New 'Gen' SalsaJay Field Trip

Holiday season is here again, Christmas then New Year and of course, this is when the party begins! And for you and I ... what party will it be, without Salsa huh. Of course, I am assuming you're a salsa dancer. Then again, you could be wrong but it's never too late for you to start, you know.

Well .. as promised, this is an update our recent outing to Salsa Havana. One which has been long outstanding and finally fulfilled! But this is not any regular salsa outing, this is the one which the "new generation" SalsaJay makes their debut ... or some would say ... lose their Salsa Virginity, to a certain extent. Hmm .. I wonder if they got their "ang-pow" from the teacher after that ....

Anyway, words no more ... here's the firsthand account from the newbies after their "first experience" on the dance floor.

From Angela Lin

Terima kasih cikgu Jeamie.

Yes i definitely, totally, deeply agreed and believed that being a female salsa dancer is much funner, you girls were just like a punch of flying butterflies that night..... ^_^...... So i just needed to be relax??? Much more relax i suppose???? Ok Ok Ok, i will try.....

Forgot to thank you, Fai. Thanks for your teaching on that basic bachata steps (was it?). It was nice, man.






From Laney

Aiyaya..... What's a wonderful report from all of your all....
As the first experience dance in front of the public, I just can said it was 'fresh' to me....... It really 'opened my eyes'....I must keep up my efforts to practise...
Tony.... thanks for your compliments but I am not a spy... Actually you dance well on that night...

Jeamie... I'll try my best to keep my steps smaller..
Fai... thanks to u too coz u guided me to do a nice ending pose...



From Tony Goh

I was actually very tension dy when I am driving to Federal. I do wish that the traffic will last forever.

I lost my salsa "virginity" to Angela. It was a very anxious and exciting experience there dancing salsa in a club for my very first time.

When Jeamie pull me out to dance, I got the shock of my life. I had this retro scene in front of me. Suddenly I found myself shrinking back to when I was 7-8 years old size.Here standing in front of me is this gigantic, big eye and fierce looking teacher with sharp pointing spectacles (the one u would find in the 70's). Worst! she was bending this thick ROTAN! With this kind of scene in front of you,of course I have become this little boy with trembling feet, shaking hand and couldn't look up at her face. Felt like a puppet n just let her do whatever she wishes la. Huge relieve when finally the puppet master let me go. Phews......... .

After 10 minutes rest, I was back in my present form. Just realise what had just happen. I said to myself. Hey that is not TONY GOH. I made a vow that I am not going to be anyone puppet anymore. From now on, I will eat salsa, drink salsa and sleep salsa. I am going to be well prepared to be tested by teacher anytime.

Dancing with Laney was very enjoyable. She is very good and moves like a Pro. Her body sway just like the others ppls beside us. LANEY, sure you are a beginner or just a spy? Ha Ha Ha.

I was very lucky than you bro. At least I managed to get Yee Yoke to dance with me for 1 minute. Yea ........

From the field trip, I realise that salsa teaches us respect for each other. For the lady, she need to trust the man to lead them. (oso trust that your man will not send u crashing onto other couples). If, u trust your partner good enuf, you can even dance with your eyes close. Also respect for other couples on the dance floor as well.

Thank you all for a wonderful nite that day. Before I end this I want to ask our "rotan happy wielding" teacher, when we are going to learn the bachata? It look very sensual and romantic.

Here's a feartfelt one from Derek

So, last Saturday was supposed to be the beginners first field trip to Salsa Havana, conveniently located in Federal Hotel (with all its connotations of seediness and all). Well, convenient seems to be the misnomer of the week, cos I left my humble abode at 9:30, thinking that I will arrive at the pre-arranged time of 10:30 with a lot of time to spare. I was horribly mistaken, as it took me fortybloodyfive minutes to travel down jalan bukit bintang! During that short stint, I got a call from Angela, who was also caught up in that same jam as I was, although she was probbly 4-5 cars down the road in front of me. When I finally got in front of Federal Hotel, I turned in, and started looking for parking. Turns out I either have to use the car jockey service (which I will do my utmost to avoid - have you seen the way they drive your cars??) or park in Low Yat. So, Low Yat it was...


Walking up the escalators, I had no idea where Salsa Havana was, but no worries, there was booming latino music wafting down from somewhere upstairs, so with my ears to guide me, I slowly found myself standing in front of the club. Paid 9 ringgit for a bottle of mineral water (choke, choke, yes NINE ringgit!) and in I went. Angela and Tony were already inside, with two of Tony's friends. A guy called Champ, and another whom sad to say, I cant remember his name.
Feeling hungry (didnt have time for dinner) I ventured out again and bought a chicken sandwich to go. The fandango that occured at the coffee shop as I was trying to pay for my sandwich, I will leave for another time. Suffice to say, it brings new meaning to the word, incompetant!

Back in the club, with my dinner in tow, I found Tony and Angela at the same place. People were starting to pour in, and I rushed to finish my sandwich so I could get first dibs with Angela, alas, Tony beat me to the punch. Just before I swallowed my last mouthful, Tony lead Angela out to the dance floor.

So I sat back and watched, as they hesitantly found the beat, 123, 567, 123, 567... front basic, back basic, front basic, back basic, 123, 567, 123, 567. (disclaimer: my memory of the night is not 100% complete, due to trauma suffered later on, which I shall elaborte upon shortly) Then Tony (whom I shall assume was leading *smirk* *wink*) started leading into the first non basic move. Cross body lead, spin, guy change hand, windmill, london bridge etc etc. They seemed to be doing ok, so I started gazing around looking at other people. I noticed there was a guy there, rather nerdy looking, thick glasses, goofy teeth, hair out of a bart simpson show, but he could move! For a while I was thinking he looked familiar, but I didnt give it much more thought, as before the song ended, Tony and Angela were back! "Whats wrong?", I asked, as she was massaging her foot. "Tony step on you ar??"

Apparently, her shoes were a little too high heeled for her to spin and groove, and each time she did, she would get shooting pains up her foot. Oh well, I suggested she rest awhile and try again. Worse come to worst, take off and dance barefeet la!

Ho Ho Ho, whaddya know, the goofy looking guy comes up to me and goes "Derek?" Shit, I knew he looked familiar! I knew him from my rock climbing days! Heres how I remember him ->
Back then, there was this group of us so called "Rock-Rats". We met up at the climbing gym at least once a week, and outdoors on the weekend. All of us were roughly the same skill and strength, so we would enjoy climbing together and encouraging each other, because we would basically know what was going through each other's minds... Well, one day, this guy rocks up, wearing knee pads!! Of all the goofiest, newbie things to do! (almost as bad as wearing socks in rock shoes!) He could hardly climb, let alone do a leadclimb, but he stuck out with us. We didnt mind him joining up with us, in fact, we encouraged him and belayed him whenever he was attempting any climb.

Well, as I've heard, God is fair, because on the dance floor, he is a GOD!!! Holy schmitt, he could move! His demeanour was completely different from an uncertain, unconfident budding rock climber. Here, his whole posture, his body language oozed confidence, and I must say, he had no problems getting any hot chick there to dance with him. *green eyes*

Well, after a while, Terence rocks in and ushers us to where Jeamie had reserved a space for us beforehand. Slowly the rest of the gang seep in. Fai, Jacque, Zai, Timothy, good lord, even Rachel and Wilson! Aha, Laney and YeeYoke! And there she was, in all her splendour (and the shortest mini skirt I've seen in a long time), Jeamie! First person she hauls over to the dance floor, poor Tony! I couldnt really see his face from where I was sitting, but I was already starting to feel the first signs of a panic onset! I was whispering (more like shouting la, damn loud music!) to Angela, "OMG, I'm going to kena also!!"

Lucky me, the next newbie she pounced upon was YeeYoke, then Laney, then Angela. All this while, I was hoping she would miss me, as I was trying my utmost best to be as inconspicuous as possible. Well, how inconspicuous can you be, when you are 6'1" and overweight?? Finally she snaked her way through the people I was hiding behind, grabbed my hands and dragged me screaming and kicking all the way across the dance floor. Ok, ok, I exaggerate, but if reality were formed from thoughts, that would have been my exact behaviour.

So there I was, holding hands with my instructress. Shoes feeling like there were filled with rocks. The first signs of cold sweat trickling down my forehead, cold shivers runnning up and down my spine. What to do? Go for it la! So, 123, 567, 123, 567.

123, 567, 123, 567. Shit, what next? Ok, Crossbody lead! Ok, done. Half turn, under arm turn. Guy change hand, spin, JAM! I have no idea what went wrong but before I could pull her into a windmill, something stopped! Was there superglue on the floor?? Did someone spill some? Ok, attempt to recover, 123, 567, 123, 567. But the problem was, now our hands were crossed! Ok, try into the windmill again, but I felt like I was moving through molasses! Everything seemed to happen in slow motion! How many minutes have passed? Couldnt have been more than 40 seconds, but it felt like an eternity! Oh god, that look that Jeamie just shot me! The only way I can describe it is "Boooooring! Are we going to do something within this century?? Yawwwwnnnnn" Ok ok, underarm turn, half turn, crossbody, spin... Damn, is that the only arsenal I have left in my repertoire? Oof! Someone collided with me! Actually, its more like _I_ collided with him! Jeamie pulls me in close and screams "Look out for space for yourself!". Ok, ... Bang! I accidently send Jeamie crashing into someone else! Jeamie pulls me in close and screams "Look out for space for ME!!!"

Then finally, somewhere in the fog of my panic addled brain, there registered a change in pitch, and different tempo, the end of the song! Good lord, I had somehow made it without getting stoned to within an inch of my life! I retreated back into the seated audience, completely drenched. I must have looked like I just took a shower with all my clothes on! Laney and Angela were having a field day, laughing at my pathetic, completely defeated appearance!

Now that my ordeal of dancing with my instructress was over, I could observe the others. There was a guy dancing there, longish hair, innocent baby face, looked like he was not moving very much, but what little he was doing was more than enough to send the woman he was dancing with into all sorts of spins, locks, gyrations etc... And when he danced with Jeamie! My God, I never knew it was physically possible for a womans anatomy to move the way it did on Jeamie! This was her, going all out! Leg, up and behind the guy, dips, it was all a flowing symphony of synchronized movement of bodies in time with the beat. So this is salsa at its finest!

So, a few songs along, and I feel as though I have recovered enough from the trauma of my first dance with Jeamie. I offer a hand to YeeYoke, but, wah liaw! Kena Reject! Ouch! Talk about crash and burn! Nothing more I could do, as Laney was already swiped up by Tony, and Angela was still nursing her foot. So I just continued to sit there and observe the other dancers.

The highlight of the night was when Jeamie took the mike and the stage. She announced that tonight was a special night as it was the first time that her beginners class was here! Clap clap clap... I look around, hoping no one would realise I was one of them, malu for Jeamie only...

Next announcement was that it was Timothy's birthday! Apparently there was a "traditional" Salsa Havana way of celebrating a persons birthday, and so, after blowing out the candles on his cake, some women formed a line and danced with Tim one by one. I have to say, it was fantastic, watching Timothy dance, using the whole floor, with one girl after another. Jeamie would dance in with a girl, spin and change partner, and lead the previous girl off. After a good 5-8 minutes of non-stop dancing, Tim finally gives up and calls the end of the dance.

Next up was a special presentation from the people of Shell! Apparently, it took them all of 1 (ONE!) week to learn their routine, but it was fantastic! Jeamie was dancing in with them as one of the girls. Totally synchronized, not just between 1 girl and 1 guy, but with five couples! Malu man, 1 week and they can do like that... Me, how many months aledi? Shame shame...

A few songs later, I get my turn with Laney. Less pressure than with Jeamie, but still felt very uncomfortable. Same amount of moves, same molasses feelings, same jam in my head. I cant beleive I even forgot how to do a basic armlock! Tried to do the spare tire move, but Laney didnt want to do it, boring it seems... Sathia move, ok ok la, girl turn guy turn, ok ok, but timing off. It seemed everything was out of whack! My timing, my memory, even my feet seemed to not want to listen to me. After a while, the change of pitch and tempo registered another end of song, and we made our way back to the others.

After a few more songs, I decided I had to go, since at that point in time, I was exhausted, sticky n sweaty, and I had to wake early for a morning ride. All in all, it was a very humbling experience. Going to the dance floor is similar to dumping someone in the deep end of the pool. Either you make it and start swimming, or you drown. In this case, either you build up the confidence to move n groove, or you give up. Well, that being the case, I aint going down without a fight! So, see you all for the next class!