Shall We Dance?

I was convinced that the world was made up of two types of people ~ those who COULD dance and those who COULD NOT! I obviously fell into the latter group.

A couple of years back, a software vendor of American and Japanese mix invited me to learn the salsa at El Nino's. Having always wanted to learn latino dances but lacking male partners who were interested to do so, I foolishly said yes! But alas! Instead of getting into a beginner's class, we accidently went to an advanced class and were promptly shown how inept we were (or at least I was) at dancing. My partner at least had some rhythm since he was into swing dancing, whatever that is. (Must be an American thingy.) But me, having born with two left feet, had to brave out the entire situation even though I must have looked stiff and klutzy.

In the intervening years, I have kept away from latino dances. Once burnt, twice shy. There are some limitations in life even for me. :p

An old schoolmate of mine returned from US not too long after that, and lo and behold, she turned out to be one heck of a salsa dancer! (Must be an American thang!) Ever since her return, she has been bugging me to join her for salsa but I declined politely. I ain't never gonna embarrass myself again in a whole room of "professional" salsa dancers. EVER! (Yeah! Famous last words!)

As in everything in life, never say never. Last Monday, this same friend invited me to her birthday bash at Qba, the famous salsa dancing club in the city. I went but thought I could sit out the whole salsa thing and make a quick getaway if things got a bit sticky.

Unfortunately, I met this crazy, persistent Malay chap who wore down my resistance and dragged me down to the dance floor. Surprise! Surprise! It didn't turn out as difficult or as bad as I thought. He made it seemed much easier by repeating similar steps over and over again. He was also a pretty good and strong dancer as he led the steps and threw me into twists and twirls! He was up to all sorts of funny dancing steps and it was a hilarious affair. This time was so different from my previous experience where I felt so tense and stiff. Even the close body contact with a complete stranger did not faze me. He was clowning around so much that half the time, I felt like I could actually dance!

Weee ... the fact was I quite enjoyed myself on the dance floor in the end except for the burning sensation at my calf after a good few minutes on the dance floor where I thought the song would go on for all eternity! :P Eventually, I had to call it quits.

Blinking hell! Trekking or playing badminton or going for combat class is a lot easier and less strenuous than salsa dancing. But then, it doesn't seem like such a difficult thing to learn now.

Hmm, perhaps ... Salsa anyone? :)