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...