Hyperreal

Just back from the GUU. Magic night. What a contrast with yesterday!

No headache, no problems at the bar, not so many problems with my dancing, but a pretty big problem with the music – and no, this doesn’t lead into another bitch about slow swing and latin.

The problem tonight was – there was no music! Due to some sort of mix-up, we didn’t have a DJ, or any sound system. We had to do the beginner’s class to counted beats…

…until DJ Franck rode in to the rescue. A hurried set-up and we got to finish the class and actually dance to music!

I’m not sure if Franck chose particularly different music than last night, but tonight I had no complaints. I guess all the factors that affected me yesterday just piled up on me, pushing me into a mega downer and the music must have fallen in the hole I was in. (How’s that for stretching a metaphor! )

Let’s see how the rest of the night went – beginner’s class… arm-jive, man-spin, ceroc spin, in-and-out, octopus. I don’t do enough ceroc spins. In fact I do very few of the block spin I’ve been taught. Something to think about…

Intermediate class had some good moves… tea-pot sway with two-handed turn/return; secret swizzle into double-handed comb; “octopush” (does it have a different name?); false pretzel with spin out.

The swizzle thing was the first time I’d done a single to double hand-hold. I’m surprised how well it went. The “octopush” involves blocking the lady on her second wrap in, turning and pushing her back and doing a step across, back the way you came, I think. I’m not convinced I was ever actually doing this move right, though it’s meant to be real easy once you’ve got it.

The false pretzel was cool, I’ve read a description of it, and heard it talked about (usually in negative terms, normally by the poor follower who is made to feel a bit of a fool) but this was the first time I’d been taught it, and thus done it. I like to surprise my partners, so I’ll probably keep it in reserve when I need to wake someone up, or am just feeling like some mischief!

And the tea-pot sway was cool too. I thought you were supposed to step back on the right in the sway, but we were taught to step back on the left here. Maybe it makes something else easier, but I think I’ll try to step back right, as it feels more natural to me. This moves’ also a good way to get into a sway position if you’re unsure about the normal lead. (Like me!)

I enjoyed the freestyles. Every dance was a pleasure in its own way. I was asked to dance by the lady who gave me my best dance at the party on Saturday, so I guess she must have enjoyed it too. Wasn’t quite as magical as the last time, but still a lot of fun.

I think because she’s such a good follower, I feel both honour bound, and free to do more adventurous things. This sometimes leads me into paths where I don’t really know where I’m going, but I’m finding it easier to improvise my way back out. As I’m basically making these things up as I’m going along though, it leads to surprises for my partners as they don’t recognise the move. (Hey, nor do I!) I only hope I’m not doing anything bad. Once or twice I did a block kind-of-thing where my partner was expecting more of a flowing move. If I’ve messed up it could hurt.

Fortunately I don’t think I inflicted pain on anyone tonight (excluding one girl I’ll come to in a minute…) In fact, I got laughter and big grins out of partners that a few weeks ago wouldn’t not smile, but maybe just got nothing special out of my dancing. Hopefully they were laughing with joy, rather than at my shocking leads.

At the other end of the skill range I was still able to induce mirth. By some strange coincidence I managed to dance with three girls in a row, each of whom were attending for their third night. All were making good progress, one good, one better, and one very good. They were all laughing at various points during our dances. I managed to get both of us in stitches though near the end of a dance with one of them when I was demoing a yo-yo (as she hadn’t learnt it yet.) Unfortunately I managed to create a new variation on the return where by some bizarreness I managed to end up with one of my fingers in the poor girl’s mouth!

I’m going to call my new move the “bite me” return. Lucky for me, she didn’t!

Anyway, on balance, a fantastic night!

It’s just a shame I won’t get a chance to dance again until next Wednesday.

Thanks to everyone I danced with, during the class and freestyle, our fab teacher, our stand-in DJ , the demos, the taxis. In fact, a big thanks to just everyone.

So what do you think? Is it good or bad to leave your partner in stitches? Go on, leave a comment!

Cheers!