Week 21 - with Tenny.

It was Tenny's first week as an instructor so I wont be too hard on him other than mentioning that he forgot which was his left foot ... until the student support called out ... "your other left". Apart from that he did very well.

We did heaps of Bossa Nova again. I have been practicing the side to side with the turn on the end and it came together well in class. The back-forward movement with a turn is proving to be a bit more of a challenge. I think this is largely due to the lack of practice. It is difficult at the best of times to find room at the dance party to put in a few spins but finding a break in the crowd to step forwards is nearly impossible and stepping backwards is suicide.

I got to dance with a student supporter - Alex. Student supporters are great, with the numbers in the class it is difficult for the instructor to get around to all of the students - especially when they are concentrating so hard on figuring out which foot is the left foot. Student supporters can help you correct problems with your technique when you start to struggle. Alex pointed out that my back steps were a tad on the small side and a bit hesitant. I attribute this technique to a fear of crushing my partner's toes or reversing into some unsuspecting dancers. A quick dance with Alex and I was ready to face my next partner with a certain confidence that was lacking previously.

The music stopped. We changed partners. We got into a dance frame. I looked down to check the positioning of my feet only to notice my partner was not wearing any shoes! Paranoia set in again and all of the encouraging remarks from Alex were instantly forgotten. I stepped forward with all the trepidation of Irish goal kicker taking a penalty in a shoot out at the world cup of soccer and, might I add, with about the same success ratio.

It is getting towards the end of term and enrolments have started for next term. I did not want to repeat the mistake of last term and miss the class I wanted by enrolling late. So, immediately after class I crossed the road to studio one ready to sign up for next term. Unfortunately half of Brisbane had the same idea. I decided to back phone later when it was not so busy. The rush of new students enrolling must have taken its toll on the usually charming Paula, for when I phoned, she had transformed into a member of the "administration gestapo". Despite my begging, pleading and some of the best grovelling she would not book my place without me first providing my credit card details (which I did not have on person at the time). Imagine a person of my notoriety treated like an ordinary customer ... the cheek of it.

I did get around to finding my wallet and have now enrolled for Wednesday night's level two classes. Ian convinced me to take on Salsa Rueda on Saturdays too. That should give me plenty of new material for next term.

Steve.