Sunday salsa interrupted

A change of management means that salsa on Sundays in the Purple Lounge has ended. Andy's negotiating with a 'fantastic' new venue - hope it works out.

Changes

Sabina's off to Cuba for a couple of weeks so Kate will be taking her class for a fortnight (there's no class on April 14th). Officially there's no rueda class (probably because Kate and Sabina use different calls) but I think Kate could probably be persuaded to do some in the free dancing.

Also the next O'Neills Friday night has been set for 24th April, and Henry Viña is DJing again. I thought he was great the last time he DJ'd there.

Salsathon

Hugh McIntosh has put a nice video of the salsathon on YouTube.

Jumpin Jaks

I was half asleep when I got to Jumpin' Jaks last night but still managed some nice dances - glad Andrea was there, she doesn't seem to have any trouble doing multiple spins on the dodgy floor. But I think that the floor is putting a lot of people off going to, or staying late at, what used to be the best salsa night of the week. Let's hope they get to move back into Risa when the refurbishment ends.

Very pleased with the reaction to Sabina's 'enroscate' rueda move when I tried it out in the free dancing - compliments in Spanish!

Reggaeton

For anyone who wants to find out how to do reggaeton properly, Marlen is starting a Monday night class ('Salseando con Aché') next week in the Yard. Details: 7pm-7.50pm Beginners Salsa, 8pm-8.50pm Reggaeton Beginners, 9pm-9.50pm Reggaeton Improvers, 10pm-11pm Reggaeton Fun, 11pm-12pm Free Dancing. Marlen is very good at reggaeton, as anyone who was in La Tasca on Saturday night will know.

The Go-gos

A good contingent from Cardiff (including two Cubans) to see Los Van Van at the Roundhouse on Saturday. It was very full, though - very little room to dance. When we arrived we made our way over to one of the pillars to dump our gear (with the exception of the Cuban flag which Marlen and Damarys had brought, which wasn't allowed to touch the ground and which did service during the evening variously as a skirt and as a shelter from the rain). I looked round and right next to us was Anna who used to dance in Cardiff: I knew she was going but had given up hope of finding her in the scrum. So she was pulled straight in to our first rueda.

It took me a while to get into it. The sound wasn't great which didn't help the vibe (for example, the thrilling piano of 'Tim Pop con Birdland' was buried in the mix) and my lack of sleep over the previous week was taking its toll. Some of us headed to the back of the venue to find space to dance, though there wasn't much space even there. I got complimented on my dancing by one of the guys on the door after a dance with Sabina (I should have told him that it was her that really deserved the compliment).

They played a two-hour set which took a while to build up steam but the latter part was good, with 'Esto te Pone la Cabeza Mala' as an exciting encore. The DJ carried on for an hour after the band had finished, and as a lot of the audience had left by then there was space for real dancing and a couple of ruedas.

More Cuban salsa fun on 27/29 March in Bournemouth: unfortunately I'm working on the Saturday. Also a substantial part of the Cardiff Cuban salsa crew will be away experiencing the real thing.

Weekend

Sorry I haven't posted for a while, I'm ridiculously busy in work and working quite a few evenings (and last Saturday which is why I missed La Tasca). I got to Barocco on Tuesday though. Some of the worst dancers have stopped coming which is improving things, particularly for the rueda - only three couples and everybody could dance in time, which was great.

Tonight in Jumpin' Jaks is looking doubtful after a late night and an early start, but you never know. I certainly won't be making tomorrow night in O'Neills as I need to save my energy for Los Van Van in London on Saturday, but if you're not coming to London I strongly recommend it - the one last time was great and Henry Viña's DJing was excellent (it's ErikB this time).