Monday, September 28, 2009

Sunday

I wasn't at my best at the Zero Degrees launch night (suffering a hangover which I had unwisely tried to overcome by swimming in the sea) but I had a great time this week. I got there in time for the improvers' class, and was surprised to see some of Cardiff's best dancers there. So what we got was an intermediate lesson - in fact, for the guys it was harder than the actual intermediate lesson. The floor may only be concrete but whatever they put on it makes it great for spinning (without being slippery) - one woman was managing multiple spins while wearing Converse, which is pretty impressive. So the intermediate class had lots of spinning back and forth. I got to dance with a couple of excellent dancers who I hadn't danced with before as well. Great stuff - I think this could rapidly become unmissable.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Reasons to dance...

Here's a great reason to dance (as if you needed one): according to research quoted in the Guardian, regular dancers are 76% less likely to develop dementia.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

O'Neills on Friday

Henry Viña is DJing at Salsadiccion's monthly dance-only night this Friday (8.30-12.30). His DJing was spot-on the last time he played O'Neills. Looking forward to it.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Zero degrees

It takes some courage to open a high-concept restaurant and microbrewery in the teeth of a recession. There were hardly any diners there last night, but there were quite a lot of dancers. The floor was good - not wood, but smooth and easy to spin on, much better than Jumpin' Jaks. It was a good turnout for a first night without a lot of publicity, and apparently the pizzas were 'gorgeous'.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Describing dancing styles

"She dances like a bag of snakes...on heat" is the most colourful description I've heard yet of a dancing style. And having danced with the subject of the description I can confirm that it's accurate.

(I should hastily point out that the woman concerned doesn't feature in any of my previous blog posts, just in case you're hoping to try and guess her identity).

Quiet and strange



It's been a very quiet week dancing - not many people in O'Neills, and numbers well down in Jumpin' Jaks. I assume it's because people who came for the summer have now left, but the students aren't back yet.

(JJs wasn't quite as quiet as in the shot above all night - I think that's one track Andy won't be playing again in a hurry...)

Friday night was pretty wacky - David's birthday so a few of us gathered at Las Iguanas and spent a pleasant hour testing out their Sangria and cocktails. Sadly Chiquito's wasn't doing salsa, so we tried a cellar bar round the corner that turned out to be pretty bizarre. Still in need of a fix, so we headed for Lisa's car which was parked off Wood Street. She put the roof down and some salsa on the CD player and we had the party right there (much to the bemusement of passers-by).

Friday, September 11, 2009

Sunday salsa is back!

Great news - Andy has a new Sunday salsa night starting in the middle of town (classes first and then dancing until 11). It starts on 20th September at Zero Degrees in Westgate Street. Sunday was always my favourite class so I'm really looking forward to this.