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Salsa dancing got even more fun!
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If anyone (Seanny Boy) doesn't want to read another entry all about shoes, skip this.

I got myself some professional dance shoes. Two pairs. I love them. I really, really love them. I've worn each of them once so far to salsa dancing, and it's astonishing what a difference it makes. It doesn't make me a better dancer (too bad, huh?), but it makes me better able to execute the moves I know. They're made with suede soles, and no nails except in the heel (just glued together), so they're super flexy. And light! Really, if I could find shoes that felt this good (and looked this cute!) that were okay to wear on the street, I would buy about ten pairs.

The first pair is a goldish/tan strappy shoe that is so darling and fun I can hardly stand it. I wore the other pair, which is black and a little more elegant, though just as cute and fun to wear (it shows up more bronzey in this picture, but it's really very black) last night, and got several compliments. I think the fact that I had just painted my toenails the day before helped too; pink toenails just set off any shoe, don't they?

On a wooden ballroom floor, the suede soles and flex in the arch make it so easy to pivot and spin, and my feet just weren't sore or tired at all at the end of the night. Thursday night Sean and I went to the last of our series classes, which ended up lasting for only about ten minutes because the instructor was sick (again). We did get a credit for a drop-in class, and she did show us one important move, but it was still annoying. So there I was in my strappy gold dance shoes, and I couldn't really use them. We did learn that one move, and we did do some practicing there (she put some music on for us before she went home), so it wasn't a total loss. But it was still frustrating.

But then last night I went to the beginner's drop-in class, and there were a few people I knew there, and several people I'd seen before at the drop-in classes, and I wore my new black shoes and had a ball. No pun intended. The move we learned last night was really just a variation on a couple of moves I'd learned before, but it was still good practice, and then I stayed for the dance party after and did a fair amount of dancing. I changed out of my shoes at 10:30, which means I'd been in them for two hours, and my feet felt perfectly fine. (I suppose I should have said fine, fantastic and fabulous, just for alliterative purposes.)

And then shortly after I got home, Sean showed up at my house after his date with someone who lives in my general neighborhood, so we practiced just a little bit, which helped cement that move in my head. It's interesting trying to take a move that I've learned really just from the follower's perspective, though I've seen the leader's lesson, and try to teach it to someone who has to do the leading. That's happened to me on a few occasions now, just this once really with Sean, but I've also been showing my new friend Jay some moves when we've practiced together. It's hard. It's hard to articulate what's needed from the leader and when, in order to make the follower's job easy and less confused. Makes me appreciate a good instructor even more.

Last night I danced with a couple of guys who knew a lot more than I did, and they were very patient with me (one took some time to show me the moves), though lacking somewhat in great teaching skills. But I got it enough to be able to do what I was being showed, more or less, so it was fun even though I felt a little bit intimidated. I'm trying to loosen up and not worry too much about if I look stupid. This is hard for me. I have a tendency also to worry that the other person's experience isn't as fun if they're a lot better than me and I don't know how to do what they want me to do. This is not generally a conducive attitude towards having a good time, so I'm trying to let it go as much as I can. Having a dance partner who is at pretty much the same level as me is really great -- I don't feel worried or intimidated at all when I dance with Sean, and I also don't feel frustrated, because he's as good as I am. We're talking about taking the Advanced Beginner's series with Jeremy (who's a really great teacher) in August when I get back from my trip. That would be good. I wouldn't mind taking that a couple of times.

Ohmigod, I'm leaving in two weeks? No, three weeks. I feel so unprepared!


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