Hyperreal

This post was postponed from Wednesday night…

I went to the GUU, in the downstairs hall again. I much prefer it to the upstairs one. I arrived just as the beginners class was starting and found I was a spare man… This isn’t that unusual for the GUU though, and with a female teacher it’s a great place for beginner ladies to go. In fact, I’d say it’s generally got a friendlier feel than JJ’s, it’s not so crowded and because it’s harder to hide in a dark corner, it’s probably better for all beginners.

I had a really great night overall. I rediscovered why I like this venue so much… I suppose it’s mainly because it’s where I started, but there are some slightly less subjective things I can mention…

• Because it’s not so busy, it’s easier to find the wee gems of dancers who maybe don’t venture out often.
• Because many of the really good dancers tend to go to JJ’s rather than the GUU you can feel a lot better about your dancing.
• I get asked to dance loads more at the GUU than at JJ’s despite there always being many more spare women at JJ’s.
• If you need to take a break you can step outside and you’ll usually bump into nice people that you can chat with.
• Downstairs the lights are never dimmed too much.
• It’s easier to talk to people on and off the floor as it doesn’t have an all-pervasive sound-system.
• The bar policy is more relaxed.
• Smaller pond => bigger fish.

It’s funny, cos on Tuesday I had been thinking that my dancing wasn’t progressing and I felt a bit down… On Wednesday I thought I was dancing a lot, lot better, in fact I felt on top of the world, and apparently some of that was picked up by my partners… I got loads of really great compliments on my dancing. In particular, I was told that my dancing/leading style was quite a bit like another guy’s whom I rate as a good dancer. Well chuffed by that.

Or maybe it’s all because I was a bit light-headed… Towards the end of the intermediate class, though more after a couple of dances in the main freestyle, I began to feel a bit under the weather. I had figured it as a lack of energy and went and bought some chocolate, but it didn’t seem to help any, and I eventually had to step out of the room a couple of times to give myself a break where I wouldn’t be asked to dance.

I almost went home early, but allowed myself the last dance with one of my favourite dancers before rushing off… To cut a long story short, I had some sort of stomach bug or food poisoning or something, and spent much of the night throwing up. Felt like death. Only feel a little better now… :?

Quick review of the intermediate class…

• One-handed catapult. Classic move, and one of my favourites.
• Right-handed block. This move wasn’t actually given a name, but it goes well with the LH block we did on Tuesday… On the return from the previous move step forward and left and raise right hand into a block. We didn’t put a long dramatic pause at this point, but as you’re not face-to-face with your partner, maybe it’s not so much fun. A gentle lead to turn the lady (reversing the move) until we’re both at the step back bit. We repeated this move twice for fun.
• Sway whip (or was it Whip sway?) Lead the girl into a sway, but connect with her left arm and push her out to turn and come behind you. You’re still holding on to her R-R, but while she’s back there switch her hand to your left and bring her round to the front with a wee turn thrown in on the way for good measure.
• Half pretzel. Went straight into this from the previous move. Ended with a spin to move from R-L to R-R for the catapult…

A fairly east bunch of moves. I’m fairly competent at the half pretzel, though I’ve noticed I don’t use either it, or the full pretzel very often currently… The sway whip thing I never felt went very smoothly with any of my partners during the class, so never tried it during the freestyle. Have to think about the RH block - although it went OK in class, if my partner wasn’t expecting it, how well would it work… Hmm…

Well that was Wednesday… I’m now really glad there’s no dancing in Glasgow tomorrow, as I don’t think I would be able to make it, and that would have been a tragedy.

Hope I’m fit for Tuesday!!