Dance the weekends away

After an alarming phone call on Saturday morning;
"Hello, we're afraid there's a double booking so you can't use the room on Wednesday..."
we had a frantic couple of days where we attempted to contact our dancers and let them know we'd be dancing Thursday this week instead of Wednesday. We HATE it when this sort of thing happens, especially with all the venue problems we've had over the last three months. Apart from making us look unprofessional (and we try REALLY hard to be as professional as we can) it annoys our dancers, some of whom may not return to us when it's all settled down again. Hopefully it's not going to happen again, but Tuesday saw me visiting a neighbouring club to try and warn dancers for whom we don't have contact details, and Wednesday saw me waiting outside the our venue to intercept any who'd slipped through the net. Good thing I did too as five folk showed up whilst I was there waiting. Fortunately as I was there I think we managed to retain their good will with an apology for incovenience and promise of a free night by way of compensation.
Sometimes with all the hassle of running a club we lose can lose sight of why we love salsa so much.
Other times though, I'm reminded and such a time was the regular social evening at the Engine Shed in Wetherby, last Friday. Trisha was left at home holding the baby, or more accurately, watching American Idol, whilst I togged up and set out for a night's dancing.
We all have good nights and bad but last Friday I was on a roll, and spent most of the evening on the dancefloor with a host of lovely ladies (and bloke - "Hi Ric!"). It was a lovely feeling when I realised that some of the most enjoyable dances I had were with dancers from our own clubs, that we'd taught. When Trisha and I set our stall out and started teaching together nearly three years ago, we embarked on a mission to teach people to dance the best they could so that they'd be dancers we would want to dance with. Well, we're getting there and it's a fantastic feeling to dance with someone (or watch them dance) and know that this is something we've given them.
Then Sunday evening was the first Sunday Social ("Montuno Lounge") in York, hosted by friends Lossie and Gareth at the Gallery nightclub. I went along to offer my support and found that is was buzzing, albeit buzzing mainly On2. I had a good laugh with Paula, the lady on the door. Lossie and Gareth used to run these a couple of years ago and I always used to have a joke with Paula about searching for my name on the guest list - which, much to Paula's amusement, it never was. This time however - as a local teacher/promoter L & G feel I now warrant a mention on their guest list, which is nice. Paula was gutted. There were quite a few over from Hull etc dancing On1 so it wasn't a New-Yorican monopoly but the emphasis was certainly On2. No problem there - I can use the practice. Weird thing is, I can dance at a reasonable standard On2 with a reasonable partner, but show me an On2 beginner and it all goes to pieces. I'm not comfortable enough with the rythm to cope with beginners the same as I do almost effortlessly when dancing On1. Like I say - I need the practice.
On to tonight. How many will turn up? We've already heard from a few that have said they can't make Thursdays so we're expecting numbers to be down again. I guess we'll have to just wait and see.
Looking forward, today we've sealed a deal with our local radio station and starting next week we'll be getting a regular mention on Minster FM's Party Anthems weekend show. We're desperate to fill both our York and Wetherby clubs again and hope this will help. Maybe you could join us?
Deej
All comments welcome - even the ones that just say "Hi"