Salsa

Tonight I decided that salsa is one of my favorite dances. Samba is my number one favorite, but salsa/mambo is pretty high up there. The movements are quick and snappy (at least they're supposed to be, I'm still working on that part!), and when danced to music it all fits together in a way that gives me goose bumps. I had the privilege of participating in a seminar tonight with a visiting coach. I really don't know much about him, other than the fact he wrote at least part of the Silver syllabus. (silver level is really advanced, I'm just beginning bronze, gold is the highest...) Much to my surprise, the steps he taught us were not terribly complicated. I'll have to ask my instructor at my next lesson, but I think I did pretty well. Either that or I was just doing it all wrong!

I realized this is my first post about my ballroom dancing, so here's a little background on the subject since many people don't have a clue why I would do such a thing! I started watching Dancing With the Stars two seasons ago and found myself wanting to learn more and more. One of my New Year's resolutions categories was "learn something new". Can you guess what one of the new things was that I wanted to learn? Yup, knitting. Ha! Or not! I decided to look into ballroom dancing lessons. Came up empty for a few weeks, then found Arthur Murray Dance Studios on-line. They were offering a free trial lesson, so I decided to schedule one for myself. (That lesson took place on January 18 of this year. I had no idea that it was just the beginning....) I was pleasantly surprised to find that my two left feet were, in fact, not two lefties at all. Before I knew it I was signed up for 4 beginner lessons. The next thing I knew I was signed up for 18 more. Halfway through that set I was approached about beginning my bronze program. I put it off for a few weeks, not sure if I wanted to pursue dancing any further. When it came right down to it, I did want to pursue it...I finally found a hobby I love! So here I am, a full- fledged bronze student, enjoying myself immensely, and considering a career change......just kidding! I wish I had started years ago, however, for I believe it would have improved my soccer skills. Coach was always wanting me to do the dot drill to make me faster (I never did the dot drill Coach, sorry!). Let me tell you, dancing the samba, mambo, salsa, cha cha, and swing has done the trick and it sure is a lot more fun!