Cuttin' a Rug

Why on earth do I ever stop dancing?  I danced for 3 hours Monday night!  My 1 hour LindyHop lesson rolled into the 1 hr Intermediate Balboa lesson, which ended with the social dance at the end.  Needless to say I was tired when I headed home, but man, what a rush! I forgot what a high I get when I dance - its like a drug (minus all those horrible side effects, and an episode of Intervention ;-)).  And to top it all off, I think that it counts as a workout, right?  If sweating is a sign of burning calories, I probably burned thousands ;-)  I mean, as gross as it sounds, I was covered in sweat - all my clothes will need to be washed... hmm you think I can wear my gym clothes next time? ;-)

While this may be this year's resolution, this is probably the umpteenth time I've started dancing.  I think I go through seasonal phases and then just stop going... maybe its because summer seems too hot (not to mention I've never been to a dance studio that has a/c - and seeing as all the windows were open at Sonny Newman's Monday night, and it was still hot in there... I can only imagine what it was like when Seattle was hitting the triple digits last summer!!).  Because of my sporadic dancing history, I also never know how to answer the "how long have you been dancing" or "what other types of dance do you do/know".  My dancing history is depicted below:

My other dancing quirk is that I never take anyone with me.  I dunno why, I love doing it, you'd think I would want to share it.  I've invited people before, but I feel like I have to play host.  Monday night, I think I only sat out one song to use the bathroom... that was it!  So if I bring a friend who doesn't know how to dance... how fun will it be for them?

Since starting up dancing again, I guess I'm going to start throwing myself at it full force...one of my dance partners mentioned a blues class this Thursday... I'm a sucker for the blues... so 2 nights a week of dancing here I come!  And to conclude, I was thinking the other night over why I like dancing so much, so here's the...

Top 10 Reasons Natalie Goes Dancing

10) It's enjoyable to watch people dance

9) The inevitable stories and blogs that will come out of it

8) The great side benefit of an aerobic workout

7) I get to use both my right and left brain

6) Meeting new people

5) When people ask me what I like to do, I can actually tell them an active/ interactive hobby (I mean, how lame do I sound when I say "tv"?:))

4) It's fun to watch the diverse dance crowd that shows up (the pretty boys who only come to the lesson w/ their girlfriends, the girls wearing impractical heels, the sweaty guys - who change shirts multiple times, the old men who've danced for years, the shy guys - who become more confident, and of course the cool jazz cats)

3) I'm actually decent at it (since it requires no hand-eye coordination).  It's a more balance oriented activity, and I've always been good at balancing - I mean, you don't see me just falling over for no reason, do you?

2) I get to be my hummingbird-self, and there it seems normal (I get to be around a crowd, can move from person to person, never have to sit and get out all the pent up desk sitting-boringness!)

And the # 1 reason... (drum roll please)...

1) It makes me feel good and gives me a confidence boost

So my friends, if you're willing to jump in with both feet, feel free to come join me!