Dancing My Booty Off
It has been so long since my last post! I have been dancing my little booty off - I am going to Bachatura in Katowice Poland in August - and have been doing group lessons, a few private lessons, Saturday studio practices and social dancing to prepare. In addition to the festival in Katowice, I am spending a week in Barcelona and a week in Madrid surrounding the festival with friends from LA. I AM SO EXCITED!!!
There are so many aspects of dancing I am working on. Weight transfers being one of them, so my body and weight are in the correct place so I can be more receptive to the leads. I am also working on sensitivity to cues, and relaxing. "Be like water" is what I tell myself over and over again to calm my mind and relax into the movements.
It is so crazy because when I started dancing, I would have a drink at the beginning of the night to loosen up. Sometimes, if it was an uber fun night and other friends were getting a little rowdy with the tequila, I would have more than one... and then boogie!!! Now, I normally don't even have one drink. I have learned that it is hard for me to stay focused and form a good connection with my partner if I have a few drinks. Why? Well, #1. The music is so good that I have to really keep myself from losing my mind when my favorite songs come on. I get SO EXCITED!!! Think teenage girl, jumping up and down screaming excited! Not good for sensual dancing. #2. If you add in the sugar/alcohol when I don't consume much of either, I get so excited I can hardly settle myself down enough to relax and be receptive to the leads. It's like when you are at an EDM concert and the beat drops and you lose your mind. Dancing brings me so much joy that I really have to work on staying calm. I've realized too much booze gets me too hyper and then I am probably dancing like a blind, adolescent road runner.
Last Thursday I went to the Victorian and had a blast. I was calm, happy, receptive, stayed present with myself, focused on people's energy and reminded myself to flow like water. I had the BEST time. I was a little apprehensive about going to the V - it had been about a month and a half - because it draws the best dancers in LA and I still get intimidated. Also, since I know the majority of the regulars through classes and being out social dancing for the better part of 2 years, I often dread having to interact with so many people (even though everyone is amazing!) and have to fight the urge to hide in my introverted shell instead. I am so glad that I did go, and had some of my better dances in a while. I even made it on Bachata Chronicles IG stories, lol!
Dance friends often say the nights they are on the fence about going out, usually end up being some of their favorite nights. I wonder if this is because expectations are low so even one dance feels epic? Or is there something special about pushing through hesitations, insecurities or just being damn tired from the work week that leads to the "sparkle" nights?
After the Victorian on Thursday, I was overly social Friday/Sat/Sunday. In addition to three dance lessons and studio practice, I was with amazing friends all hours of each day and by Sunday at 9pm I was craving no humans, no noise, no social media and just palo santo burning while drinking tea. It was time to peace out of all human connection and start the recharge process.
Dance Class!