I think my Brasilia mini classic has always been under temp. I never saw a water dance. The other day, I moved the brew lever just short of where water would come out without the pump kicking in. I left it there for a few seconds and then closed the lever. A few minutes later when I came to pull a shot -- the machine was noticeably much hotter than usual and when I opened the lever full blast it started to hiss and nothing came out at all for a few seconds except steam -- and then -- the water dance!
I've repeated this and it seems to work every time.
My question -- is this 'over-heating' the machine going to do any damage.
All comment much appreciated!

thanks Dan! If this gets up the temp is that okay though?

I'm not Dan but . . .

It is NOT ok. You are causing a "not so normal" condition within the heat exchanger of your machine by duplicating the results of a leaking brew valve. What is the maximum reading on your boiler pressure gage during idle conditions?