What a difference a badge makes

Last year I got into the habit of practicing shines (solo footwork) on the side of the social dance floor with one of my friends whenever we were both out at salsa together.  Occasionally one other person might come and join us for a song - but we'd often spend up to half of our night practising the same thing over and over again.

One day my shine friend went to New York for three months (to learn more shines, obviously) and I was all on my own.  Without him to spur me on, I didn't shine as much but I kind of missed it so I started recruiting for more shine friends. By the time he got back, there were four of us who were regulars and we'd started referring to ourselves as Shine Club.

When you have four dancers in a line, doing the same shine at the side of the dance floor or showing each other the latest cool thing we spotted on YouTube, it attracts a bit of attention, so we eventually got a couple more of our friends wanting to be a part of the crowd.  With more members, we got more variety - incorporating Palladium Mambo, Cha cha cha and Pachanga into our growing collection of shines.

Peer pressure is a wonderful thing.  But as it turns out, badges are even better.

Last week I received 20 Shine Club badges, which I'd been meaning to have made for a while.  I only had six people to give them to, but I thought a few spares would be useful, because other people might want to join in one day.

It turns out that badges are even better than peer pressure for getting people to join in. Today I only have 9 left.

Of course, those who came to play because they wanted a badge have been warned: if they fail to carry out their duty as shine ambassadors, their badge will be revoked. And then they'd have nothing to attach to their Mambo Delight shoe bag!

So, why not take up the Shine Club challenge to learn something new?  

I'd also be interested to know:

Badge related questions

• Do you customise your shoe bag with badges or other additions? What are they?
• What dance related badge would go down well in your scene?

Shine related questions

• Do you have a 'Shine club' on your salsa/other dance scene?
• What are your favourite styles/shines?
• What YouTube shine videos have inspired you?

Add your comments below to let me know.

Review: Salsa at the Engine Shed

Ever since my most recent trip to the Engine Shed in Wetherby, I've been undecided about whether to post a review.  I know that, while my opinion isn't shared by everyone, it is shared by at least 10 people (that I know of) - and at £10 per entry that's at least £100 worth of revenue to the event.  I suspect there are are at least twice as many who weren't there for exactly the reasons I will describe below.

On the one hand I fully respect local promoters and the time and effort they put into keeping regular dance nights going... but on the other hand I'm a paying customer who doesn't really get a whole lot out of going there - and last Friday night I certainly didn't get £10 worth.

I have been going to the Engine Shed on and off for a couple of years now, and while I know a huge amount of people who can't get enough, I've never been a big fan. I go there because my friends do. If there's nothing better to do on a Friday night.

Salsa at the Shed happens on the 2nd and 4th Friday of the month. As a venue, you couldn't ask for more - free parking, two lovely wooden dance floors, a bar and great lighting and sound. For £10 you get a class, a buffet, usually a show and an evening of social dancing - which sounds like a dream.

Unfortunately, if you're not interested in the class and arrive too late to take advantage of the buffet as I usually do, it still costs £10 - which makes for an expensive night compared to many other social nights that come in at £5 - £8 for the evening.

The people are lovely, welcoming and friendly.  It's slightly follower heavy - as are most events in the area, so if you're a follower, you'll probably need to ask the guys to dance - but that's totally normal.

There are a lot of fabulous dancers who would call themselves regulars - so no complaints there.

Where it loses me is the music.  If you're a serious salsa dancer (which I'm told I am) then you're probably a fan of 'serious' salsa music.  Or just salsa music. So when I'm greeted with an entire night of latin-pop crossovers, bossa novas, bachatas and funk tracks, I'm not really getting what I paid for.  As one friend said "If this wasn't advertised as a salsa night, it would be quite good."

Last time I went, my two best dances of the night were tangos, to bachata tracks. On a salsa night.

I don't mind a few of the more pop-py tracks being played now and then, (and I've been known to enjoy the odd bachata) but they don't inspire me to dance. In small doses, they don't ruin my night, but I do need 'proper' salsa music to make it a really good night.  That's what inspires me to dance. When you're coming off the floor after a dance with some of your favourite leaders and saying 'Thanks. That was... average.' you know that there's something wrong.

On last Friday night there were at least £100 worth of salsa dancers who weren't very happy. That's £100 worth of salsa dancers who only go once in a while, because they don't know that they'll enjoy it when they do go.  £100 worth of salsa dancers who would maybe part with their hard earned cash when there is a guest DJ who they know by reputation playing, and there was nothing else on. £100 worth of salsa dancers who are too worried about hurting feelings/egos to say anything.

£100 worth of salsa dancers who might go every fortnight if they just liked the music.

Just saying...

Salsa* Survival Kits

*Also available for other kinds of dances. 

I've been toying with the idea of making Salsa Survival Kits to sell for quite a long time now.

This weekend I finally got my act together and had a go at making one for a friend's birthday present (This one matches the shoe bag that another friend bought from me to give to the same person)

It's a miniature version of the shoe bags I make, equipped with all those little things that you find come in really handy on a salsa night (if you're a girl):

• Talc, for extra spin
• Deodorant for extra freshness
• Hand gel for extra hygiene
• Chocolate bar for extra energy
• Chewing gum for minty fresh breath
• Hair grips for hair emergencies
• Plasters for sore feet emergencies
• Safety pins for clothing emergencies

For the enthusiastic beginner, they help you to be prepared for your first nights out dancing in the clubs.  For the more experienced dancer, they help you keep all of your little extras in one place. (If you're anything like me, you're forever transferring bits and pieces from one shoe bag to another, and losing things in the process.)

There are still a few aspects of the idea to iron out -which is why, my dancing readers I have some questions for you:

Girls - what would be in your Salsa Survival Kit?

Boys - what would be in your Salsa Survival Kit?

If you were to buy a kit, would you prefer it to be fully stocked, or would you prefer to 'create your own' (i.e. you choose and buy the contents, I provide the bag and the label)?


As always - don't wait for me to start putting pictures up on my Facebook page or Etsy shop -  what with a full time job and two Open University modules on the go, I don't have a lot of time to be proactive in making stuff so if you want one, just ask!

Pachanga

A couple of years ago, our salsa teachers used to split men and women at the start of class to warm up with shines. While us ladies learnt to be elegant and to spin fast, I couldn't help but notice that the men were learning to simultaneously bounce and glide across the floor. While I was learning to look pretty, they were learning to look cool.

I soon found out that they were doing was learning Pachanga.


The most I could manage in imitation was a comedy jerky movement which I quickly abandoned.  It turned out that Pachanga was impossible.  A class with Adolfo Indacochea at the GBSex pre-party and another with Melissa Rosado at Mambo City a few months later did nothing to convince me otherwise.  (Though I'm blatantly name dropping now, at the time I had no idea that I was attempting to learn from some of the pachanga greats!)

In spite of my promises to myself, fresh from a congress, camera fully loaded with clips from classes I’d taken, I never did study the videos from those classes in great detail, and so I never managed to crack that elusive pachanga.

At the Berlin salsa congress it all changed.  When I spotted three consecutive hours of pachanga workshops on the programme with greats such as Mouaze, Marco Ferrigno and Juan Matos I knew where I’d be spending my last tired afternoon of the congress – and by the end of the classes… I still couldn’t do it! 

My fears were confirmed when I tried to fit a bit of pachanga into a Juan Matos shine at my local salsa venue. 

“What are you doing?  Pretending to ski?”

“No.” I sulked and went back to doing something else.

I don’t remember consciously practising – and I never set aside and particular time to do so, but it was definitely in my head. And I definitely ‘pretended to ski’ around the house quite a lot when I got the chance.

Then one night, people suddenly wanted me to tell them how to do the basic pachanga step and I got accused of practising! 

That’s when I knew I could do it.

I can confirm that it's definitely not as simple as starting on your left foot and jumping to your right:

Fancy Dress

On Saturday night I went to a gangster themed salsa night and in fancy dress tradition, we made time for a photo shoot before I left the house.  Luckily I live with Paul Kelly, who knows how to take a good photo:

This costume was no trouble at all to come up with - I had most of it in my wardrobe and only needed to buy a few pearly accessories - unlike some other fancy dress costumes I've donned in the past:

From left to right:

• Little Miss Muffett with a halloween twist, for which I had to make a dress, and bonnet, and then hand sew 50 odd plastic spiders all over.
• Rubiks cube, for an 80s themed party - I made the skirt which was, by the way, solvable.
• Rudolph - for fake Christmas one year - my first attempt at making a dress.  It was way too short.
• Sheep - for another Fake Christmas - this time, the nativity scene - it was slightly less labour intensive, since I just had to stick a photo of my head to some cotton wool and pipe cleaners.
• Lost - not for any particular reason - just a cold winters night when we thought it would be fun to get into some summer clothes and pretend we were in Lost
• Wizard of Oz inspired Witch - low maintenance, only back-combed hair and 'ruby' slippers required.
• Dangermouse - another 80s party, thought of and made on the day of the do - I won the fancy dress competition
• Rock chic - no party, just for fun, using the clothes I already had in my wardrobe
• Gangster - my first incarnation as a gangster, with a corset made out of a pair of pinstriped trousers.