Well....here's what I do.
Dancing
Back in America I never seriously considered taking dance classes; however, now I've become obsessed with going to classes and social dancing at least two times a week. I am learning how to dance Cuban Salsa, Bachatta, Ballroom Tango, Cross body Salsa, and Meringue etc. What? No Ceilidh Dancing? (Sadly ceilidh dancing is too expensive per dance.)
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| one of my friends Marcos is an AMAZING dancer. :) Seriously you can see him dance with another one of my amazing friends Isabella dance on Strictly Come Dancing. |
How it began?
Since the 21st of January I started going to Cuban Salsa classes with Salsa4water because for students one lesson from 9PM-10:30PM is £3 pounds. Like most beginners, when I first started I was scared out of my mind. I was afraid that people were going to judge me because I didn't know how to salsa dance, and after one class I learned that no one really judges you because everyone starts out as a beginner. I know everyone starts out as a beginner, but you don't know to what degree the statement is true until you have experienced it. Like my first time I struggled with understanding the footwork and travelling because Cuban Salsa is all about the travelling and footwork until maybe 4 weeks later.
From that, Monday salsa classes became the one thing I looked forward to every week until I started talking with the wonderful instructors Helen and Gordon who told me the fastest way to learn how to salsa dance is to go social dancing. They told me to go to places like Boteco Do Brasil and Harry's Bar, and dance with other people so I did....This eventually lead me to start learning Bachata and Cross body Salsa as well as Meringue. Also it started to get me to go social dancing on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays etc. Generally classes range anywhere from £3-£5 per class (roughly 6-10 dollars), and sometimes there are deals, like my Bachata class is £7 pounds ($14) for 2 lessons + free social dancing. As for Tango, one of my UCEAP friends told me there was free classes on Sundays at Counting House and I enjoyed it, so I started doing that as well.
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| Bachata familia :) mi gusta!!! |
I think this has changed a lot, but it's got to be the style I started out with: Cuban salsa. Cuban Salsa is like playing a game...as a girl you're trying not to be tricked by the guys, and both of you are chasing after each other. Cuban salsa is fast, more footwork intensive, involves a ton of walking around etc.
Tango is about the passion, and I do like it but if the lead is horrible I don't tend to enjoy myself because as a follower I need to feel my lead to know what to expect. You're essentially gliding across the floor and it looks graceful.
Bachata is actually probably one of the easiest styles to learn because its quite literally 2 sidesteps in any directions then 2 sidesteps back. The problem is if you can't shake your hips like me and have problems doing body rolls bachata doesn't look as sexy.... but it is still fun.
Crossbody salsa - perhaps my least favorite because it's much slower than cuban salsa. Crossbody is more of you're in a straight line with slower latin music and a lot of turns. The problem is if you don't know the move you may run into the issue of you have no idea what to do.
Meringue - I never actually took a proper class on that but it's stepping to every beat and a ton of hip. Way too much hip and bounce, but it is fun to do once in a while.
Other things I've done but I don't enjoy: Kizomba (too slow) and chacha (i get confused with beats)
So...how much dancing do I actually do?
Generally every week I try to go to at least 2 classes if not 4-5 classes on Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays + social dances on Thursdays Saturdays and sometimes Sundays. Additionally, if there are social dances with Edinburgh University Salsa Society I also do that too....so yes quite a lot. Nowadays, if someone asks me to go to a dance, or if I just want to hang out with some spectacular dancers in Edinburgh I will go. Overall I'm not going to lie..... dancing has become more than a stress relief and an addiction....it's an OBSESSION, and it's something I know I'm going to miss when I go back to Los Angeles. I know YOLO would be appropriate, but I think I gotta say this is me... LLTIF (Living life to its fullest.)
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| Boteco bachatta night with professionals teaching. So many fun and friendly dancers! :[ I'm going to miss these people! |
Until next time, Cheers!
Tina
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