Becoming a Salsero

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.

Just the other day I was at a workshop and the strangest thing happened.

We were talking a bit and one of the guys there said 'I really like how you dance'.
I was blown away and didn't know what to say.

Here I am just trying to get through a choreography and apparently I managed to impress somebody. I don't remember the last time I was so proud.

I know I'm far from a great dancer. I'm only just now starting to get over my fears of social dancing. But I guess I'm starting to do something right :-)

Then yesterday one of the girls I regularly dance with asked me to dance to her favourite song which made me feel even better.

It's things like this that happen just at the right time. I felt like I wasn't improving at all lately (although I can now see clear differences between myself and the new beginners) but these 2 things have rekindled my determination to learn to dance!

I kept meaning to post but somehow didn't get around to it.

Last month was the Croatian Summer Salsa Festival in Rovinj.
If you haven't been there yet... GO !

Stop whatever your doing and run to your boss/parents/travel agent and say that next year, 25 - 28 June, you'll be going to Croatia. You won't regret it.

First I'd like to thank all the organizers.
These guys and girls worked so hard it's incredible (I won't mention your coffee break Danijel ;) and did a great job. As a team they seem to function really well which shows in the way everything is taken care off.
Sure, there were some problems but most of them were transparent to the people there.

As I was one of the volunteers we met a day before the congress started. I was already in Rovinj and was actually planning to meet up with the organizers even sooner but somehow (thanks tourist info) I wasn't able to find them.
We were originally meant to meet up at 2 but as some of the volunteers wouldn't arrive until 4 that got postponed. It was horrible. It meant I had to spent 2 hours at the hotel pool enjoying the wonderful weather. Ah, the sacrifices we have to make in life.

Wednesday evening there was a small pre-party at a square in town where in the end about 15-20 couples were dancing.
Somehow social dancing anxiety hit again with a vengeance so I just sat there and watched them all. That said, I had a great time so I have no reason to complain.

Thursday registration started and the atmosphere was great. I had the day off (more time at the pool for me) so I enjoyed myself until I started 'working' at the party at night.
The party itself was great but unfortunately the airco broke down.
People would go in to dance only to come outside again, drenched in sweat, 15 minutes later.
The hotel where the party was held was aware of this and was trying to get a mechanic out but apparently that's not as easy as it sounds in summertime in Croatia. We were all keeping our fingers crossed for them to get it solved before Saturday's party.

Friday workshops started and the atmosphere was great.
Both the instructors and the attendees were having a great time and my favourite workshop of the day was by Danijel & Željka, 2 of the organisers. Unfortunately I didn't tape it though and I have to admit I can't remember what they did. Guess I should have practised it more.

Friday night the party was held in the town square. I was looking forward to it but in the end we waited forever (ok, only 1.5 hours but it felt like forever) for our food so we missed a big part of it including the shows. As I hadn't seen any shows on Thursday that kept my grand total of shows seen at 0.

Saturday is a bit of blur (yeah, I should have written this sooner) but I remember a lot of running around and generally having a good time doing that.
The airco seemed to work better for the party Saturday evening although it was still warm.
The shows were held outside of the hotel and it was packed! There were people everywhere.
Unfortunately the performers had to come from inside to get to the stage which meant we needed to keep a path clear for them. Fair enough but it meant that I didn't get to see any shows on Saturday either. I guess I set a new record. Total of shows seen at a congress ... 0 :-)
Ah well, I'll wait for the DVD to come out I guess.

Then came Sunday. Sunday is famous at the Croatian Salsa Festival for 1 simple reason.... POOL PARTY ! ! !
The party was held at another hotel on an island. We spend 4 hours on a dock in the burning sun checking wristbands. After 5 minutes the heat was already getting to me and as I had forgotten to bring a cap I decided to buy one. Somebody (not sure who anymore, Danijel?) told me not to pay the price they asked and that was good advice. I actually got it for half price.
As I didn't really like any of the caps I decided to go for the most silly one I could find. A white cap with some text written on it in lovely shiny little stones.
Yes, it made me look incredibly gay but it was a great thing for people to comment on so I had lots of fun conversations that helped the time go by quicker.
And, as most people came in waves (there were still workshops going on) we also had time to swim a bit so it all turned out to be great fun.

The hardest part was sending people away. The party had sold out completely and we had to disappoint people that showed up without a ticket (hint, if you're going next year get your tickets for the party in advance).
At 4 the last boat to the island arrived and we got on to finally get to the party ourselves.

Once we got there everybody was enjoying themselves and the atmosphere was great. After we went for a swim to cool down a bit we joined in the dancing and had a blast. Just this party would have been worth coming down for.

As I'd be working at the party at night as well I started making my way back to the mainland around 7. Much sooner then I would have liked to but I guess volunteering has it downsides as well :)

The party at night was pretty relaxed. The highlight for me was that I finally got to dance with Daniela (and don't think you're off the hook just yet... we still have to do drinks next year Daniela ;-). Or rather, half a dance.
I was exhausted and used the end of the song as an excuse to run away and go sit by the pool again.

Then came Monday and it was time to pack up and leave again. Time to go back to reality.
All that was left was a farewell lunch. Sorry I didn't get to say goodbye to most of you. Things got a bit confused when you all went back to the hotel to pick up the floor while I had to leave.
It was great meeting all of you though and I'm looking forward to seeing you all again next year !

Some more random memories:

Oh, so you're walter (what can I say, I felt special :-)
Tender chicken (don't ask, you really don't want to know)
me and 5 girls in a Peugeot 206 (yes, life can be pretty good)
Dancing with the sexiest woman at the festival (See, I really wasn't looking to get anything when I said that ;-)
Ice cream in the middle of the night on Sunday (next time we'll have to do that when I'm not exhausted and actually good company. Maybe you'll even get your song then ;-)
Being gay can help you attract women (alledgedly)
We won (hey, Mike said so !)
Nutella (you still owe me 4 private lessons)
Da, volim te (thanks so much for the card. It made my weekend)
Rot op kreng (I figured I'd leave the other one out ;-)