Respect

Major respect to Sabina for her part in last night's rueda class: dancing as a man, she did Pa'l Cielo twice (and kept smiling)! That's the move which follows La Rosa where the guys link arms, the women sit on their arms, the guys lift them up into the air and the wheel rotates.

Learning some more Cuban stuff also meant that, on a fast song between the classes, I was able to discover just what an exciting dancer she is. My best Cuban dance so far :)

Tasca Saturday night

I didn't get to La Tasca this week, but Hugh McIntosh (that's the Hugh who can dance, not the Hugh who runs the website) has put a video on YouTube which shows why people enjoy going.

Looks like fun with a lot of well-known Cardiff faces, including David (at the beginning - I think that's Irene he's dancing with), Shahid and Louise (after about 30 seconds), followed by the very stylish Andrea (1'10') and Mikey the DJ (2 minutes). At 2'50' Rhodri is dancing with the wonderfully funky Sara, and at 3' 20' there's Keith and Alison.

Cough cough

Couldn't make Risa last week as I'd just got back exhausted from a day in London. But I did make it to La Tasca as a friend of mine needed cheering up, and salsa is guaranteed to work (even though it meant a 60 mile drive for her). I hadn't been for ages: it started off quiet but improved by midnight. I wasn't feeling that inspired but things soon started to pick up later, particularly when Andrea- who is an exceptional dancer - arrived, and then Patricia turned up not long before the end. It's literally months since I'd danced with her. (She's been away challenging for the 'what's the most exotic place you've danced salsa' prize, and I think she's won - I can't top rueda on the 65th floor in Shanghai!) . Only had one dance but I quickly remembered what I'd been missing: fluid spinning and a delight to lead :) And my friend had a great time: according to her Facebook page she was still on a high from it on Monday night.

I dragged myself out to Barocco last night – despite my cough having come back, which seems to happen every time I try and get some exercise – with the help of paracetamol and an espresso. I was very glad I did. As someone who likes Cuban style but has a limited repertoire these classes are really useful. It's particularly good that stuff gets reinforced week after week, even in the intermediate class, which means it really gets embedded and there's plenty of opportunities to work out the subtleties of the lead. And all of the women in the class are at least competent (some are very good) which isn't always the case even in an intermediate class.

I had a lovely dance with Sabina after the rueda class, and then joined in a four-couple rueda which was great. Unfortunately I'm going to miss their Party a lo Cubano in Cwmbran on the 27th Thursday as I have too much to do the following day. I'm hoping to make the one after that, whenever it is.

Finally, a bit of news: the groundbreaking Cuban band Los Van Van are playing the Roundhouse in London on March 7th.

Complicated moves

Nice to see that Sabina and Misael are expanding their Cuban Tuesday night at Barocco to offer an extra class. At 8.15 - that's after the beginners and before the rueda - there will be a choice of improvers' level downstairs, and a new intermediate level upstairs, which will offer more complex moves. Just what I wanted :)

Surplus men

Doesn't happen that often in Cardiff, but it's been happening for the last couple of Tuesdays in Barocco. Sabina has just sent out an urgent request for more women for the improvers class and above. Last week for the rueda she had to deal with the surplus in the traditional Cuban way - guys wait outside the circle until someone gets kicked out for getting a move wrong.