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.