Head up, shoulders out, stomach in!!

i bumped into one of my latin juniors at 1U the other day. got a flash update from him on what's happening to our other latin classmates. as it turned out, the 6 musketeers have now dwindled down to 2, one of the 4 ex-musketeers have broke up with her long-time bf & quit class. i have only been absent from their lives for less than a year, but what a difference 11 mths made.

latin is one of the most technical dance forms i've ever encountered. 5 different dances, each with a personality of its own. in order to dance them well you have to be consistently precise in your moves. all the moves are so sharp (even with the slow rumba...my fave of the 5) which meant that any slack move will be immediately obvious to all. no such thing as grooving or styling (like in salsa....:p) to cover up mistakes.

i belong to the 2-left-feet category which meant that i had to work harder than the rest to be as good. perhaps it was the determination to push myself that left me with a bunion problem and cranky knees (found out from an orthopaedist that i was flat footed, which meant that my knees will take extra blows everytime i stomped too hard). in the end, i had to make the painful decision to quit the dance to preserve my foot & knees. thankfully salsa is a lot more merciful on them. phew....

my latin instructor, the great cikgu henry chan, suffers from what i call "artisticitis" - symptoms include mood swings & the tendency to give stinging comments at the worst possible time. but like any other good teacher, he makes the extra effort to coach students who take the dance seriously & shows pride whenever they done well. he teaches the NATD syllabus & has some of the highest-ranking NATD students in the country.

as i now reflect on those 6 yrs of sweat, cramps & pain, i realise that i've learnt much more than dance. sure, i've learnt a lot on the value of discipline & hard work when it comes to any form of dancing & how to take harsh comments positively, but some of the things that cikgu said in class are also applicable in life :-

1. "Head up, shoulders out, stomach in! You'll look taller & slimmer" (i lost count of the number of times my ponytail got pulled for dropping my head a single inch) ~ always put your best foot forward
2. "Good dancers are not born that way. You have to work hard to be good" ~ give of your best & the best will come back to you
3. "Don't complain that the floor is no good or your shoes are no good, it is you who's not good enough" ~ recognize your own weaknesses & correct them before blaming others
4. "The music is never too fast; you are too slow" ~ the world will continue to change & move no matter what, and you'll have to keep up with it if you don't wanna be left behind

i may not have relished those moments when my ponytail got pulled but thank you cikgu henry, for the lessons in life.