February 4, 2009

Tonight I went to Hush bar and grill for salsa night. This time I made sure I had a partner/someone to talk to in between dancing. My guy friend mentioned he was interested in learning how to salsa so we’re going to learn together! He teaches ballet, gyro tonics, West African dance, and is beginning to learn salsa and tap. He is used often as a guest male dancer in ballet companies and school performances.

At Hush were several of the dancers from last time. There was also an older man who had to be at least 65 but who could lead and dance like no one else. He was impressive to say the least.
Someone asked me to dance immediately. I was really flattered, especially since the last time I danced with him I didn’t think I did too well. He’s a pretty good lead, except he tends to show his frustration. It made me feel really good about myself that he tried some more complicated moves, although I wasn’t able to execute all of them. However, I am getting a lot better about continuing the basic even during or after a turn or complex move. I’m also becoming more aware of what foot I’m on after turning. I think my Suzuki physical acting class is really helping me become more in tune with my partner. We’ve been working a lot on being aware of other people on stage and touch-response movement. This has greatly aided my ability respond to my partner and predict what moves are coming next.

When my friend arrived I could tell he was kind of intimidated; Hush is full of dancers who already know how to dance and can do it well. We danced more towards the back and I taught him the basic steps of salsa, cha cha, and meringue. He learns so fast! After just watching other couples for 5 to 10 minutes, he was turning me, leading me in circles, and doing an open salsa move. We danced almost every song and laughed at ourselves every one as well. He was really excited and said he can’t wait to take some lessons. Watching other people who can dance well is inspiring and we decided to go to the lesson the next day at Rust in the Vista. I also started thinking that maybe a private lesson once a week at Columbia Ballroom Company would be a good idea.