Well a lot happened this month - understatement of the year!
My new dance experience of the month was definitely Kizomba. I thought I was going to a Salsa lesson at the beginning of the social dance evening. WRONG ..... and if I'm honest I would have bottled out of going to the class if I'd known it was Kizomba ....... I'd seen the video clips!! It definitely is not the dance to start learning if you suffer from shyness or inhibitions. I'm so glad I had a go. It was fascinating to watch the dancers afterwards - it is a dance style where there is such variation in how people individualise the dance to their own personality & the music. I had several very enjoyable dances & the other great plus was that I got chatting to Luke Stephenson.
As usual one of my card was at the ready for networking & Luke duly received one of them. But after dancing with him I did wonder if he would get in touch. It was still early days for my Salsa dancing & until now I have only ever done New York style which is quite different to Cuban style. I didn't have a clue & felt I floundered somewhat. To his credit though Luke still contacted me by email saying he would like to help me with my dance quest. I fell about laughing though when he apologised for only being able to offer at the most 2 weeks as he did have paid work he had to do!! You gotta chuckle - here is someone who is offering to help a stranger & he is apologising that he can't do more. Quite frankly any help is much appreciated. Next thing I hear from Luke & he tells me has booked his flight to Portugal for shortly after his return from Cuba. WOW. He is the first guest teacher to commit by actually booking a flight. Luke's enthusiasm is just wonderful ......... the next email also made me chuckle "can I teach every day? This is just my sort of person. With an attitude like that my quest will be sooooooo easy.
Learning the lead role during the month of December was rather painful for me. My brain & body were really struggling with integrating the information. Hence, I took the Total Immersion approach to learning the lead and went to beginner classes 2 - 5 times per week. I could genuinely make my excuses regards my lack of ability & say I'd only been learning the lead for 3 weeks .... but just ommit the fact that I had in fact done 9 classes! Towards the end of December I started to freestyle a bit and got a bit more confident about asking people to dance. There were several women who were so encouraging, supportive & kind. They would ask me to dance & say "come on Yolande, you need to practice". They helped me when I got stuck, reminded me of the bits I'd forgotten, gave me helpful & constructive feedback. The most important thing was they smiled & kept going no matter what - we had a lot of fun & a lot of laughs. I shall be eternally grateful to them. It was Ivy's infectious smile & encouragement that kept me going when my courage failed me.
This month saw me back at Lindy Hop classes with one of my all time favourite teachers Sue Freeman. Attending her classes is such good value - a laughter therapy session and dance class all rolled into one. As soon as I walked in Sue said "Oh, it is the chicken lady" & then carried on with the class much to everyone's bemusement. They didn't know that I used to sell eggs from my happy hens to her demo for the intermediate class. Learning from Sue is such a pleasure - she is a highly skilled teacher with regards to how she engages the class, relaxes people & encourages them. Sue has some great one liners & breaks the moves down into doable moves in the classes so it is all good fun. But she doesn't pull any punches. At the end of the day you have to get on with it, bite the bullet and practice at a freestyle. You can attend classes for ages but need to get to freestyles to really get it together & be able to Lindy.
December 18th saw me in Warrington visiting my friend Jane the night before my Zumba Instructor training day. We had a great evening chatting, eating, drinking wine & watching pre-recorded Strictly Come Dancing. All well and good until the snow really started falling & I started to wonder if I was going to be able to get to the venue in the morning. Needless to say I didn't sleep well & with bleary eyes set off in the early hours of the morning.
The 1 hour Zumba class at 8.45 am was something I am glad to say I survived with a modicum of dignity. Only just mind you. The Zumba Trainer was unreal - being so lively, blond, slim & fit (for 3 days on the trot!) should not be classified as human. It is obscene if the truth be known - a bit like the people who like to go to the gym before work in the morning. Which gene did they inherit that totally didn't enter the shopping basket when my mother made me? Anyway, I made it to the end of the day & learnt many things including how to recognise the difference between Salsa, Merengue, Cumbia & Reggaeton music. So I was a happy bunny all in all.
Towards the end of December I braved the Somerset snow & made it to the Xmas Meltdown 3 day holiday organised by Holiday Rock. Arrived rather frazzled to find myself extremely exasperated at the ridiculous situation of there only being one room key for 2 of us who were sharing a room at The Webbington Hotel. At first it seemed like it was just Stroppy Receptionist Syndrome but sadly it wasn't just that. Their 'system' could not cope with issuing more that one room card thingy. How ludicrous is that? The grumpy old women programme will be interviewing me soon ...... I was seriously unimpressed & struggled not to have a hormonal response. Why? I had the dogs with me again which made it a right pain in the proverbial having to walk to the other end of the labyrinth of corridors to leave the keys at the desk for Gill so she wasn't locked out of the room when I was out walking the dogs. It was darned hard work as I must have done about 9 'costume' changes at least in a day. The slush & muddy conditions meant that I couldn't go out in dance gear to give the mutley crew a walk & pee break. So one minute people saw me in dance gear & the next in my wellies & scruffs.
But all in all it was well worth it. Gill my room mate was great and the 'holiday' was so good. Lots of good dancers & teachers, fun classes & people giving me their details wanting to help.
New Years Eve was spent on the sofa with the dogs & me flatly refusing to go anywhere. My limbs were on strike. It was soooooo good not to be vertical!!
PHOTOS - Xmas Meltdown 3 day holiday organised by Holiday Rock
