I had wanted to be a ballerina since I was a tot. I used to pore longingly over pictures of fairy princess ballet dresses and set my sights on a beautiful teal one with lots of tulle and sparkle. A dream that did not come true. Fast forward to adulthood and I would muse about meeting the man of my dreams and the both of us enrolling in Tango lessons. This notion was thwarted too, but I am grateful in a strange way.

I was dragged (yes, dragged!) to a salsa club one night. I had on the wrong shoes and I had only half-heartedly participated in a lesson beforehand. I felt like a fish out of water with all the skilled dancers at that club. I ended up being a wallflower for most of the evening until Javier came along. He had the sexy smoldering Latin look that sends tingles down my spine. He took pity on the lil ole white girl leaning against the wall gazing longingly at the dancers and asked me to dance. I went a bit reluctantly, but he was patient with me and coaxed me around the outdoor dance floor, which was less crowded. Then he kissed me! That is a story for another day, however.

I was hooked on salsa dancing and found a dance instructor close to home. I did not like his arrogant style, but I was determined. I also took private coachings and group classes whenever I could. Eventually, I decided to find a new dance teacher and I found Jay. Jay introduced me to the world of ballroom dance. I grew to love the sensuous Tango, the sexy Rumba, the flirty Cha-Cha-Cha, and the waltz, foxtrot, and bolero. My two left feet disappeared on the floor and I could dance reasonably well.

I am a perfectionist and reasonably well is just not good enough for me. So I moved on to an even better dance instructor and I have been working on more than the technical aspects of dance...I have been working on getting the graceful lines that characterize a beautiful dancer. I decided to expand into ballet and modern dance to achieve my aims with these core dance classes. Sammi is my instructor for these classes and she is phenomenal! I love the routines she puts together for me to learn, but most days I feel like an elephant lumbering around on the floor in the shadow of her graceful twirls and pirouettes across the floor. I just keep on plugging away though, because I know me dance pretty one day.

Labels: Ballet, dancing, Javier, Modern Dance, Rumba, Salsa, Tango