I’ve never been a good dancer. I have tried though. I am an okay dancer you could say. My parents didn’t dance at all. Come to think of it, I never saw them dancing anything, not even at weddings. My father did like to dance a little bit, my mother wasn’t as fond of dancing as him. So, in consequence, neither my brothers nor I learned to dance growing up.
This was quite the opposite of most of my cousins. They were very good dancers. At least they could do well in parties or school dances. I asked them how they had learned, and they told me it had been their mother that had instilled the love of dancing along with a few moves. I found out by talking to them that dancing takes many years to perfect.
It’s not like learning to ride a bicycle. When I learned to ride a bicycle, I did it in one afternoon by myself. My parents had gone to do some shopping, I was about 9 years old by myself at home, and my brothers had gone to play with their friends. My oldest brother had a bicycle that he rarely rode. It was a 20” bike. I had tried to learn before but didn’t go all the way because I was scared of falling.
My friends had learned using training wheels. First, they started with 2 wheels, then with one wheel, and finally no wheels. It had taken them about 1 month I think. I felt a little frustrated because all my friends had bicycles and they would often go to these hills near the neighborhood. I sometimes went with them but had no fun because I would just be looking at everyone ride their bikes and remained there watching.
One day, I just did it. There was no one in my house, just me and the bike. I went down a slope and fell the first two times. It hurt. The third time I got up I wouldn’t fall again. I felt great and from that point on, rode with my friends. So, when it came to dancing, I thought it would be about the same thing. I would practice and maybe in a couple of days, I would get it. Of course, I tried and didn’t get it, but I eventually learned how to do it thanks to my wife.
She is a very good salsa dancer and she taught me the basic salsa steps. That’s how far I got. No fancy turns, flips or anything like that. I went with her to a few salsa competitions and I loved the atmosphere. I have a lot of respect for salsa dancers, so when I saw the two dancers in the following video, I was floored. I am sure none of them is older than 5 years old, but I am telling you, the way they move… You just have got to see this!
https://youtu.be/M2W6-vG7i4M
