Lesson This Week: Tango, Hustle and Salsa...6lbs to go!

Yet another good lesson tonight, and as a side note... 6lbs until I hit 100! I dropped another lb.!.... Ok...back to business, gotta stay focused... I danced with the newer instructor again tonight. We worked on Cha Cha a little... I still don't know which dance picks up the heart rate more... Cha Cha or East Coast Swing which we got to do as well.... they both provide an excellent way to warm up... and just plain fun! For Cha Cha I really like the step referred to as the Manhattan Roll Out, and the Sweetheart Breaks are great for a change in perspective. I then asked if we could work on Tango....

Tango and I have always had problems, I love the way the dance looks, and the dramatic nature of it is something I think I could really do well, but the frame in Tango has my partner and I pretty much connected from shoulder to hip... I was never confident enough to feel comfortable being THAT close to another human being before.... I guess that's something else I can say about learning to dance, because I didn't feel uncomfortable at all when I tried it last week... and this week it felt even better. YAY! Consider the confidence level increased even more than before! (Now I just hope I can remember enough of it for my next lesson with my usual teacher, he'd be really surprised if I asked HIM to Tango!)

The newer instructor and I went over a few steps for Tango, I actually received a compliment on my learning agility... WOW... no one has ever said that I am a quick study before! On the learning curve of dancing, I consider myself average at best when learning new steps and for some of it I'm completely below average, but at least I try right?.... I also made us drill some of the steps just to make sure I had the feel of it down....to which I was told "That was good, you're just too hard on yourself." Guilty as charged, but it will make a better dancer out of me and I'll be pleased when I'm comfortable enough to add Tango to my list of known dances.

This is the best part... I was asked if I knew how to Hustle... to which I replied
"Yeah I think I've got it covered."
(I LOVE a nice fast Hustle!) His reaction indicated it's one of his favorites too... so we worked on Hustle... this one was a little different, we started in a frame, and I'm used to the "push/pull method...then my instructor said "Ok the steps are going to be syncopated."
"Uh huh...I prefer them that way... Hustle is one of the dances I actually understand."
So I got a Hustle in... even worked on some multiple spins, which I'll likely be working on for a while... I didn't get them in on time and I was probably to high on the balls of my feet, I'll have to figure out a way to practice those at home... Hustle is not one of the primary dances I'm studying so I don't get to do it a whole heck of a lot. I'm happy when I can get it in. While we were getting our Hustle on and it was fun.... Salsa came on over the speakers and my ears perked up.... "Care to Salsa?" I asked... and right there we changed to my favorite Latin dance...(Well it's tied with Rumba...can't beat a good Rumba either) YAY again!

This lesson was filling up with my favorites, and I was learning some new stuff too! I even learned a Salsa Dancesport step at the end... no idea what it's called...but it's Salsa...and it involves a couple of pivots so that makes me happy... spins and leverage... what more could a girl want?

Oh and major realization here... Dare I say it.... no.... it couldn't be... could I also be developing a healthy respect for smooth dances ( ie Foxtrot, Tango) ? I won't go so far as to say they're my preferred dances...but I think I may actually be getting more comfortable with them.

I really enjoyed my lessons the past two weeks with the newer instructor... a fresh perspective opens the mind to new possibilities and these lessons will undoubtedly help me build on what I'm working on in my regularly scheduled sessions....ya'll should come on in and take him for a spin! In fact click here to see all the instructors you could work with... and I can honestly say they are some of the kindest instructors you'll find anywhere around here... and that's speaking from personal experience.