Mauricio Reyes

Roger's getting some really good teachers down to Cardiff. Next Friday, 5th October, it's Mauricio Reyes of LatinMotion. Deservedly popular, Mauricio is one of the best XBL-style teachers around and a nice guy. More details: http://www.facebook.com/events/283487585098360/

No Revs next week

Andy's away so there's no Revolución de Cuba next week, but there is Roger's monthly party on Friday 31st with Wilson Castro (see below). Peppermint on Tuesdays is also off for two weeks.

There's also free salsa with a 5-piece live band (the core of Timbatierra, I assume) this Sunday from 7.30 in the other Revolución de Cuba in the Friary.

Salsa dance day on Saturday

Andy's running a salsa dance day in the Glanfa at the Wales Millennium Centre from 4.30-7.30. Starts with an hour's (free but ticketed) class and then there's two hours of free dancing.

Bachata Liscious and more

Roger's Monday night workshops are great. Once a month (ish) Andy runs 'Bachata Liscious'. My bachata is getting sloppy so I decide to do the beginners: really useful as I got individual feedback which has helped me eliminate some major style errors.

The improvers' class featured some Dominican style steps: more complex and less sleazy than Italian style, and gives a very flowing feel. I had wondered why the bachata they dance in Paris looks so much better than what I and most people in Cardiff dance - it's because it's Dominican style.

Monday is Charlotte's next chachachá class, highly recommended. Then on Friday 31st it's a salsa and bachata night with Wilson Castro. September 7th Timbatierra from Bristol are playing live, with Charlotte teaching a 'fun rueda' class.

Chachacha with Charlotte

Roger is organising regular Monday night workshops on different dances (eg bachata, lambada zouk, Cuban salsa). Last night's was on Latin chachacha with Charlotte, who's back teaching again after a two year break. I was a bit ambivalent about chachacha - done badly it can look a bit stiff and formulaic. A while ago I went to a Cuban chachacha class which was contratiempo, and I couldn't get my head around that at all. But I saw a couple dancing chachacha in Paris a couple of years ago and they made it look like a seriously stylish street dance with loads of hip movement and attitude. What Charlotte was teaching was on2 Latin chachacha and she put a lot of emphasis on technique: how to step to get the right hip movement, keeping it smooth and grounded. It was the best workshop I've been to for a long time and I learnt loads. Everyone else in the class was impressed too. Looking forward to the next one.

Moe Flex

Sorry, no time to post regularly at the moment. Just to point out that funky Cuban-style teacher Moe Flex is at Revolución de Cuba tomorrow (Friday). Highly recommended.

More salsa

There's now a second branch of Revolucion de Cuba in Cardiif, in the Friary opposite Live Lounge, and there's free dancing there from 8 every Wednesday night. Also Palenke are playing live this Friday in the other Revolucion de Cuba - off Womanby Street.

Revolución de Cuba

Wow, Revolucion de Cuba is a great venue. It's been expensively decked out as a marketing man's idea of a pre-revolutionary Havana bar. It has a nice atmosphere, good lighting, a great wooden floor and a good sound system.

The classes are pretty busy and the dancing after the classes is good. Numbers for the free dancing could be better, but there are always some really nice dancers there. I had a lovely dance last night with a recent arrival to Cardiff who's amazingly expressive and fun to dance with.

The music mixes LA/NY and Cuban style, plus some bachata and a bit of lambada/zouk (but not too much). If you're a Cuban-style dancer, that's no problem - go to Sabina's class in La Tasca first and then come on afterwards, Revolucion is open until at least midnight. There is occasionally some rueda.

Quick final point: after 10pm it's free to get in for the dancing, but please buy a drink or two at the bar - it helps to secure the future of the venue.

Christmas week

Sabina's Tuesday and Thursday classes are running as normal this week. Roger is running a party in Revolucion de Cuba on Friday night and Misael is DJing and promising some rueda as well.

All change, part 2

The last remaining salsa night from when I started dancing has now moved. Live Lounge (formerly Bar Cuba) on Tuesdays is no more. The night has now moved to Peppermint, formerly Zync, at the corner of St Mary Street and Mill Lane. Classes start at 7.30 upstairs, and there's dancing from 9.30 onwards downstairs. Tomorrow is the first night, and it's Andy's birthday as well - Katy claims to be putting 50 candles on his cake :)

Revolución de Cuba is a really nice venue - the sound was a bit harsh on the first night but was fine last week. In addition to Andy's Thursdays, it's also hosting Roger's monthly Friday night, plus a series of classes he's running on Monday nights with guest teachers for different dance styles (Cuban salsa tonight, kizomba next week, beginners' Cuban the week after).

Revolución de Cuba

At long last Andy's found a decent Thursday night venue. Revolución de Cuba is just off Womanby Street. Nice wooden floor, nice ambience, good sound system. Last night was buzzing and the most fun I've had out dancing for a while. Looks like the shot in the arm the Cardiff salsa scene needs.

Changes

A couple of quick changes. Misael's giving up his Wednesday night with immediate effect, which is a shame - his rueda class was great and he's a clear and patient teacher. But the good news is that next week Andy's main night moves back to Thursdays and a venue with a proper dancefloor, Revolución de Cuba in Womanby Street. This is great news, hope it works out.

Changes

Cuban Salsa Weekender

Big Cuban Salsa Congress from Tropicalentura (Misael and co) in Newport (you’ll find their website is slow if you try and visit it now, but it does eventually load). The programme looks really good and there are some excellent teachers including Osbanis and rueda queen Farah from Glasgow (I went to her class there back in 2004). There are still places available, including day and party passes. I'm going on Saturday.

Latest info

Sorry I haven't posted much for a while. I've been busy, and the Cardiff salsa scene doesn't seem as exciting as it did a while ago - particularly as several of the people I most like dancing with (like Andrea and Idy) have recently left Cardiff.

Tiger Tiger has now moved to Wednesdays - same times as before. A bit strange as I've been used to dancing regularly on Thursdays for years, though since the move to Tiger Tiger I haven't been much - my dodgy toe joint doesn't like the hard floor. I've been mostly going to Misael's remarkably funky rueda class on a Wednesday.

There have been a lot of changes to salsa in Cardiff lately: it's no longer possible to dance six nights a week. I'm not sure if O'Neills, the most recent incarnation of the longest- running salsa night in Cardiff, is still running - someone went last week and said it was closed.

Lots of dancers seem to be more interested in kizomba. I've been told that the best kizomba class is David Flor's Monday night in Missoula, 84-86 St Mary Street.

Major event coming up on 7-9 October is the Cuban Salsa Congress in Newport, which has an impressive roster of teachers.

Thursday's moving

Too busy to maintain the blog at the moment - but just a quick post with some important news: Andy's Thursday nights are now moving to Tiger Tiger in Greyfriars Road. Rohan Brown is guesting this week.

Jaime Jesus

Leading international salsa teacher Jaime Jesus is at Music Hall this Thursday teaching improvers/intermediates. It's upstairs this week (which should mean more space and more light).

Events coming up

New stuff coming up: Misael's got an all-dayer in Newport on October 31st with some of the biggest names in Cuban salsa in the UK teaching. It's currently £35, going up to £45 on the 23rd.

Also Kate has her annual salsathon on 7th November in aid of the George Thomas hospice - 6 hours of dancing on a Sunday afternoon.

Saturday nights

Had a great time in La Tasca the weekend before last, even in Miss Feisty's absence. Made up for that by meeting up at Super Salsa Saturday, Stevie's monthly event in Bristol, this week. Good things about it: cheap, nice music, good coffee, enough light for her to read her book. (Her new tactic for staying out of trouble: read a book and guys won't ask you to dance, so you can choose who you dance with and avoid obvious idiots who will need to be put in their place. It seemed to work...) Another good thing: loads of space. Bad thing: reason for the space is that there weren't many people there, though it started picking up later. I didn't recognise any of the Bristol crowd who come to Cardiff. Apparently it clashed with a music festival in Bristol. I had lots of nice dances with Miss F, and several dances with appreciative locals (one woman who I danced with early on came up to me at the end and told me I was a 'fantastic dancer', haven't had a compliment like that for a while). It's also pretty easy to get to being in North Bristol.

Can't make La Tasca this Saturday (working in Caernarfon all day, won't be back til late) but I'm going to try and make the following weekend - Núria's in town for the weekend and should be there.

New floors and things

I was glad I went to O'Neills Friday night event - there were several people there who I hadn't danced with for ages (Lizzie, Teresa and Miranda among others). The new floor is good and the music was OK as well, though the night took a long time to get going. Next time I won't bother turning up before 10.

Not so impressed with the floor in the Music Hall: they haven't finished it so I'm hoping it will be better than it was on Thursday. I was going down with a cold (as was Andy) which was a shame - I got asked to dance by several of my favourite dancers but my dancing was rubbish. The cold is worse this week so I might give this Thursday a miss.

Good news is that Miss Feisty looks like being in the UK until at least Christmas, which should mean more nights of terpsichorean silliness in La Tasca to liven up the gloomy winter nights :)