Dance! Dance! Dance! Dance! Part Deux

I am moving up in the world! I have officially matriculated for the intermediate level Latin dance class. I'm still taking the beginning one as well since there are a lot of basic things I still need to learn, and I want to keep dancing with Danial, but the intermediate level is a little more at my level. I wish I could go a little faster even, but I'll take what I can get. I want to be pushed more! But at least there were a couple of things that were a bit of a challenge in the intermediate class. For one thing, rapid chainé turns to the left in 4 inch heels are not as easy as they may appear. I can just do it, but they're not as clean as I would like. I keep thinking my shoe is going to pop off. Definitely something to work on. I have invested in a pair of Latin ballroom shoes though. They should be in by January. I can't wait! Maybe the turns will be a bit easier with proper shoes. I also need to work on my left triple pirouettes and pencil turns. My right triple pirouettes are back in jazz shoes, but wearing heels kind of throws off my center of balance for some reason. I can do a right double with heels now, but the triple is sloppy. More to work on! Yay!


Also, I started private Sevillanas lessons with a teacher who hails from Sevilla! Sevillanas is particular style of Flamenco dancing. It's done in pairs and is usually what you see at parties or when people break out into spontaneous Flamenco dancing. It is usually where you start when you start learning Flamenco dance. My teacher, Pepi, (who happens to be my friend's mom) thinks I can learn the basic Sevillanas combinations within a few lessons! I'm really excited. I can't wait to learn more! Once I get the basic Sevillanas down, I can move on to other Flamenco forms. She mentioned Rumba Flamenco, which is slower than the more traditional Bulerias, which is super fast, with very intricate footwork. I would love to get to that level, but I don't think 5 months will be enough for that one. My goal is simply to soak up as much as I possibly can and hopefully continue my education in NY. I really like private lessons so I can go at my own pace. And they're so cheap here! Only 9 euros an hour. I'm never going to get a deal like that in NY. I need to make the most of it while I'm here.