been getting more dancing in. yesterday, i took a 3-hour salsa workshop with sekou mcmiller, who's visiting from chicago. his style is a sort of afro-cuban mix and i like it. it was quite an intense workshop considering we spent the first two hours just perfecting a basic side step. we slooowly worked our way up from shoulder rolls to arms to hips to the shifting of weight with the legs. i had never paid so much attention to exactly how my body was moving---it was actually really tiring as we were so concentrated on perfecting this subtle movement. in the last hour, the pace suddenly shifted and we learned a combination that was challenging as we tried to incorporate the subtle body rolls/shoulder rolls/arm movements that we had just learned into one. loved it! it was just wonderful to approach salsa from such a basic technique point of view for once. i'm used to workshops where we learn a bunch of crazy moves that can never be used on the dance floor because it involves some crazy body lifting move. as fun as those few hours can be, it unfortunately doesn't leave me with much to go with. this workshop was not about learning a bunch of combinations. sekou brought us back home, to our bodies, to look at ourselves from within, to make us focus on each and every component of a basic move. i practically forgot how much coordination there is with my body!



and today, i started a new bellydancing class. i took one once about two years but didn't really enjoy it very much--the teacher felt distant and the class was overcrowded. i changed my mind tonight--the class was absolutely wonderful. the teacher was awesome and there was plenty of space for people to practice in. the pace was great too---i really feel like i'm going to learn a lot...i'm extremely excited to get my body back into more dancing. and no doubt, the salsa dancing definitely helps with the hip shakin' in this class.



got an email from wade in kansas, whom i've known since i was, like, 12. he's getting married. soon. like in less than 2 months. woo boy. man, there are a lot of weddings this year. weddings that i know of taking place this year...most of which i'm invited to...debating how much i want to fly around:

becky & gabe (austin)

wade & julie (kansas city)

linda & jason (virginia)

hester & mike (nyc)

britt & aj (kansas city)

jigna & matt (portland)

alex & emily (seattle)

maren & pete (seattle)