Every Single Dance.

Last weekend we had the privilege of having a Zouk teacher couple coming over to give us workshops all the way from Brazil: Bruno and Eglantine. This couple amazed our Zouk scene already in Helsinki Zouk Festival last year, so a full class of enthusiastic students didn't come as a surprise. I truly love them both as dancers and admire the way they give their hearts to Zouk.

One thing that I highly appreciate in a dance teacher, or in any partner dancer for that matter, is the ability in social dancing to make every single dance special and personal no matter with who they are dancing with. This ability comes up normally when you find someone with who you have a strong dance connection, but can be extremely hard if that connection is weak. Since dance teachers are travelling around the world and dancing almost every weekend with a huge amount of different dancers constantly, I feel amazed if they can keep up this attitude. It is kind of spreading the love of dancing to everyone around you, but to everyone separately and uniquely.

Bruno is exactly this kind of a dancer and this ability of his didn't go unnoticed during the weekend. It didn't make a difference whether the follower was a beginner or more advanced, or whether the connection between them was stronger or weaker: every single time he was making a personal contact with his partner and created something unique form that connection and the music. Every dance seemed to be like an exciting exploratory expedition for him. He was open, he was right there. No wonder all that the girls were talking about was that how much they loved the personal touch he was giving to everyone. Everyone loved dancing with him - and he loved dancing with everyone.

There is no denying that he took also my breath away during our magical dances. He made me feel so special, like the most amazing dancer in the world. I was completely his and he was all mine during those moments. What more could I even ask for? Also, the way he counter-reacted to my reaction of his leading made him create new movements, just in that moment (as he, to my surprise, mentioned in our Sunday's workshop after our dances on Saturday's party). It was like a conversation, a flowing and intensive one, far away from a monologue, the kind of which we got completely absorbed in.

This made me thinking that why don't we all have this kind of an attitude towards dancing? Why don't we just give everything we've got and surrender completely for every dance, not just for those "special" ones? Giving your everything doesn't take anything away from anyone, but only spreads the love of dancing to all the people around you. Sure, the other person can block your openness, but is it the end of the world? Compared to the possibilities and energy it creates, I think it is rather a small adversity. Every dance has the possibility to be an adventure, but it will become one only if you let it - and this is what requires openness and surrendering. I'm not saying that only you should do it, but this is what I would want to learn. Giving my everything to every dance, making any dance personal and special every single time, no matter with who I dance with, no matter where or when.

After turning over these thoughts for a couple of days I realized that it is not only dancing where I want to implement this attitude. Why wouldn't I be open to everyone and to everything all the time? If I give all of myself in any situation, what harm can it cause? If I meet someone, anyone, why wouldn't I try to connect with this person open minded, and show them who I truly am? What is the point of hiding myself? What is the point of giving only fragment of all the potential that lies inside of me?

"I could see inside of you!", he whispered to me, smiling the wide and charming smile of his, after one of our dances. And I felt the same about him. It was truly an adventure.