Week 16. Notes from this week's napkin. Guedo took the class. We started with the usual afro-latin warm ups. Guedo makes us do this thing where we push our shoulders to the left and the right while keeping our hips stationary. When then do another exercise where the chest is pushed forwards and then backwards, again keeping the hips still. Both movements are then combined in one smooth movement, which I call the "Guedo wiggle". This is because Guedo is the only guy in class can perform the movement without looking completely stupid (sorry fellow guy dancers). It is a bit like trying to pat your head and scratch your stomach at the same time. You can do each action independently of the other but as soon as you try to put the two together it all goes "pear shaped".

The new step for this week was a turn ... the double yoke or something. It starts like a one handed turn but you hang onto your partners right hand. She ends up standing on your right hand side with you arm around her waist. We undo this by having her turn anti-clockwise and hold onto the left hand. This time she should end up on your left-hand side with your arm around her waist. To get out of it we let go of the right hand and turn, finishing by bringing the right hand behind the back and back to a dance frame.

We have started to learn to travel around the floor when dancing. Guedo tells us this is very important in getting the attention of potential dance partners. Sometimes the girl you next want to dance with is on the other side of the room. Rather than wait until the current dance finishes and stroll over, it is better to dance past her and glance in her direction with a suggestive tilt of the head to indicate you would be interested in dancing. If she looks away then she is not interested, if she gestures back then you feel safe if asking her when the current dance finishes. There is a lot more I have to learn about this dancing.

Steve