From Student to Teacher and Back to Student.

I taught Nic some snow boarding in Lapland and by doing that I think we both were able to realize some things about teaching and learning. I must say in some things we are so similar. When we went up to the slope for the first time Nic was already asking me to teach him how to turn from side to the other. It gave me a flashback of me asking Nic to teach me the double spin in Salsa far before I was ready for it. I laughed and replied that he should know better how important it is to learn the basic step first!

I don't know if it was because the temporary change of roles but in my opinion we had one of the best practices today. Well, it did not hurt that we both just happened to be in a really good mood when stepping in to our ballroom! I was happy to discover that Nic wanted to teach me some more Foxtrot after trying it shortly in the dance evening in Lapland. Foxtrot is a Standard ballroom dance and it was invented, according to one theory, by Harry Fox in 1914 in the United States. It became extremely popular and kept its strong  standing all the way to the 1940s. Over the time the dance split into slow and quick versions, Quickstep being the faster one (maybe Nic will teach me also that soon!). Since Foxtrot can be danced to a Beat music, it is quite common dance in Finnish dance evenings. I find it quite effortless to dance since I don't have to think of the steps too much. I also enjoyed Nic's music chooses for Foxtrot:

I think I am getting better in Cha-cha since Nic taught me a new step called the Box. It is the first step I have learned this far where you let go your hold of your dancing partner. The Box starts with a basic spin followed by separating out and moving two steps forward passing your partner. You move left with chasse, back with two steps and do right chasse. Returning to the normal dance stance is a bit more tricky: you push yourself towards your partner with one hand and do quick step cross forward four times changing the leg, turn and back to the basic step. Sounds more difficult that it really is.


We also did some spinning practice since I always get dizzy when turning around in Slow Waltz or Foxtrot. I did so well I made Nic speechless! His amazed look was the best feedback I could ever get! I'm definitely getting back the dance fever I had when we first started dancing. Cannot wait for the next practice.

Dancing in Lapland.

Last Tuesday me and Nic came to Lapland to spend the Easter holidays with my family. We are staying in a cozy cottage near Levi skiing center. Since I did not want to skip our Wednesday's dancing practice I decided to take Nic to Finnish "lavatanssit", a dance evening with Finnish music and lots of old people dancing dances like Humppa, Jenkka, Waltz, Finnish Tango, Foxtrot etc. There was quite famous dance music orchestra called Souvarit playing in Levi hotel yesterday evening so I figured that would be a perfect chance to teach Nic something about Finnish culture and maybe to learn some new dances myself.

I have been in a dance evening like that before couple of times but I never would have imagined that I could have had so much fun there as I did last night. We were definitely the youngest people there but the age doesn't really matter if everybody is having fun dancing together. Nic said he was quite surprised about everybody's dancing skills and the variety of styles you could see there. It seemed everybody were dancing in their own way and style so trying to catch the basic steps for the dances was more difficult that I would have thought. We were having big laughs trying to dance some Jenkka after observing how the steps would go. At least we were having fun!

I also learned the basic steps to Foxtrot: right, left, sidestep. I think after a while I was actually doing quite fine even though Nic never stays with the basic steps: once I get the hang of them theres more to come. I also dances the weirdest Rumba since far. It just felt wrong to dance Rumba to melancholic Finnish dance music! I did not get the rumba feeling at all. Quite a different experience I must say!

That night there was a womens and mens turm.

We also a short small dancing practice in the cottage earlier that day. I have a feeling that I am getting the idea of how to move my hands in Rumba. Nic said to me today that he was happy to see that I already adapted some of the new movement when we were dancing last night. And I did not even try to do that! I was so pleased to hear that because I have been so insecure especially about the hands when dancing Rumba. I also really like practicing the hand movements (especially if my legs are sore from dancing!).

My calves are so sore from snow boarding the whole day today but I am hoping we could have a dance practice tomorrow evening after some sunny slopes in Levi.

Back to basics.

So we did have practice today after all which I am really happy about. We have had some problems during couple of last practices. Somehow we forgot the most important thing: to have fun and just enjoy learning. Well, we talked about it and today's practice was so much more fun.

Nic taught me a new dance today: jive! It is quite fast but super fun dance that was developed in the 40s. It makes you imagine yourself having a blast wearing a shirt with a big hemline. The basic step is quite easy, girl starting with her right leg back followed with a chasse to right and another chasse to left back where you started. Here is a short video to give you some kind of idea of the dance:

We also danced more cha-cha and I found out that I am able to take advantage of some rumba steps in it. In rumba I learned a step called the Fan. First I was confused about the rhythym but when I got that the step was not that hard. All in all, the practice was really nice and I felt like I was able to learn a lot new things.

The Ball.

I was happy to make it on time to the ball last Saturday. The venue was an old bank building and it was really

The result of 30 minutes of preparing!

elegant and rich in atmosphere. Everybody was looking really nice with their evening dresses and dress coats. When you are in a place like that wearing your nice dress you start to feel like a real lady. My avec was making me feel comfortable by behaving like a gentleman. So nice of him. This proves that even Finnish guys can be gentlemen if you make them wear tails, go to an expencive restaurant and wear your best evening gown!

The evening started well with delicious dinner, singing and some speeches. After the meal it was finally time for the dances.  We were provided with dance cards where you could reserve your dancing partners for the four dances: Polonaise, Mignon, Cicapo and Lambeth Walk. These quite simple dances are being danced in the Senior Ball (Wanhojentanssit) in Finland when you are in the second year of high school (that is long ago for me!). According to the etiquette you should start the dances with your avec and continue to others sitting in your dinner table. Between every dance there is one Vienna waltz. The bookings for dances were made already in the beginning of the ball. We decided with my avec that we would dance the first and second dance

The dance card.

together. I danced the others with my table’s two freshmen. Actually I would have wanted to dance with one older student who was doing really well in the rehearsal (you could definitely see that he has been dancing before) but he was sitting in another table. Well, my dancing partners were not doing badly at all so I have nothing to complain about.

One thing I must complain about though, is that the dance floor was way too small for all of the people. It was formed by moving some of the tables aside so it could have been made bigger with only a small extra effort. Hitting each other and stepping on others feet was unavoidable and I got couple of nice strikes to my head. However, if you did not pay attention to the crush and instead let the music take you, the ambiance was brilliant. Everybody was having loads of fun trying to remember the steps. It is not often that you have an opportunity to dance the Senior Ball dances and, I guess, them bring back good memories from free-and-easy high school days. The dancing session was over before I realized and the short time made me want more. Well, maybe next year then!

Today we are skipping Monday’s dancing practice since Nic is not feeling well after yesterday. I took him to sillis (that is a “breakfast” after the ball) for the whole day which was absolutely perfect event with sunshine, food, drinks and good company. Okay, I have to admit that I am, too, quite tired after the weekend! Maybe I will still go to a zumba class to dance to some Latin music.

Me and my avec at the ball.

The venue.

My "ears".

Hanging out in sillis on Sunday.

Glimpse of a princess.

Here is a foretaste of the dress!

I am going to my student union's ball this Saturday. When you go to a ball it is all about the dress, at least for girls, and luckily I was able to borrow my good friend's little sister's gorgeous evening gown. When it comes to evening dresses I usually have a problem that my shoulders are too wide compared to my hip so it is so hard to find one that fits me well. What I like about this dress is that it just happens to fit me perfectly and it is not even too long!

One thing I am looking forward about the ball is, of course, dancing. Actually we had a dance practice for the ball couple of weeks ago. I am going to the ball with one of my friend who I met in a prep course for law school when I was studying for the entrance exam. We already had so much fun dancing in the practice (at least he seemed to have fun with me) that it is going to be really nice evening.

Saturday is going to be a busy day. I have to be more than 500 km away from Helsinki at noon to give a speech. Immediately after the speech someone is going to drive me to the railway station to catch a train to Helsinki. IF the train is on time I will arrive to Helsinki 1,5 hours before the ball starts and during that time I have to make myself ready and get to the place! Phew, I just really hope the train will not be late.

By the way, yesterday I went to a Latin dance class in my gym and tried samba for the first time. I must say this: it is such a difficult dance! I also find out that dancing really makes you find out new muscles from your body: my calves are so sore I cannot believe!

One step forward, two steps back.

Phew, today's dance practice was quite a rollercoaster! My mood went up and down from super exited and cheerful to discouraged and hopeless. I wish I wasn't that hard on myself but I just hate when I cannot do things even though I try to do my best. What I hate more is that I cannot control me feeling down when I am not doing well. It might be okay if I could hide it but no, Nic can read me like an open book!

Well, at least my slow waltz is starting to get better. I have a feeling that I might be more like a standard dancer than a latin one (sorry Nic I know latin is your thing!). Then again, I really like salsa, so I might change my mind when I start to get my hip movement right. Good thing that we are practicing this quite lot even

though today I felt like I was going nowhere. I am doing it somehow wrong and it keeps hurting my back and legs. It did not help that my sides were still sore from Friday's salsa clubbing and my abbs were hurting from yesterday's workout in gym. As an result of this I am now banned to go to gym on Sundays!

Today I learned basic steps to a new dance: cha-cha. My first impression was that it is really energetic and fun dance. I think it is nice to learn a dance with faster beat for a change. Starting a new dance is also nice because any dance is easy in the beginning. The more you learn the harder it gets!

Although today I felt like I was sliding two steps back for each step that I took I cannot wait for Wednesday practice!

This is how serious our practice can get!

Salsa @ local's

If I’m going out I usually try to look if there are salsa parties going on somewhere that night. The best internet page I have found this far is www.salsa.fi where people can inform others about salsa-related events. It is not perfect website but at least easy to use and it has calendar for different cities around Finland.

I went out for a drink on Saturday with one of my good girl friend and, as usual, checked out the website. I have been thinking to check out one place that has had quite much advertisement there so I suggested my friend to head there. The place, Club Havana, turned out to be local pub with Latin music and decoration which I thought was quite cool. If you compare it to normal corner pub in Finland the atmosphere was a lot more cheery I must say. It is not a place I would choose to go salsa clubbing though, or then I just happened to be there on the wrong night.

The visit was not a waste of time however. I found out that my friend is also quite into Latin music and she is also interested about learning salsa. It is so hard to find someone to go salsa clubbing with me since it seems my friends are not really into that kind of things. It is not that I do not enjoy going salsa clubs with Nic but if he is there I wouldn’t dance with anyone else. First, I like dancing with him, second, I feel comfortable dancing with him, and third, I would feel too self-conscious having Nic watching me dance with someone. Besides, going salsa clubbing with Nic is also about having fun together. Nonetheless it is important to dance with different kind of people to be able to learn more. For me it will be a step out of my comfort zone but I have to give it a try. Now I even don’t have the excuse of I-don’t-wanna-go-alone.

The next level of salsa.

Yesterday me and Nic went to a salsa club to a small lounge-like bar Coronita in the center of Helsinki. I haven't been salsa clubbing that much but I must say I was quite surprised about the place. We actually walked pass the bar without realizing that was the place we were looking for. Coronita is actually a restaurant and cafe but I think it was an awesome idea to throw a salsa party there! The dance floor was small but nobody seemed to care about it while DJ Lucho played lots of salsa and some merengue and bachata (a perfect mix of you ask me!).

What I really like about salsa clubs is that people do not go there to get drunk but to dance and have lots and lots of fun. If I go to a normal night club I usually do not stay there for long. They are loud, dark, full of drunken people and have only one activity to do if the music sucks: to drink. The first salsa club I went was in Copacabana in Helsinki about six months ago when Nic was visiting Helsinki. Until then I never thought I would have that much fun going out clubbing. I was so shocked when I noticed few months ago that the place had closed down. I guess salsa clubs are not yet the thing to do in Finland.

Anyway, yesterday's salsa party was a success. The place was full and the atmosphere was easy-going and somehow cozy in a way you could have imagined yourself to someone's house party. We went there around midnight and danced all the way to the end. In the beginning Nic was having his dance teacher mode on but I blocked his lecture reminding him about our deal: when we go out it is just having fun and no teaching whatsoever. The last thing I wanted to think about was if I was moving the right way or if I was making mistakes. I think letting myself to forget those things made me move to the next level of salsa, as Nic put it. I guess the surroundings also had something to do with it. Nic said he was really impressed from the beginning we entered the dance floor. I think I infected my dance mood to him since in the end he was spinning me around like never before. Damn we had fun! We will definitely go again there some day soon!

The Photographer.

Today I asked my my good friend to join our practice. She loves taking pictures plus she has been dancing a long time herself so I thought she would be the perfect person to photograph us. Well, I must admit it was a bit disturbing when someone was making pictures around us so I made bunch of stupid mistakes like starting with my wrong leg and not following Nic's lead. I wonder how it would be IF we are going to a competition!

Nic thought me some Vienna waltz since I'm going to my student union ball this month. Around and around and around. The most difficult thing for me at the moment is not to get dizzy and make the dance look like effortless even though the beat is quite fast. It is so different compared to slow watlz I must say.

The practice ended with learning a new step to slow waltz. First it seemed I did not get it at all but it helped to close my eyes and just to concentrate on the music. Sometimes I just think too much about the steps, the pose and everything to the point that I cannot follow the lead and just go with it. Closing my eyes helps to forget my surroundings and all the failures I do. Its just me and the music and the good feeling.

I must thank my friend for the nice pictures and also the good tips she gave me. I think we might have infected her with our dancing fever. Maybe next time she will teach us some Finnish ballroom dancing.

The night ended with having some good food, wine and shisha together. Perfect!

The Ballroom.

Before today's practise we used to have our dancing practise anywhere we coud, mostly in my tiny livingroom or my apartment house's common room.The common room was okay but the problem was that there is no mirrows so I had no idea how I look when dancing. Also, the place was still too small to practise some moves. So, couple of weeks ago I decided to find a practise place for us. I happened to find the perfect place, our ballroom. It is nothing fancy, just a small gym hall, but the location could not be better and the prize is low.

I came to realize that a real preactise place ment more serious practise. With serious I mean concentrating on smaller details and paying attention to basic movement and posture. The first half an hour was flown working with my hip movement for rumba. Right, forward, back, left, forward, back, right... I am not surprised if my abbs will be sore tomorrow! I think I got the idea of it but I need lots and lots of practise, and even more practise untill I will be able to transfer it to actual dancing.

When it comes to slow waltz, the basic movement and posture is absolutely different. I think I forgot to breathe once in a while when I was trying to keep my middle body straight! I must have looked like dead serious when consentrating since Nic said: "it is allowed to smile here, you know!". Nic pointed out the way you step with your heel first in standard dances after which it felt so much more easy to move. Slow waltz is a dance I feel the most confident at the moment which must be on of the reasons why I like it so much.

The last dance for today was tango. This was the third time I danced tango and I am still so out of this! I guess I got even abit furstrated with the dance. I am the kind of person who wants to give her best and be good in what she does. When I don't know what I am doing, I easily loose my confidence. I don't like that feeling. Dancing makes so good for me: I think I will learn to accept that I cannot know everything from the beginning and I don't have to be perfect. After all, dancing should be fun, not something to stress yourself!

So I think I can dance?

I was talking to this girl who I've met once before the other day. She aked me, "so, what sports do you do", and gave my arms a long look. I find it surprising people ask me that quite often. Well, I guess doing sports shows in your body at least when you have been exercicing for many years. But anwering "oh, I just go to the gym" to that question is really not that stimulating. It would be so much more interesting to tell about a cool-sounding sport, like, I don't know, chessboxing or synchronized swimming or something. When I added after my boring answer "and I just started to dance a while ago", her eyes brightened and she started to bombard me with more questions and told me she used to dance too.

But when can you say that you are a dancer? Is there a certain amount of years you have to take dancing classes or spesific number of competitions you have to attend? Or is dancer an occupational tittle when you would have to dance as your profession to be referred to a dancer? On the other hand, how long can you call yourself a dancer if you stop dancing? Nic has never referred himself to a dancer; its awlays a former competition dancer. Is there some kind of implied contract among dancers about this?

Maybe this will be revealed to me if I some day become a dancer. But for now I think I'd better just settle for I-just-started-dancing category.