A Note about Salsa

I know this is supposed to be a running blog, and for the most part it is... but there are other areas of my life that are very important that feel like they deserve some equal time. Anyone who knows me knows that I have developed a bit of a passion for salsa (the dancing, not the dip.... though I do enjoy that too).

It began about a year and a half ago over a chance encounter while perusing Shakira CDs.... sounds cheesy and unlikely, but it's true. Since then I've dabbled here and there in the salsa scene in Philadelphia - mostly learning as I go. Well, I decided earlier this spring that I'd take a salsa performance class. Yes, that's right, I said performance. This idea brought me back to the ballet-jazz-tap days of my youth where dance recitals meant lime green sequins, whorish make-up on nine year olds, and four hour recitals that were the bane of my poor brother's existence.

Of course this is a wholly different experience, but the one constant is that it's a crap load of work. As "grown ups", we, the ten of us, committed to coming to weekly two-hour practices every Tuesday for several months. This may surprise some: almost every week, all the ladies are there.. and almost every week, at least two of the guys are missing. This does nothing but reinforce stereotypes that men are unreliable.

I'll state the obvious: It's hard to learn partner work when ya ain't got no pardner. On and off for the past few months, they guys have had sporadic attendance. Not sure how we're supposed to do a performance with no guys. This has been a source of frustration for me and that - coupled with the fact that the class ends late and I'm really too much of an old lady to be out that late - has had me seriously considering dropping the class.

I'm not a quitter though, so I think I will stick with it. We had a little discussion last night (all the guys were there!!!) about attendance from here on out. Hopefully I won't end up feeling like Charlie Brown when Lucy pulls the football away again and again. I'll keep my fingers crossed. In the meantime, I'm shopping for new salsa shoes. Whaddya think?

In these shoes?...... I doubt you'd survive.