German Salsa

Back in September someone at work asked me what I was going to do for fun once the weather turned and I couldn’t ride so much. I jokingly said maybe I would take dance lessons. I had no clue at the time I would actually be doing it.

I suspect that everyone secretly (or maybe it’s no secret) would like to be a great dancer. Even, or especially, those of us who are for the most part non-dancers. How can you watch someone who is a great dancer and not want to be able to move like that?

Back in November, on a whim, I went out with a group of people here to a Salsa night. They were having a beginner lesson followed by the regular dancing. I told the person organizing the event that I didn’t know anything about Salsa and I wasn’t really a good dancer.

She told me she was a big fan of doing things, “and not caring what other people thought of it.” She said she would never wear a bathing suit if she cared too much about what other people thought.

That was enough to give me the little push to go and do it.

Despite the beginner lesson I felt completely awkward and quite stupid. It was warm and I was sweating like crazy. But I got a few of the basics. Mostly though, I was watching the teacher and some of the others and thinking, “I have to learn how to do that.”

This is sort of a pattern with me. I can’t just ride my bike, I have to race and ride 8000 miles a year. I have 4 snowboards. I can’t just learn a little German, I have to live there.

Since November I’ve been to two different Salsa weekend classes, and am going to another this weekend. I was lucky enough to find a teacher here who is very good. The classes are in German, so I figure it’s another one of those situations where I get German lessons to go along with the real reason I’m there.

It’s also an opportunity to get out and do something with some local people – all of whom were quite friendly.

It’s also a chance to put aside some fear and do something I wouldn’t ordinarily do. I realized, just going and getting a lesson – getting that basic instruction on how to get started – was enough. It was that way with snowboarding too. And German. Bike racing I learned the hard way by crashing in my first race.