Dancing

Right now, I have bruises on my knee, on the tops of my feet, and on my right hip. And I'm extremely happy about it.

I just got finished teaching my first DANCE CLASS. EVER.

I'm euphoric!

A few months ago I rediscovered my love of dancing. I started taking my ipod to the gym and dancing in the empty group fitness room. I leap, cartwheel, swing, and cha-cha my little heart out. By the time I look up, an hour has passed (That does not happen for me on the treadmill, the eliptical, or even the fitness classes).

So I decided to take my dancing to the next level by finding a class. As luck would have it, Leslie's friend just started attending an adult evening dance class, a co-op actually. All the dancers take turns teaching, so the class is free.

The first class was a nightmare. I felt like I was surrounded by Cougarettes, women who represented thousands of dollars of their parents money invested in their dance training. I don't have any real dance training. I never took ballet, or tap, or jazz, or hip-hop, or anything. I can't do my splits or fancy leaps. But mostly, and this is the biggest problem, I can't remember the combinations and repeat them. I could probably learn a dance fine if I had twice as long to practice as the other girls.

But, each week I kept going, and each week I got a little better and felt a little less stupid. So, after week three I volunteered to teach a latin dance. Ballroom, specifically latin, is the only dance training I have. I took seven ballroom classes at BYU and tried out for the team three times. I never made it, not even on the third practice team. Not my proudest moment.

And yet, I still love it. Latin ballroom is a different kind of dance than what we had been doing in class. Choreographing the dance took me lots of time and practice. It was difficult, and I knew it wasn't as challenging as the other dances had been.

I stressed out for two weeks over this dance. As I fell asleep at night I would review the combinations. There were days that I wanted to call and say I wasn't even going to come. I imagined the worst of everything. But, I kept telling myself that this is something I love, something I've always wanted to do, and even if it was hard, no, especially because it was hard that I was going to do it. I imagined myself confident and happy and it worked! I wore my cute flippy skirt, my black tights, and my ballroom heels.

So, tonight I showed up to teach my dance. I wrote the sections of the dance on the mirror and as I taught all the sections some of the girls struggled. They weren't sure how to move their hips, how to get the latin part right. It was AWESOME to watch the girls learn and to watch us all dance together this routine that I MADE!

I felt like an artist.

Even more than that, by rediscovering my love of dance, I feel like a little piece of me has been missing and I've found it. That makes me so happy.

By the end of class we'd all had a great cardio workout, and I was sweaty and really happy. I love that adrenaline rush! Now if only I could change this half-marathon into some kind of dance competition . . .

P.S. I'm happy to teach this dance again if you have a group that wants to learn.