You learn something new every day....
... well if you are a lifelong learner you do. Last night I met Michelle and Shane from www.jitterbugs.co.nz for the first time. Michelle had already offered to display some of the Dance Tours posters www.dancetours.co.nz at Labour Weekend's 100%Pure Swing. An email from Michelle invited all of us on her subscription list to join a four week class in Balboa which began last night. I had never heard of Balboa so checking with my faithful www.google.com I was led to http://www.balboafeet.com/articles/balboa.php which features a stunning video clip. Look at those feet move. Is he on iceskates or what?
By pure coincidence (even though there is no such thing) my class in Quickstep and Rhumba at www.johnyoungdance.co.nz finished at 8.00pm leaving me time to get to the Balboa class by 8.30pm.
What a great group of enthusiastic and welcoming people. What surprised me was that there were more men than women, which in my experience happens less frequently than the converse.
The first thing that impressed me was that we were divided into leaders and followers not men and women. This is not being PC, it is real. I have attended a number of lessons where women have been learning the lead role. How much more sensible to change our language to reflect this reality?
Learning Balboa, I was reminded again of that great movie, www.taketheleadmovie.com where Antonio Banderas, acting as Pierre Dulaine, www.pierredulaine.com tells the school PTA that ballroom dancing is all about respect and trust. The leader respects the partner and the follower trusts the leader.
There was a lot of respect and trust in our first Balboa lesson last night. The moves are signalled through the upper chest which must be in contact with your partner's for that signal to be conveyed. Although they may not read this, I want to thank my partners for their trust and hope that you felt equally treated with respect.
At the end of the class Michelle invited us all to join her for a coffee and cake at the local cafe. Most of us attended.
I think I could get into the Swing of things, but aren't I already over-committed to my dancing activities? We'll see what happens by the end of four weeks of Balboa.
Want to share what you learned today?
Chris
www.dancetours.co.nz
OH MY GOSH ... I've just watched the video of Balboa. Never heard of it. I couldn't stop smiling and my heart feels all sort of giggly watching it ... s.t.r.a.n.g.e. ha. When does the next set of lessons start.
This is my favourite verse which is on my wall at home as well as at work. Thought I would like to share it with you all.
There's no such thing as an average day.
Each one is unique, unlike any other,
and will happen only once
in the entire history of the universe.
(Comment this)
Not sure if you're in Auckland or not, but you could probably join in for the remaining 3 weeks of the course on Tuesday nights in Mt Eden....
Drop me a line if you'd like more information.
And THANKS Chris for coming along last night. It is always great to meet new fellow dancers and learn something new. See you next week!
Thanks
Michelle (Comment this)