Seattle Rueda

Next sessions are Feb 12 and Mar 11.

1) Music: Salsa, Timba Y Amor, Issac Delgado, SuperCubano (latest Delgado Album)

Warm up and going through our developing repetoire.  The song is  about a  couple from Puerto Rico and Cuba – He loves Salsa and she Timba.

2) Music: La Gorda, Wil Campa, Todo es Posible

Taps & crossovers.

3) Music: Que Tiene ese Guajiro, Los Van Van, La Maquinaria  (Latest Los Van Van)

Salsa Time to Son Time :

L1R2L3   P4   R5L6R7L8   P1   R2L3R4   P5   L6R7L8

Explanation :  L1R2L3   P4   -  Left step on 1 , Right on 2 and so on. P = Pause.  In Salsa we often tap on the pause. If you are dancing Son you typically won’t tap on the pause, if you are just dancing to Son time, you can do as you please.

So when switching to Son we step an extra step on 8 onto our left (just like in Ponche). In Son time  our anchors are beats 4 and 8 that correspond to a pluck on the Bass.

Son Time to Salsa Time :

R2L3R4   P5   L6R7TL8   L1LR2L3   P4   R5L6R7

When heading back to Salsa, we tap on 8 with our left and then immediately step back with same foot “1″.

4) Music: El Veterano, Maikel Blanco & Suprema Ley, Mi Olvidé Quien Era

Uno Y Cinco to match the hits in the song.   Practiced Salsa/son switching to a faster tempo.

5) Music: Fuga (Cha-cha-chá), Tiempo Libre, Bach in Havana

Cha-cha-cha – vuelta, izquierda, enchufla.   Song is based on Bach’s Sonata In D Minor – how cool is that ??

6) Music: El Año Que Viene, Issac Delgado, Los Grandes Exitos De Isaac Delgado

We studied a move taught by Duane Wren. Practiced it to our standard slow practice song.

Let call it “El Duane”.  See our own Maritza demonstrating it:

Let me know if you have any questions.

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One more post from me today: We had a really good discussion about the practica format and related issues at the open meeting today. A sincere thanks everyone who participated! There were 11 of us. We narrowed down and tweaked the list of ideas and will be looking for folks to help implement them. I plan to bring a summary sheet and and a sign up for specific volunteer tasks next week at practica. Also check back in a week for a new post about it here.

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Details can be found by clicking here.

Location: Broadview Library meeting room, 12755 Greenwood Ave N; on the #5 Metro bus route, just a few miles north of Sonny Newman’s Dance Hall (**This event is not sponsored by the Seattle Public Library.**)

Agenda: Download the agenda in advance by clicking here.

Hope to see many of you this afternoon!

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It was fun working on chequendengue yesterday, so I’m hoping that simply writing the word “chequendengue” here will encourage more callers to call it. (I had to find out how to spell it, but here it is.) This call only works when there is an even number of couples, and it’s a good idea to check in with the circle to make sure there’s a general understanding before calling it.

Also, since “chequendengue” is for the fun staggered timing effect, let’s use  “cambio” as the call for shifting the entire dance by 4 counts (like when the musicians throw in an extra 4 counts).

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What: An open meeting for the Seattle Rueda community to provide input on the format of the Sunday afternoon practica

When: Sunday, January 29, 2012, 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. (immediately prior to practica)

Where: Broadview Library meeting room, 12755 Greenwood Ave N; on the #5 Metro bus route, just a few miles north of Sonny Newman’s Dance Hall

**This event is not sponsored by the Seattle Public Library.**

Who: All are welcome.

Why: To get feedback from current and past practica participants on ideas for improving the Sunday practica format to better accommodate a range of levels, ensure it’s a place where people can reliably have fun and improve their dancing, and ensure that dancer-to-dancer communication is courteous and constructive.

Details: A small group of practica participants created an agenda for this meeting. The meeting will present a very short history of how the community practica began and has been run, present several ideas for tweaking and improving the current practica format, and facilitate a community discussion of these ideas. Betsy Geller and Kyra Freestar will facilitate. Click here to download the handout for Jan 29 2012 open meeting. Email feedback@seattlerueda.com with ideas and suggestions, especially if you will be unable to attend the meeting.

Please come if you can!

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We reviewed moves we had worked on in previous sessions.  Next sessions are Jan 29, Feb 12 and Mar 11.

1) Music: Se La Llevó,  Son 14, La Máquina Musical

base, al lado, enchufla, mambo.  We also worked some on exercises moving the rib cage and shoulders: the side that the foot steps expands (shoulder up) and the opposite side contracts (hip out and shoulder tries to meet it).

2) Music: El Temba,  David Calzado Y La Charanga Habanera, Pa’ Que Se Entere La Habana

Vuelta, izquierda, base viaje, camina, echevarria

3) Music: Lo Toma o lo Deja,  Manolito Simonet y Su Trabuco, Trabuco una vez más

Linea moves : 1+1 , 2+2 , 2+1 , “L” , “L” al reves.

4) Music: Pa’ que usted lo cante,  Michel Maza, Como gato de angora

Cha-cha-cha – vuelta, izquierda, enchufla

5) Music: Yo Vengo Suave Y Sabroso,  Ciso Guanche Y Sus Soneros, Levantando Presion

Misc Tapping and Kicking and some review of the Walter P. components

6) Music: Mi Chocolate,  Los Van Van, Llego Van Van

More Tapping

7) Music: Perdona, Issac Delgado, SuperCubano  (latest Delgado Album)

Revisit All

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Hi all,

There is another special holiday event at Sonny’s on January 1, so we need to reschedule practica for the day. We’re currently planning to dance 3:30-5:30 pm on January 1, then go back to our regular 4:30-6:30 schedule for all subsequent Sundays. Please pass the word — and watch this space especially on the weekend in case there need to be any further adjustments.

See you dancing soon!

Kyra

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Hi everyone,

Just a reminder that everyone is welcome and encouraged to participate in Suelta–which is happening this Sunday 4:30-5:00. This includes folks who are still new-ish to casino. It’s a great way to work on footwork and timing and improving your dancing. So I’m encouraging everyone to take advantage of this opportunity (and thanks Ofer for leading us!). Don’t sit it out!

Betsy G

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Hi all,

Sunday Practica is on for Christmas Day. However, we will be meeting from 4:00 to 6:00 pm — starting and ending half an hour earlier than usual — to accommodate a waltz party that starts at 6pm. Please pass the word to anyone who might not be watching the blog.

Thanks!

Kyra

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Here is the summary of what we did today:

1) Music: Perdona, Issac Delgado, SuperCubano  (latest Delgado Album)

Warm up and went through basic moves: base, al lado, adelante, enchufla, enchufla adelante, vuelta, izquierda.

2) Music: Deja la Duda,  Maikel Blanco Y Su Salsa Mayor, Anda y Pegate

Continued with basic moves with some of the traveling moves: Camina and base con viaje.

3) Music: A Cuba, Amilcar Suarez Y su Salsa Matriz, A Cuba

Worked on Cha-Cha-Cha. We did some of the basic moves (base, enchufla and turns). My goal is to show that you can use all of your knowledge of movement in a cha-cha-cha (this true during couples dance).

Note that unlike salsa/casino which you can really dance on (1,2,3 or 4), cha-cha-cha really requires matching to the music. The congas play “four-and-one” which is the “cha-cha-cha”, so it is alway “cha-cha-cha-two-three-cha-cha-cha” – not “one-two-cha-cha-cha”. If you follow that pattern you will be easily able to transition from cha-cha-cha to son by eliminating the shuffle and visa versa.

4) Music: Después de un beso,  Havana D’Primera, Haciendo Historia

Linea moves : 1+1 , 2+2 , 2+1 , “L” , “L” al reves.

5) Music: No Tiene Caso,  Jonas Pomo,Unreleased Single on SoundCloud  ( New group from Sweden  – read more here )

We did base con columbia – a move I learned from Jose Carrion  in one of his salsa classes a few years ago. The toe-heel combination is borrowed from the traditional Columbia Rumba (see e.g. 0:24 here)

6) Music: Yo Vengo Suave Y Sabroso,  Ciso Guanche Y Sus Soneros, Levantando Presion

Worked on first two parts of Walter P.  see video from last month’s post.

7) Music: El Año Que Viene, Issac Delgado, Los Grandes Exitos De Isaac Delgado

Completed the third part of Walter P.  We had a discussion on the timing of this part.  I taught it as it is demonstrated in the video – last tap is on 7.

8 ) Music: A La Italiana,  Cesar ‘PUPY’ Pedroso,  Tranquilo Que Yo Controlo

Review and finale. We didn’t attempt Walter P. at full speed, but please practice and we can try it all together next time

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