German Salsa!

I saw a guy wearing a shirt that said, "Salsa Fuerstenwalde," so I just had to ask. "Salsa dancing or salsa dip?" I would have been happy with either! I learned he had been attending salsa dancing lessons for many years. I decided I could not pass up the opportunity to dance with a tall cute German boy and I was missing my weekly dancing with my buddy Emmy in Ft. Collins.

Like the dances in CO, the evening began with beginner lessons and then advanced dancers turned up later. One difference that made things quite difficult though was that all of the dancing was circle dancing with rotating partners. I held my own in the beginning but was quickly lost in the advanced class following. The salsa style was Cubana which was quite different than what I was used to and I had difficulty following lead as well as the directions being called out in a mixture of Spanish and German. The Germans held to stricter ballroom rules, and the Cuban style is a bit more ridged. I was told I needed more structure and less hip movement. I was compared to the dancer in Dirty Dancing Havana Nights. I never thought I would be told to wiggle less! :)

Chris (the T-shirt guy) helped me alot. He was much more advanced, but when we had an opportunity to dance as couples he was patient and helped me, laughing at my "Mexican style." He is the perfect lead, making every one of my mistakes look like that was what he wanted, and giving strong direction. I am looking forward to next week where I shall try again but only stay for the beginners' course and work on less hip action!