Take More Chances, Dance More Dances.

Since I got back from NZ I had a feeling that I haven't been doing end experiencing enough while in Brisbane. This was the trip I had been planning and waiting for ages and here I was just doing nothing exiting. Sure, studying is interesting but that's not the only reason I came here. One night after one of those not-that-exciting-days I said to myself girl, you need to dance more, and so I decided to leave behind the slow and lazy evenings and head out.

It is not hard to find dancing to do in Brisbane and so I ended up spending all my evenings dancing (sounds like something I would easily end up doing, huh?) wondering afterwards why going down the stairs was so painful thing to do. If I want to get everything out of my time here, I reasoned, I need to be proactive. So, I explored new dance schools, tried new dance styles and even facebooked suggested events for dance parties (great way of crashing into some nice house parties and meeting new people by the way!). I danced on ice, by the pool, in a park, under the starts, in a bowling club and in restaurants. After the intensive exploration week, I now have three weekdays booked for regular dance classes and two dance festival passes for May waiting in my pocket. One thing I love and hate about myself is that I just have to do everything in extremes. There is no such thing as golden mean for me.

Remember I made a New Year's promise that I would learn a new dance this year? Well, I think I've found the dance I want to learn: West Coast Swing. One of those festival passes is for Swingsation, a WCS dance festival held in Gold Coast on 17th -19th May. One thing I know about dance festivals is that if I go there as a total beginner I end up feeling horrible among all the great dancers, and also I won't get so much out from the workshops than if my level was higher. So I have a challenge to boost myself to an intermediate level during the couple of months. Let's see how I'll do.

After all the time I've already have spent here, I still find it surprising how many people come to ask me if I was a dance instructor. The latest incident was at Dancing by the River latin social dancing event on Sunday when a lady approached me asking where my studio is located. Confusing. I wonder if its the tough feedback culture in Finnish dancing circles that has either made me surprised of the super positive feedback or made me a good dancer. At least it sure is more encouraging atmosphere here, I feel.

Last but not the least, a video of my and Big O's zoukking in the Amateur Freestyle Latin Championships last Saturday. The song we got was a way too fast for our style (the only lambada song out of twenty-something zouk songs in the competition, what a luck...) which shows as a rush and unfinished movements in the performance, but I left the night with only positive feelings in my heart. At least we stood out from everyone else, and more importantly, had fun!

Finally, since I just came from Leo&Becky's Zouk class, I just must say, once again, how great teacher they are. I love they way they point out those small but crucial details that can put your dancing into the next level. I really with they stayed here for longer because these kind of teachers and dancers are hard to find. Have a safe trip back home guys and hopefully see you some day soon!

Sometimes it just happens. I go dancing, full of energy, having a good day behind me, and then something goes wrong. Dancing becomes just a series of movements. Something crucial is missing. I can't feel the music in my heart. I can't connect with anyone. I can't enjoy.

I start to look around and see all these good dancers around me. I get angry - why can't I dance as good as them? Why can't I be as fun to dance with? Why can't I look as good as them? Why am I even trying when all I do is average? No one wouldn't even notice if I weren't there. Why can't I be the best?

I try to restrain my wondering mind but I can't concentrate. Then I start to feel guilty. Guilty for not living in that moment, for not giving myself into that dance. My smile is fake, my dancing is fake, everything in me is fake. I feel like I'm doing something rude, being unfair. I would want to tell someone, show that I'm suffering, open up my heart. But I can't, I'm too afraid. Then, I start to fear that someone will see through my fake smile.

I panic. I have to get out of here.

That is the worst thing for me that can happen. The most horrible thing is not being able to enjoy dancing and not being able to dance straight from my heart. For me it is impossible just to "step and go into the music". Dancing is something more, its about expressing the feelings that music wakes in me. If I feel angry and frustrated, I could dance and express those feelings but social dancing is not the place.

Also, jealousy is a fast way of ruining a dance confidence and if that is lost, there is no way of giving the best you've got. You just become more jealous and underachieve again and again. For me dancing is more about feeling good inside than looking flashy outside. Its about enjoyment.

That night I left home early and cried. That is just something that has to happen sometimes. If that hasn't ever happened to you, well, I feel sorry for you.

Dance Like No One Is Going To Put It On YouTube.

So I'm back in Brisbane from my holiday in New Zealand. What a trip it was! I would have tons of cool stories to tell but unfortunately none is to do with dancing, so dance-wise I have nothing exciting to tell from the activity-full trip. I did try to find some social dancing while in Christchurch but I simply happened to be there at the wrong time of the week.

However, I know that soon I'll have tons of cool dancing stories to tell. Remember me complaining about Kadu and Larissa leaving for their European tour just when I finally would have been in the same city to take their classes? Well, you can imagine how relieved I got when I heard that there is going to be someone, or rather a certain dance couple, replacing them while they are gone. And not just any dance couple but one whose style I happen to like a lot. A dance couple whose style is really different to Kadu&Larissa's. A teacher with who it is extremely enjoyable to dance with. Can you give it a guess who I'm talking about with this very easy hint: last (and first) time I took their classes were in Helsinki Zouk festival (well actually his and his previous dance partner's classes). So yeah, I'm really excited since they are going to have classes here for the next five weeks! Last Friday night there was a welcome party for them in Rio Rhythmics so my plan was to get there early to get some extra dances with him. My plan was unsuccessful, however, since he was DJ'ing the whole night and couldn't dance at all! Well, it was a great party anyway but I really hope to get some opportunities to grab him to the dance floor at some point while they're here.

Big O. is now staying here with me for a couple of months and of course I was excited to show him the good dancing that's happening in Brissy. On Wednesday I took him to Casablanca, a bar/restaurant where they organize Latin dancing nights, firstly because it was the first dance night after coming back and also because I hadn't yet been there myself. It reminded me of Helsinki's bar Havanna; the kind of place where you'd go dancing every week with your friends (except a lot more hot place to dance, I really wish they'd get aircon!), nothing too fancy but a place to have some great and cozy dance evenings. Unfortunately this Wednesday wasn't a great success and only few dancers had showed up (maybe the heavy raining that evening did its part). I was like it's not like this usually, I promise! Well, I guess Friday night proved me right.

Last night we got an invite to one local dancer's house party. He had this huge kitchen with lots of space to dance and that's what we did. It was great way of getting to know to some of the dancers here, have a great evening and some good dancing. You know, in dance parties you may meet lots of people but it can be hard make friends with them. I especially liked chatting with some of the girls and hear about their thoughts and tips about dancing in Brisbane since in dance parties its even harder to meet other girls. Everyone were excited about Big O's quite different Zouk moves so we got into YouTube that night (just after me spotting the heading's dance quote earlier that day):

This month there is also some exciting dance events to come. Next weekend I'm going to my first ever West Coast Swing workshop to see if that dance is for me. The weekend after that there is an amateur Latin dance competition in Brisbane where I'm trying to get Big O. to participate with me. And of course Leo&Becky's (yes you got that right!) workshops are a must in this month.

So, its already been a month since I left Helsinki. Can you believe that?

Dance Princess.

Australia is treating me well - so well that  just might get spoiled if it keeps on going like this! I now got everything arranged: timetable for my uni courses done, all the everyday practicalities sorted out, my new perfect apartment found and, most importantly, the local dance scene checked out! Today I was already thinking if I should change my flights so I could stay even a little bit longer. How can I be worried of leaving a place where I just arrived a week ago?

I must say that the local dancers have the best way of welcoming new ones to the crowd. Seriously, people were lining for me on Saturday's dance party! This is how teachers must feel in the festivals when there is no chance for breaks or hardly even time to get a zip of water! Just to make sure, this is not complaining, I absolutely loved it. I've never felt so - what could be a good word for it - popular in the dance floor. It was like being a dance princess jumping from one prince's arms to another's. Surely its mostly because I'm the new girl so everyone wants to give me a try (and soon I'm going to be old news) but I have to admit that it made a nice boost to my dancing confidence. And that's not all: everybody are always saying something nice after the dance, like "it was really lovely"or "you're such a great dancer" or "that was awesome!". Something much better than the cold Finnish thanks you usually get.

Sunday was a great fun too. There was a Zouk event in Portside from 12 till 6 pm that gathered many dancers during the day. It was a warm and sunny day - a little bit too warm for dancing outside - but it didn't stop me dancing the whole time through. It was a funny feeling having Kadu and Larissa popping by since I've mostly been admiring them from youtube videos. Like suddenly running into a celebrity on the street. There were also quite many photographers taking pictures so here's finally some illustration for the blog:

There would have been another Zouk party later that evening but I was too exhausted even to think about it. What a perfect weekend it was.

P.S. I'm going for a short trip to New Zealand tomorrow so don't worry if you don't hear from me here for a while. I'll just be mountain hiking, downhill biking, sea kayaking and, you know, those kind of things.

Hello Brissy!

Here I am: in Brisbane! Good bye the horrible cold weather in Helsinki and hello the nice warm Australian summer days. Well, my first days weren't really that glorious as I imagined. I didn't spend my days on the beach nor partied with students, no; I spent my days house hunting, that is, browsing different adds with my iPad hoping to find the perfect place. I never thought I would come to Australia and feel so stressed! But you know what did the change? You got it right: dancing.

Before I got here I was emailing with Larissa if I could take any of their Zouk classes when I get here and she permitted me to come to their advanced class to see how I go. So Thursday night I headed down the Valley with my heart going wild. What if I'm so much worse than everyone else? What if they laugh me out of there? So I step in and there is this huge crowd of dancers. I got kind of a festival feeling; you know those big classes where you know no one and hardly can see the teachers - that kind of feeling! I shouldn't have asked around how long people had been dancing Zouk; I lacked five or more years to their experience. Great way to put some more pressure on myself! What we did in the class was quite challenging figure, something really different to F&A's figures. How did I do then? Well, I was invited to Kadu's master class on Monday so I guess I passed the test! I came home with a big smile that night.

I'm lucky to have friends in Brisbane with who I can stay before I find my own place and who introduce me to the locals. I got to know to one Zouk dancer who knew just what is happening in the dance scene. Every other Friday night they are having these Zouk nights in Rio Rhytmics in West End so that's where we headed last night. And bam, I'm back to the festivals. Room full of great dancers you never danced with not knowing where to start! Like a small kid in a candy shop! Before I noticed I was already in the dance floor not able to leave it. After couple of great dances I grabbed Kadu from the DJ booth really looking forward to dance with him again after a long time (last time was in Amsterdam one year ago and I still remember my big smile after our dance). He is a great dancer, no doubt about that. I was looking for Larissa too but couldn't find her.

I don't know if I made a weird first impression of myself in the party though. There was three girls having their birthday, which means birthday dance of course, and I thought taking part as a leader. Well, apparently girls don't lead around here! One guy even asked me later on when asking me for a dance if I danced with guys at all or if it was just girls! I sure made my appearance.

Anyway, the party was just great. People are so nice here and you wouldn't be sitting alone next to the dance floor for a long time. Even though there were lots of people same leaders came to ask me for a dance again, which always makes me feel like they must have liked dancing with me. There was one leader with who I especially liked dancing with; great connection from the beginning. When I was going home I thought: this festival is going to last for the next six months! How awesome is that?!

Well, I'd better get ready for tonight's party! Oh, and tomorrow there's going to be Zouk all day long, from noon till dawn. I sure picked the right place to come!

Bye.

It hit me couple of days ago: I'm actually leaving. Leaving my life as it is. Leaving already today.

What I dislike is doing things for the last time; it makes me heavy-hearted. That's why I try avoid thinking of it as much as I can. Not thinking about leaving worked quite well until two days ago. This time, however, I didn't feel sad but quite the opposite. Knowing that my life will never be the same again made me observe it more closely. This is my life, I noted. This is my life - and I love it. My life looks beautiful! My life makes a glowing smile to my face. Having farewell lunch with my girl friends, last day at work, hearing have-a-safe-trip-wishes again and again, hugging my lovely friends goodbye, dancing with everybody in my farewell party - everything gives such a warm feeling. This is a place where I'm glad to come back; even though my life won't be the same as I leave it now.

When I thought what would be the best way of spending my last night in Finland the answer was obvious: dancing. So I rented a dance studio, invited my friends and danced. And it certainly was the perfect last night in Finland. Warm and lovely feeling in the dance floor, spurt of adrenalin during the choreo performance, crazy fun after party in night club; what more could I ask? I was so happy to see so many people there having fun with me.

Now I'm off. The other side of the world is waiting for me.

Dancing Habits.

No one can say that I’m not open to try new things: last week I took my first ever Popping, Hip hop, Locking, House, Contemporary dance AND Ballet classes. Quite an achievement for one week isn’t it! I also went to couple of Fustra classes to find those tiny core muscles so important in dancing. Ouch, says my body and no wonder it does so: in addition to all the dance classes I had four Zouk practices (thanks Gaga, Michaelo, Carlos, N Girl and Big O. for those!) and finally Zouk practica on Sunday. Not mentioning Tuesday night in Havanna. As a balance, this week my dancing will be reduced almost to zero since I’m going to be out of town for most of the week, so I wouldn’t be expecting new postings about dancing for a while.

I have to tell you about this cute dance studio I went and fell in love with,Tamara Rasmussen dance school in Cable Factory. The school's main teacher is such a lovely person! The first thing she did was memorizing my name and making sure I feel welcomed and comfortable. Even though it seems that she is absorbed into her teaching, she is constantly observing all the students. Many times she came to me, pushed here and there to correct my stance or movements and didn't forget to encourage. "Yes Riikka, that's it! Very well done!". All classes started with simply walking around the classroom, but to walk correctly can be harder than you think. Feel all weight on my foot, push from the back foot, concentrate to the hip, find the balance, be ready, relax and breathe free, I kept repeating to myself. In the end of the class she turned to us, smiled warm and said: "it was such a nice class today, thank you all for making it so pleasant!"

What I liked most about last week was that trying totally new things made me realize some dancing habits I have especially in Zouk. You know, some of those things you just always make, maybe even without noticing. The problem can be that you don’t know what else to do so you just stick with the old and safe things. Or maybe your muscle memory is just stronger than your will; we all know how irritating that can be! Inspired by the new dance styles I tried to get something from them and put them into my Zouk dancing. Right, maybe many of them didn’t work but throwing my dance habits away for a while was quite relaxing and fun. I should make a habit out of challenging my habits!

Do you have any dancing habits?

The Perfect Me.

When I was finishing my previous posting on Monday I felt inconsistent: I wrote most of the post before Sunday and after that my mood had changed dramatically. Why am I writing about lack of inspiration when my heart is still bouncing from the previous night’s dancing?

Its funny how one event, even a small one, can change you. I encountered my turning point in the dance floor and it changed me from the boring and uninspired ordinary-me to cheerful and eager special-me, back to myself. But why it was this very Sunday that made this transition; after all I spend hours in the dance floor every week. Well, maybe this time I realized that the person holding me wanted to dance especially with me, no one else. I was special, precious, inspiring. And you know what: being special doesn’t mean being the best, having the perfect technique or the most outstanding styling. Being special is making the dance special for both involved, and to be able to do this you must undress your defenses and reveal the real you. It is natural to compare yourself to others, and with comparison you will always find someone better than you. But it’s not about being better. No one can be better you than you yourself. Sometimes you just need someone to remind you that you are special, that you are the perfect you.

Being myself is so much more fun. Even if I feel ridiculous doing some totally new dance style I come out from the class with a huge smile on my face. Even if I’ve had horrible and exhausting day at work I feel super energetic going to dancing right after. Even if stay out late dancing and barely wake up the next morning, I automatically collect my dance gear to my back and head half-sleep to office without questioning if I had energy to go dancing that afternoon. And when I hit the dance floor I have a blast.

It feels absurd how could have I forgotten how much fun dancing is. Remember when I used to go dancing to Havanna every single Tuesday? Even though I still remember how dead-tired I used to be every single Wednesday morning I obviously had forgotten why I still always went home too late those Tuesday nights; simply because I had so much fun I couldn’t leave. Last Tuesday's Bachata evening was like going back in time and made me wonder: why did I ever stop going there? One highlight of the evening was a sort of a reunion with one leader I haven’t been dancing with in ages. Yup, the connection is still there, a strong as it used to be. Damn, why did we ever stop dancing!

My new dance styles trial continues this week with dance school Saiffa’s free classes on Popping, Hip Hop, House and Locking, maybe even some Break. A small warning for those who plan to do the same though: the classes are super full of enthusiastic dancers!

Inspiration, Where Did You Go?

It has been obvious that I haven’t been quite myself lately. Mostly dancing is a territory that I can still remain myself during periods like these but this time I haven’t been able to be myself even in the dance floor. Many say that one of my biggest strengths in dancing is that I can easily through myself into the dance, get lost, go crazy, forget everything else, and losing that strength makes dancing somehow uninspiring. It feels that I have nothing to give and that dancing has nothing to give to me.

I appreciate friends who know me well enough to see these things in a glimpse and aren’t afraid to say things right to my face. Michaelo said it well: I have become ordinary; I have lost that something that makes me special. I have lost that spark of life that makes my eyes shine and heart jump, and there is only one person who can turn this change to better. So I stopped to look around. I don’t want to live an ordinary life; I don’t want to settle to conveniences. I need drama, rollercoasters, big feelings, action.

I can say that I have truly tried to find my dancing inspiration the last couple of weeks and most of my attempts have been more or less unsuccessful. A good start for my search, though, was a free dancing practice to random music with Michaelo week ago on Sunday: at least I felt more like myself in the Zouk practica after our practice. Last week I took advantage from DCA’s open doors week and I stepped out of my comfort zone with different dancing classes (btw, this week they are having open doors week in Saiffa if you're interested of street dances). Some of them, especially Voguing classes, did make me feel excited to learn more and try new things, but some classes made me simply feel like I didn’t belong there at all. Looking at the young girls at the dance school made me ask myself why, oh why didn’t I start dancing ten years ago! I also realized once again that something I really want to learn is competition dance technique. That’s what I started with and that’s what I have been secretly missing all the time. Oh, one cool event I went was short dances in this old city owned building, Hietaniemen paviljonki, that might be pulled down in which some dancers organized dance event to demonstrate this act. Nothing special dance inspiration-wise but a nice cheer-up anyway.

Maybe it is just so that life goes in periods. You can’t be super passionate and excited about one specific thing all the time, even if it’s dancing. Maybe it’s because of my budding trip that makes me feel somehow unconnected with everything. This whole month has been kind of a transition period from my old life to new, and it feels hard to take hold from neither of them. I still have dozens of things to do before my departure and I just can’t move myself to get them done. But hey, I still have three weeks, right?

One thing that I managed to cross out from my to-do-list was checking out the Zouk classes I wanted to take in Brisbane, and you can’t believe my luck: Kadu and Larissa are going to go to their three month European tour just when I arrive to Australia! I mean, come on!! The one time that I actually live where my first Zouk idols teach they happen to come here. What have I done to deserve this tragedy? Okay, the good thing is that apparently they have taught their students well and that the scene should be pretty good in Brisbane. And well, I’ll just take their classes when they are back (but this still sucks badly!).

Going back to the dance inspiration topic, I just have to tell you something that happened yesterday. Something that I haven’t been experiencing for a too long time; something that gives you a never ending pool of inspiration and passion; something that makes you lose your sense of time and space; something I have been searching these weeks but never thought it would come out this intense. After a long long break from dancing in Havanna, must be over six months or so, I stepped there for a Kizomba evening and, suddenly, unexpectedly I went to a dancing heaven. Hours of constant pure pleasure in the dance floor. Every single move made me want more. This is why I dance, these magical moments.

So, ultimately, I did it, I found it and found myself, even if just for a one night.

New Year, New Dance.

Every New Year I make three New Year’s promises. Last year I promised to find a dance that feels my own and that’s what I did. If I think of my dance year 2012 Zouk was definitely the dance I danced the most, got most enjoyment from and in which I improved the most. One of my promises for this year was that I’m going to learn a whole new dance. I don’t know yet what dance this will be but it must be something new and different; a way to challenge myself to find new perspectives to my dancing.

In the end of a year it feels natural to go back to the year passed and think through what has been happening in life lately. This time the end of the year feels even more like an end of some period in my life because of the big changes in my everyday life. If you go back in my blog to see what I did one year ago in the turn of the year, I was just starting to dance Zouk and was shocked to see the first video of my dancing. Since that I have been videotaping my dancing almost every week to find things to correct and improve. I also had just finished dancing in Spex and was feeling confused for not dancing every single day. But the biggest thing dance-wise one year ago was that I was having a big battle finding a balance with my dancing life. Dancing had become too dominant force and I needed to take back the control. I could say that now dancing isn’t spinning me around but that I let it to put me into spinning when I so want. One year ago my life seemed totally empty without dancing; now dancing makes my life much richer and more beautiful but I find happiness and excitement from other things too.

A more intensive dance period before the holidays was a good choice: no dancing for 13 days now. This might sound a bit contradictory to what I just said, but today I started to fill up my calendar with dance practices to compensate this break. However, having a balance doesn’t mean that I couldn’t spend much time dancing. By the way, beginning of spring and fall are good opportunities to find some low-priced or even free dance classes when many dance schools are having open doors weeks or introductory offers. I found at least these options for the coming days: DCA’s open doors week 7.-13.1. (free admission to all classes that has availability), SalsaStudio’s introduction week 7.-13.1. (all classes 5 €), StepUp’s open doors 6.1. (free classes all day), Etnofitnes’ super Saturday 12.1. (9 €/1 class, 12 €/2 classes, 18 € /3 classes, 22 €/4 classes). Also Unisport organizes introduction classes to most of their dance courses on January. All in all, January is a good timing to try something new! I’m more than happy to explore different dance styles so let me know if you know any more open door events.

Yay, busy dancing weeks coming up!