Practice what you preach...

     ...otherwise you'll forget how dang hard it is!  Tonight was my first time dancing Salsa with my husband in a long time.  It was a blast!  But when I told myself to do ALL the things I tell my students to do... Sheesh!  It was surprisingly exhausting?!  So hats off to my hard core troopers! (And believe me when I say only pick one thing a night to work on:)
       Now I could use the excuse that I'm still recovering from surgery - but that would be a lie - and my readers deserve better (though, truly, Bachata hurt the knee quite a bit).  The first shock came to me during the first dance, because for the first time in a very long time I was in heels.  Let me confess something: you can get away with murder in flats!  It's a lot easier to feel grounded in heavy dance sneakers than it is in 2.5" heels.  On the first song, I was so nervous to put my high heel down I felt like a prancing cheerleader.
       It's also a lot simpler to push into the floor with a rubber-soled shoe than one with suede that might slip out from underneath you.  I was like a baby giraffe taking his first, unsteady steps?!  Imagine my surprise.  Didn't I, back in the day, spend more time in high heels than any other kind of shoe?  Hadn't I, in the not-so-distant past, danced in even higher heels for 6-8 hrs per day?  Aren't I supposed to be a damn professional?!;)  What is the hardwood coming to?
       Eureka!!  I had an idea!  I'll brush the dirt off my shoes - that will help:)  And it did.  I started feeling my feet underneath me again and could then focus on other things... like my arms.  I'm going to be completely honest here (so don't throw it in my face later;) there are times I want to keep my hand on my belly during a right turn!  Sad, but true - I don't want to do arm styling all the time.  Sometimes, I just want to chill.  The hilarious part for me is, I've taught ladies to keep moving their arms for so long, I'm scared to do it any other way for fear droves of angry women will come at me from all angles saying, "Aha!"  But there it is girls, for better or worse, I sometimes don't want to move my arms either. 
        Last but not least, the old "push harder into the floor when the song is faster" advice.  This does work, when you remember to do it.  The problem is, you spend the first third of the song freaking out b/c it's so fast.  The second third, you remember me harping on you to "Push into the floor!" so you try it.  It works... until your legs start burning.  By the last bit of the song, you're so tired you're praying for a Merengue to come on next so you can take a break.  (By the way, I really like Merengue, I just know a lot of people are Salsa snobs;).
         Why tell you all this, you ask?  So you know we're all still figuring it out.  No one believes there's no room for improvement - or at least, I hope they don't.  We can all get better.  We can all learn something.  And we can all relax and remember the reason we dance is to have fun!  Tune in next week when I try to convince my husband of that very fact.  See you on the hardwood!:)