Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Back on form

I had such a good time last night in O'Neills. I was only planning to stay for an hour but I was there from nine until 10.30 and only sat out one dance. I think it was partly the good music, partly that several of my favourite dancers were there, and partly that I'm getting fitter: the good autumn weather means that I'm getting more cycling in than I did in the 'summer'. Some people think salsa is good exercise: it's definitely better than no exercise, but I think that to be really fit for dancing you need to build more fitness than you get from dancing, if that makes sense.

I had a pretty good time at the Electricity Club: Rohan was his usual charismatic self and I particularly enjoyed his rueda in the free dancing afterwards. The salsa trio class was less successful, partly because of the wide variation in ability. I really don't want to be critical, but this is the second event I've been to recently where the guest teacher, who's supposed to be teaching an intermediate (or in the other case, intermediate/advanced) class, has been faced with a class at least half of whom are no more than improvers level. This is frustrating both for the teachers and for the more experienced dancers who have assumed that intermediate/advanced means what it says. So this is a plea to anyone who's bringing in guest teachers: please make it clear that beginners and improvers shouldn't be doing the higher level classes.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

No more Conti's

Salsa on Wednesdays at Conti's has been cancelled - punters weren't drinking enough. A shame after the work Lisa and Shahid put into it, but hardly surprising given the venue's track record. Let's hope they can find another venue soon.

Friday, September 14, 2007

No Risa next week

Don't forget there's no Salsa at Risa on 20th September because of the rugby. You'll have to get your fix by going to Irene's event at the Electricity Club on the Saturday. Nice to see that Rohan will be teaching something different - rueda and salsa trio - instead of just another workshop of salsa moves.

Llantrisant

Looking forward to Tammi's event on Saturday night - hope to see some of you there. Angus is a very good, clear teacher. He was the best teacher I saw when I went to Pontins three years ago.

And the good news is that I should be able to get to Pontins this year - haven't been able to make it for the last two.

Friday, September 07, 2007

Swansea

Sad news from Swansea - Friday nights at Cafe Mambo are coming to an end (and before I even managed to get there). A shame, as I've heard that the atmosphere was great.

Looking on the bright side, it might mean that we see more of the lovely Swansea dancers like Sally, Nicky and Jorja here in Cardiff.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Rusty

Three weeks away from the dance floor meant I was really struggling last night - sloppy lead, going through the motions. It got better later on, particularly after a dance with Lisa.

I'm definitely spending too much time online: I danced with someone last night and realised that I could remember her screen name but not her real name - oops!

Glad to see that No 10 has moved to a Wednesday night, avoiding the direct clash with Risa. I gather it was very busy last week - as well as Shahid and Lisa they also have Irene and Hugh teaching 'on 2'. More details on the classes listing page.