Llantrisant pics

Lots of pics of Tammi's Llantrisant event on her Picasia album. I thought I'd escaped being photographed until I came across this one of me spinning Sarah T (this was the day she officially became Dr Sarah - congratulations!)

Sundays are back!

Andy and Lucy have finally got a new Sunday night venue. It's the Q bar in Greyfriars Road, opposite the New Theatre. Starts July 8th. Really looking forward to it.

Lessons are 7pm absolute beginners, 8pm improvers, 8.45 intermediate. Dancing until around 11 or possibly later.

Monday night fun

Don't know why I'm finding O'Neills more fun than Risa lately, but there it goes. Perhaps it's because I can always guarantee that there will be a handful of people that I really like dancing with, or maybe it's that the atmosphere is more laid back. I certainly seem to be dancing better there than I do at Risa - I've had a couple of nice compliments lately. Last night's highlight was a really nice dance with Cristina, who I suspect may be the best dancer in Cardiff.

Friday night

Had a bit of a surprise when I turned on the TV yesterday afternoon to be confronted by Moe teaching salsa. He was at Glastonbury, leading a (male) Radio 1 presenter who was a bit surprised to be Moe's "bitch" (the presenter's words, not mine).

Friday night was a real success for those who made it. Nice venue with plenty of dancefloor space and a good atmosphere. I thought I was going to miss Moe's lesson but as it happened he turned up at the same time as I did - 9 - due to traffic problems. The lesson was rueda: good, though a bit crowded and with quite a few beginners. I think in future it would be good to have something else for beginners, because Moe and Lee both had to tone down the level of their lessons. I did learn some new stuff, though, principally 'pelota con clave' which was a new one on me (you clap in time with the clave, which is an interesting exercise when there's no music playing!). I was lucky to be next to Debbie who was leading: in rueda it makes a lot of difference if the person upstream from you knows what they're doing.

The free dancing was good, with quite a few people there who I hadn't danced with before. There were a few over from Bristol/Bath. I danced with Tammi for the first time in years (she's usually too busy leading). The DJ did a good job, and one of the reason it worked was he didn't play any long tracks. Long tracks are brilliant if you're dancing with the right person, but in a situation where a lot of people don't know each other it's good to keep changing.

Moe made up for his late arrival with a series of lineups, from salsa to salsaton and reggaeton, which kept the buzz going. It was interested to see the CBL/Cuban contrast between his and Lee's styles: they're almost polar opposites, with Lee's dancing being precise and very controlled and Moe's being extrovert and enviably funky. I'm looking forward to Tammi's next event and I hope a few more of the regular Cardiff crowd will make the effort. A great start to the weekend.

(I remember when Andy's lineups used to be as much fun as the ones Moe did on Friday. I think it's a bit harder in Risa with 200 people, compared with the 20 or 30 who used to go to the classes in Life. I used to like the lineups there because back then they were the one thing out of his class that I could actually do!)

Llantrisant

Really enjoyable night last night. A really nice atmosphere, and I really enjoyed the exhilarating and funky lineups from Moe. Surprised to find this morning that both knees are still functioning properly!

Thanks to Tammi for organising it (and taking a serious financial risk) - looking forward to the next one.

Dirty dancing

Risa was packed last night. I haven't been to a salsa lesson for months, but I thoroughly enjoyed Andy's class even though it was very hot and crowded: I think an hour's worth of teaching is enough for me to absorb, and the sequence ended with a really neat move (which I must practise before I forget it).

I do quite enjoy bachata but I didn't get much out of Tony and Daniella's workshop, partly because it was so crowded. There's also something a bit uncomfortable about practising 'sensual' moves with women who I know aren't normally flirtatious dancers. I gave up when they got on to reggaeton. Maybe I just wasn't on form - most other people seemed to be having a good time.

The rueda went well this week (apart from me forgetting how to do setenta complicada). Let's hope Kate finds a venue soon for a regular class.

By half eleven I was ready to move on, and Lisa and Shahid's night made a good contrast to Risa. It's nice to have the option of somewhere calmer to finish off the evening. Two nice dances with Lisa, one with a woman I didn't know, and by the time I danced with Rachel I was feeling more like a dancer than I had all night.

Mucho calor

Jeez, it was hot in O'Neills last week with no aircon. A shame, because there were loads of good dancers there and I was wiped out after less than an hour. Fortunately they'd fixed it by last night and I had a great time: it's rapidly becoming the night I look forward to most. Liz had hurt her foot but that didn't keep her off the dancefloor for long, and she was as exciting as ever to dance with.

I finally got along to Lisa and Shahid's new night in Mill Lane after Risa last week. It was pretty quiet when I got there, but the post-Risa crowd soon started arriving. Nice to dance with Lisa for the first time for a while. She said the numbers in the club had been going up and down through the night. Dancing on the small stage was very good at keeping me on line and within my space as well - I've got a bit sloppy with all that room in O'Neills and Risa, I used to be much more precise in the Toad.

Bachata night with Tony and Daniela at Risa on Thursday: should be fun. Next week there's Tammi's masquerade ball on the Friday (22nd), with Moe Flex and Lee Hunter.

New header

Hope you like it.

I had every intention of calling into Lisa and Shahid's new venue but I was having a good time in Risa - by the time I left I was danced out. I danced with Sophie (foreground in the picture above) for the first time in months. (There are more pics of Risa from a few months ago on my Flickr site - see link on right).

Fortunately my knee held up (more or less). I wasn't on my best form - apart from the handful of dances on Monday I hadn't really danced for nearly a fortnight. But it was good to be back. Best dance was with Anne from Northern Ireland: she is such a good dancer and so easy to dance with.

If anyone's desperate for some rueda Kate's teaching Gorka's class in Swansea tonight and will be including some rueda.