Yes sir, I can boogie

In September 2016, I went to my first ever Ballroom and Latin Dancing class. I went without a partner, and was quite nervous. Would I enjoy it? Would I have a nice partner? Would I actually be able to follow the steps at all?

Now here I am, almost 2 years later, having completed 4 courses, progressing from Beginner to Improver, in a total of 52 weeks (the required amount to complete the "Skill" section of the Gold President's Award). What have I gained from completing this part of my Gaisce challenge?

• Got to teach Ballroom Dancing in my job! I was delighted that in my job - teaching- I can introduce dancing, and I got the opportunity this year to teach all of the sixth years in the school how to do the slow-waltz and the cha cha. Since doing this, I have newfound respect for the dance instructor because of the difficulty of demonstrating the man's part, while calling out the steps for the ladies' part. If that's not brain-training, I don't know what is.

• Found a great, fun way to exercise- I was never much of a gym-goer/ into sport in general, so I am delighted I have found this alternative way to benefit from some physical activity, one that I enjoy so much that the exercise never felt like a chore.
• Had a weekly break from work- It has been a very busy year (in fact I had to put the two other parts of the Gaisce challenge on hold, just to be able to juggle everything), but I still made sure to go to dance class every week, and although I was busy, it became a welcome distraction from everything else.
• Met new people- I have met such lovely and interesting people at my dance class. I will really miss my weekly chats with my dance partner. We would talk about everything under the sun, from politics, to classical music, to relationships and everything else in between. On the day I joined, three other women came without partners, and over the 2 years, we would all sit and have a chat over tea before class started. It was enjoyable to mix with such a different, varied group of people. My dance instructor, Eithne, is an inspiring teacher. I learned so much from her. She is good-humoured, caring and kind, not to mention her amazing dance talents. I was really sad to say goodbye to everyone at my last dance class in May.

• Became better at multitasking- My main concern in starting dance class initially was that I wouldn't be able to follow the steps (generally I'm not too hot on the whole hand-eye coordination), but that actually worked out fine. What was tough, was learning the steps of the male part, but then every so often - if my dance partner was not there, for example- I would have to dance the woman's part. Learning both steps took a while to get used to, but really pushed my brain to think differently, so that I can now easily switch between the male and female parts.
• Broadened my taste in music- In class, we would dance to songs I rarely listened to at the time- Gabriel's Oboe, Tender Trap, Fly Me to the Moon, L.O.V.E., La Cumparsita, to name but a few. Progressing through different styles of dance- Foxtrot, Cha cha, Samba, Rumba, Tango etc. also encouraged me to practise, and so I went on the hunt for suitable music  at home. I've now developed an eclectic taste in songs, mainly based on whether they've got a good beat for dancing.

Unfortunately, I will no longer be able to keep up dance at the Cabinteely Adult Education Centre, as I have moved away from the area. I will, however, be on the look out for dance classes elsewhere, and I would love to do a short course on Ballroom and Latin Dancing with the students in the school I will be teaching in next year.

My top 10 Ballroom and Latin Dances

Two years ago I wanted to learn how to dance, and set about finding a dance class. I had gone to a single very strange Salsa class while living in France, but apart from that, I had no other experience. I was trying to decide what type of dancing I wanted to do, when I stumbled across a "Ballroom and Latin Dancing Class" in Cabinteely Adult Education Centre - which covered loads of different types of dances. Here's my rating of the 10 different types of dances we did in the last 2 years:

#10. Yearning Saunter
This dance was most definitely not my favourite. It is a sequence dance, meaning that each couple must do the same steps at the same time, or you will crash into each other. The dance is extremely slow and just...take a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD46z4zzJn4

#9. Quickstep
Quickstep is basically a speeded-up Foxtrot, but it's so fast that the dance-floor always got a bit hectic because not everyone was moving at the same pace. The videos online make it look very smooth, because either they are the only couple in the room, or they are in a massive dance hall. It is definitely a dance that keeps you on your toes, especially as the lead in the couple. We are obviously not up to "Strictly" standard, so this is more accurate of where we are at with our Quickstep:

#8. Barn Dance
The Barn Dance is not one we did that often, but it is a bit of fun. This is a progressive dance, which moves around the room, but also at a certain stage of the dance, everyone switches partners, which always led to some laughs when people would go the wrong way and lose their partners. The video is very quaint but it is something like this https://youtu.be/PTaqFT42xj8 

#7. Samba
In the two years I've been doing dance, we only touched on Samba briefly, because it is such a difficult dance. I loooooove the music for it, and would really love to have learned more, but having looked at videos of it online, I can see why we didn't. The steps look so fast and really complex, it would be hard to teach it in the small amount of time we had. Take a look at the highest-scoring Samba from Strictly Come Dancing 2016: 

#6. Foxtrot
I can safely say I would not have had a clue how to dance to any Frank Sinatra-type song before, and I do enjoy the music. It looks something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZq9BwHhqFQ

#5. Slow-waltz
This dance was one I didn't like at the start, but since Christmas we have added loads of new steps into it and I enjoy it much more, and like to think that we look elegant when we do it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpMhcb9hHxQ

#4. Swing
Swing dancing is good fun, and I would put it higher on the list but it aggravates a shoulder injury I got from archery, because you're always swinging out of the one shoulder. It's a fast enough dance, with lots of turns, great music, and is one of only two dances where I do the woman's part! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHANNkKBSNU

#3. Rumba
The rumba is a slow dance but it always feels very elegant and is slightly different than the waltz, foxtrot and quickstep, in that you don't lead with your heel, but rather you are mostly on the balls of your feet. This is what gives the dance the round hip movements. We do some of the steps in this video (and some that aren't): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGSa63yR8r8

#2. Tango
Wow. The tango is such an interesting dance. And the music is fantastic. We only properly started into tango this year, and it definitely is hands-down the most complex dance. The rhythm changes all the time, so you really need to focus so much, but it is such a brilliant dance, I love it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVUdcHlA-UI

#1. Cha cha!!
Cha cha is the other dance where I do the woman's part, and I really love this dance so much. It is great fun, the music is great, it's really fast, and we have so many steps in it. We don't dress quite as fabulously as the dancers in this video, but you get the idea:

If you're thinking about doing ballroom dancing, I hope this post helped! In May I completed the 52 weeks necessary for the "skill" section of the Gaisce Award, so next week I will post a blog about my overall experiences of learning to dance.

Thanks for reading :)

Ballroom and Latin Dancing- 10 months on

Since Christmas, we have been in the improvers class and WOW. The difference. Some people in that class have been there 2 years! They dance and you just want to stop and watch them move. Four of us progressed on from the beginner class to the improvers class this semester, but we really are quite far behind in comparison. In many of the dances we have a lot of catching up to do. This semester we learned rumba, which I love, and it’s quite different from everything else we have done so far. The pace of the improvers class is much faster, and I feel like we’ve learned so much since Christmas. My usual dance partner wasn't there one day, so for the first time since I started, I was actually dancing with a man, as a woman! While in theory this sounded good, he kept complaining about my trying to lead...

No, this is not me, but this is a snap from our class!

We added new steps to our quickstep - the lock-step and pivot turn - which we still don’t have quite right so it looks a bit clunky. The cha cha is still probably one of my favourites because it's so up-beat. We got to add a new step called the cross-basic in the cha cha, which is taking a while to get the hang of. Since Christmas we have also spent much more time on swing dancing, and added a new step called the American Spin which is good fun but it makes you so dizzy after a while! It’s one of the only dances where I do the woman’s part, so a few times I got to dance with the teacher, and she's so amazing it's kind of scary to be her dance partner. We added in a "conversation piece" to the Foxtrot as well, so it's nice to have something new in there. When I switched to Monday classes one night, some other people in the class thought I had been doing dance for ages, which was a nice compliment to get.

Towards the end we had a very quick introduction to samba, which I would really like to learn more of because I love the music for it. We also did a "Yearning Saunter" which I think definitely wins the award for the poshest dance title! It is a strange sequence dance that feels as though it belongs in an Austen film adaptation. (I realise that all makes it sound interesting but really it’s more of a yawning saunter).

Before starting dance this year, I had never really grasped how much you have to use your brain for it. And a different part of the brain than usual, at that. But it really is the case that as soon as you start over-thinking the dance steps, you suddenly can't do it anymore. I imagine come September we will have forgotten a lot of what we have learned. The four of us who progressed from the beginner to the improvers class since Christmas are all planning to go back in September, which will be lovely. And I must say I am actually glad now that I learned the man's part, because otherwise it is very easy to allow yourself to be led, and never really learn the steps independently, but learning both parts means I am able to teach other people how to do the same dances.


PS: I have yet again- obviously- failed to take any pictures to actually show I do any of this (sorry). For the end of the Gaisce challenge, I do need to hand in a portfolio with pictures/videos of my various activities, so if anyone wants to volunteer to learn all of these dances and pose for pictures, let me know :P 

Meeting New People

In the space of 2 weeks, I started three new things: dance classes, yoga classes, and volunteering at a charity shop- and didn't know anyone in any of these places. It has been both challenging and incredibly interesting, and in this post I would like to focus on the people I have encountered in my challenge so far.

Myself and Linda
about to start into the Cha Cha Cha

Dance- The Greatest Mood Booster

The dance classes I signed up for were part of a 10 week course, so I have finished the first block now, and I can confidently say I enjoyed every minute. Over the course of the ten weeks, our wonderful teacher, Eithne, has taught us the Foxtrot, the Slow Waltz, the Cha Cha Cha, Swing, Quickstep, and also the Barn Dance (a bit like a Ceili, where everyone continuously changes partners). Eithne is an excellent teacher, so full of enthusiasm and has such a great sense of humour. No matter how my day has gone, I always come away from dance class in a better mood. In the very first week of the course, I met Linda, and due to the imbalance of men and women on the course, we ended up as dance partners for the remaining weeks. Linda is such great fun, but also really determined to get the steps right, and I can't help but smile at the happy little giggle she has whenever we manage a complicated turn. Linda will also be continuing on to the next course this February, so unless more men miraculously appear, I look forward to dancing and having more laughs with Linda.


Yoga

I have really enjoyed getting to know my yoga instructor, Katelyn. She is actually my age too, started practising yoga 5 years ago, began teaching it three years ago, and only in the last year decided to move to Ireland from Canada. I feel very unadventurous in comparison! Most yoga studios have mirrors, but as our one does not, it is difficult to tell if you're doing it right or not, but Katelyn is always really helpful when it comes to making changes in posture (I am terrible at "downward-facing dog"). She makes the classes really inspiring, encouraging us to take the feeling of calm we get from our yoga session out with us afterwards, and it is great for reducing stress.


Volunteer Profiling 

The first volunteer profile

Since I set up the new Facebook page for the Irish Cancer Society in Dun Laoghaire, I have started profiling our volunteers - basically I take a picture of one of them at work, and ask them to tell me how long they have been volunteering with us, what their favourite thing is about working there, and why they chose to volunteer with the Irish Cancer Society in the first place. Our bubbliest volunteer, Catia, featured in our first volunteer profile (shown here on the right). I have really enjoyed doing this project so far, because not only do I get to know my fellow volunteers better, but by putting these posts on Facebook, it also allows them to get recognition for their work. I am looking forward to profiling more of our volunteers in 2017, especially Pauline, who has been there for an impressive 25 years!


I hope you've enjoyed getting to know some of the people I've met during my Gasice challenge so far, as they have made the experience so enjoyable, and even though the activities themselves are exciting, without these people, my Gaisce challenge so far wouldn't be half as special.