A Decade of Dance

When I was quite little I used to watch ballroom dancing on television and wish I could learn how to do that. I remember seeing a competition on television after we had moved here and thinking to myself, "great, I'll never get to learn to do that now that we are living in this little town"...

10 years ago I saw an article in the paper about a woman who taught ballroom and swing dancing here in the valley. She was running a teen beginner ballroom/latin dance class and was also looking for dancers interested in swing dancing. I called her up as I was very very interested in learning swing; however, she suggested that I join the ballroom/latin class as her swing class was for people with prior dance training - which I'd had very little of. I asked my bf at the time if he would possibly be interested in taking a ballroom dance class with me and was pleasantly surprised (or maybe I should say shocked) when he said "sure".

5 pairs of shoes,
11 sessions of classes [?-not sure I counted that right, it has been a long time after all],
9 end-of-the-year show routines,
and too many[?-maybe not ;)] red and black sparkly costumes later I wonder where 10 years have gone and why, to use a perfect phrase I picked up from a fellow dancer last night, I'm still "hungry for dancing". Not that I wonder why I still want to dance, but that I don't feel all that satisfied by the past ten years. It's like eating Chinese food for dinner; you eat what appears to be a full plate of tasty food and yet an hour and a half later you're hungry again. I'm still hungry. I want to be better than I am.

I can say I know a bit of waltz, foxtrot, tango, rumba, chacha, salsa, samba, mambo, east and west coast swing, singletime swing, and even hustle...yes, hustle [but please don't envision that flashing floor from Saturday Night Fever and platforms...], I have had the opportunity to dance with some of the best dancers in our little valley ballroom world, and I have had great partners over the years [and currently have - *smiles at Evil Monkey*]. I was told twice last night that I am similar in feeling to dancing with our instructor. Twice in one night! By good leaders! I'm honoured - I don't know if they meant it to have that effect, but it did. How could it not?

I really ought to be more satisfied I think.

It's just that I want to be better! Is that wrong? I don't think so...


I'm looking forward to new classes this fall...with my new shoes that I looooooove (2.5 hours of dancing last night and not a blister in sight)...and with my original partner who just couldn't have known what he was getting himself into when he said "ballroom? sure."

Hehe :)


Nostalgia: