Of Dance Classes
I have come across some top-secret information about women. Shhh... (looks left and right).Apparently women love to dance.I KNOW! It’s huge!It seems that attending dance classes may be a really really good way to meet single women as well as the obvious benefits of exercise, developing self-confidence and a cat-like grace.
Now, my previous experience with dance hasn’t been entirely successful. Let’s see. Earliest dance memories would have been me at 10-11ys at Ross Intermediate in Palmerston North. As I recall we were learning the Charleston. And I was generally getting picked last. We also were organising in-classroom dances which generally involved conga-lines and Kylie Minogues’ Locomotion.Then there were the church dances: Square Dancing in the Kairanga Hall (pre-dating Line Dancing, and still moderately hideous), organised ‘socials’ in the church hall (no kissing or touching allowed, but we were able to dance to ‘Six Months in a Leaky Boat’). Generally speaking I was the guy who did the organising and standing in the corner during the event itself.If memory serves there was one lovely lady who at 17 asked me to accompany her to ballroom dance lessons as she had no one else to go with - and to be fair we were really good friends. I did for the eight weeks, and actually enjoyed myself a lot. In hindsight it occurs to me that I completely missed all her signals. DAMNIT!!I don’t think I’ll go into the ill-fated church-run aerobics classes - they weren’t dancing but involved movement and enthusiasm. It was the mid 80’s and it was all just a little wrong. Actually - Palmerston North still boasts the hairstyles and fashion that we enjoyed all those years ago. It is nice to know that there are some places where time stands still isn’t it?
In the years between then and now, I have generally avoided dancing environments. Mainly because I’m quite certain my dance technique looks really uncomfortably bad and I wasn't with someone who danced.So, what to try?Zumba? I’m not sure. According to the television (it’s on TV so it must be true), everyone is ridiculously attractive and enthusiastic. And a little too much “woo-hoo” for my liking.Salsa? Could be a starter. I am a fan of Cuba (I really want to visit there one day) and I love the musical stylings of the Cubans.Ballroom? Again - not so sure. Silly costumes (well, for the guys - the ladies look amazing!), but an overall education in many dance styles could be good. However there is the Paul Holmes effect which is of concern.And where to try. There are a few around according to a quick search. These includeLatin RhythmViva Latinoand apparently The Kingslander has a Salsa night on Wednesday nights...Does anyone have any suggestions as to what to learn? Where to learn? Who to learn with?Comments? Recommendations? Stories of success?Simon.