Hear me out.
I love dancing. There, I've said it. When I went to nightclubs and house parties in my teens and twenties I was itching to dance. I lost count of the number of times I stood cursing at a bar waiting to get served whilst the DJ spun one of my favourite tunes. Or how irritated I felt when the lights came up on the dance floor.
Gradually, without noticing, dancing slipped off my radar. Nights out bopping in a club or pogoing at a house party became nights foot-tapping in a bar, chatting in a pub, or putting the world to rights over wine in a friend's dining room. A natural progression, but a dancing regression.
I missed dancing. I dabbled in lessons in my late twenties and early thirties; salsa, which confused me with its three-beat rhythm, and swing, which was fun but didn't inspire me or my girlfriend (at the time) to return the following week.
Nowadays the only dancing I do is at weddings, sending up The Inbetweeners Movie whilst trying not to step on small children. Often, by the time I'm sufficiently inebriated to venture onto the vast floodlit dance floor, I'm jostled into a circle around the newlyweds and kicked in the legs.
I wish I danced more. I wish I danced to modern music. I wish I danced like dancers in the music videos I watch on TV every morning (depressing news can wait until lunchtime). So that's what I'm going to do. This month I will learn to street dance.
Some of my friends will probably give me a ribbing. Dancing is not a traditionally masculine activity in our society, is it? But films and TV shows have tried to correct that: Billy Elliot made ballet acceptable for boys, Strictly Come Dancing has seen cricket and rugby players foxtrot in sequins, and street dance group Diversity won Britain's Got Talent.
So tonight I searched online for a street dance class. I found one in Brighton. I'm going to contact the instructor and ask if I can join.
By the end of October I will learn to street dance. Beginner standard, obviously. Thirty-something white guy standard, definitely.
If I can face the humiliation, I might even show you some moves.
What is your wish of the month for October? I'd love to cheer you on.
My wish for October is twofold;
ReplyDelete- to dance every day for twenty minutes to loud music in the barn (as pure exercise)
- to set up my loom and weave a blanket.
Thanks for being an inspiration! I love your self-challenges.
Yeah! Another dance wish! Nice one Cilla. That barn will be a great place to jump about in to music. Good luck setting up the loom. Can you weave a whole blanket in one month? I'd be seriously impressed. x
DeleteHi Richard,
ReplyDeleteGreat challenge!
My goal for October (starting today), is to bounce on my mini trampoline for 10 minutes every day. Apart from the gentle workout, it is also great for improving the condition of your cells and for strengthening your lymph system.
Jenni Williams
Cheers Jenni! Mini-trampolining for 10 minutes is such a good challenge; fun, healthy, realistic. Enjoy yourself, and let me know how you feel at the end of the month. :-) x
DeleteRichard, as a fellow novice dancer, I applaud your bravery! (Secretly, I dream of dancing a sultry Tango on Strictly.) Seriously, go for it - it's a great wish. Oh, and we reeeeeally need you to post a video...
ReplyDeleteWhy thank you Sparky. I'll see how brave I feel when I walk into the first lesson tonight, once I've decided what to wear. Strangely enough my current wardrobe does not have a street dance section. Sultry tango huh? Have you considered lessons?
DeleteI'd go with a purple bandana and leopard-skin leggings, personally :-) Yes, I have thought about lessons but that's about as far as I've got! Looking forward to the update on your first dance lesson (she says, changing the subject quickly)...
DeleteI just visited your blog after reading your latest challenge mentioned on Sparky's blog! I agree - we definitely need a video (your videos are so good...!) I dream of being able to paint - I've got a book on Brave Intuitive Painting by Flora Bowley, and I've had a go, but I don't understand how she does it!! I think this might be more than a 30 day challenge...
ReplyDeleteHi Julia, thanks for your comment. Did you manage to get any brave intuitive painting done in October? If not, could you start this month? I thought you might like to know that I've just published the last part of my wish of the month for October, which includes a video that I shot. It's embarrassingly bad, but it was a fun minute of my life! Hope you're doing well and looking after yourself. Warm wishes, Rich xx
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