Dance has been one of the experiments I keep returning to. I started ballroom in October 2012 at the Ballroom on Broadway (not New York) with the amazing Shelby Jafari as my instructor. It’s still the gold standard for me. I’ve continued lessons with Simone Assboeck of Dance Together NYC, and a bit at the Arthur Murray school, each of which I need to return to. Right now, I’m in a New York style Salsa class (New York style dances on the 2nd beat, and follower steps forward on first measure, not the leader). It’s at a Latin dance studio in Brooklyn – which is superb, because Salsa actually originated in New York – driven by the massive Puerto Rican immigration. I want to keep this kind of salsa strong, but I am missing my ballroom roots, and plan to get back to formal ballroom dance as soon as possible too.
The thing about dance is that I feel in screwed together correctly. I feel in touch with my body; I feel integrated as a whole. I remember discovering through martial arts that I’m graceful, and that I like the art in physical movement. I was reminded by the documentary Miss Hill: Making Dance Matter (about founder of modern dance school at Juilliard) which I saw at the Berkshire Film Festival of just how much I like it. And frankly, traveling leads to more opportunities to dance and a desire to do it better, for me. Some people do yoga for the same reasons – to feel put together. I did some beginning yoga and it did that for me, too. But when it comes down to it, I do martial arts or I dance.
I figure a recurring habit that you keep coming back to for more than a couple of years is a successful experiment in something, so I mark this one a success.