Cardiff latest

I'm not updating this site regularly any more as you've probably realised. But here's a quick summary of recent changes to salsa in Cardiff:

Banderas and David Flor are running a salsa and kizomba night on a Wednesday, upstairs at Buffalo Bar in Windsor Place. Kizomba starts at 7 followed by semba, then it's Banderas's Cuban salsa from 8.30. I'm really enjoying this: good moves and some fun rueda, and it's a nice crowd.

Wednesday also features Roger's busy free salsa and kizomba night in Revolución de Cuba in the Friary.

Andy's classes in O'Neills closed for a while during refurbishment but are now back on a Thursday.

More changes

More changes to Cardiff salsa. A change of management at the previous venue meant that Andy's Thursday night had to move out to Centro in Cardiff Met, but it's now back in town at O'Neills on the corner of St Mary Street and Wood Street. This used to be the venue for a very popular long-running Monday night. It's great that they're allowing salsa back in - Roger is also using it for his Friday night parties. The next one is on November 22nd with Cuban teacher Ariel Rios Robert.

Update

Sorry, I've been out of action for a while after writing off a bike helmet and ending up in A&E. Getting over the post-concussion symptoms is taking a long time, so I haven't been dancing for ages. The main news is that Thursday salsa at Revolución de Cuba has now moved to Centro, at Cardiff Met student union in Cyncoed. It's supposed to be a great venue. Parking is 50p and the number 52 bus goes close to there.

Banderas' Cuban classes on a Monday are great, though I haven't been for a while - I think they've now moved to the other Revolucion de Cuba in the Friary.

New Cuban beginners' class

Banderas, who's been teaching some really good improvers/intermediate Cuban and rueda on Monday nights, is now going to be teaching a beginners' class as well. Beginners will be 8pm and imp/int 9pm, in Revolución de Cuba (the one above Rev's nightclub).

Friday night party

Friday night party in Rev's - two separate rooms (one for salsa, one for kizomba) with a class from the excellent Mauricio Reyes. Facebook page here:
http://www.facebook.com/events/190719317739253/

BTW I haven't been posting much because I've been extremely busy. Also most people are using Facebook for their salsa information now. Good sources of information on salsa in Cardiff on Facebook are

Salsa Cardiff
http://www.facebook.com/groups/32401141832/

Cuban Salsa Cardiff (Sabina's group)
http://www.facebook.com/groups/sabinasalsa/

Andy Witt:
http://www.facebook.com/andy.witt2

Roger Wilson
http://www.facebook.com/rogerm.wilson

Salsa/Kizomba freaks:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/salsakizombafreaks/

Rueda

Great to have a regular rueda night again, with Cuban teacher Banderas. It's in Revs (the one above the Revolution nightclub) on the first three Mondays of every month, with lessons running from 8.30-11.00. It's proving very popular.

I do have a modest proposal which is that everyone in Cardiff who ever teaches rueda should get together and agree to use standard names for moves. The ones which cause most confusion are where some Cardiff teachers diverge from the following:

1 Enchufla, Setenta etc normally always go straight to dame, unless the caller calls 'sacala' or 'quedate'

2 When the man changes direction to pick up the woman on his left,  the call is 'arriba' not 'abajo'

3 'Zero' means that the man goes in a circle around his partner - not a completely different and more complicated move of the same name which I've never encountered anywhere else.

I know there's a lot of regional/stylistic variation in Cuba and around the world, but in the UK these are pretty standard (and they are what Banderas uses). 

In other news...Peppermint on a Tuesday night is no more (Andy's looking for a new venue), and Sara's excellent Tuesday night kizomba class has now moved to Ten Feet Tall in the city centre. 

BTW no rueda on Bank Holiday Monday. Also Banderas wants to start the classes at 8.30 sharp rather than hanging around until 9pm waiting for people to turn up. 

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/