07-06-2013, 11:59 AM
Day 11 of stage 2: It has been a fabulous week. On Monday I had my first dance performance ever. It was at a salsa club downtown where most of the best salsa dancer hang out. The dance space was small and there were six of us performing. I had just learned the routine but I felt really good about it until the music came on then it felt like "This is for real". I messed up one small part but overall it went really well.
After our performance there was another girl that was performing solo. She was amazing to watch. I got the chance to talk to her before the performances and it really inspired me that she had only been dancing for seven years.
I was playing it cool with her all night. Even told her when we shook hands that I thought her handshake was kind of weird. Really don't know where that came from but I owned it. Later on I was sitting back watching all the great dancers with the live salsa band. I was perfectly happy just sitting there and watching but she called me out on my too cool for school act. She gave me that "Get over here and dance with me" look. Nothing I could do at this point but own it.
I got out there and danced with her. Salsa songs are notorious for being way too long. It was probably about ten minutes long. After about three or four minutes I ran out of the moves that I felt comfortable with so I decided to try the new moves I learned. They were hard for me to keep the rhythm of the music. I didn't feel great about the dance but I just kept with it until the end. I would actually say that I felt self-concious about how my dancing looked to others including her.
The next day at dance class I was talking with the others on my dance team and they told me that they watched me dancing with that girl. It shocked me because they thought the dance looked awesome and they were giving me compliment after compliment about my dancing. It was funny because that whole time I thought it looked bad.
Last night I went out swing dancing in the upper west side. I try to get out and swing dance to keep it fresh in my mind since I'm not taking any swing classes. I decided to get out there and dance with everyone. When I start the night with that attitude then it just continues and gains momentum.
I was flirting with the girls and they were giggling all night. I told one of the girls "I like your little butt turn but have no idea where you learned it". There was one woman that I was talking to that ended up with me touching her leg. It was funny because she was married and the next thing I knew, this guy which I assume was her husband, came up. He was probably wondering why the hell some random guy is touching his wife's leg. I brought him into the conversation and he was having a great time after a few minutes.
I've never had interactions like that before. It was easy to flirt with girls and speak my mind. After meeting that girl's husband, reminded me of why I'm working on my social skills and working to improve my life. He was so quiet and shy. I remember being like that and now I notice how much better life it now that I can express myself.
After our performance there was another girl that was performing solo. She was amazing to watch. I got the chance to talk to her before the performances and it really inspired me that she had only been dancing for seven years.
I was playing it cool with her all night. Even told her when we shook hands that I thought her handshake was kind of weird. Really don't know where that came from but I owned it. Later on I was sitting back watching all the great dancers with the live salsa band. I was perfectly happy just sitting there and watching but she called me out on my too cool for school act. She gave me that "Get over here and dance with me" look. Nothing I could do at this point but own it.
I got out there and danced with her. Salsa songs are notorious for being way too long. It was probably about ten minutes long. After about three or four minutes I ran out of the moves that I felt comfortable with so I decided to try the new moves I learned. They were hard for me to keep the rhythm of the music. I didn't feel great about the dance but I just kept with it until the end. I would actually say that I felt self-concious about how my dancing looked to others including her.
The next day at dance class I was talking with the others on my dance team and they told me that they watched me dancing with that girl. It shocked me because they thought the dance looked awesome and they were giving me compliment after compliment about my dancing. It was funny because that whole time I thought it looked bad.
Last night I went out swing dancing in the upper west side. I try to get out and swing dance to keep it fresh in my mind since I'm not taking any swing classes. I decided to get out there and dance with everyone. When I start the night with that attitude then it just continues and gains momentum.
I was flirting with the girls and they were giggling all night. I told one of the girls "I like your little butt turn but have no idea where you learned it". There was one woman that I was talking to that ended up with me touching her leg. It was funny because she was married and the next thing I knew, this guy which I assume was her husband, came up. He was probably wondering why the hell some random guy is touching his wife's leg. I brought him into the conversation and he was having a great time after a few minutes.
I've never had interactions like that before. It was easy to flirt with girls and speak my mind. After meeting that girl's husband, reminded me of why I'm working on my social skills and working to improve my life. He was so quiet and shy. I remember being like that and now I notice how much better life it now that I can express myself.
