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.