My work in Wrexham could best be described as 'challenging' - rewarding but draining - so I really needed a dance by Tuesday night. Bouverie in Chester sounded good. Twenty minutes from Wrexham to Chester by car, and at least another twenty minutes trying to negotiate the Byzantine complexity of the one-way system.

The Bouverie is a smoky but reasonably slick pub in studentland with friendly bar staff. I was starving by the time I eventually found it so I decided to forgo the first class in favour of getting my blood sugar up to a sensible level. Very tasty the fajitas were, too.

Tom and Kwai's intermediate class was very well-organised. It helped that there were only two couples in the class, and they rotated constantly with both teachers dancing with punters. This meant that Kwai was able to spot the bits of Cuban technique I was having trouble with and discreetly mention them to Tom who could teach me through them.

The moves were taught in bite-sized turn patterns of no more than four measures, and the class started with the most difficult one (setenta moderna): in other words, unlike most salsa classes it actually got easier as it went along. We repeated each turn pattern until all of us had it more or less up to speed (they went patiently at the pace of the slowest, which unfortunately as a non-Cuban dancer was me), and then at intervals during the lesson the turn patterns were integrated into a rueda.

By the end of the lesson I was feeling at least halfway competent at dancing in circles, and quite exhilarated (I love rueda, and good Cuban dancing is really funky). I had a couple of good dances in the free dancing afterwards - I'd like to have stayed later than half ten but wisdom prevailed. Friendly, encouraging, and effective teaching: I've actually got a good reason to look forward to the next time I have to work in Wrexham.

Actually, there's another one: Perelli's restaurant, which I discovered when looking for somewhere decent to eat on Wednesday night. A cracking salad nicoise, friendly service, and - unexpectedly - a soundtrack of samba, salsa and boogaloo.

Unfortunately I was completely wiped out after the drive back last night so I missed Risa. I'm hoping to get to Salsa Noir tonight, though.

Bristol

Some good stuff coming up at Fiesta Havana in October, including Helena and Nicolai on the 11th, and Moe Flex and Helena on the 25th. Mauricio Reyes is on the 18th - never seen him teach but one of my favourite dancers says he's both a good teacher and a very nice guy. I won't be going to the ones later in the month because they clash with Kate's rueda workshop.

Good week

Risa? Sticky floor (apparently it'll be better next week) and an invasion of freshers, but it was still a good night. I need to take three T-shirts next time - two wasn't enough. That air conditioning really is inadequate, but it doesn't really seem to matter too much when I'm enjoying myself.

La Tasca is difficult to predict. A couple of weeks ago there was a distinct shortage of women and I left early. Last night it was great, with the welcome return of Laura (who I assumed had left Cardiff) and Anita, back from Japan. I had a lot of fun and I managed to successfully try out a bachata thing I found on YouTube.

I stayed far too late and I've got to drive up to Wrexham this afternoon where I'm working until Thursday : ( I'm hoping to be back in time for Risa. I'm also planning to get to Salsa Noir (click on 'Events' on the Salsamania site) on the Friday - it's about time I checked that out.

Irene, Nathalie and Lisa

Irene's just asked me to post details of the salsa night she's organising at Pontyclun Rugby Club, Llantrisant Way on Friday 20th October:
Beginners class 8pm
Shines class 9pm
Performance show
Freestye till 12.
Tickets £7.50 nibbles included.
Contact her on 07877375317 for a ticket

Also Nathalie is back at Abercynon for one night only on 9th October. She'll be teaching with Lisa who'll be running it from then on. I've never seen Lisa teach but she's one of the best dancers in Cardiff so I'm sure it'll be good.

Anna's site

Anna Constantinou has a rather well-designed site which advertises the salsa courses that she and her sisters run in various venues in Cardiff - see link above. There's some handy advice for beginners as well.

Rueda at last

Kate's la rueda course is finally going ahead! It's at Que Pasa on Wednesdays from October 18 until November 15, 7.30-9pm, £25 by advance booking. To book, contact Kate by email or mobile (07870 248827).

It's aimed at rueda beginners and improvers, but she's planning to run a follow-up course if there's enough interest. You need to be at least improvers level salsa: the crucial thing is being able to dance on time.

I did the course she ran a couple of years ago (and have been hassling her to repeat it ever since). If you've tried rueda before and not enjoyed it you might like it the way Kate teaches it. Her style of rueda is really dynamic, with plenty of changes of speed and direction. Some other teachers I've seen put too much emphasis on elaborate or jokey moves and forget about pace.

Apart from being fun, rueda is good for honing your sense of rhythm and also for giving you a repertoire of Cuban moves which make it easier to dance with Spanish or Latin American dancers.

Mirror neurons

I really needed Risa after yesterday in work. It's amazing how the stress vanishes with a few good dances.

Kevin was there last night for the first time in a long time, and I watched him and Lisa dancing together. He's one of the few men in Cardiff who I really enjoy watching dance: he's extremely smooth and precise. I keep meaning to ask him if he'd mind me filming him on my cameraphone so I can nick some of his moves.

He makes it look easy, but his dancing is the product of a lot of thought and practice - I know because I once inadvertently had a private lesson with him. (I say 'inadvertently' - he was teaching a class, and me and a talented female beginner were the only two people who turned up.) He taught me some unique details to leads for standard moves which I've never encountered from anyone else.

But here's a thing: after watching him and Lisa, my next dance was vastly better than the ones I'd had early that evening. Even though I hadn't consciously changed my dancing I felt much more subtle and relaxed. Which is really surprising considering that the next dance was bachata. It was 'Lamento Boliviano', inevitably, danced with Debbie (also inevitably): she reckoned it was our best yet.

The same thing happened to me once before after watching another smooth and precise dancer. I put it down to mirror neurons. They're the circuits in our brain that fire whether we're watching someone else do something or doing it ourselves, which means that watching someone else dancing really well is almost as good as practising doing it yourself.

Unfortunately the effect didn't last that long as overheating and tiredness soon dragged my dancing back to its usual late Thursday night level : (

One other good thing last night: I finally got a positive response ("lovely!") to the 'surprising' move Andy taught me the other week. All it needed was the right partner.

Mi Casa es Su Casa

Well, not literally (it means 'my house is your house'). They're a latin jazz band who'll be playing at a monthly latin night which starts this Wednesday in Cafe Jazz in St Mary Street. It starts at 8.30pm. I might check it out, though I'm not sure that there's much of a dancefloor there.

Burleigh Academy

I went to Andy's new night in Newport - the replacement for the Wharf - last night. Only 30 minutes from Penarth, probably 15-20 from Cardiff.

I joined in halfway through the improvers' class as they were short of men. Actually there were some experienced dancers in the improvers' class. They's obviously sussed that even in an improvers' class you can learn something new when Andy's teaching.

The numbers were about right. Unfortunately I was absolutely exhausted, due to organising the big annual event in work which ended the day before.

Good moves in the intermediate class as well, starting with 'ocho' –not the same as the rueda one – and carrying on into more Cuban-type armtwisting. Or rather, how to do those kind of moves without armtwisting. Nice to learn something different.

One thing about the venue didn't impress me. At the bar I asked for a soft drink and a pint of water and was handed a bottle of water. When I requested tap water I was told "we don't do that any more". At £1 a bottle, if I'd drunk as much as I should have I'd have ended up paying more for water than for the teaching.

I know salsa nights depend on bar sales, which is why I always buy a soft drink. But refusing to provide tap water at all is unacceptable.

Salsa Noir

For anyone who fancies a trip to Bristol, El Diablito has got another of his monthly 'quality' salsa nights at the Filton Holiday Inn on Friday. This month's event looks really good with MoeFlex and Angelique teaching. Unfortunately I can't make it.

I'm going to try to get to the Cuban one on 10th November with Yanet and Raphael - I've never seen them but teachers I respect have said good things about them, and I really want to get better at Cuban style.

Irene's classes

Irene Constantinou has just sent me a list of all the classes she runs (she's a busy girl).

Monday - Llandaff North Rugby Club Beginners 7.00-8.00
Tuesday - Fitness First Llanishen Beginners 7.30, Improvers 8.30
Thursday - Fitness First Ely Beginners 5.30-6.30
Thursday - Pontyclun Athletic club Beginners 7.30-8.15, Improvers 8.15-9.00
Friday (Brand new this week) Maes y coed community centre Beginners 8.30

All classes are £4.

Addiction

Now this is getting a bit worrying really. Until Thursday I was definitely planning to go to a party in Abergavenny tonight and drink too much red wine, but I felt so good after Bar Risa that I've decided I need to get to La Tasca instead.

Thursday was incredibly hot and sweaty. I tried out my 'surprising' move - it certainly proved surprising, but in a "what on earth are you trying to do?" instead of a "wow, that was cool" sense : (

Apart from that I definitely felt the benefit of Monday's private lesson - I had to adjust the mirror when I got back to the car because my posture had dramatically improved.

Thursday also saw the welcome return of Lee the astrophysicist, who I haven't danced with for years. She was claiming to be rusty but she's still great to dance with.

Heels

Got involved in an argument over on London Salsa - some prat thinks all women dancers should wear skirts and heels. Neanderthal is the term that springs to mind...

Private lesson

Sarah and I had a private lesson with Andy (Witt) last night. I was overdue for one: I could tell I was picking up some bad habits but I wasn't sure exactly what I was doing wrong.

He's particularly good at watching you dancing and then showing you exactly what you need to do to improve things (and he also explains why). In his smaller group classes you get a taste of that, but in a private lesson you get so much depth.

It's extraordinary how moves I thought I knew suddenly felt more controlled, relaxed and enjoyable with a few minor changes. Most of the lesson was focused on improvements to basic technique, but we also learnt an unusual and surprising move which I'm itching to try out on Thursday (you have been warned...)

If you're thinking that private lessons are extravagant, nothing beats them for getting tuition that really focuses on what you as an individual (or as a couple) need to learn. From that point of view they're a lot more cost-effective than group lessons: I'm going to be spending the next few weeks trying to get what I learnt last night embedded in my dancing.

(For any Bristolians reading this, Andy's teaching at Fiesta Havana this week.)

More real dancing

At last, a pop star who can really dance (move over Britney and Madonna): look at this for body isolation. Looks even better on TV.

Bank Holiday Monday

Irene's got social dancing after her beginners' class at Llandaff North Rugby Club on Monday.

Beginners 7.00-8.00p.m £4 including social dancing
freestyle 8.00-11.00p.m £2

She says it's a nice cosy venue with a bar, so I'm going to try and get there.

Various

I went to Cuba for Nathalie's leaving do last week. Nice bunch of people there, as you'd expect. Good luck, Nathalie - hope to dance with you in Bristol sometime.

I saw Kate there - the rueda course is now likely to be in September if she can find a suitable venue. I've been waiting two years for it so another month won't make any difference!

I've heard from two separate sources that Andy's Sunday night in Newport is good: a reasonable sized class, not too difficult, with a good balance of men and women. I was planning to try to get there next week but it's not on because of the Bank Holiday weekend : (

Magic

I had so much fun in Bar Risa last night – I didn't stop smiling all the way home. It helped that I've got a day off today so I knew I could stay until the end. Loads of nice dances (I think I sat out about three dances in an hour and a half) several new people, and consistently good music. Got a couple of nice compliments as well.

Isn't it funny what some women say, though? I asked a woman (think she was Italian) for a dance, and the first thing she said was "I'm not a dancer." She then spent the next five minutes comprehensively disproving what she'd just said: great sense of rhythm, graceful mover and light following. I assume what she meant was that she didn't know loads of moves, but that doesn't matter if you've got natural ability.

2 new

That's the new rule at Bar Risa: in the free dancing you have to dance with at least two people you haven't danced with before. The idea is to try and break up the perceived cliqueiness (is that a word?) and make sure that everyone gets to dance. It's a good idea, too. I have to admit that I sometimes get lazy about dancing with new people, particularly lately since there are so many good dancers around that I can have an enjoyable night without ever asking anyone I don't know.

So last Thursday I danced with one beginner and then with someone who I thought was a beginner (I hadn't seen her before and she was standing in a corner of the dancefloor). My mistake: she was good. But the only way to get her to smile was to do something complicated or unusual. I didn't mind - I don't expect partners to smile all the time as it's much nicer if they smile because they mean it. (A fixed grin on someone who obviously isn't really enjoying herself isn't attractive).

A fairly new dancer mentioned to me recently that one of the women he dances with never smiles, and thought she was was being unfriendly. It's more likely that she didn't smile because she was concentrating or because she wasn't feeling confident.

I had an amusing encounter with a couple of beginners in London a couple of years ago. He was Canadian and she was Spanish and they were struggling with a CBL inside turn. I asked if they wanted some advice and showed them how Andy had taught me to do it. "She smiles when you dance with her!" he said in surprise, which was quite gratifying...

Cuba

Haven't been to Bar Cuba for ages, but I went along with Sarah last night. I was expecting lots of smoke and lots of drunks, but it was great: a really nice relaxed atmosphere, good music and nice people to dance with. Now's the time to go (before it fills up with drunk students in October).

I got to try out some of the moves from the advanced workshop, and Sarah taught me how to do 'Coca-Cola' properly (she leads it very well.) It was great to dance with her: she manages to follow 'experimental' moves and multiple spins that I wouldn't dare try on anyone else.

A couple of weeks ago I overheard some teenage girls in the street walking past our house. One of them said "Sometimes I don't go dancing for ages and then I just have to go - it's scary." I know exactly what she meant: I couldn't believe how much better (physically and mentally) I felt this morning after a good night's dancing.

Real dancing

Had to share this video clip: beautiful, controlled, relaxed dancing. Wish I could do that... (there's a discussion about it on Londonsalsa here).

Back

I got home from holiday on Saturday night after rushing across Ireland to get the ferry (made it with 15 minutes to spare). I didn't get to dance when I was over there. It was tempting, but Westport - 70 miles from were we were staying - was too far away even for me. (It was great being able to go out for a drink everywhere without a fug of smoke, though. I find myself in the unfamiliar position of agreeing with Hugh on SalsaCardiff - only on this topic, though.)

Half an hour's rest and a quick shower and it was out to La Tasca. The dancefloor was surprisingly empty earlier on (due to Party in the Park). The first dance was a bit disconcerting as all the non-dancers there seemed to be standing round watching us - I think they thought we were the floor show! I'm not as rusty as I expected after a fortnight off, which was a relief. I had a few nice dances, but I called it a day once the reggaeton took over (I'm too old and too English - at least when I'm sober - though everyone under thirty seemed to be really enjoying it).

A few bits of news. Stevie from Salsamania is running a monthly 'quality event' at the Holiday Inn, Bristol, with some major DJs and performers. I heard on Saturday that the first one was good but the venue was a bit clinical - Jordy reckoned it was like dancing on a cruise liner. (Mind you, he also finds the Claverton Rooms clinical - obviously ambience is a priority for the Spanish crowd.) I also heard that Andy's new Sunday night in Newport got off to a good start.

Natalie's leaving Cardiff, unfortunately, with a leaving get-together at Bar Cuba on the 15th (not the 22nd as originally posted).

Finally, there's a debate about the quality of teaching in Bristol on the Salsajive site that might be of interest to anyone who goes over there regularly, though you need to ignore the childish abuse.

Good week

How do women stay so good without practising? My lead starts deteriorating after a week or so, but on Thursday night I had a terrific dance with Gail who hasn't been around for months. Then on Saturday I did Andy's advanced workshop with Sarah who hadn't danced for at least six weeks and it was like she'd never been away. That was a good workshop, with some really nifty moves, but it was definitely advanced: I felt better about struggling when a much better dancer than me admitted during the break that he was finding it 'challenging'.

Just heard from Andy that Sunday at the Wharf is being replaced from 30 July by a night in Newport, at Burleigh Hall, Llanthewy Way. Shame - the Wharf was handy for me but Newport is a bit too far for a Sunday night.

Changes

Didn't sleep much last Thursday night. Hardly surprising after dancing with some lovely dancers, including the best dancer in Cardiff (she's far too good for me really) and finishing off with an exhilarating fast rueda led by Gorka.

Changes in Cardiff? No more Wharf, sadly - I really enjoy Sunday nights. As a consolation there is now free dancing on Fridays (though only from 7.30-9) after Nathalie's classes at St Peter's Rugby Club off Newport Road.

But I'm going to try to make the effort to get to Swansea instead on the rare occasions I have any energy on a Friday night: I've been told by a reliable source that for serious rueda I need to go to Gorka's classes, which run from 7.30 at Cafe Mambo in Kingsway.

Sabado

Salsa Celtica seem to be flavour of the month lately so I thought it was worth going to see them on Saturday. Not many dancers there (I believe there may have been some kind of sporting event earlier that evening) and the band had been delayed by a burst tyre on the drive down.

Maybe they didn't have time for a soundcheck: the sound balance was really rough in the first half, too loud and painfully trebly. You can't fault the musicianship, and the fusion of celtic and Latin music worked a lot better than I expected – to listen to. But the dancing wasn't that great. When the tempo was right they were fine, but that only applied to a few of the tracks: the rest were either chachacha (not really my thing) or just that bit too fast to dance to comfortably except with a really light and experienced partner.

Thinking it was just me having a bad night (everyone else seemed to have enjoyed it) I nearly didn't go to La Tasca afterwards. But actually that was great: laid-back, nice people - though none of the usual Spanish/Latino crew - and consistently danceable music. I danced with a couple of women who'd been at the SC gig and enjoyed myself a lot more, even though the lack of space and the need to protect the partner from flying elbows meant I couldn't do anything fancy.

In fact that's probably why La Tasca is so much fun if you go there in the right mood: everyone knows there's no space to show off so you can just get into relaxed, easy dancing. I had intended to leave by midnight, but I didn't actually manage to drag myself away for another hour.

Good nights

I was discussing with Debbie (while dancing at O'Neills) what makes a good night. Basically you need an evening with plenty of dances where the right people are available while the right tracks are playing.

So you've got a better chance of having a really good night at Bar Risa (if you can handle the heat). But I did score one bullseye last night, managing to grab the most exciting dancer (Teresa) for the best track of the evening, the Go-go's This will give you a bad head (I think there's some subtle Spanish idiom I'm missing in that translation). It's a cracking track anyway but I was doubly inspired because the last time I heard it I was watching Moe doing a stunning salsa trio to it.

On a Thursday a lot of the music's not exactly new (Andy's been playing Tu Cariñito ever since I started going to his classes nearly five years ago) but it's almost all good to dance to, from Colombian boogaloo to the faster and more dynamic Cuban stuff. And almost all the best dancers go to Risa: the other week I went home after a busy night's dancing and realised I hadn't even got round to asking a couple of my favourite dancers.

It's not just about who's technically perfect though: some people may not get every complex lead but they're great to dance with because you can make a real connection, improvise - in fact, what you can do with them is play. It was one dance like that a couple of months ago in Que Pasa which got me back into really having fun with my dancing again (I had fun with the same dancer in Risa last week as well).

Andy and Lucy's June and July workshops are online at last - highly recommended.

(BTW the links for the songs are to iTunes - they work for me in Firefox and Safari but not in Explorer. If they don't work for you, the first reference is to Los Van Van's Esto Te Pone La Cabeza Mala and the second is to a track by Puerto Rican Power.)

Flying lessons

Andy and Lucy will be doing a lifts, dips and drops workshop on July 29th. If it includes the aeroplane impression Lucy did last night it should be exciting stuff. Unfortunately I'll be in Ireland (fifty miles from the nearest salsa).

There's a whole series of workshops coming up, and amazingly my hectic schedule seems to have space for the advanced one on 15 July. Would have liked to do the aerial stuff as well, though - I think we may have to book a private lesson.

La Rueda

Kate is hoping to run a new la rueda course soon. You don't need any experience of la rueda but you do need to be a competent salsa dancer. It will probably be a five week course, with the first hour for rueda beginners and the second hour for improvers. (I think I'm a deteriorater rather than an improver - in other words I used to know quite a lot of rueda but I've forgotten most of it.)

I went on the course she did a couple of years ago which was excellent. We learnt a lot of cool Cuban moves and we all got to try calling the moves, swapping roles (ie women leading) and two-couple rueda. Kate's style of rueda is fast, lively and a lot of fun.

An improver I know told me that he found the rueda session she did at Bar Risa recently had been really useful for his dancing overall - it teaches you to dance dynamically and to pay attention to the rhythm, and quite a lot of the moves can be used in ordinary dancing.

If you're interested, email her - it'll only happen if enough people express interest.

La Rueda

Kate is hoping to run a new la rueda course soon. You don't need any experience of la rueda but you do need to be a competent salsa dancer.

I went on the one she did a couple of years ago which was excellent. We learnt a lot of cool Cuban moves and we all got to try calling the moves, swapping roles (ie women leading) and two-couple rueda. Kate's style of rueda is fast, lively and a lot of fun.

An improver I know told me that he found the rueda session she did at Bar Risa recently had been really useful for his dancing overall - it teaches you to dance dynamically and to pay attention to the rhythm, and quite a lot of the moves can be used in ordinary dancing.

If you're interested, email her - it'll only happen if enough people express interest.

Fiesta Havana

Helena and Nicolai are teaching this Wednesday (14th) at Fiesta Havana in Bristol; encouragingly Stevie has passed on comments about the length and difficulty of sequences to all his teachers, so the classes should be more useful for everyone. Helena and Nicolai teach particularly nice moves: the moves themselves aren't difficult but they are unusual, and the length of the sequences meant there was too much to take in (for a slow learner like me, anyway). So I'd be looking forward to it, except that I've got to work this Wednesday night : (

Men who salsa

There's an amusing thread on the Salsajive forum about the types of men who salsa:

Type one: The shy ones who like a structure and stick carefully to what they have learnt and do jobs like computing. They feel comfortable relating to women without having to engage in conversation. They often get quite reasonable at dancing because they work hard at their moves but never take risks.
Type two: The extraverts who like to have a good time and enjoy salsa being a bit different. They like to experiment with moves and have a laugh. They can be a real pleasure to dance with.
Type three: image conscious, they know they look good and tend to dance mainly with the attractive women and do lots of close in moves or extravagant footwork.

Not sure which category I fall into - I probably used to be 1 but am now more 2 (I'm more of an extrovert dancing salsa than I am the rest of the time).

One of the posts in the thread also mentions Type 4:

Type four:- Those who see salsa purely as a means to get up close and personal with a girl... so they go to a few beginners classes then describe themselves as experts - and insist on picking on unsuspecting beginners and throwing them around the dance floor (usually off time) - before throwing them into a dramtic dip whereby she bangs her head and see's the light so runs off to warn all her friends! lol

I think we all know the kind of person they mean - although there are only a handful in Cardiff they've managed to put quite a few beginner women off salsa (and they give the rest of us older men a bad name).

Sweat

I need to get some more obedient transport.

For example, I really did mean to go to the Spanish conversation group at Chapter last night, but for some reason my car went straight ahead - towards Bar Risa - instead of turning left.

I haven't been to one of Andy's classes for a while. This one was really good (one woman described it as 'brilliant') - a series of relatively easy moves (I already knew most of them, but there were also some nice ones which I'd forgotten) linked together with variations.

I'm used to venues that feel warm once you start dancing, but at Bar Risa the heat hit you when you walked in the door. Peter reckoned it was the hottest he'd ever been at salsa. Apparently Andy asked them to turn the air conditioning up but it was already going full blast. You can tell it was designed for a sedentary audience and not for dancers.

Despite the heat it was a good night, highlights including one woman who's improved out of all recognition since I last danced with her a few months ago. Plenty of other nice people to dance with, and when I fancied a rest there was good dancing to watch as well.

This morning I made a firm decision that after a hot and sweaty night I should cycle to work the easy 25-minute way. But after a couple of hundred yards my bike decided it would rather do the 25 kilometre hilly route. Getting there was fine but riding home after a night's salsa and a day in a hot office was less like fun.

Andy will apparently be putting more details of his workshops on his site this weekend. And Kate tells me she has plans for some rueda workshops which should be good.

The curse of Llancarfan...

...strikes again. Last time it was a broken gear cable, this time it was the ford wot did it. Getting wet was refreshing - it was a hot hilly ride - but landing on my hip wasn't. I was limping by the evening and I wondered whether going to La Tasca for Natalie and Lisa's party was a good idea. But I didn't even notice it while I was dancing.

It was a good turnout and the 80s fancy dress was entertaining. (When's the Lisa and Natalie Workout Video coming out?). Sorry for not joining in but as I explained I'm old enough that people might think I really dress that way.

I had planned to be sensible and leave at midnight, but I was only just getting warmed up by then. As I changed my shoes to go at 1am a Spanish woman asked me what I was doing as she couldn't believe I was leaving so early.

Andy's workshops

Andy's Saturday workshops are starting on 17 June - no exact details as yet, check his website (where you can also sign up to his mailing list). Hope I'm not going to miss too many of them - I can't do 17 or 24 June and I really wanted to do the advanced ones.

Moe

Got a week off (having worked the previous two bank holidays), so the plan was to spend as much time dancing as possible, starting on Sunday. So it was a bit frustrating to be sitting in stationary traffic on the M4 watching the time tick away. It took three and a half hours to get moving, and after a rapid change of clothes I ended up in the Wharf at ten thirty. Four dances in quick succession and all the tension had disappeared - it's amazing how effective salsa is for that.

Stuck in another traffic queue last night going into Bristol. (If you're planning a trip to Fiesta Havana soon, you might be better off going down the M50 and through Clifton.) So I missed the beginning of Moe and Helena's class, but soon got into it.

Unfortunately Moe's acquired a dose of routineitis since I last saw him teach - the sequence had far too many moves in it. He had a rationale for this - the usual "you won't remember all this, so just take what you like from the sequence". Trouble is, if you can't remember the whole sequence even as you're doing it you might not even have learnt the moves you'd want to remember. It was useful, though, as it reminded me of some moves I'd forgotten.

Instead of an advanced class we got rueda, and he teaches it very well. I ended up in the inner circle, and was a bit startled when at one 'dame' someone from the outer circle attempted to pinch the woman I was heading for. Moe did a funk lineup later, and then a spectacular display which ended up with some amusing salsa trio.

For the free dancing, the music was great as usual. I don't know if summer has anything to do with it, but I seem to have got my groove back after losing it for a few months: I'm finding myself having a lot more fun and improvising more, rather than feeling as if I'm just going through the motions.

But I'm going to be a bit controversial here and say that (though I danced with a couple of really good, responsive dancers, and had a lot of fun dancing with some charming women) the overall standard is higher in Cardiff. I wouldn't have said this a year ago, but since then a lot of good women dancers have come onto the scene here. (And several women who were OK dancers have developed into good dancers.) Offended Bristolians, feel free to add your comments...

(Last thing - what a difference working airconditioning makes. This was the first time for weeks that I've had a night's dancing without overheating.)

Cuba closed for refit

Bar Cuba is closed for a refit until 20 June.

Africa and Tasca

Intrigued to see that there's an African Dance Night advertised every Friday at the Riverbank Hotel (opposite the Millennium Stadium).The variety of music mentioned on the ad is pretty wide, from Zouk to Hiphop, presumably including Latin-influenced stuff as well. Might be worth checking out for anyone who's at a loose end on a Friday night.

It's Natalie and Lisa's birthday bash in La Tasca on 3rd June, with an 80s theme. When I saw Lisa's message I thought "why 80s? ", and then realised that's when they were born. Which makes me feel very old : ( Should be a good night, though.

Cameraphones...

...are quite handy for salsa 'revision'. I sometimes forget important details of moves, or add in bits I shouldn't have. I couldn't work out what I was doing wrong with this move until I remembered I'd asked Sue to film Sarah and me after we learnt it at Andy's advanced workshop last year. (Turns out I'd added a superfluous half turn).

Yes, I went off line a bit there, but at least it's not as embarrassing as this which was filmed three years ago after I encountered a fellow salsa fanatic at a training event. I was pissed but that still doesn't excuse my elephant steps and flailing arms - as you can see Karen managed to stay perfectly elegant and poised despite the booze and my unsubtle lead.

(You need the QuickTime plugin to see the video clips).

Henry Viña at the Gate

First time I'd been at the Gate and I thought it was a cracking venue: an excellent new wooden floor in a converted church (bit hot, though). I went with Sarah and we got there around 8 to find the second class had already started. Apparently there were only two levels - beginners and improvers/intermediate, so the standard in the class was variable to say the least. But I'd definitely go to another of his classes, as I thought his teaching was very clear. He teaches regularly over in Fiesta Havana.

Shame about the lack of publicity, though that did mean there was plenty of space on the dancefloor. There were only a dozen or so experienced dancers there. The music was good, and I spent most of the evening dancing with Sarah so I was happy. I hope they'll organise another event like this soon.

The plan was to head on to La Tasca afterwards, but after refuelling at a takeaway on City Road and realising how tired we were that seemed less attractive, so I was home by midnight.

BTW Andy's running Saturday workshops all through June - the details aren't up on his website yet, but I assume they will be soon.

Rueda etc

Rueda at Bar Risa was enjoyed by all, I think. Gorka is Spanish but his English is excellent, and as Kate told me, unlike some Cubans his timing on the calls is spot on. Some nice moves including 'mujer policia' (policewoman) where the women get to frisk the men for a change. Perhaps a bit of rueda practice could be fitted in every week.

Henry Viña is teaching at the Gate in Roath tonight - it's a fiver, starting at seven with beginners so I assume intermediates will be about eight. The venue is supposed to be excellent. I've never been to one of his classes but he's supposed to be good.

MoFlex and Helena are teaching at Fiesta Havana during half term (31 May) which I'm going to try to get to - I really like his teaching.

Cuba

Not, not the bar near the Hilton, but the theme for this week's Risa - Cuban-style salsa, with rueda. Looking forward to it.

Last weekend I was mostly...

...staring at an empty dancefloor waiting for people to turn up...

Or at least, the woman who asked me to dance with her at the Hard Rock Cafe for their Cinco de Mayo celebration didn't make it - still recovering from injuries sustained at the Salsa Congress. Actually, I needed an early night so that wasn't too much of a problem. Apparently they had capoeira later on. Not sure what that has to do with Mexican independence. Different continent, different language - but I suppose it's south of the border so that counts somehow.

I got to La Tasca too early as well as I'd just been to see a film and it wasn't worth going home first. I also thought I might get to dance with Laura on an empty dancefloor, as she's the only really good dancer who regularly gets there early. She wasn't there this week and by the time the stars turned up it was seriously crowded. There's a mix of Cardiff salsa people, a crowd of young Spanish and Latin Americans who come every week (some dancing salsa and some not) and drinkers. The drinkers aren't a problem unless they start trying to dance in which case it does get a bit hazardous - fortunately that wasn't the case this week.

As I've said before, it's a real party atmosphere and you have to go with the flow rather than trying out all those flash moves. You certainly find out who can really dance compactly (Irene gets the prize this week). Andy doesn't play a lot of new stuff here: it's more crowd-pleasers for the Spanish and Latino contingent, which means that there's a lot of familiar stuff which is easy to dance to. Once again I left during the extended reggaeton: I'm too old to wiggle like that.

BTW Just had a look on the Salsamania site where there's now a photo gallery. Looks like Thano and Kate in a couple of those pictures. (Actually it's funny how often you see Cardiff people dancing together when you go to Fiesta Havana.)

More Risa

Last night was great. I got off to a good start by dancing with Sue K earlier on (haven't danced with her for ages) - one of those dances that sets you up for the evening. The lighting was a bit better so it was slightly less like a school disco. The music was spot on, better than what the star guest DJ played last week. It's so nice to have space to dance in. Left very sweaty and happy at 12.15 having danced more or less solidly for two hours. And I even got a lie in this morning.

Risa

Made it to Risa last Thursday. First impression: it's big, and there were loads of people there. I never realised there were so many people trying to learn salsa in Cardiff. There were several new good female dancers who I hadn't encountered before.

It's ideal for lessons: three classes could run in parallel without being cramped, though even here there were so many people that rotating partners got confusing. The warmup was entertaining (merengue rather than salsa, and nowhere near as frenetic as the ones Andy used to do in Life).

The salsa class only lasted an hour because of the bachata workshop. A really nice sequence which seemed fine in the class, though the lead I thought I'd perfected didn't seem to work when I tried it on the dancefloor later on.

Tony Lara's bachata class was entertaining and I learnt some new stuff that will come in useful. And then it was time for the free dancing. Plenty of space and plenty of people - at least earlier on - and the music was good despite the mixing.

Pretty much everyone I wanted to dance with was there so I had some nice dances, including one which was great fun, but it started thinning out quite early. I'm not sure whether it was the heat but I was knackered and several of the women I danced with said they were too. It wasn't helped by the lighting which makes it feel like a school disco - I wonder if they can do anything to give it a bit more atmosphere?

Bar Risa

Shame I missed the launch night of Bar Risa, but I hear it got off to a really good start with plenty of space and plenty of dancers. I'm looking forward to the bachata workshop on Thursday.

There are plans to make it a Cuban night - with rueda - once a month, which I think is an excellent idea.

Hooray

I said things were looking up on the salsa front, and now my favourite dance partner's back on the scene. I danced with her at the Wharf on Sunday for the first time for months. She's a demon spinner with a sense of humour (which she needs for some of those experimental moves I try out on her).

Unfortunately she couldn't make Fiesta Havana last night. I'm afraid that once again I found Nicolai and Helena's class a bit frustrating: they teach really good moves, and they're nice people and great dancers, but the sequences are too long. When you're learning unusual new leads you really need more repetition.

I did have fun in the free dancing, though if I hadn't gone with Lisa I'd only have had two or three good dances - the standard wasn't that high. Maybe it was because of people being away for Easter. It was pretty friendly though. Good music and good atmosphere, and it was nice dancing with women who didn't already know all my moves.

Salsa Celtica again

For anyone who didn't get enough of a fix this time round, they're playing the Wychwood Festival at the beginning of June, with demon fiddler Eliza Carthy. I imagine this will involved dancing on mud, though.

They are also at St David's Hall on 1st July as part of the Worldport festival.

¿Que Pasa?

Things are really looking up for salsa in Cardiff. Bar Risa opens the week after next, with Que Pasa moving to Wednesdays (and getting an extension to 1am) so the only non-dance night in Cardiff will be Fridays.

I'd been avoiding Que Pasa since the refurbishment but Debbie told me the other day that the atmosphere was really good. So I ended up checking it out last night. The plan was to try the Spanish conversation group that meets in Chapter and then nip in for an hour's dancing after the classes ended. But after dropping off daughter and boyfriend in town at a quarter past eight the lure of the dancefloor was too much.

The interior is a lot smarter than it was before. Bar staff are friendly. The intermediate class gets the dancefloor in front of the bar. Yes, it is stupidly crowded, but the class was still useful.

Debbie was right about the atmosphere and if you choose your spot (I tend to dance in corners or between pillars because they can't kick you) you can have plenty of fun. Best thing was dancing with several people I hadn't seen for ages (and with a couple of my favourite dancers from the Wharf).

High point – apart from meeting a couple of nice new dancers – was a cracking long dance with someone who'd just emerged from hibernation. One of the kind of dances I used to have around midnight in the Toad: relax and jam, forget about the elaborate moves, give her space to play and show off, throw in some cheeky stuff, chuck in some spins, concentrate on communicating and playing with the rhythm - what dancing should be about. I went home with a smile on my face.

Weekend

I hear La Tasca was remarkably busy with people who'd been to the Salsa Celtica gig. Shame I missed both (I hear there was a surplus of women dancers).

I got to the Wharf after a late night with a bit of a hangover. If I'd been sensible I'd have stayed at home but there are a few people who only come out at weekends who I didn't want to miss dancing with for another week (particularly with the lack of a good midweek dance night in Cardiff at the moment).

Started off well - probably because I danced with people like Laura and Lisa who it's impossible to have a bad dance with - but that lasted about twenty minutes before the heat and tiredness took over. I usually reckon that if I have one dodgy dance with a good dancer it could be her that's not on form, but two in a row means it's time to go home.

Bar Risa

At last we have a launch date for Andy's new Thursday night venue. Bar Risa (next to the Millennium Stadium) will launch on Thursday 20th April. Unfortunately I'm away that week, but I should make the 27th April for Tony Lara's bachata workshop.

Sorry...

...that last post was pretty boring! That's the trouble with posting after a good night's dancing - I'm not usually in a fit state to write anything interesting.

Monday night reminded me of one good development lately. There's one woman who I've been dancing with for three or four years but we always seemed to be just missing the connection until a few weeks ago. I'm not sure whether it's her or me or both of us that's got better. Anyway, it's suddenly got a lot smoother and easier and she now smiles rather than looking worried (which she claims was just concentration).

I've been told it's probably Nicolai at Fiesta Havana next week, in which case I'll definitely try to make it.

Salsa, salsa, salsa

Three nights running isn't something I make a habit of. Night one was La Tasca. Music was good but a few of regulars weren't there - nice to dance with Louise again though. I was having a bit of an off night: it's infuriating when I find myself dancing really sloppily and can't tighten it up - I think it was down to tiredness and lack of exercise. Fortunately I had the sense to leave before one.

I had a much better time at the Wharf - getting a swim in during the afternoon meant I was a lot more alert, the atmosphere was good and some of my favourite dancers were there. I could only stay for half an hour after the class but still had more fun than in two hours the previous night.

Monday I nearly decided to be sensible but at the last minute I decided sensible is for wimps. More good fun, though I was flagging a bit by the time it got to half ten. I also discovered that my Spanish is getting disgustingly rusty when Vicky decided to practise on me (it didn't help that I'd been speaking Welsh all day).

I'm debating whether to go to Que Pasa on Thursday, but I think on balance I'd rather stick with memories of some of the great nights I had in the Toad in the past. My diary next week is refreshingly empty after a manic couple of weeks, so I might try to make Fiesta Havana next Wednesday (depending on who's teaching).

Salsa Celtica

...are at Barry Memorial Hall next Saturday, 1st April. It clashes with two parties, one of which is within staggering distance of home, so I won't be there. I have to admit that from what I've heard of them the Celtic/Latin fusion is a curious hybrid, but they are supposed to be good live - they played the World Music Prom in Cardiff a couple of years ago which turned my former dance partner on to salsa.

New venues

Andy's finally revealed his forthcoming new venues. Wednesday nights will be in Tiger Tiger, just up the road from Bar Cuba, and Thursdays will be Jongleurs (the comedy club above Bar Risa by the Millennium Stadium). Jongleurs is a large venue and he has big plans for it - it should give the Cardiff scene a real boost. The launch date will be soon, probably the beginning of April.

Organic Fairtrade Speed

That's what my partner calls the Green and Black's Espresso chocolate which gets me going before a night's dancing. Should have taken some on Sunday as I was definitely unfocused at the Wharf. Nice to encounter a talented new dancer, though 'Solo' is a bit fast for a first dance with anyone.

Talking of which...Andy's pointed out a couple of times that if you want to see who the good dancers are you should see how they dance to a slow track, not a fast one, as fast tracks tend to cover up mistakes. While I enjoy the adrenalin rush of a really fast track with the right partner I'm increasingly finding that I enjoy mid-speed songs, so I hope this means I'm getting better (not just older).

It also means you extend your choice of partners: there are quite a few dancers who can't even keep up with the basic step once the speed goes above 200bpm, but they're lovely to dance with on a slower track. There are also partners who have the opposite problem - they just can't slow down, so you lead a turn to a slow song and they've finished it well before the next beat...

Coming up...

He's keeping schtum about the details for the moment, but Andy now has two new venues lined up, for Wednesday and Thursday nights, one of which is 'big'. Let's hope it all works out - maybe the refurbishment of the Toad will prove to be a blessing in disguise.

Uncoordinated

Amusing article by Lucy Mangan in today's Guardian about her first and last salsa lesson. Brought back some memories - while I'm not sure that my sense of rhythm was ever quite as bad as hers, I can certainly remember the bit about not having a clue what was going on.

Update

Well, I definitely won't be going to Que Pasa tonight - they've now been told that they only have a licence til 11 (plus 20 minutes 'drinking up' time). Let's hope Andy manages to sort out a new venue soon.

Actually, I'd already decided not to go - Christalla Constantinou is running a salsa benefit for Rwanda at Thornhill Community Centre tomorrow (Friday) night, £7.50 including buffet, drink, beginner lesson, advanced shine lesson, demonstrations and freestyle, so I'm going to save my energy for that.

Tired, hungover....

La Tasca didn't happen for me: a combination of hangover and post-migraine dopiness meant that I went to bed at half eight and slept for ten hours. I gather there weren't many dancers there.

Sunday night's TV highlight was a Steven Poliakoff drama starring Bill Nighy, so that was two very good reasons to go to the Wharf. Glad I went: plenty of good people in the class (eg Rachel, Lisa, Anne) and a cracking stylish sequence that was just the right length. The body roll early on caused a bit of eye-rolling from a few of the women but everyone seemed happy by the end. And dancing with Lucy later I remembered how to lead the move from Andy's advanced workshop that I'd forgotten (isn't it odd how that happens?)

In London for work on Monday. If I'd had any sense I would have gone to Super Mario and Susana Montero's class in Charing Cross Road, but I'd already signed up for a meal with the people I'd spent the day with. I assumed that I'd sleep better after that than a night's dancing. Bad move: a quiet Italian meal led to a seriously late night, and I'm not going to Bristol tonight because I need to catch up on some sleep. So that's two nights' salsa I've missed out on. You'd think I'd have worked out by now that given the choice between dancing and an alternative way of spending an evening, dancing is almost always the best option...

Birthdays and beginners

Birthday dances - where the lucky victim gets to dance with everyone of the opposite sex - used to be really good in Cardiff, with people queuing up for their turn in the spotlight. I can remember when you were lucky to get more than half a minute before someone else muscled in. But there were two on Monday - John's and Rhian's - and hardly any takers: I danced with Rhian twice because it didn't seem fair to leave her stuck with one bloke for too long.

Having completely arsed up a birthday dance in front of a large audience a couple of years ago I can understand people who don't join in because of lack of confidence. But there were plenty of experienced dancers there on Monday who could have joined in but didn't. Let's hope there's a bit more enthusiasm next time (particularly when it's my birthday - fortunately this year it doesn't fall on a salsa night).

Otherwise, there was a touch of the skating rink about Monday, though not quite as bad as the Wharf a few months ago. I danced bachata with Debbie and was pleased to find that it finally seems to be getting more natural - no more 'dog against a lamp-post', to use Abby's inimitable phrase.

Real bonus was Deborah turning up, remarkably having not danced for five months becaus of pressure of work. If I'd taken that long off it would be like starting from scratch, but she's still a lovely smooth and graceful dancer. (I've just realised I wrote almost exactly the same thing about her the last time she turned up). I ended up teaching one of her colleagues the basics - she picked them up remarkably quickly and definitely has potential.

Being nice to beginners pays off: several women who I danced with when they were inexperienced a few months ago are developing into really good dancers now. And they're more likely to dance with me now than with the prat who pounces on attractive newcomers, stops to explain some rubbish move to them, and then abandons them halfway through a dance if they can't follow him. Someone I regularly dance with told me that one of her friends was put off salsa completely by this character.

I'm out of action tonight, unfortunately, so I won't have a chance to check out Que Pasa: the lunchtime swim that was supposed to liven me up for a night's dancing sparked off a migraine. And that's after I deliberately got an early night last night rather than going to Fiesta Havana.

Andy's amended the class times at Que Pasa, so it's a cut-price beginners class 8-8.30 and then improvers and intermediates in parallel 8.30-10. That makes sense to me as the previous plan - improvers II being able to join in the Intermediate class - can't have done much for keeping up the level. From what I've heard I'm not sure how long Que Pasa will be sustainable as a venue: apparently the only wooden dancefloor left is the section in front of the bar, where sensible dancers used to escape to when the main dance floor got too manic.

Tasca again

Absolutely knackered last week - the 5.30am start to get to Aber on Thursday wiped me out for days. I gather Que Pasa is, as expected, a bit of a problem with the main dancefloor gone, so by all accounts I didn't miss much.

I'd just about recovered for La Tasca last night. I got there early in the hope of dancing with Laura on an empty dancefloor, but she wasn't there - no Rachel, Lisa or Sarah either : (

Even though a lot of my favourites weren't there - and it was very crowded - it was a good fun. Actually I think it's good for my dancing too: obviously I can't do the flash stuff when trying to avoid hazards including a blob of tapas, a tray of ice, Tasca staff carryng trays of drink, a pool of water, and various suicidal muggles, but it keeps me on my toes and also means that I concentrate on gentle, controlled dancing in limited space. And you can pretty much guarantee that there'll be a few really good people there to dance with.

Two nights running

Sunday afternoon was a bit more strenuous than I expected - I broke a gear cable climbing out of Llancarfan halfway round my two hour circuit and had to ride home with just two high gears, and there's no flat route back to Penarth.

So I was a bit knackered in the Wharf. There was a distinct shortage of women, and there would have been even fewer if the class hadn't included some people who were really only improvers. It was a nice sequence but I didn't really get it, as Rachel discovered when I tried to inflict it on her the following night.

Lisa turning up for the free dancing was a pleasant surprise (as ever, looking stylish without letting the styling get in the way, though she was claiming to be out of practice).

I even made it out to O'Neills last night. John's music has definitely taken a turn for the better. Nice to dance with Kathrin again (I wondered if she'd stopped coming as I hadn't seen her for a few months). Rachel turned up pretty late, so I stayed a fair bit later than I'd planned and limped home very sweaty and tired with a sore toe and neck (double spins probably weren't a good idea a week after that Audi ran into me).

I'm not the only one who's a bit concerned about the Toad's refurbishment as Que Pasa. Andy's had to revise the class schedule as there are only two dance floors now (see the link to 'Cardiff salsa nights and classes' on the right for details.)

I've also added a new link on the right to details of Nathalie's classes.

Pica Pica

In answer to you question, Lisa, no I didn't get to Pica Pica. It's frustrating when you can see your planned night out gradually disappearing - in this case an unscheduled change of trains at Chester meant hanging around at Crewe for three quarters of an hour and getting back to Cardiff an hour later than planned, completely knackered. Of course, if the woman in the Audi hadn't put my car out of action I could have been back in Cardiff by eight...I could really have done with a night's dancing, as well.

I had a sneak look in through the door of Que Pasa (the refurbished Toad) today. The bar is supposed to be reopening tonight. I couldn't see much but the main dance floor seems to have been replaced by carpet and a raised platform - I hope there's more wood at the other end, otherwise running three classes in tandem could be a bit of a problem. I won't make the opening next Thursday anyway - got to be in Aberystwyth that night.

Taxi!

I see from yesterday's Echo headline that Cardiff's 'cabbies' are threatening to strike because they don't like the top of St Mary Street being closed at weekends. I'd have a bit more sympathy if I hadn't (on two separate occasions) been crossing the road there on my way to salsa - with the green man in my favour - and had to leap out of the way of taxis doing illegal U-turns. It's about time they realised that traffic laws apply to them as well. (That also means the laws against jumping red lights, doing 60 in a 40 limit, carving up cyclists and threatening to run them off the road...)

The road closure makes St Mary Street a lot safer and calmer on a Saturday night, so I'm all for it.

Not quite according to plan...

No Toad last week, of course. Which had one advantage - I finally got around to seeing The Constant Gardener. Chapter was sold out and it's not surprising. It's one of the best film adaptations I've seen, and of a very good book too (John Le Carre's best for years). As you might expect if you've seen Mereilles' previous film City of God it's got stunning cinematography, dramatic editing, audacious time shifts and some terrific performances (including Rachel Weisz, who's distractingly gorgeous). Bill Nighy's a bit irritating as usual but you can't have everything. Go and see it when it comes back to Chapter in April.

End of digression.

I should have gone to La Tasca on Saturday. That didn't happen: I had another event to go to first, I knew that several people I'd want to dance with weren't going, and the prospect of a couple of pints (er, and a couple of glasses of cava, and a glass of red wine) and being within walking distance of home won out.

Plan number 2: go to the Wharf. That did happen, and I even got there in time for the class. A stylish but tricky move – beyond a lot of people in the class – followed by a "New York setup", a nifty and unusual way of starting a turn. Andy apologised for not getting round to teaching the rest of the sequence: personally I think if you're teaching a move that tricky there was more than enough to cover in 45 minutes. Good to see Liz and Teresa there: I had a cracking first dance with Teresa but gradually deteriorated as I overheated.

The dance floor was surprising crowded early on. At one point I was sitting minding my own business when a slightly drunk young bloke came over, introduced himself, shook my hand and then asked "Will you teach the missus how to salsa?" Which I attempted to do, though I did explain that you can't really learn it that quickly. Apparently they'd just called in for a drink; she hadn't encountered salsa before, but she used to do modern dance and really wanted to give it a go. I think they'll be back.

Next step: the refurbished O'Neills. "I'll just get a half hour powernap before going out..." An hour and a half later - too late - I woke up. Apparently it was pretty good, though I really felt better this morning for the extra sleep.

Another foiled plan: go to Bar Cuba tonight. Now that might have happened, except for the Audi that ran into the back of me on the way home. I'm desperately hoping that my stiff neck doesn't develop into whiplash: I think I'd better stay in and calm it down with some Ibuprofen.

But if I manage to get back from North Wales in time and my neck is functioning, there's some dancing to entice me out on Thursday: Irene - former Welsh salsa champion - is running a one-off styling and shines class in Pica Pica on Westgate Street. Three quid, class starts at half eight (improvers and intermediate) and there's dancing afterwards.

More smoke

Having enthused about the lack of smoke in the Claverton Rooms, I thought it might be useful for visitors if I rated Cardiff salsa venues by their smokiness:

Low to moderate: The Wharf (smoking not allowed in the dancing area, but it can still get a bit smoky because of punters in the rest of the pub).

Moderate: O'Neills.

High: Cuba, the Toad, La Tasca (I enjoy dancing there despite the smoke but I wouldn't want to eat a meal in that atmosphere).

Barf

Shame you decided to opt for an early night, Lisa. I had sore feet two days later: that's how much fun the Claverton Rooms was. And I was wearing comfy Bloch dance sneakers. God knows how you women manage in high heels and no cushioning.

I'd almost decided not to go to Bath again because of the distance: a hundred mile round trip is a lot for an evening's dancing. But then Rachel said she was happy to drive so I gratefully accepted. Lizzie and Tall Malcolm made a carfull.

Classes? Well, the threatened ballroom didn't materialise: the first classes were beginners' chachacha, merengue and bachata. I did John's bachata class and learnt a couple of new moves (so I now know four...) For the second class I decided to do Jools' class even though it was improvers, as I remembered being impressed by her teaching in the Steam Rock a long time ago. She was good, too, and I did learn one technique that I'd either never learnt or had forgotten.

Free dancing was crowded (it was sold out, and they made two and a half grand for the Tsunami appeal). As usual, the music and sound quality was great. I didn't know that many women there - quite a few of the usual Bristol and Bath suspects weren't around, and for a change, I didn't spend all evening dancing with the Cardiff girls . It's always good when it's going well and you can dance with people who haven't experienced all your moves dozens of times before. Went down quite well with most of them, though I definitely started losing the plot as 1am came and went.

I had one near-disaster dancing with an enthusiastic, attractive, but tall and strong young woman - I spun her in for a dip at the end of a song and instead of leaning back into my left arm she turned round and leant into my right necessitating a quick change of plan to avoid her ending up on the floor...

Very late getting back. Last time I went was with a carful of sensible people, and even then it was three by the time I got home. This time it was 4 am, so I spent a large part of Sunday asleep. I usually feel like I've got a hangover after a night's dancing because of the smoke, but the Claverton Rooms is blessedly smoke-free. It's worth the trip just for that: it's extraordinary how much better I felt the following day compared with La Tasca, even after the added sleep deprivation.

Strictly ballroom

Yesterday got off to a lively start: my iPod woke me up at 6.45 with Salsipuedes by Lisandra Meza from the Rough Guide to Cumbia. (This morning it shuffled to the funereal 'Lonesome Valley' from Oh Brother Where Art Thou, which pretty much matched how I felt about having to get up with post-salsa sleep deprivation). I managed to catch an earlier train than I expected up to Coventry so I had a glorious view from the train of the early-morning sunlight sparkling off the Severn: even the nuclear power station at Oldbury looked like a medieval castle silhouetted against the sun.

After a quick powernap and a few squares of Green and Black's expresso chocolate to wake me up, I got to the Toad where Kate invited me to slot into the improvers' class where she was teaching rueda - or at least, as close to rueda as you can manage when packed in like sardines. Later on she did it for real with a smaller group: I've joined in with rueda in several different places including Bristol, Bath, Glasgow and Belfast, but I've had by far the most fun when Kate's leading it. Rather than doing a lot of obscure and elaborate moves she focuses on getting dynamism and energy into the wheel, with plenty of 'dame dos' and 'por abajo' to get you changing speed and direction. I must have another go at getting a group together so we can get her to teach us.

My favourite dancers were a bit thin on the ground last night: Lisa's away (though I danced with her mum), no sign of Sue, and worst of all I haven't danced with Sarah for about a fortnight. There was one consolation, though (apart from Lucy helping me to remember a flashy move I'd forgotten): I got to dance with Gail for the first time in ages. She is just so exciting and engaging to dance with. I managed to inadvertently insult Lisa the other day (oops) over on SalsaCardiff with a crack about ballroom dancers, but like her Gail used to be one and I think it's one reason why she's such a stylish and expressive dancer. (Intriguingly, "ballroom" is listed as one of the classes at the Claverton Rooms tomorrow night.)

The Toad is shut for a couple of weeks now. Mikey P is having another crack at starting a Wednesday Latin night in Aqua, by the market. I hope it succeeds, but it's yet another night with a really late start, like Cuba: free dancing isn't until 10.30. It would be really good to have a salsa night with good music where you could go out and dance starting at a reasonable time.

Smoke

It's worth getting to La Tasca early. First dance: Laura, Mi Cariñito, and an empty dance floor, which is a great start to any evening. We even got a round of applause from a table of non-dancing diners (undeserved in my case): second time that's happened to me there while dancing with her. Later on when it filled up I had another dance with her: she definitely gets the prize for being easiest to dance with in a confined space.

There were some other really good dancers there: I really enjoyed dancing with you, Lisa - shame it was the last chance for a few weeks. I didn't stay much beyond one, though: I wasn't dancing at my best and the level of smoke - and dodging the drunks - was getting to me. I'm really looking forward to the smoke-free Claverton Rooms on Saturday (get your tickets quick if you haven't already - there's quite a few going from Cardiff).

First time that I've managed to get to the Wharf after a late night in La Tasca: good music as ever, useful class, first dance with Sue this year, but I was dancing like a gonk. I need more practice!

I'm looking forward to Andy's next advanced workshop, which he's apparently planning for the end of February.

Lo 'que pasa' es...

(What's happening is)...that the Toad is finally being refurbished and relaunched as part of the 'Que Pasa' chain. It'll be closed on February 2nd and 9th, re-opening on the 16th. I think we're going to need to make some trips to Bristol on a Wednesday those weeks. I'm up in North Wales on the 8th/9th (I wouldn't have been in any fit state to make the Toad on that Thursday anyway after a day working in Welsh and a hundred and fifty mile drive).

Good to get back there last night - first time since before Christmas for me, and for several other people. Very crowded, though. I was knackered but livened up after a first dance with Lizzie. Quite a few other nice dancers there: unfortunately the woman who really brings out the best in my dancing couldn't get there as she was ill. Hope she's back in action Saturday.

Cuba (and Bar Cuba)

Bar Cuba is now a Latin-only night on Tuesday, with Andy DJing and playing what he usually plays on Saturdays. Which is encouraging. I should have gone last night and danced with Lisa instead of sitting in front of the telly.

I watched Buena Vista Social Club on More4 instead (well, I fell asleep during the last half hour, but I watched most of it.). A gentle film with some real characters - I particularly liked the bit where Ibrahim Ferrer was describing the offerings he made to what he called his 'Lazarus' - the Babalu orisha figure in his house. Wim Wenders makes Cuba look like a magical place, with some lovely use of steadicam. I'm not inclined to buy the album, though: what I would like to do is to track down some of the original versions they made in their youth. I'm glad I watched the film after reading Cuba and its music: from the first drums to the mambo, so I had a sense of the importance of the musicians featured and mentioned.

The Frombelows

I was up in London last week for a stupidly busy week of work. Fortunately nobody from Cardiff was there to see me wearing a DJ on Wednesday evening for the first time ever (makes me look 10 years older - not to be repeated in a hurry).

I was hoping to get out from some dancing on Thursday night. Unfortunately My Place - where Super Mario teaches, just down the road from where I was working - hasn't started back again after Christmas. I went a couple of years ago (he was away so it was 'just' Susanna teaching) and had a good time.

I was on my feet most of the time last week and having trouble with my dodgy toe so I wasn't really inspired to travel further afield. Got back at 9.15 Saturday night in no fit state to join the gang in La Tasca : (

I did, however, pick up Los de Abajo's 'Los de Abajo vs. The Lunatics' while I was up there. It's a cracking CD. Only one pure salsa track: they are very eclectic with styles including cumbia, a bit of chachacha, some tango and a lot of Mexican ska. They're a political band - Los de Abajo means 'those from below', and the first track is 'La Resistencia' with a voiceover by 'Zapatista Insurgent Commander Esther' - but a lot of the CD is great fun, with Spanish lyrics that are occasionally hilarious. There's also the storming 'El Manicomio Esta En Los Manos de Los Locos': a Spanish version of a well-known Fun Boy Three hit from the 80s. (Whoever is first to correctly tell me the original English title wins a dance with me on Saturday night. Second prize is two dances....) I wish I'd been able to get to see them in Fiddlers where they played a couple of months ago.

Also, Phil Heath (see the Salseros link on the right) is running a Tsunami benefit gig on Saturday 28th in the Claverton Rooms. Apparently it sold out last year so you probably need to buy tickets in advance. I'm planning to go.

A quick reminder that O'Neills is closed until the end of January for refurbishment. Shame, as I could really have done with some dancing last night.

Big Fun

Didn't there used to be a band of that name?

One of my New Year's resolutions was to spent less time on this blog, but my public won't let me ; ) Someone told me last night that she visited every day or two and asked why I hadn't posted for so long. Glad to know someone reads it! While I've been away I've managed to start an argument over on Salsajive.

Stevie from Salsamania is looking to start running a night in Cardiff on Thursday, Friday or Saturday (see this thread on SalsaCardiff). I'd suggest Fridays myself, though nobody seems to have cracked running a sustainable salsa night on a Friday in Cardiff despite several attempts. Obviously avoiding Thursday is pretty essential, but it also would be a shame if it affected La Tasca on Saturdays.

I went there last night with Sarah, Lisa and Rachel. Town was really quiet which meant La Tasca was perfect: loads of good dancers, very few drunks (and great music as Andy didn't have to play reggaeton for the muggles). I had a great time and stayed far too late. A bit ropey to start with - trying to be too clever - but once I relaxed and got into it I was dancing a lot better. I tend to have more fun dancing in La Tasca than I do anywhere else: it feels more like a party, people are less self-conscious and more focused on just enjoying their dancing, and the fact that it isn't just salsa dancers there makes it seem more real. Not only that, but usually pretty much all the dancers there are people you'd actually want to dance with, whether you're male or female (or at least they were last night).

Addiction

Whoever decides to run a salsa night sometime in the middle of the Christmas/New Year period would have punters hammering on the door. It's a bit shocking how dependent I am on it, particularly at this time of year: by the 29th I was bored, lethargic and irritable. Ordinary exercise helps a bit, so I did 20 miles cycling (in the torrential rain) on Friday, but it was the prospect of some salsa on Tuesday night that really lifted my mood. There were only four of us when we got there, but as that was two males and two females it was fine. I was crap after nearly a fortnight off but I felt so much better afterwards.