Salsa Lesson Pt 2 - The Red Sea

If you think back to Part 1 of salsa dancing, you’ll recall that I had decided to take up salsa and had just shown up for my first class dressed in salsa attire with my reluctant dance partner in tow. Upon entering the large gymnasium where the class was held I found myself standing in the midst of a large number of very young college girls in sweatpants and sneakers looking like they had just woken up from a long winter‘s nap. I don’t know exactly what I was expecting, but this was not it. I was feeling more than a little out of place.

We were all milling about trying to pick an advantageous place to stand when the instructor, a nice looking young man also in sneakers, walked in and took his position at the front of the class. I chose a spot in the middle of the floor, and he began putting us through our paces. The steps got trickier and trickier as we went along, but I did my level best to keep up. As a person with reasonably good coordination and sense of rhythm, I think I was holding my own. As best I could tell the rest of the class was getting it, too, although with all of that oversized, baggy clothing it was hard to tell whether they were doing anything correctly or not.

Then just as I was starting to feel like I was really getting the hang of it, our instructor suddenly stopped the music and told us all to switch partners, aaannnd that’s when it happened. The parting of the Red Sea. Everyone to the right of me slowly began to move in the direction of the far wall. I looked to my left and saw that everyone else was moving toward the opposite wall. Pretty soon my partner and I were literally left standing by ourselves in the middle of the gym floor. I’m not exaggerating any of this one iota. I had been standing there for a minute or two trying not to take it personally when the teacher began running around forcing everyone to partner up with whoever he chose whether they liked it or not.

When he was done we picked up where we left off, and it didn’t take long for me to find out that I had been paired with someone who was, simply put, the worst dancer ever. That’s harsh. I know, but to say that she had two left feet would be an insult to all of those who actually do have two left feet. There wasn’t much I could do about it, so I bravely soldiered on.

We were eventually reunited with our original partners to finish out the class, and I have to say that despite everything, I think salsa is a lot of fun and it’s great exercise. I definitely recommend it, but I should tell you that if you’re seriously considering it, I would advise you to go out and buy a big, loose fitting T-shirt and some baggy sweatpants. You’ll want to fit in.