Cha cha cha

Last night I was very brave. I attended a Salsa Workout class at the Y. I've never really tried to learn how to salsa, except for the four lessons I took when I was studying Spanish in Guatemala. For one week, I showed up every afternoon at four to doggedly practice with one of the Spanish teachers until I could passably follow the first step, but when I tried to try out my new skills on the dance floor in a real live club, I was completely unable to keep up with the music, completely unable to follow my partner, and completely miserable. There are many things that I believe I would not be inclined to do well. Studying chemistry, windsailing, being a journalist would all probably fall on this list. But theoretically, if I really had my heart set on them and I really applied myself, generally one would think I would be able to do them at least adequately. I studied voice in college and achieved such an with an unremarkable but perfectly nice voice recital.

Dancing, on the other hand, is one of those things I am pretty sure I can't do, no matter how hard I try. This summer I was the subject of great ridicule when I tried to learn a traditional Catalan dance in a village in France. My feet don't go in the places where everyone else's feet go, I get focused on following the steps and completely fail to move the rest of my body with any form or posture. Don't get me wrong, I like dancing. People have at times commented favorably on my performance at night clubs, (particulary those with early eighties theme,) but anything that involved steps borders on torturous for me.

But it seems like salsa would be a good thing to know how to do. Invariably, there is some social event where it seems to come in handy. And the salsa workout class at the Y is the least intimidating venue I could identify to tackle this. I don't have to worry about a partner or wearing dressy shoes or how hair or makeup looks. I am surrounded by other women and men in sweatpants and tennis shoes, all with varying degrees of comfort with the material. Plus the ostensible purpose is to work out, so there isn't even the pressure of actually learning how to dance. Its all about working up a sweat.

I'd like to say it went well, but it didn't. I could get the basic step in the demonstration, but when we put it to music it all went to hell. When she added hand motions, it became even more of an embarassment. I looked like a nine-year old fudging an elaborate dance routine for appreciative parents and grandparents at a family gathering. But the teacher was lovely, very friendly, and didn't show the tiniest bit of exasperation with me, which is the reaction I fear the most. It was not a strenuous workout, but I figure what I didn't achieve in heart rate elevation, I made up for in enterprise.