A Year On and When Things Go Wrong

Well late last June I went to my first Ceroc class. Nervous and uncertain what to expect. I arrived early (something never really seen since) and was greeted by a lovely Taxi dancer who explained what to expect. At the same time I remember being overwhelmed by a couple of dancers doing a warm up dance and thinking that I was way out of my league being there. Anyway the beginner class was difficult. I think I had trouble getting a Shoulder Drop right and spending ages worrying about it. We moved from class into freestyle while I nervously danced with a few women. Even though I was finding it difficult and I knew four moves I loved every bit of it. A lot of men have said it has taken them weeks to actually get to a stage where they were actually enjoying it but I found I was taken with it from the word go.

It didn't take long before I was back again. Part of that was my desire to learn more and to get the moves right. The other part was to get another fix. Less than three months in I found myself in my first competition and my first weekender. That experience just got me both wanting to learn more and realising how much I enjoyed it. I was more hooked than ever before. I tried some other dance styles as well. Salsa never stuck but WCS did and I'm still hoping to learn others (such as actually doing a reasonable level of Tango).

One thing that has always surprised me in dancing is what a lovely, friendly bunch of people go; and how enjoyable it is dancing with people you've danced with many times before and also dancing with people you've just met that night. I met my lovely girlfriend there and it has been so enjoyable to go dancing with her.

I've traveled more in Scotland and around the UK this last year than I have done in my entire life previous to taking up dancing. It's been a fantastic part of my life and I'm so glad that a friend pointed it out and that I decided to go. So to everyone out there that I've met through it and all the lovely people that I've danced with Thank You it's been a wonderful part of my life.

At the beginning of July I had a small accident at work and managed to damage the tendon in my ankle. That's meant that up until recently I haven't been dancing for the last 5 weeks or so (I'm still taking it slowly now but that's for another post). Not dancing for that period made me realise how much of my social, exercise and entertainment dancing is and how the absence of it drove me a little crazy. I think it took that for me to realise what a big part of my life it really is. Not that I'm happy that the lesson had to be learned in such a way.

So I'm hoping that my second year of dancing doesn't go on the way it started but that I can continue to enjoy it and hopefully improve my dancing in the process.

June Review

We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.
-Japanese Proverb

Aberdeen Beach Ballroom

I really enjoyed my trip to Aberdeen, the workshops and the parties. Amir has such a good teaching style and I've taken away a lot from the workshops (though still need to practice all of it).

The Saturday party was good, though very busy, and the chocolate and ice cream were wonderful touches. Dance Demon's later, bluesy set, was fab and I had a lot of good dances mostly with people I don't know.

However I preferred Sunday for the wonderful atmosphere and I had my best dances there. At the end of the night I took some advice and closed my eyes while dancing with my partner and it felt wonderful. It made me much more aware of the position of her body and our weight shifting. Another obvious result of this is it required a constant connection. Sending her out into a spin meant that I couldn't be certain of her position or anything. I definitely need to experiment more.

Stirling Tea Dance

I had lots of lovely dances at this tea dance; some very memorable ones from a lovely lady from Aberdeen. I'm hooked on Tea Dances. They seem the best atmosphere for me. I had a really fun four person dance where we constantly gave or stole the lead from the other couple. It was really interesting because it was a challenge invading another couple's space and attempting to disrupt them without actually crashing into them. I shall definitely find some people I can do that with again.

Edinburgh Party

It was a good set at the Edinburgh party and I had a good time. I seem to have a lot of two dances with people from Edinburgh and Glasgow. It worries me that this means that I don't get around to dancing with anywhere near as many people but then I very much enjoyed the dances with the people I had dances with.

Classes and Such

Unfortunately the end of term arrived at West Coast Swing. Which is more of a shame because I finally felt I was really getting the hang of it. I'll see what the next term brings.

A friend I haven't seen for a while came back to the Edinburgh venue and it was amazing seeing how much she had improved. It was really wonderful dancing with her and I think there is a really lovely surprise in seeing people after a few months and see how much they have come on (she is a better dancer than I am, but her style and such were notably more her).

Well that's it for now. I've got a sort of end of June to talk about and the poor months that represent July and the beginning of August. But in time...