I used to do dancing lessons as a child, I can't say I was particularly good at it but it appealed to the extrovert side of my personality which enjoyed dressing up and prancing about on a stage for the world to see. As a child I was very dramatic and loved to be the centre of attention (not much has changed there then) I would force my siblings to put on fashion shows for our parents and to record endless cassettes of us singing which my Grandma still owns and will probably use to bribe me at some point in the future.
I'd always fancied taking up dancing again, even if it was just in the form of an aerobics class or some sort of dance-a-cise with a bunch of women of a certain age at my local leisure centre. I must admit however as I get older I seem to have lost the ability to dance, especially on a night out in front of people. In my younger days I would happily prance about and make a fool of myself (even though I thought I looked ah-mazing) but the older I get the more I seem to revert to "dad" dancing, shuffling from side to side and gripping my drink tightly for fear of actually having to do something with my arms.
So when I was given the opportunity to attend a salsa class I was naturally nervous, I didn't have a clue what to expect. My visions of leg warmers and a load of middle aged ladies drooling over an Latino lover instructor called Esteban couldn't have been further from the truth. I turned up at the venue, slightly harassed (understatement) after getting stuck in traffic and getting lost - using a photograph of the map on my phone to find my way seemed a good idea at the time. When I (finally) arrived the people I was meeting were already there, they'd been before so I felt a little less silly, the bar itself had an amazing atmosphere, dark and moody (perfect to hide) with a relaxed feel.
We started off with the beginner level, nice and fun, tripping over my feet a little but still enjoyable. Then we moved onto a slightly harder proper dance routine, we were split into a circle and put with partners (eek) and had to learn the steps while being passed around the circle from guy to guy - very surreal having to meet someone for the first time while holding hands with them....
Some of the dances were a little awkward, I had one guy who literally would not make eye contact with me - mind as I'm only 5'2 and he was considerably taller it was quite easy for him to stare off in the distance over my head. One guy seemed to be quite content having a conversation aimed directly at my chest (glad when I got moved on from THAT one), and another guy who was in his late 60s but was absolutely adorable and charming. Generally however people where very nice and friendly and didn't seem to mind so much that I had my "bambi on ice" moments until I got the hang of it, and sometimes it was like playing a vertical game of twister.
We danced for around two hours with the moves getting gradually harder, I was shattered and wanted to sit down but I kept getting jokingly pulled back into the circle. I finally gave up the ghost when the lesson ended and the real dancing began, and oh my goodness some of those people could DANCE! I felt like Baby in Dirty Dancing when she carried the watermelon and the pride I'd had over finally mastering what now seemed to be pretty basic moves diminished somewhat as I stared open mouthed at the limber limbed goddesses being flung around the dancefloor by very able men!
I would happily say I'd try it again, I imagine with practice and a little confidence it could be quite good fun and I'd be less likely to pose a threat to myself and those around me.
If you fancy giving it a go the lessons are on at Madisons bar near Haymarket in Newcastle from 7:45pm on a Tuesday night, full details can be found here or check out their Facebook page.
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