Blogs from Jupiter

I don’t have a dancing career but what I have is a life of dancing. My long-time dance instructress Jaja is wondering why I’m shy in the dance floor despite the fact that she finds me good. I know I have the groove, the heart, and the sense of timing, it’s just that I find myself not good enough.

I’m so thankful to my boss and friend Nana for introducing me to ballroom dancing because if not for our dancing gimmicks, I could have gone crazy. We need these things; hobbies that we are passionate about, things and activities that will define who we are; and in my case, Latin dances, dining, travel, beads, astrology, angelology, and flavored sparkling drinking water!

Way back, I was so into WWF (no, not the environment group, but the now World Wrestling Entertainment or WWE) which inspired me to go the gym. Gym eventually became an addiction. But I outgrew wrestling entertainment and weight training because I realize how shallow I was. I am not saying that all-star wrestling and gym are shallow forms of hobbies; the issue is more of “me”: I have to outgrow them because I have to “grow” as a person. I am thinking of capoeira as my next hobby. I just have to be physically fit first before I venture into this deadly martial art.

Going back to ballroom, I enjoy it when the dance floor is jam packed with couples. The collective energies of the dancers make everyone “high”; even if it’s social dancing, everyone is competition performance level. Second, people around tend not to notice you because they’re into the “dance”. I am so conscious especially if there are only a few couples in the dance floor. Believe me, there are scrutinizing eyes and sharp comments in the gallery once you do your first step and move.

I still consider myself a student in ballroom dancing especially in the Latin discipline. I love rumba to the nth degree, followed by cha cha cha and samba. I hate the jive but I have to learn it. I still have to learn the pasa doble.

I could now lead a lady in salsa, mambo, reggae and swing. But please, don’t let me do the bachata!

In Standard discipline, I just love looking at the couples. In ballroom, Standard is more of the refined form of dancing. You are dressed to the nines. The training is different from Latin. Probably if I get to master Latin, then that’s the time I’ll go into Standard. Right now, I know a little of waltz thanks to my friend Gigi, one of the best Standard dance athletes and instructors we have in the country. Other dances in Standard are tango, quick step, fox trot, and another form of waltz, the Viennese waltz (remember Maria and Captain Von Trapp in the Sound of Music?). I am not sure if Argentine tango is Standard or Latin (the tango of Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman).

Ria, a good friend and former dance partner, in her Friendster testimonial on yours truly has likened life to dancing. That’s the way I see life as well. I remember telling her profoundly that dance instructors like her is not only living life, but dancing life. And that’s the way life should be.

The truth in dancing lies on what people do not see. Spectators of the dance only see the beauty, grace and the artistry of the routine. What people do not know are the long hours of practice and the physical pain that dancers go through just to prepare a three to five minute performance. Life’s like that, success stories are filled with tears and sacrifices. But it’s all worth it!

I guess if I’m not a PR practitioner, I could have been a professional dancer: a dancesports athlete or ballroom dancing instructor, or a member of a cultural dance troupe, a jazz or hip hop dancer, or perhaps even a macho dancer! Ha ha ha =)