Becoming a Salsero

It is Saturday night and I walk into the party.

It's still early, just 9.40PM. So far only about 10 -20 people have arrived. They seem to be mainly followers. As was to be expected, the dance floor is empty.

I make my way around the room saying hello to the people I know. Given the fact that so few people are there this normally shouldn't take much time. However this party is organized by our dance school as they always do at the end of a course. Because of that there are a lot of familiar faces and it takes me about 15 minutes to make my round.

At the end of those 15 minutes the dance floor is still empty.

All the way in the back there are 3 other leads that I know well. They are just sitting there, looking at the empty dance floor.

1 Of the other leads is slightly more experienced than I am. 1, slightly less experienced the last one has been dancing a fair longer than I have. As they seem to have been there for a while I can´t figure out why they are not dancing yet. In the end I decide that the easiest way to find out is to go ahead and ask.

They all tell me that nobody is dancing yet and they are waiting for it to become a bit busier on the floor.

This is where I get lost. These are the most experienced leads here at the moment and they are waiting for other people to start dancing first. But, if the more experienced leads don't open the floor because they are too intimidated then how can we possibly expect anybody that is less experienced to be the first to dance?

I get confused and decide that a salsa party without people dancing just isn´t right so I walk over to one of the girls and ask her to dance.

She has been dancing for a while now now so I hope she won't be too self concious but as I come closer I can tell that she doesn´t feel completely comfortable. She´s a great sport though and she accepts even though it is clear that she doesn't like the idea of being the first one on the floor.

That is definately something I can relate to. All eyes are on us now and we are not great dancers. Slightly bigger fish in a small pond at best.

We begin to dance and start real slowly. Single turn, cbl, basic. Rinse and repeat.

After a while we start to relax and begin to enjoy the music and the dance. Slowly we incorporate more moves and after a while I have completely forgotten that everybody is watching us.

I laugh of my mistakes and just have a good time. So does she. Laugh my mistakes off that is. She's doing brilliantly. Now that the initial fear has worn off we are just enjoying the dance and forget about everything else. At least, that's what I do.

After a while the song ends and I suddenly realze we are no longer alone on the floor. Some other couples have started dancing as well.

Mission accomplished, this party is open for business!

I thank my partner and I'm off to say hello to some friends that have just arrived.

We talk a bit about the situation (experienced leads being to intimidated by an empty floor) and they start laughing. When I ask why they point to the floor and saying 'looks like you have to do it again'.

As I turn around I notice that the dance floor is empty again.

By now my initial fear is gone and I ask one of the newly arrived girls to dance with me. This time the others are quicker to respond. It only takes about 30 seconds for the next couple to get up and start dancing as well. Before we're halfway through the song there are about 10 couples on the floor. Things are looking up. It seems like the party will finaly get going after all.

When the dance ends I walk over to welcome some other friends that just came in. As I leave the dance floor I see the other couples leaving as well but I don't think anything off it. After all, enough people have been dancing now so someone else is bound to start dancing now, right?

Wrong! Nobody goes near the dance floor. They all sit on the site, looking at each other and the empty floor.

I decide to wait for the song to end. Perhaps some people just need to catch their breath for a second before they continu dancing. They might just start again in the middle of the song. And surely the more experienced leaders will start dancing now that some of their favourite follows have arrived . . .

Unfortunately once again, nothing happens.

The next song comes on while I still stand off to the side, wondering what is going to happen. And indeed you´re right, nothing happens. The floor stays empty

By now I´m completely lost. I have danced and my fear has gone away. The other more experienced leads have danced so surely they realize there´s nothing to be afraid off. Why do they stay on the side=

Halfway through the song I decide to try once more.
I ask one of my favourite follows and as soon as we move towards the floor another couple gets up and comes to the floor as well.

Shortly after that more people join in and, at last, the party has started.

This was the last time that the floor had been empty that night. It would not be empty again until the end of the party.

Still, to get back to the original question, if more experienced dancers won't open the floor, how can we expect beginners to start dancing?

Of course I realize that a lot of them are self concious. So am I. When they tell me it is intimidating to be the first one out there I can relate. I too was scared when I started that first dance.

But after that things got better and I started to think. What am I really afraid off? That somebody will laugh at me? I don't think that has ever happened.

That I am not a good enough dancer perhaps? But not good enough compared to who? After all, if I am the only one on the dance floor then by default I will be the best dancer on the floor :-)

There really is not a a reason to be scared.

Obviously I did not realize that yet when I started that first dance. It took some effort to get over that knot in my stomach and to go out there. The only reason I started to dance was a sense of guilt.

Because most classes are short on men I get asked to help out at a lot. When somebody asks me how I learned to dance so well (it's relatively easy to impress beginners ;-) ) I always stress the importance of social dancing.

And because I always say how important social dancing is I felt obliged to go out and dance. I felt that I owed it to them to get on the floor and dance. To show them that they have nothing to be afraid off, even if I was scared myself at that time.

Looking back though it was the best thing that happened in a while. As soon as I started to have fun it made me realize that dancing is not scary, it´s fun!

So what if I was the first to get up and dance? Sure, I made mistakes. But at least I was out there and I was dancing and having fun. That was after all the main reason that I came to the party.

So why didn't any the other leads do the same? Especially after people had already been dancing. I honestly don´t know and haven´t had a chance to talk to them about it yet.

All I can think of is that the fear was too great for them to overcome. But if that is true than how can we honestly tell beginners that they really should go social dancing? That it a wonderful way to improve their dancing and that they'll improve much faster. How can we say any of that if we with more experience don´t set the example?

Personally I know this won´t happen again. I won't be intimidated by an empty floor scare me anymore. After all, I now know that it's my chance to be the best dancer on the floor so I'm going to get out there and enjoy that ;-)

If you happen to know of a way for me to help others get over their fear please feel free to share it.

Enjoy your dancing!

A thread on Salsa Forums got me thinking about this situation. You're out dancing salsa and your partner makes a mistake. What do you do?

It seems that some people correct their partner's 'mistakes' or will try to explain moves while dancing. Others just give positive feedback and don't mention the mistakes at all. There is also a third group that will not say anything. At least not while they are dancing. They will thank their partner after the dance but will not point out anything positive or negative.

I belong to the second group. Personally I find that positive feedback often works much better than negative feedback. Not saying anything is just beyond me. If a girl surprises me in some way I can't hide the surprise and 'wow' will be said before I realize it. If I try to hide my surprise she'll still see a really big grin on my face so I might as well express it.

Another reason I believe in positive feedback rather than correction is that less experienced dancers (and by that I mean anybody with less experience than you have) are often nervous when they get out on the floor. To me it seems that most of their mistakes come from their nervousness rather than from anything else.

Obviously at that point in time you can choose to correct somebody but that most likely thta will only result in making the person more nervous and self concious. That will lead to more mistakes again and before you know it you're caught in an endless downward spiral.

Using positive feedback instead will make them relax a bit more which in turn improves the quality of the dance a lot and will make it a lot more fun for both partners. And that to me is what social dancing is about. Having a good time.

Don't get me wrong, I definitely use social dancing to improve. I practise what I have learned or try what I have seen (depending on my partner) but not to the point that it goes at the expense of having a good time.

Besides, and I'll admit that I'm relatively inexperienced and my point of view might therefor be different from a lot of experienced dancers but if my partner isn't nervous it is usually because of 1 or 2 things that she makes a mistake.

1) I didn't lead the move properly
2) I lead a move that was above my partners level.

Either way, it will not be her fault that she can't follow the move. It's mine. And if it's my fault then what gives me the right to correct her?

Sure, if I lead a move that is above her level I could explain it to her but I'm not her dance instructor so unless she explicitly asks me to, it's not my task and I should just let her enjoy the rest of the dance.

How do you handle situations like this on the dance floor?

As the dates for the 5th Croatian Salsa Festival have been set (25 - 28 June, with 2 pre-festival days) this is as good a time as any to reminisce and share some of my experiences from last year.

The festival is held in Rovinj, a lovely, tranquil village in Croatia. You can stroll around the quiet streets or along the seaside and feel like you've been transported to another place and another time. A more peaceful time. A time without all the stress that we so often feel these days.

If you have never been to Rovinj then this slide show should give you an impression of what the town looks like. If you have been there before then the pictures will most likely bring back some wonderful memories of this lovely town.




As you can see, it's a lovely, quiet town.

A place where time seems to have stopped and life is more simple, more relaxed... calm. The kind of place you would try to find you wanted to get away from the hectic life that most of us live these days. A place of such tranquility that you will forget about everything that may trouble you. A place where you can just relax until time seems to have stopped for you as well.

Rovinj is just that kind of place... most of the time.

But once a year, when it is time for the annual Croatian salsa festival, this sleepy town wakes up and roars.

It shakes of it's sleepiness and instead of the calm, peaceful town something else arises. For a couple of days the town transforms into a place so incredibly vibrant you will find it hard to believe that you are still in the same town .

It transforms from a cozy village, where lazy tourists calmly stroll around the streets and relax on beaches, into a vibrant town where you dance in the streets.

It becomes a place where swimming pools turn into dance floors and sleepy tourists are replaced by energetic, colourful salseros and salseras from all continents.

A town where the market square takes on a new role as it changes into a huge open air dance hall with some of the most amazing shows and musical performances ever witnessed.

A town so full of life that you feel it's newfound heartbeat pulsate, so full of energy that it keeps you going day and night.

A place where you can hear the sound of the clave and can feel the beat of the conga everywhere you go.

A place were both novice and expert salsa dancers fit right in and have an amazing time side by side.

A place that forges friendships that will last a lifetime and creates memories that last forever.

A place that words just can't describe.

But as a picture is worth a thousand words . . . here are some of them:




Unfortunately I can't seem to find any footage from 2008 but here are the highlights from 07:

Highlights Croatian Salsa Festival 2007



Last year I attended the salsa festival in Croatia for the first time but I can already say that it was the first time of many. This year I'll be there from the 22nd (I'm sure I'll need the extra night to get some rest before it all starts) right through the end of the festival. If you are there as well, come over and say hi!

There is one thing I remember very clearly about the first time I went social dancing.

I stepped into the club, checked my coat, went to the dance area and I panicked!

People were moving in ways I didn't even think were possible and none of them were doing any of the things that I had been taught. I don't even remember seeing anybody doing a basic.

To say that I was intimidated would be an understatement. So I just sat around for a while watching the dancers before going home. On the way back I dreamed about 'the day that I could do that too'.

Now that I have been dancing for a while the experience has changed a bit.

Don't get me wrong, it starts out the same way. I go to a club, sit around and watch the great dancers while my mouth drops. After a while though I consciously focus on other dancers and I see that not all the dancers are amazing superstars. There are also people who dance at my level and there are usually even some that have only just started out.

Then I always reminds myself that I'm there for 2 reasons. To have a good time and to improve my dancing.

Even though I can have a good time just sitting around watching great dancers it really doesn't do much to improve my dancing. I'm not sure about you but I just can't make a perfect copy of something that I have only seen once. To be honest, I usually can't make any kind of copy of it be it perfect, good or bad. If you can, please drop me a line and tell me your secret.

The only way I can improve my dancing (to keep this article from getting too complicated I won't go into musicality, counting, etc) is to actually get up, find a partner and dance.

This lead to a catch-22 situation for me. I wanted to get better at dancing but I didn't dare to go out and dance. Because of that it took a long time before anything happened.

I also remember the first time I actually went social dancing. I had been dancing for a while now and had the basics down so I wasn't too scared anymore. At least, not until we got to the party.

Once we were there all I could see were superstar level dancers and I became so self conscious that I couldn't remember anything beyond a mambo basic. This embarrassed me to no ends and lead to me becoming more and more nervous.

Half way through the song I called it quits. Even though my partner was very patient the night didn't improve. I would calm down when I was sitting down but as soon as I got up I felt like all eyes were on me and I started to freeze again.

Looking back though I don't know why I felt that way.

Nobody laughed at me, my parter didn't stop talking to me and if I have to be honest, I doubt anybody was even watching me. They were all looking at the great dancers, just like I do when I go out.

So what's the moral of this post? Go out and dance!

If you're like me then it can be very intimidating but the improvement you'll see and feel in your dancing will make it all worth it after a while.

If you're a man... definitely go social dancing!
Ladies tend to improve quicker than guys when they are both starting to dance salsa at the same time. You need all the practice you can get to just keep up with them.

And as Edie once told me, if girls would have wanted to sit around all night they would have stayed at home. Given the choice most girls would rather dance with you, even though you're not a great dancer yet, than sit around all night and not dance.

One of the posts that I read on SalsaForums.com today got me thinking.

The poster states that he feels something is being lost in Salsa now that it is mainly taught in the dance studios. To quote him:

"But there is something that is being lost, and I have mentioned it before. True Salsa de pareja, not just hand guided turn patterns and close body proximity for a dip or some other trick."

He then challenges the instructors to teach their students to dance more than just flashy combinations. He challenges them to teach their students to dance in close proximity as well.

When I read that statement part of me immediately agreed with him. The first time I saw a couple dance salsa they did a lot of flashy routines but they also danced closed for another part of the song. That made me feel that he has got a point.

It seems like we have indeed lost a lot of our closeness while dancing. But it is not just with dancing. It seems that, as societies, we have also become more distant. At least physically. We had much more physical contact 50 years ago, or even 30 years ago, then we have today. And much like we grew physically apart as individuals, the same seems to have happened to our dancing.

As most of the posters on SalsaForums.com seem to dance in the US and Europe we are more often exposed to LA an NYC salsa than other styles of salsa. So we see a lot more salsa being danced apart than in a close position.

This is probably the main reason that we feel salsa is being danced further apart nowadays.

So how did this happen? Of course I can only speculate but here is my opinion.

To me salsa is like a family. The different styles are different children born to the same parents. Like children they are all individuals but there is one very big difference between these kids. They all grew up in different places.

Some spent their childhood in Latin cultures while others grew up in the US. While they were growing up they were obviously influenced by their experiences and that is how they got to be where they are today. Different individuals even though they share the same basic principles that were handed down to them by their parents.

In my experience Cuban salsa is danced closer than LA. It is more relaxed and it is danced in closer proximity. Perhaps because the Cuban dancers seem to put more value on the connection with their partner.

LA on the other hand is high energy. It is more about excitement and it is danced further apart. The dancers often seem to be more like team members than like partners trying to create a connection. And if we look at the differences in culture that would make sense.

Cuba is more laid back than LA. LA's flashiness and the American goal oriented mindset obviously influenced the style. At the same time the Cuban style was influenced by the more laid back Cuban attitude. That definitely explains how they look so different.

But what does that have to do with dancing close or far apart?

Right before I read this thread on SalsaForums.com I was reading an entry in Jan's blog. As you probably have no idea who Jan is, she is an American who is currently in Europe for a couple of months.

In blog entry that I read she talks about 'that damn kissing business' in Europe and explains how it's completely foreign to her as she is from a "standoffish country".

I think she hits the heart of this discussion with that statement.

A dance is nothing more than the combination of it's the dancers. If you are used to a bit more physical distance then that will show in your dance. There will be more space between you and your partner. If fyou are used to a lot of physical contact then you will dance more close.

As Americans are more protective of their personal space than people from (some) other cultures it only makes sense that they grew to dance a bit further apart.

Does that mean that their version of salsa is not as good as a closer style? I do not think so. There are just different ways you can dance Salsa. And even though they share the same origin, they are not the same.

Maybe, rather than trying to change what the different styles have become we should treat them as different dances.

If you have danced both then you will probably agree with me when I say, they don't just look different. They feel completely different as well.

It could be that I have not been dancing long enough yet but unfortunately I can not explain how the difference in feeling. Then again, I have spoken to people that have danced both styles much longer and they too seem unable to explain. I'm not even sure whether that is relevant in regards to the original question.

So should we start enjoying the dances for what they are? Dance LA for instance for it's high energy and the buzz we get from that while dancing Cuban for it's intimacy and the connection with our partner?

Or should we try, like the original poster suggested, to bring closeness back.

I can see how both make sense and I do not have the answer. But I am very curious to know what you think so please feel free to comment or send me an email.

Yesterday I randomly came Jan's blog.

She dances Salsa and is in Paris at the moment. As I know some people that live there as well I offered to ask for some club recommendations.

One of my friends quickly came back to me with a couple of clubs and I passed the list on.
All went well so far.

Today she wrote an entry about her night out yesterday. It tells the tale of a NY style dancer who ends up in an intermediate rueda class.

It sounds like it was even worse than the time I got thrown into an advanced On2 class.

Sorry Jan. I hope the other clubs will be more fun for you.

Really you are!

I know that may sound hard to believe but you know what?
I am one of the world's best dancers as well !

Yes, I will be the first to admit it. That is even harder to believe.
After all, when you read this you will most likely have been dancing longer than I have. You know you are a much better dancer than I am and you don't think that you are that great.

So what makes me so arrogant?
How can I claim to be one of the world's best dancers?

Well, not to long ago I had an awful time on the dance floor.
Not only did I have a hard time finding the beat but when I did it slipped away again so quickly that I could not help but wonder if I had ever found it at all.

Aside from that I could barely remember how to do anything else than a cross body lead. I did managed to pull off a couple of turns but that was about it.

The lady I was dancing with was kind enough to say that she was having the same problem but I am sure that was because my lead was horrible that night as well.

To make things worse, we were the only couple dancing. There were no other couples for people to focus on. We could not hide between the other couples, trying to stay out of sight.

When the song ended we walked back to our table, pretty embarrassed, and we prepared ourself for criticism. We half expected people to be laughing at us. We had prepared our defenses though.

My excuses were going to range from 'I guess I am having an off day' and 'The sounds system is terrible, I could not make out half the music' to the even more ridiculous 'I must have eaten something wrong. I feel horrible'.

All in all it was one of those times that I would try to forget as quickly as possible.

And, as we expected, as soon as we had sat down people started to turn to us.
Except that, instead of criticizing us, they started complimenting us!

They told us how they had enjoyed watching the show and how great it was.
Some even asked us if we could recommend instructors.

For a second I was completely confused.

Were they being sarcastic? We were in the Netherlands after all and as dutch people tend to enjoy sarcasm it would not be unlikely at all.

But then it hit me. 99.9% Of the people you meet in your life will never have danced salsa. Actually, a large percentage of people you meet in your daily life will not even have seen a couple dancing salsa.

When you are on the floor and they see you do a cross body lead followed by a couple of spins they think you are a star. Like a popular dutch saying goes 'In the land of the blind the man with one eye is king'.

And this was the situation that night. We were the only couple in that bar that knew how to dance salsa. We looked amazing to the uninitiated.

So next time that have a bad day and you are wondering whether you are ever going to learn to dance at all, just keep this in mind.

You are already part of the 0.01% of people that know how to dance salsa. That alone makes you one of the world's best dancers!

This is the second article in a series of 4.

In Learn to dance salsa - part 1 I looked at learning salsa by taking lessons.

Today I will look at another way to learn salsa, namely by going to clubs.

So what are the advantages of going to clubs?

• Usually clubs offer a free class before the party starts
• There are a lot of great dancers in clubs and you can learn a lot just by watching and copying them
• There will be a lot of different partners for you to dance with
• You can dance as long as you want. Unlike in a organized course there is no time limit

Like with lessons the advantages sound pretty good.
Let's have a look at the disadvantages as well.

• The free class is often at a low level. This is ok if you are just starting to learn dancing but you will quickly outgrow the class.
• The dancers are at the club to have fun, not to teach you things. They most likely will not take the time to patiently talk you through each and every move
  
• You won't have dance partners assigned to you like you would at a course
• Most dancers will be at a much higher level than you are which can be very intimidating
• The dance floor is often crowded which makes dancing harder, especially if you're still learning

As with learning to dance salsa by taking lessons, learning to dance salsa in a club is not an end all solution. There are both positive and negative points and you'll have to work out for yourself how important they are for you.

In Learn to dance salsa - part 3 I will look at the advantages and disadvantages of learning to dance salsa by watching videos.

In my last post I mentioned that I'm starting to get over my fear of social dancing. That's actually not quite true.
I realized last night that I have already gotten over my fear of social dancing.

It took me a while but the dance floor is no longer an intimidating place that makes me want to sit in a corner and hide.

Looking back it was ridiculous that I ever felt that way but then, most things we are scared of turn out to be silly after we have faced our fears.

So how did I get over my dance floor anxiety?
Well, it was actually pretty easy.

At one point I got really frustrated just sitting/standing while watching other people dance. As I was still afraid people would be bored dancing with me I decided to ask beginners to dance.
And when I say beginners I mean beginners. Girls that had just learned a basic step. These girls were delighted that anybody asked them to dance at all and had no idea if I did something wrong.

After getting comfortable dancing with absolute beginners I started asking people to dance that were slightly better and for the next couple of weeks I only danced with girls that were still below my level.

Then I stepped up a bit again.
I started asking people at my own level to dance and I realized something 'odd'.
It turned out that dancing with them was fun and not intimidating at all. And even though they were all used to dance with better dancers by now, none of them were bored.

Then a strange thing started to happen.
Girls were starting to ask me to dance.
And not just girls that I had danced with before but also some girls that I wouldn't ask yet as they were well above my level.

The first time it happened I experienced a pang of fear again. Here I was being asked to dance but one of the dancers I really admire. At first I wanted to make up an excuse and back out of it.
However when I was just a young boy (I think I was 10 at the time) I was taught that it is very rude to say 'no' when a lady asks you to dance (it's probably the only thing I remember from ballroom dancing). This early programming overcame my fear and we danced. Afterwards I thanked her telling her what a joy it was to dance with somebody that was so gracious and so easy to lead and her face lit up. That night I learned you can even make more experienced dancers feel good when, or in this case after, you dance with them.

Now I can dance comfortably (more or less comfortably anyway) with anybody.
If I feel a girl is a better dancer than me I will always tell her up front that I've only been dancing for about half a year but that's all. The paralyzing feeling that I used to have is completely gone.

Looking back it's all a bit frustrating.
I can now see myself improving and I realize that I could have improved so much more if only I had started sooner. I'm sure I would also have remembered a lot more of what I've been taught over the past couple of months as I would have repeated it more often while dancing.
On the other hand, it could be worse. I could still be sitting on the sidelines watching the other people have a great time.

The new location, Variete in Trier, is working out well and I think they did great with the schedule.

Now the intermediate class starts at 7, followed by the beginner's class at 8.
This is completely opposite to anything I've seen so far but there is definitely an advantage to it.

At 9 the party starts and all the beginners stay to do some social dancing. Some will only stay for 1 or 2 dances but at least they dance and I'm sure they'll improve a lot faster than I did.

I've also found that, unless I'm really tired, I'm starting to have an easier time dancing.
Like the beginners I stay (and yes, I'm taking this beginner's class as well :-) and dance afterwards. It started out just practicing what we learned in class but lately it's getting better and I'm starting to throw in things from previous classes. Sometimes it actually feels like dancing an entire song without repeating the same thing over and over and over and over again.

It's funny that this now seems like such a great accomplishment. Especially as I by now have learned enough combinations to dance several songs without having to repeat the same thing. Unfortunately I still have some mental block when I'm on the dance floor and nothing comes out.
That said, it seems like the walls are starting to come down.

I'm also really looking forward to July when I'll go to the Salsa Congress in Croatia. It'll be interesting to see how dancing goes with 'new' people.
It looks like two of my friends, Alenka and Marija, who were at the Slovenian Salsa Congress are going to be there as well. I'm looking forward to seeing them again and dancing with them. Salsa is a great way to make new friends.
The funniest thing to me is that not too long ago ago I was terrified by the prospect of dancing and now, although still a bit reluctantly, I am actually looking forward to it.

It's been a couple of weeks again since I've last updated.
Unfortunately this also means I haven't gone dancing for a couple of weeks.

The last time was almost 3 weeks ago when Salsa Life introduced their new location (Variete at the Kornmarkt in Trier).
I had planned to be there at 18:00 but arrived later as I got stuck on work (around 18:30) as we were supposed to rehearse the choreography we learned a couple of weeks ago.
As I hadn't practiced it since that week I definitely needed that rehearsal.
Eventually I got it all down again but didn't feel to confident so I decided not to dance.
Or at least, that's what I decided until I realized that in that case there would only be one couple dancing.
So I bit the bullet and walked on to the floor and we danced.

As expected it didn't go great. We made some mistakes but overall were able to keep up pretty well.
The good thing was that as I was too focused on just going through the moves I forgot that there was an audience. I think that helped me a bit and it all turned out ok (some people even thought it looked great).

The one thing that this showed me is that , for me at least, it's easier to dance a show than to go social dancing. When doing a choreography you have something to fall back on. You know what's going to come next. Obviously that's not the same with social dancing where you have to make it up as you go.
That said, I did dance that night and I learned a lot. I found that when dancing with more experienced people I tend to freeze up and default to basics while I don't seem to have that same problem when dancing with beginners. Then I start feeling so comfortable that I have to hold myself back and not try everything I've learned and scare them away. I think I'm going to have to find some improvers to go social dancing with and everything will be ok :-)

Unfortunately I haven't gone dancing since.
Last night I wanted to go but I've just started working out again and muscle aches were killing me.
Walking was hard enough so instead of going dancing I took a hot bath and went to bed early.
Today I regret it a bit but unfortunately it's too late to change things now. Besides, I know that working out will pay off for dancing as well. It's just that the transition period is probably going to be a bit hard.
Ah well, there's always next time.