Practice Makes Perfect

Otherwise known as... Cha Cha Cha...

This evening I went to the Sunday social at the East Biggish City Near My Small Town Salsa Heat location.  I had spent the afternoon practicing Beginner 2 moves with Dr. Dance on the Pergo floors in my home.  I could helicoptero, setenta, check and vuelta, sombrero, and all the other moves that are part of the curriculum in Beginner 2 at Salsa Heat, where I take classes twice a week.  We practiced for about an hour and a half.  I was feeling good, and confident, and ready for the evening ahead.

I was overconfident. 

In One Step at a Time, I talked about how I felt like a rock star when I was in my class.  And it's true... I did.

I don't feel like a rock star any more.  I spent the evening watching rock stars, and trying to keep up with rock stars.  I am so not a rock star.  I am... a Beginner 2.  Beginner 2's are... by definition... beginners. 

The afternoon started with a Cha Cha lesson, taught by Mike, who is a most excellent instructor (and I've been told, the owner of Salsa Heat).  I could cha cha okay, but it was my first experience trying to cha cha with turns, and cha cha around my dance partner, and more turns.  I did okay.  But it really depended upon my partner.  With some partners, I could do the moves just right, and with others... I lost all my confidence, and fell apart.  It's really amazing how a dance partner can affect my ability so much.

After the cha cha lesson was over, Walter, a lovely older gentleman with an accent I couldn't quite place, asked me to dance.  We cha cha'd with the best of them... I was actually really amazed; he took several salsa moves and made them cha cha moves and I could follow along.  Walter made me look good; he was kind, and even though an excellent dancer, he didn't feel the need to do a gagillion turns, making me feel inadequate and ungraceful.

I wish that all the dancers were like Walter.

I went to the social tonight to get more practice before I went to class this week and attempted to test up from Beginner 2 to Intermediate 1.  There was a really nice guy named Hector who was an excellent dancer who asked me to dance about an hour into my social schooling.  

Ok, but I'm Beginner 2. 

That's okay... we're all here to learn!

He made me feel good, and did the moves that I knew, and stretched me with a couple of others, but didn't me me feel uncoordinated.  I was just aware that I was the beginner that I am.  And that's okay.

Some people are natural-born dancers, which fall under the following categories:

1.  They are graceful.
2.  They can easily follow a lead.
3.  They look good even when they make mistakes.
4.  They have this way of moving that makes them look like they have been dancing their whole entire lives.  And maybe they have.  

I am not a natural-born dancer, but I can hold my own with the moves that I have learned in class.  Tonight I held my own with a few dance partners, fell apart with a few others, and landed somewhere in between with still other partners.  No matter what, I tried to keep a smile on my face, and I laughed a lot.  Learning salsa, especially for a girl who has always thought she had two left feet, is just plain fun.

At one point in the evening, a certain gentleman asked me to dance.  The girls that I had made friends with during the social, Tonya and Franki, had warned me about this particular gentleman.  He danced a bit crazy.... improvising a lot, with a predisposition to twirl his partners about the dance floor.  We had watched him during part of the evening when he danced near us.  I didn't want to refuse, so the following conversation took place:

I am a beginner 2.  (This is how I started most conversations as we made our way hand in hand to the dance floor.)
Do you want to dance to a song slower than this?
No, I think I can handle it.
He started twirling me about and at a point I knew I was in over my head.
Look, I'm a beginner 2.  
I'm sorry, I'll go easier on you.   
He didn't, and began twirling me all over the place again.
I stopped dancing, and put my hands up.  Thank-you.  I was not smiling.  I was a little bit upset.
I took my seat next to the girls.  Tonya looked up at me... I'm sorry, Jen. 
That's okay; you tried to warn me, and you were right.

The salsa studio reminds me that I am human.  I am sexy.  (Just a little bit.)  I am forever learning.  I may be a Beginner 2 rock star, but I am sure I will be a fool in Intermediate 1.  And that is okay.  I have learned that... practice makes perfect.  I choose to keep practicing.