re emergence

After a situational sabbatical of  a year and then some,
I am finally back to Ballroom Dancing.
I had to do it all over again
from the beginning though. 

Its  been two classes and I am starting to feel the energy of the Cha Cha Cha
& the beat of the Samba once more.
It is all coming back now,
slowly but surely.

I had done a basic course in Salsa too and could not continue ,
I will have to cross this bridge another time,
Hopefully in the near future.
The good thing about Salsa is that its quite universal
and can be danced in most music.

I did miss Ballroom & the variety it offers.
The ChaChaCha &Samba,
The Waltz & Foxtrot,
The Rumba & Jive.
And  decided to rejoin.
Its good to be back.

Will leave you guys for now with this number from Morcheeba

"To the beat of the drum, we travel on
Courageous we sail into the storm
Singing our song and feeling strong
On a voyage to where we all belong"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggmJNMLipCs

Without Reservations. (21/05/2011)

“God respects you when you work,

but he loves you when you dance.”

- Sufi Saying

Of late I have been reading and 'googling' about  the street dancing (ballroom) scene in other cities. It is quite fascinating to see the street and impromptu dance scene at Buenos Aires and  other American cities. In Mumbai however such events are non-existent and the dancing community finds themselves all dressed up but nowhere to go. This is true as this city offers very limited options for ballroom dancing.

I have been working on an idea quite excitedly (as always) which has something to do with the subject of discussion here. It simply says that if the world is your oyster, then the whole of Mumbai is your dance floor. We are talking of the paved promenade of Marine Drive or Bandstand  on a Sunday morning (sunrise) , perhaps followed by brunch at nearby Trident or Taj  to make the setting for a perfect day! Nondescript building terraces with sleepy watchman for 'foxtrot at rooftops'  in the evening or empty parking lot at BKC  on a holiday  for 'take all the space you need'  Waltz. The choices are endless...........the trick is to be a little bit creative about it. Also, tangentially ( meaning ' mungerilal ke haseen sapne' type  imagination) .......on your way to work......where traffic is at a standstill, get out of the car ,cha cha for 5 ,drink water and  get in. Better still, if the D.J. Traffic Cop at Sion Junction  armed with new Govt. rule (circular dated ..........)  which clearly states GreenLight + no more road to drive = level II samba routine,  him announcing "Hi everyone , mee Inspector Tambe . Everyone out of the car and follow dance routine II .........1a2 and 1a2, continue  till some  road become available for driving".  Surreal.

this rooftop looks like a good spot ...... :) !

Coming back, once you have a place, a boom-box (or car stereo in certain cases) and the right attitude...............all you need now is a partner. The choice of partner is the most important here..........you need someone who is free in both mind & spirit and fun at  heart ( that too 'bhar bhar ke'). Someone who   is adventurous in nature  and  gives progressive change a chance. Someone who knows  where he/she is and where he/she is going. Last but not the least, the more good looking the better.................remember God easily forgives good looking people, lol!  So does everyone........this is unfair but true. Definition of good looking is someone who is at his or her best. If you are at your best and people around you want to be like you then you are a star!

pink/red umbrella maybe not required,
polka dots only for those who can carry it off!

Coming back again ..........as my instructor would have said,  " As a man you have to figure out and plan everything to perfection , as a woman you will answer unexpected call and  go with the flow , keep it simple".
'Break a Leg' and make it look good people.
Cheers!


After thought: Funny it will be if we land up at the same terrace after outwitting (nondescript) building watchman with Boom boxes of the same make! ........that would be indeed funny.

links for street tango dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXWBPBfHnh0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnUJjSfwOcA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eTjUVVqUXM&feature=related

Random Babbling ( 11/05/2011)

On Sunday, I had gone to Bandra for some things that I needed to do. However, the plan got changed abruptly and I had some free time. So I went to check out the  Sunday classes . I was surprised to see the Dance Hall was over packed by students and have come to the conclusion (with my faulty logic) that, more people like to dance on a Sunday than on a weekday. This may be because of the availability of time for the working mass. And, as for the non-working  crowd, their intolerant spouses (understandably)don't allow them in the house on a nice  and hearty Sunday afternoon.

The crowd was an interesting mix and I did a quick 'terminator' scan and was surprised to find at least 3 to 4 Star Wars characters mostly from the Interstellar Cafe that Han Solo visited many decades ago! 

Is there a conspiracy by these characters to take over the already unaffordable Bandra Real Estate by using secret  samba moves ? Should I be calling the Men In Black ? Nah....that would be counter productive as I am one of the character myself. Check out for pointy ears next time you see me !

Some would find it strange, weird and even rude  that sometimes I am laughing out suddenly for no reason or that I would say something out of the blue  not connected to anything. Well ,what can I say people .........its just my imagination, please keep up!
I would definitely like to meet someone who understands without having to explain. I did and it was great. Any more takers?

Amazing Dance Scenes

                                                                      

Scent of a Woman,1992
Gabrielle Anwar and Al Pacino.
( also, check out  Gabrielle Anwar in 'Burn Notice' - Star World. So different now !)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBHhSVJ_S6A

Shall We Dance, 2004.
Jennifer Lopez & Richard Gere.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dUCZxaTJzk

 Pulp Fiction

Uma Thurman & John Travolta.
Its all about the attitude baby!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik-RsDGPI5Y




 

Dirty Dancing, 1987.
Jennifer Grey & ( the late) Patrick Swayze

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpmILPAcRQo

Sometimes, 2011

Ballroom Dancing = Carrying Heavy Loads

links: Dance Classes all over the world !

some people identifies, ;)  lol!

Level III

I have had a promising start of  Level III classes yesterday.
Timings being from 6.00 to 7.00 P.M, I can see how the working  crowd is finding it difficult to rejoin. Its a bit too early for them to reach on time after work. But it was good to see the positive spirit  when most students came  to practice during Level II. A new step of Cha Cha Cha was taught to us and we all had good fun.
Watch out   for updates here........

08/05/07

We have now completed two more classes. New steps are now introduced in rapid succession both for Rhumba & Cha Cha Cha. Moves involving turns in one direction like the "under arm turn?" have proved to be a slight problem for me as I tend to get dizzy after 4/5 turns. I was told  that 'spotting' will help reduce this. I need to practice spotting, I guess.
      Samba,when danced with the right partner can be much fun. This was however not to be on Thursday! I had a partner best described as follows

      - Oh, the  poor (over)enthusiastic girl !
She requires no leads, and moves along with automatic ease !
Jumping and hoping the samba routine,
Like a prawn and a kangaroo all mixed,
I did try telling her that this is not the way,
But she gave me that ' I know what I am doing'  look !
Oh, poor (over)enthusiastic girl, please don't hop so high,
for I am afraid that you will land on my toe!
Oh, poor (over)enthusiastic girl, What will you do?
When there is no one to count
And the routine gets all mixed up ?
         Is there a way to punish such people without having to leave class? :) One friend suggested that I kick them out of class! Hmmmm........ nothing a well aimed correct samba push combined with hidden samba side kick will not solve, I suppose.
Wicked and evil. (Wink/Glint.)
to ponder, for someone said " for every partner you don't like to dance with, there are ten who don't want to dance with you"

20/05/2011
The last ten days have been a bit of a bummer. There have been a little bit of confusion and unrest in the class. This is because a lot of changes have taken place with the introduction of choreography for a show which the students have to perform sometime in the first week of July.
This means that Level II and Level III are together now. It also means the grouping  of students into two camps - those who are participating  in the show and those who are not. There has been an introduction of a new instructor for the choreography. Right now I can best described the situation in class as that of lacking some order.I am sure  some sense will come out of all this though ............the sooner the better !
21/06/2011
We have been practicing the choreography routine for almost a month now. All the steps from beginning to end have been worked out. One can say that the structure is all ready and what one needs is practice, practice & practice. We still have not decided who is dancing with whom till now. Personally I feel that it would be better to do this as one can practice and smooth off any unsure steps and moves  one to one and put in more hours if required. One of the good thing about choreography is that you get to do certain steps which you normally don't learn in class. A little bit of awareness of the whole flow and posture during the dance is also there. So overall I would say, this is a good thing.
Meanwhile, I can understand if  the students who are not part of this choreography feels a little cheated as we have been doing only choreography  mostly.

no 'butts'.

There  is a great deal  of hip movements involved in Latin American Dances.
While this seems to be perfectly fine with the member of the fairer sex, their male counterparts finds it a little uneasy ( read 'gay'ish) to relate to steps involving the hip and back, especially during  the initial days of joining dance class. I wonder if this is also the case in Cuba or Brazil ? Our brothers over here however, are a wee bit  shy!  As the days progresses, this particular problem sorts itself out  as  the shyness and uneasiness gives way to high octane moves of the samba & the cha cha cha ,the graceful and sleepy motions of the rumba ( graceful for some, sleepy for the rest!). The ones who are still having this 'mental block'  takes solace with the Waltz and the Foxtrot. My advice to them is to 'gay it up' by a notch ( not more than 1%). Anything more than this particular figure of 1% will make me run away so fast that  you will see me disappearing over the horizon 'Tom & Jerry' style.

mayhem in class

On Thursday

I attended dance class 

after missing three classes in a row.

We had to dance with partners ( for me the first time!) and I was totally lost.

In this case  the girl was doing all the leading with no help from yours truly.
BAD.BAD.BAD.

Also embarrassing and feeling stupid too!

But not so much so, after all its a class!

NEED PRACTICE, NEED TO BE REGULAR.

UPDATE    01

Having attended two more classes ,I am feeling a little more confident.

We did the basic steps of jiving- so fast and full of energy. Pure fun & happiness! We also did the waltz (basic) - most romantic and uncomplicated,

just like the truth itself.

UPDATE     0 2
Today was the last but one day for our class. We will then move on to the next level. By now, we have learned the basic steps  of rhumba, samba, cha cha cha, jive, waltz and foxtrot. Grace has never been a part of the exercise ( at least for me) till now. More of awkward movements filled by an occasional good roll. But still,I would say a good  beginning overall.
Now, looking forward to learning new steps ( the more interesting ones!),
improving overall body posture and most importantly the fine art of 'leading' the lady.
All that is required is Practice and confidence and a bit of shamelessness!
I am good at the third one. Will work on the other two. lol! 

UPDATE    03 ( 03/04/2011)

We are now in the middle of level 2. We are allowed to rejoin level 1 for practice. This is a good thing because one hour of dancing seemed a bit less. So, if you continue with level 01 which is just after level 2 class you get a good 2 hours. Plus, one can work on the postures and timings since the steps are already known. This helps.

We have also learned a few new steps of each dance form.( need practice for this though!) 

The class have become good fun overall and I am always looking forward to my Tuesdays and Thursdays  (that's when the class is!)

UPDATE   04 (22/04/2011)
Yesterday, I got stuck in traffic for a full hour at one place just 5 mins. away from where the class is. This may be because of everyday bad city traffic and a numerous turnout of people worshiping Jesus Christ which I saw. I waited with calm patience in my car on the jammed up road as my 7' o clock class slowly went on elsewhere. But not to lose hope, I made it for the Level 01 class at 8' o clock, though a little late!
We are now at the end of Level 02- this one seem to have just 'whisk'ed by. We did learn a number of new steps but have to keep up with the names ( started noting them down lest we forget in a big pile-up much later!). Waltz is turning out to be one of my favorite right now.
On Tuesday, the whole academy is invited to a preview of 'bollywood   waltz', to be performed at some high profile wedding function ( The Royal Wedding dinner reception of Prince William to Catherine Middleton, at Buckingham Palace, London- lol!), This will be followed by our 'Socials' where everyone can dance.This will be interesting- wonder if I can make it ?
Will definitely try to be there though. 

UPDATE  05 (26/04/2011)

The preview and social which we spoke about got canceled so there was class as usual yesterday. Yesterday was the last class for LVL. II, i.e to say Thursday will be the start of LVL. III, wonder who will rejoin and who will not ? 

Yesterday was particularly lackluster day for me in class. 

First, my legs were injured due to 'over running' ( one more activity that  i am doing). 

Secondly, i had gone to do pre evaluation test for LASIK surgery just before my class where they put eye drops and subjected me to a number of test. At the end i was a little disoriented and my vision was unclear due to the drops.

Lastly, I was with, shall I say an ' incompatible' partner for my dance routine in class towards the end. Lesson being learnt - you need a compatible ( read- not irritating!) partner to dance good and nice. Not the type where you want to 'un'waltz all that you have learnt. lol!

Better luck next time!

carried forward from 
http://dro-life.blogspot.com/