Once upon a time, there was a small lady with two left feet, but a fantastic sense of rhythm. She had spent many hours dancing around her handbag in the “freeform” fashion popular at the time. But it was not enough for her. There was something missing; everything, in actual fact – good music, fun, a sense of purpose, and something nice to look at (as handbags are only interesting for a very short time, no matter how bright and sparkly they are).
But one day something wonderful happened: an advert in a local free paper for salsa dancing (handbags optional) was thrust through her door, and once she saw it she could not forget it. It kept calling to her: I have spicy sexy rhythms, warm and vibrant musical notes, quite difficult steps; I have fun!!!!!
The small lady resisted, however, because although she was bored and her dancing life was a dark, empty pit of nothingness (and she had run out of money to buy handbags), this salsa dancing was something new, and was therefore a little frightening.
But one dark evening, after a futile and frustrating handbag shopping outing, she walked past a dimly lit doorway, from where some new and exciting tunes bounced into the street. She paused briefly outside and saw the sign: Salsa Dancing Classes – Come In – We Are Lovely! And as she stood, a warm pair of musical arms swept her up and carried her through the doorway; they pulled her from the cold night into a warm, sunny room full of bright lights and smiley faces.
And lo, the advert was right: the salsa class had all of those things it claimed, and more. The lady learnt the difficult steps, she learned how to wiggle her bottom, then she learned how to wiggle her top, then she learned not to do them both at the same time, as it was quite unsettling. She learned how to put her handbag under a chair in the corner and learned to dance round men instead. Her life changed forever and for the better. And now she’s quite good.
Food for the Soul
When I took my first salsa lesson, I never dreamed it would become such a big part of my life. But I found it, or it found me, at a time when I needed to escape – in 2000 I was newly widowed, suddenly a single parent, feeling the weight of such huge and sudden overwhelming responsibilities. I needed fun, a focus, a release, a place to go to meet people – and salsa gave me all of those things and more.
When I’m dancing you can see the real me – the me I keep hidden every day – the childlike, joyful, exhuberant me, who just feels the music and loves the dance. I leave the me who has a leaky roof, has to sort out the broken window, feed the children, work, iron, pay the bills… and let myself live in the moment, just for a couple of hours when the sun goes down.
And I think that’s the same for all of us – isn’t it?
The Salsa Diaries are about Salsa, obviously, but they are also about people, friendship, fun and laughter.
And Billy Elliot was right: sometimes it does feel like flying
