More dancing!

I think I'm actually starting to pick up on the class structure now, which is something that wasn't happening earlier. I was relying entirely on mimicking the instructor and the other students and am pretty good at this. I've done pretty well the past several years in step-aerobics classes, where you just follow the calls the trainer makes. The problems occur when Mrs. H (the teacher) switches the classroom around and makes the back line (where I am) move to the front, without demonstrating. With nobody to mimic, I floundered.

I failed horribly when Mrs. H asked the class to recap the combination from last month all in one swoop, without any brush-up. I thought we were done with September! It's October! It was like a pop quiz where you have to stand up in front of the class and dance your way through a book you didn't read. Anyway, she made some disappointed noises (nobody really did that well) and went on to October's combo. YES!

This one is more my type of dancing! Strong arm movements, street dance styling, decent music (the last dance used a campy song from the Hairspray soundtrack), and quick spins -- I can totally rock this. The ballet moves with delicate fluidity aren't coming so naturally just yet. The aerobics and strength work that I've done have trained away those smooth arcs and I'm making more jerky motions than I used to.

You know, the main reason I stopped taking dance classes back in high school is because (note here: I know you read my blog, mom and dad, but this is how I remember it) my parents *thought* I wasn't going to the classes (I biked or sometimes drove myself there, so they weren't dropping me off) and they stopped paying for it. I recall being horrified when they told me this and I tried to convince them that I wasn't a typical slacker-teen and I'd made it to every class they paid for! There were a couple of classes that I missed for whatever reason (too much homework? too much teenage angst?) but the studio allowed me to make them up by taking a class on a different day. I wound up taking a couple of ballet classes that I wouldn't have tried otherwise. It was a good mix. But whatever, I got through it by going to dance clubs all around Chicagoland every weekend.

But what am I complaining about? They put me through college! And you better believe I went to those classes. So, I'm going to pay more attention this time around, practice, and remember the combinations from class to class! For sure, it's on my dollar-bill this time. And, I'm trying to set a good example for Rosie, who is in Mrs. H's ballet class on Saturdays. Woot!