Learning to Follow on a Friday Night-- Part 2

Otherwise known as... Leaving My Two Left Feet Behind...

If you have read Part 1, you know that Friday evening I met fabulous former colleagues from My Last Excellent Elementary School at Chili's for an early dinner and convivial conversation.  After departing the dining establishment, I drove to Salsa Heat for the Friday night lesson.  I was early, but I like being available to help out the Beginner 1 and 2 classes.  Since I am now in Intermediate, if they don't have enough women in the Beginner lessons, they let me be a practice partner.  It's a great way for me to work on tightening my moves and making them neater, plus since I know the steps the instructor can focus on the male partner and not worry about me. 

This particular Friday night, however, both classes had an equal amount of men and women... they didn't need any of us Intermediate hangers-on.  So I found myself with a bit of time.  I watched Linette from a distance, but I had a whole hour and my iPhone will only take me so far.  I actually kind of hate wasting time on my phone in public.  Sooooo... I did what any Intermediate 1 fearless female student would do:  I sauntered up to a male student who I knew was an excellent dancer in Intermediate 2, and asked him to help me with a couple of shines I have been tripping up on during the warmup.  Shines are moves that you do when dancing unconnected with your partner. 

We went through the shines, and music started playing, and I looked at him and enthused, Let's just dance!  So he took my hands in his, and we went through the Intermediate 1 moves and most of the Intermediate 2 moves.  It was GREAT.  I worked on not thumbing, and being better at following.

Not thumbing.  Who knew that to thumb was a verb?!  All kidding aside, it is quite difficult (and possibly painful!) for a man to turn a woman if she is holding on with her thumbs.  I do this.  Often.  At least, I did this.  Every once in a while Young Male Salsa Dancer (YMSD for short), would look at me and admonish, Jen, you're thumbing!

Okay, okay... I know... Thumbs aren't SEXY!  And we'd laugh, and keep going. 

Follower Thy Name Isn't Jenchan.  Being a leader in most areas of my life, one of the draws to salsa for me, believe it or not, is the ability to relinquish that responsibility to my dance partner.  Our instructors are constantly telling us if we just do the basic step and let the man actually lead, that we should be able to do almost any move-- as long as our partner shows us the way.  It's much easier said than done, but I am getting better at it.  A huge part of following is trusting my partner.  YMSD was easy to trust, because he knew what he was doing, and I knew that he knew what he was doing.  So, I worked on being putty.  And I got pretty good at it!

Later, folks from my own level began trickling in, but I was happy to already have a practice partner.  We danced the entire hour before class.  It was fantastic. 

When Linette's class was over, I saw her talking to the instructor, and then she started dancing... Linette was testing up!  How exciting!  When she was finished, the instructor spoke to her for a minute, and then...

She flashed me the thumbs up sign.  I ran over and we double high-fived. (High tenned?)  I'm glad to have her back in my level.  It's more fun when we can cut up together a bit.

A few minutes later, the Intermediate 1 class began.  We learned two moves: the Flamenco, and the Walk Through.  Our instructor, Ivan, broke the steps down really, really well.  He was also super-funny, and the hour went by pretty fast!  We also practiced a couple of shines:  Flare Step and a move I don't know the name of.  After class was over, an older German gentleman whom I had first met a few weeks ago at the E. Colonial Salsa Heat Sunday Social, walked up to me.  The "dj" had just started playing a song.  Jennifer, they are playing music.  We must dance.

I didn't even have to think about it.  Yes!  He offered his hand, I took it, and I let him take me through several moves I didn't know, as well as few that I did.  When the song was over, he thanked me and told me that he had gone through the entire syllabus, including a few advanced moves.  Wow!  I really am getting better!

While I was dancing with Older German Gentleman (OGG), I saw Eduardo, a student whom I have been dancing with since Beginner 2, watching us.  When I was finished, I walked over to change my shoes (I bought real dancing shoes last week from a dancing supply store) and he sat down next to me.

Jen, you looked good out there.  

Thanks!

What are you doing tonight?

Ummmm... I don't have any plans.

A bunch of us are going dancing tonight at Cuba Libre.  You wanna come?

Oh gosh, that sounds like fun!  But, I have to get up early tomorrow morning to run six miles.  I'm training for a half marathon.

Wow!  I knew that you had to be doing something besides salsa to get those legs...

Oh my.  Full-on flirtation.  So, I told Eduardo that since Friday was a holiday, perhaps I could do my long run (seven miles) Friday morning, so that Friday night I could go out.  But I did ask if Linette and Remon could come along, and we make it a group outing.  He responded affirmatively, but what else was he going to say?

I'll have to wear my polka dotted skirt on Friday.  Linette says when I wear that skirt I'm bringing out the big guns! 

Jen, I don't care what you wear as long as you don't cover up those legs.

What can I say that I haven't said before?  Boot camp, running, and salsa have paid off.  And people are noticing.  Although he was being pretty shameless in his flattery, it wasn't creepy.  We've grown to be pretty good friends in the past couple of months we've known each other. 

Just then I noticed Lovely Older Latin Man, whom I had been dancing with when the clock struck midnight on my birthday (as described in the Turning 37 post) standing a few feet away, and I walked over.  We kissed on the cheek (I really love all this cheek kissing!) and he told me he had seen me dancing with the OGG and that I looked pretty.  (A girl can get used to all these compliments!)  We talked for a few minutes, and I made my way out of the studio, walking on air, enjoying the pumped-up-full-of-endorphins feeling that dancing salsa provides.  (And then of course I went home and couldn't sleep!)

This Friday I will be stepping out into the salsa clubbing scene.  I'm nervous, but excited.  After all, if I just let the man lead, and not hold on so tight, the rest will fall into place. 

Addendum:  The author feels entitled to call Young Male Salsa Dancer young because he was born the year she started college.  And any man described as being Older is close to her parents' age or greater.  There are plenty of men in between, and the author has yet to pick an apt descriptor for them.