Approximately as taught by Sebastian at Estilo Dance Studio on Thursday night. Rueda varies from place to place, some of these differ from Mike's calls which differ from Darlin's calls which differ from yours. These are my personal notes... if you really want to learn, show up!

Enchufle double con something-double con abooya-double. Enchufle double. Then rock into the circle on one-two-three, setting her up for an outside turn that carries her in and out of the circle on five-six-seven, yelling "heeeey-ya" on the one-two-three. She echoes on five-six-seven. Do that twice. Dile que no.

Dedo. Break back on one-two-three, as for an enchufle. On three take her right wrist with your right hand and let go with your left. Outside turn her as she comes across and you turn right. Keeping that one hand, do an enchufle con muerte (enchufle with a hook turn for you), then a regular enchufle. Ends like the previous move with the rock into the circle, but no abooya and you only do it once.

Sombrero. Break back on one-two-three. Change hands and outside turn her as she comes across. Sombrero (arms over your respective heads) by seven. Dile que no.

Sombrero con bachanga step. Begin with a somebrero; stay that way. Tap forward on one, return your left foot to its usual place right away on two; same for the right foot on three-four. Keep that going through five-six-seven-eight. She does the same on the opposite foot (but still forward, not back). Dile que no.

Sombrero double. I'm surprisingly good at this, I think I've been messing with it on the social dance floor or something. Begin with a sombrero. Now, lift up the arms again and inside turn her as she comes across, settling into somebrero again by seven. Now lead her back across in a simple reverse cross body lead.

Chico derecho. Not really a move that requires any explanation, I'm just amused because for the first time in maybe eighteen years I heard a command in Spanish and immediately understood and carried it out without explanation or repetition. If only all calls were as simple... okay, that'd be pretty boring. Oh yeah, the move: guys step into the circle on one, step around their partner to the right, claim their next partner on five-six-seven.

Tags: dance, estilo, philly, rueda, salsa, south philly

Setente siete as taught by Sebastien at Estilo Dance Studio, and as misremembered by me. Don't just read about it, come join the rueda class!

Begin the setente as usual: Break back and come forward, making a wing with her; break back again and turn to the right, bringing her into a hammerlock.

Enchufle on one-two-three. On five-six-seven, DO NOT turn right, resist temptation! She's behind you now, that's a GOOD thing. On five-six-seven do a hand shuffle: your right to your left shoulder on five, your left joins it by seven.

On one-two-three bring the hands out in front of you, bringing her around you. On five-six-seven right turn her.

Enchufle (yes, you do turn this time); let go of the arms to undo the knot on five-six-seven.

Dile que no.

Tags: dance, estilo, philly, rueda, salsa, south philly

Estilo Dance Studio is in the Fitness Works at 7th and Reed Streets in South Philly. Don't just read about it, come take classes!

There is an additional rueda instructor at Estilo now: Sebastien. Sebastien has taught rueda in France. He's awesome. French-accented Spanish rueda calls are your best entertainment value.

He threw in some silly variations on the enchufle. Principe bueno is an enchufle ending with a kiss on the hand as you sweep by to the next girl. Principe malo ends with a turn away and a stomp. Principe... heckiforget ends with mussing the girl's hair wildly. DO NOT TRY THIS WITH STRANGERS IN CLUBS IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO TASTE SPIKE HEEL. In a way you won't like.

I worked on the candela, a not-too-fancy move that I've nevertheless had persistent trouble with, and seem to have it down:

Break back and cuddle her in, then push her out again.

Repeat that.

On the third repetition, cuddle her in as usual on 1-2-3. On 5-6-7, keep both hands high, and turn left away from her. On 5, bring your right hand to your left shoulder (which is what kept biting me in the ass before). Now on 6-7 you'll settle the left hand to the right shoulder.

Now march in place in the direction you're now facing. When "paribe" (I think) is called, turn left to face your partner again, but keep marching in place.

When "dorito" is called, raise your left arm and walk under it to the next girl.

When "daiquiri" is called, reach over your partner's arm to the arm of the next girl, but don't go anywhere yet! When "zefir" is called, complete the move by raising your arm and passing your current partner under it and behind you, welcoming your new partner in front of you.

When "dile que no" is called, cross-body lead your partner and you're back to normal.

Tags: dance, estilo, philly, rueda, salsa, south philly

Baillala: dile que no, tap your left on eight, her right in your left. Give her a free spin inside turn. Chill out and wait for her to finish. Dile que no.

Baillala dos: dile que no, tap your left on eight. Give her a free spin inside turn. Turn left yourself.

Adios medio: like a regular adios, then step into the middle of the circle, then step out five-six seven. Repeat that bit.

Siete coca-cola: dile que no, tap your left on eight. Roll her in, push her out again, continue into a 360. Don't let her get away from you, keep her close, keep it tight and continuous, don't let her step back and away.

We spent a lot of time on the setenta complicado again, which is good because, we'll, it's complicado but it's nice to have it falling into place and not completely beyond me anymore. Rock.

We need more people in the rueda! Philly has a zillion salsa dancers, we need more rueda visibility. Any salsa dancer can pick it up quickly...

Tags: dance, estilo, philly, rueda, salsa, south philly, tom's life

I'd like to have last night again. Could it still be last night please?

Just an utterly perfect night at Brasils.

Tags: brasils, dance, salsa

Producer, consumer, dancer: social dance and the evolution of human sexuality, intelligence and culture. My post for the week on the P'unk Avenue Window blog.

Tags: dance, evolution, politics, salsa, sex

The Thursday night salsa rueda class at Estilo needs more people! Jump in! Mike and Darlin are open to starting a beginner's catch-up class at the same time if there's call for it (so to speak). You should have at least a few months of social or classroom salsa dancing experience under your belt going in.

I rueda really a lot. But I've been trying to learn the setenta call for months. The dam finally broke tonight.

I have goofy explanations for my triumph: my brain is full of gourmet theobromine thanks to solestria! Rapid progress is only possible with $20 chocolate bars!

But it's really because I took the parts of the move I did have down and incorporated them on the social dance floor... a lot... building my vocabulary of basic moves so that I can better understand complete sentences. This is almost always the real reason why you "just can't" learn a pattern: you don't know the pieces yet. Break 'em down.

Setenta. Break back on one, then bounce back, coming side to side with her on three; the two of you are like a wing at this point, with you on the left. On five-six-seven, as she comes across, right turn her into a hammerlock; turn right to face her.

Enchufle on one-two-three. On five-six-seven, chaqueta: tuck your right elbow outside her arm.

Dile que no (cross-body lead), bringing your elbow in again on one-two-three.

Setenta complicado. The first set of eight is the same.

Enchufle on one-two-three. On five-six-seven, make a window with your right arm; as you step back on five and return on six, pull her through it; on seven turn left to face her, letting go with the right hand. Reclaim her left in your right; you have a normal hold again.

Enchufle on one-two-three, stopping her with your right hand on her hip so she winds up facing the same direction as you. On five-six-seven, glide her back.

Dile que no.

Siete. Easy-peasy one. Dile que no, tapping on eight. On one-two-three, break back and roll her in; on five-six-seven roll her out again.

Dame por... something: cross-body lead opening on one-two-three. On five-six-seven, inside turn her into a hammerlock with your left hand, letting go on seven; she comes across but you remain facing your new partner, and go straight into guapea (basic). This means your next partner is clockwise rather than counterclockwise. That also happens in other calls when pariba is added to them.

Darlin and Mike said something to the effect that they need to add more calls soon, so I expect to be back in kindergarten very shortly. But it was a very nice feeling to be Right There With It.

I like the feel of rueda moves and I'm noticing that they are very leadable on the social floor in Philly, since we dance on one here anyway.

Tags: dance, estilo, philly, rueda, salsa, south philly

I have to say, Facebook has been kicking ass for me lately. Pretty much the entire Philadelphia salsa scene has arrived on FB over the last six months.

This is huge because it's quite difficult to learn names on a loud, crowded dance floor! Suddenly I know who everybody is and have at least a little insight into where they're coming from. Suddenly I hear about parties. Etc.

Facebook's official line is that they are not a "social networking site." They are a "social utility." They make this distinction because the phrase "social networking site" is associated with sites like Myspace, where people tend to have lots of fakity-fake Internet friends (*) to whom they feel no real connection. Facebook takes a different approach, strongly encouraging you to connect with real people you know from high school, college, work and other social circles. They want to be seen as a tool that enriches and strengthens real-world connections.

Almost everything on Facebook bends toward this end. The photo and note-tagging systems are great for connecting things you share with the real people that are in them.

I did say "almost everything." Third party Facebook applications (like Superpoke) are not especially impressive in this department. Though I've written half a dozen, I don't use any third party Facebook apps at all myself. But this is partly because the built-in capabilities of Facebook are very complete and well-designed already. There just isn't much room for non-frivolous third-party apps.

Facebook's "suggest a friend" feature has been particularly awesome in the salsa scene, rapidly filling in the gaps and putting people in touch. My biggest problem now is pacing myself so that I don't "friend" people faster than I can truly connect names with faces. I'd like to get this right.

If Facebook needed a case study to prove that Facebook is a useful social utility and not an emptyheaded "social network," the Philly salsa scene would definitely fit the bill. But Facebook doesn't need case studies at this point, I suspect. The big bang has already happened, in scenes all over the country. And we're definitely richer for it.

At this point, speculation about What Could Go Wrong With Facebook is like speculation about What Could Go Wrong With Google. We love them, we really effing love them, but what if they someday woke up and decided to be evil (**)? So far, neither company is particularly motivated to be evil. But Facebook, unlike Google, hasn't felt strong pressure to be profitable yet. Time will tell.

(*) As opposed to real Internet friends! Yes of course meaningful connections can begin on the Interwebs. Stand down photon torpedoes.

(**) Facebook had a brief, dumb, ill-advised flirtation with evil when they offered "targeted advertising" in a way that revealed far too much to advertising clients. I much prefer the "thumbs up, thumbs down" system they have now which allows you to self-categorize by voting on ads... if you want to, that is. I do think that Facebook, like Google, should be able to use your profile data to serve you appropriate ads— there's nothing inherently evil about that— but only if they can do so without revealing your Facebook user ID to the advertiser.

Tags: dance, facebook, geek, myspace, salsa, social networking, web

Wednesday, 10:30pm: hit Brasils
Half past midnight: hit the hay. I can sleep until eight-thirty. I've planned this carefully.
Seven am: don't feel sleepy. Get up. Big mistake.

Thursday, 7:30pm: intermediate salsa class. Making dumb sleepy mistakes.
8:30pm: bachata class. At some point, become too tired to analyze how tired I am; all remaining brain cells decide to focus on actual dancing.
9:30pm: rueda class. Far from perfect, but able to remember long moves that usually defeat me... some percentage of the time, anyway. A strange focus permeates my brain.
11pm: arrive at Miami Cafe, running on nothing but adrenaline.
11:30pm: dance with B. I knew B. was really, really good. I did not know quite how good, or quite how well-timed my second wind was gonna be. Have front-row seat for numerous quadruple free spins.
11:32pm: the universe explodes into shiny little fragments, every single one of which is totally my bitch. Dance with each of the fragments until it unfolds into a new universe made up entirely of chocolate pudding and bottles of Chimay Cinq Cents. Rueda moves and lots of other stuff are suddenly fair game on the social dance floor.
12:30am: Arrive home, still flying. I CAN SEE THROUGH TIME!
12:31am: whoa. Very sleepy now. Good night peoples.

Tags: brasils, dance, salsa

solestria asks, "so what did you do last night?"

I picked up Eleanor from her after school activities a little early and brought her to the Rosin Box to purchase her first pair of jazz shoes. Eleanor already has ballet flats for her ballet class, but they are soft-soled, therefore not appropriate for her salsa class. According to the proprietor, the jazz shoes we purchased are Mike Andino's recommended practice shoe for salsa. and they are only $30. I could've purchased heels she'll outgrow in five minutes for $75, but I did not. I could have purchased an extremely handsome pair of English shoes for myself for $120, but I did not.

On the way east from there, we naturally passed Capogiro, and succumbed to the inevitable. O the pain. Half pumpkin, half dark chocolate for me. Eleanor had half chocolate, half vanilla. Total: $10.

We resumed our trek and soon passed Genji Sushi Express at 1720 Sansom Street. I'd already made dinner plans of my own with nohx, but it was dinnertime for Eleanor, who promptly inhaled california and avocado rolls. I nibbled on edamame. $15.

We stumbled across an Obama volunteer office and picked up new buttons. Little 50-cent ones for both of us, and a $1 "Woman for Obama" pin for Eleanor.

There was no getting home without passing Borders! Restraint was shown: paperbacks only. Eleanor bought Flyte, the second book in the Septimus Heap series. I picked up Ilium, the first in a newer series by Dan Simmons, author of Hyperion. I recently reread part of the Hyperion series and was sad to finish Rise of Endymion. I... may have had something in my eye at the end. $12, all told. Eleanor also spent $6 of her own money on an Eleanor Roosevelt bookmark.

After dropping off Eleanor at her mother's I met nohx for dinner at the Royal Tavern. It is good to have palz in one's own 'hood. I spent $10 (with tip) on the tempeh club sandwich, which is tasty. I avoided the temptation of more expensive fare... but mostly because the advertised pumpkin ale did not exist. Also, I am still a rueda newbie and I'm okay with that, but I don't like to screw up for reasons that are within my control. So drinking before class is not a great plan.

Around nine-thirty I hit rueda class at Estilo, which was even better than usual. The rueda actually flowed as it so rarely does when moves are being taught. $10 (which I forgot to pay... oops... I'll pay Saturday Mike!) I also met, or re-met, Julie of Salsa in the Suburbs, a great latin dance studio in Media, PA (suburban friends take note). This morning I sent her a login for the Salsadelphia back end; she's my guinea pig for Project Let Everybody List Their Own Stuff. I'm excited to see how it plays out.

Afterwards I felt pretty done in, but there's a new salsa night at Glam on 2nd street in Old City and I had to give it a shot, seeing as Joe Figueroa is involved. Also, I had the impression it was free.

So I went. And it was not free, it was $7. There were maybe twelve people in there, a good mix of men and women... all sitting down. That was a little odd, but I recognized some people so I made the decision to shell out a few bucks and head on in and scoop up a girl.

And boom: in this tiny little place, there were exactly enough men and women to go 'round; everyone could dance at least a little, some people could dance a whole lot better than me; everyone was incredibly nice. And we all rocked out until a little after midnight and decided to go home at pretty much the same time. Yes, separately.

A wonderful day. Also: a $96 day. This is why cash is never petty and it is why I don't indulge in "little, affordable" things every time I get the urge. It's also where all my damn money went in the nineties (well, the portion of it that isn't in my house). You gotta make choices. I don't regret indulging yesterday at all— I was overdue— but you can bet this is not how I roll on a daily basis.

Tags: dance, economics, eleanor, food, money, philly, salsa, tom's life