Montreal

A trip to Montreal happened last weekend. Our son and lovely girlfriend are moving to a great section of town, two blocks from Cactus, a small Salsa nightclub. Beautiful dancers, 2 floors, nice music. When we got there at midnight, merengues were still playing which was good for Dave and Marie-eve. The bachatas were good, too. I was thrilled to hear one of my favorite cha chas, and then it was all salsa and they were just sitting, so we left at 1:30.
That coffee at 9 PM worked a charm, and after the whole day of activity, we could even sleep.
Next time, we'll plan better and do DoReMi, the ballroom place.

So You Think

I keep thinking of that gorgeous Viennese from the TV show. As the judge pointed out, the young man's hands moved into shapes that finished the action. Those young people bring a fresh look.
Dancers all from the same studio, all from the same Russian community, as at Yankee Classic, are too much the same.

Calories burned ballroom dancing

An article I have lists the calories burned per hour for 4 types of dance:
Body weight 100 150 200

Disco/Hustle 200 240 280
Polka 430 510 600
Square 330 400 470
Waltz 200 240 280

Interesting that Disco and Waltz take the same.
Comparable activities are walking, bicycling, golf, and gardening, all with levels of effort within the chart.

Right Brain, Left Brain

Remember how the left brain handles sequences, rote learning, and analysis? (Like algebra.)
And the right side of the brain works through larger patterns and how things works all at once? (Like geometry.)
Well, in Ballroom Dancing, men, who usually use the left side of their brains, get to be in charge of steps.
Ladies, your following can feel like you have blanked out your mind, but it's just the left side of the brain you stop using. Then you can react to the impressions you get, allowing your response to fit even if you might not already know his sequence.

Daniel's Tango

something my brother wrote about Tango:
They cock their heads
They extend their arms
Mirror images in black and white
Sidelong across the floor
To the tragi-comic wheezings of the bellows-driven keyboard.

Without Reservations by Alice Steinbach

A book review: Without Reservations by Alice Steinbach
This memoir, published in 2000 by Random House includes a marvelous chapter on ballroom dancing in Oxford, England, the author's first formal lessons after free dancing as a teen. On pages 179 to 185, we see what fun she has, all while maintaining a clear, realistic view of her experience. She eventually forgets to worry and goes from a caterpillar to a butterfly.

June 10 2007

The Day of Portugal in Falmouth included some very nice social dancing at the Portuguese American club with Pro Mix, a band from New Bedford. The floor is small but in very good shape. Dancers happy. Lots of one-step, slow and fast, some triples that looked like polka on some dancers and salsa on others. The twist, but we did swing.
A folkloric group from Cambridge just barely fit and did triples with hops and turns side by side. Hot and tiring when they had us try. The men played castanets accompanied by 2 guitars, a concertina, drum, tambourine and taka-taka, sort of a washboard or guiro.
The club schedule has dinner dances again October 27 and November 17.