wk 1 - back with a vengeance!

so - this'll be a long blog but in stages as i am exhausted from dancing tues/wed/fri/sat and definitely out of practice and fitness.

Mon - setting up the module.  a large class from different backgrounds but they seem to be up for the challenges ahead and Bea is on hand to keep me right !  Run through introduction on an anthropology of dance.

Tues - this is the first open dance ensemble in the School.  only a few students but it is early days, and already i'm learning from the class: steps are broken down, some of the styling is the same and some is different, the teaching is evocative with stories and rules (Jorge's rule - Bea's rueda teacher).  We get to the forward and back steps really, with minimal hip movement - it comes for free if you do the steps right.

Wed - this is the first dance ensemble, and the first time we've tried this in a class.  there even seem to be a few more faces and nobody opts for sitting and watching.  we have even numbers in leads and follows, though there are only about 3 guys in the class.  and surprisingly - or not?! - i end up dancing as a follow.  this gives me something to work on, and takes me out of my dance comfort zone (of sorts - seeing as generally i prefer following and drifting around the dance floor rather than leading [sometimes if the music is really good and i get absorbed in it, the lead can get lighter and lighter and practically disappear which some don't like; other times with more vigorous music and dancing, i can hear my breathing/gasping in time with the beat]).

So the class starts with some breakdown of the different salsa styles, and common footwork.  And this is the first time i think i've felt a link between Rueda and dancing salsa On2: back, forward, forward - pause - forward, back, back - pause.  the breaking is the change of direction rather than the pause [i think?!]

So i also end up demoing as the follower for Bea [who likes to lead??!! ;)   does it fit with our personalities?].  then we get to practice the basic steps.  and i end up going around the room as a follower - not having expected to be dancing same sex right from the word go!!  the class seems to go well - and it really takes off with everyone moving when the music comes on.  it coulda gone on longer but ...

Fri - Danceexpress performance and line dancing

All sorts of dance arrangements go on  - and apologies if people we expecting me at the Empire.  My usual dance partner to the Empire cried off sick; and i 'recovered' from colds etc to do a charity performance in The British Legion hall in Bangor as part of Danceexpress.  We nailed some Chacha, rueda routines, and did some freestyle amongst some line dancing.  That's a solo dance involving a massive foot memory and coordination which put us to shame.

Sat - Windsor Park salsa and Wynn

(old M40 troupe with Wynn and Bea - both on the left, 2004)

Wynn came over with Bea a few years ago for my dance module, and now we have Bea as our resident dance instructor, and Wynn visiting to give a public workshop for SalsaBelfast.  in the evening they put on a monthly salsa night at the Windsor Park tennis club and were crowded with dancers wanting social outlets - ballroom and Argentine tango and swing downstairs, and salsa, bacchata upstairs.  There was a big social gathering post-Xmas, and i spent half the time dancing and half the time lining up interviews for research and chatting about developments in dance around NI - a forthcoming Strictly visit, dance world politics, and morals as some disapproved of what was going on on the dance floor or would dance salsa but not the bacchata.