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.)