Dancing Updates.

Apologies for my low profile lately. I haven't really had much inspiration to start writing anything deep. I have kept on dancing and my dancing hours seem to be in a slight uptrend, but I feel like updates about my normal dance practices are not something much interesting. If someone disagrees, sure, I can share my thoughts, but without any objections I'll rather wait until some inspiration hits me.

I have been doing heaps of cool dancing things though. For example, my friend from Northern Finland came to visit Helsinki and we had many great WCS practices. It did really good for me since my technique still sucks. Its way too zouky: I'm too light, can't keep my frame and I dance above the floor. I got some of those 'oh now I think I got it' realizations and now I have many ideas how to improve my technique and styling. If only I had a regular practice partner like him *dreamy sighs*.

Also, I finally went and tried some contact improvisation. I have been having some practices with one of my dancer friends before, but couple of weeks ago I got encouraged and went to my first class and CI jam. Hm, how would I describe it... A good experience definitely; I got good new ideas and had some great moments. I now feel more confident with lifts, giving and receiving weight, and working with the floor. Maybe the biggest obstacle for me, however, is the lack of music. Dancing has always been so music-related thing for me so dancing without music feels strange. I want to live the beat, dance through the melody and interpret the lyrics. In CI the focus is not in the music, but in the contact. For me it even feels somehow strange that everybody call it dancing, but maybe it just takes some time to get used to.

One thing that has been taking a lot of time is the Zouk group choreography that we're doing for the Helsinki Zouk Festival. We have finally got all the pieces together, but it still requires so much work and polishing before we could even dream of climbing to the stage with it. I'm quite afraid that we're going to run out of time soon and I'm not the only one with my concerns. It was as recently as today when I watched my performance from video and realized how much more I need to give. Further, it is not just me who needs to nail it, but there are four couples that need to get all the timings right and synchronized. But we'll get there! Just practice, practice, practice!

Something that has been giving me the needed balance to the dance practices has been Kizomba. Actually its the only dance style I have been social dancing lately; no Zouk nor WCS socials in Helsinki, a fact that I'm not pleased with at all. Don't tell me I need to start dancing Salsa to be able to go to dance parties! Right, there has been some Finnish ballroom dancing parties but, I don't know, somehow I haven't been able to get any dance mood in those. Sucks. One more reason to be waiting eagerly the Zouk festival. Now that we're in the not-so-cool-things-topic, I could go on and complain about my Achilles tendon that has been teasing me for too long time now; some days it is even hard to dance without high heels because of the unpleasant tight and sore feeling. Maybe I need to admit that it is somehow infected and go to physio. Double-sucks.

For not ending the post with nagging, I'll tell you one more thing that has been pretty cool this month: giving dance classes. Last week I gave ladies styling tips in HOT's advanced class and got lots of great feedback from my teaching. I have also been teaching dance technique and body movement to gymnastics groups. And six months ago I thought teaching wasn't for me! Never say never.

So, until the inspiration hits.

What Makes a Good Dancer?

This is one of those posts that I started writing, because I felt like that would clarify my thoughts, but while writing ended  up being more confused. So I let it rest and came back to it. I started the post with a question of "what makes a good dancer?". This topic raised into my mind mostly because I felt like many dancers try to determine who is the best and make tight comparisons between others. I was wondering if there really was a set of criteria that determines whether someone is better dancer than another and if dancers can be put in line as who is the best, the second best etc. Tough questions with no simple answer.  Thus, I'll give it a second try and see how I do this time.

So, can dancers be lined up as their "superiority"?

Yes, might be your answer; isn't that, for example, what the dance competitions are for? However, I don't find it as simple or black-and-white as that, especially when it comes to partner dancing. A good partner dancer for me is - this is how I firstly tried to describe it - someone with who I enjoy dancing with. This doesn't necessarily have to be tied together with the "level" (e.g. beginner, intermediate, advanced) of the dancer - something that would in the first glance be an indication of how good of a dancer that person is. I can highly enjoy dancing with a beginner dancer and regard that person to be in a way "better" than an intermediate or advanced dancer. Sure, it is possible to draw some lines between beginner and intermediate level, but the lines are anyway very broad and fine. Besides, these classifications are not there to point out whether one is a good dancer or not - or can you sincerely say that any beginner dancer can't be a good dancer, or that any advanced dancer is a good one?

Then, is the superiority of dancers a highly subjective thing? In that case, is a good dancer simply someone who many people regard as a good dancer? Or is it just me, disregarding the others, who can make the distinction? What I said before about a good partner dancer being someone with who I enjoy dancing with, that would be exactly the case. But then again, there are definitely dancers who I might not enjoy dancing with, but who I undoubtedly regard as good dancers. So it is not that simple after all, is it! Maybe the most relevant question to ask, then, is that why I regard someone as a good dancer (or why I enjoy dancing with someone for that matter)? Nevertheless, even though there might be some more or less "objective", or rather generally accepted, measures for a good dancer - say, for example, great body control, impressing spinning technique, superior balance, good musicality etc. - I still think that the beauty is in the eye of the beholder, that is, the superiority is just one's opinion. If there are others who agree, then there are several similar opinions.

Generally speaking, I don't like ranking dancers into general categories nor do I like superficially objective discussions of who is the best dancer or comparisons stating that one is better than another. All that is just about opinions and different preferences. I don't see the point of lining up dancers, because I think it creates mostly bad energy. In that sense it is pointless. What I like, though, are discussions about different strengths those dancers possess (or if you wish to be more criticizing or constructive perhaps, weaknesses). This makes it possible for the others to learn from those strengths and it also creates more positive energy. For me it is also fascinating to hear opinions about with who others find it enjoyable to dance with. It is interesting that some followers seem to prefer the same leaders as I do, while others have totally different taste. There are some followers whose opinions I have learned to listen carefully since those usually lead me to great dance experiences with leaders also she enjoyed dancing with. However, this doesn't in any way mean that some of my friends like dancing with bad dancers while others are better off with good dancers. We simply prefer different things. Just as I get along better with some people doesn't mean that they would be better people than those with who I don't get along with as well. Or that just because I prefer apples to oranges would make apples better fruit in general.

Then, if it is me who can decide who is a good dancer and who is not, can I also decide if I am a good dancer or not? Yes, that would be the case, though many times other's opinions seem to play quite a big role in that decision. So, do I see myself as a good dancer? There has been many times others have told me that I am a good dancer, but that is, ultimately, their opinion. So what is truly mine? Well, to start with, the main reason I dance is that I dance for myself. Sure, partner dancing is about giving and receiving, leading and following, so in that sense I dance for the others too. But if I danced just for the others, that is, just to impress them, I would be in a wrong path. Since I have had plenty of amazing dancing experiences, in other words, been very successfully dancing for myself and for the others at the same time, and I also have lots of strengths and good motivation to work on my weaknesses, I do think I am a good dancer. This is not to brag about myself, but simply my opinion. Well then, do I regard myself better than some other dancers? No, I don't want to line up myself nor the others. It is pointless. I'd rather think there are many good dancers than couple superior ones. Everyone have their strengths and weaknesses. That someone else is good is by no means something that is away from me, quite the opposite.

Phew, I don't know if that made my thoughts any more clear. Probably it just made also you confused. Well, I think I have to keep on clarifying my thoughts and to come back to this topic yet again. Or would you have an opinion to share?

Excitement.

I'm excited about this autumn. Excited because there are so many new dancing things happening. First of all, I'm excited about a Zouk group choreography that I'm part of. Actually I was pretty skeptical whether I would be accepted to the performance team in the first place, but there I am and more than happy to be in that position. We had our first practice last week and, wow, it is going to be so cool, I tell you! The performance is already in November so there is going to be hard work ahead of us. A lot of hard work. I love the song, so far love the the choreo and our team is great. So, yes, excited!

Secondly, I'm excited about Argentine Tango. I've had only two classes in Balanssi Studiot with Michaelo, but already falling in love with the dance. So detailed, so delicate, so challenging. I like the way the teachers teach in the studio; it is quite different to other dance classes I've been, but works really well. Even though I feel pretty lost at times, it is not a desperate kind of feeling, but more of enthusiasm to learn something completely new.

Thirdly, I'm excited about West Coast Swing. I'm so happy that I'm able to continue this dance after spending four months learning it in Raw Connection in Brisbane. Our class on Thursday afternoons is pretty crowded, but I like the fact that the teacher nevertheless makes sure that everyone gets something from the class. Last week he grabbed me after the class to go through my stepping technique for he was worried that I wouldn't get enough out from the course that he regards bit too basic for my level. I really appreciate this kind of personal attention some teachers give. And actually this week he kicked me out from the class and moved me to higher level.

Then, I'm excited about another choreography I'm planning to do with Michaelo also in November. We chose the song and the story of the dance couple of days ago and we're going to start building it soon. It is a very strong story so I'm excited to see how we're going to express it.

Next, I'm excited about Zouk ladies styling course that started last Saturday. This is the kind of course I've really been waiting for and I'm sure it will upgrade my dance technique. Plus, I have to give respect to Andressa for making my abs so sore I can't even remember when I had such a nice muscle pain over there!

What else I was excited about... Right, my Voguing classes started this week, yay! And yes, excited about yoga.

Since I didn't have any deeper to say this time, I tried to find some wise related quote to end the post... But I couldn't find something I was really looking for. Nevertheless:

“The end is never as satisfying as the journey. To have achieved everything but to have done so without integrity and excitement is to have achieved nothing.” - Unknown

Re-program Me.

Yesterday, oh my gosh, I had a terrible dance demoralization. I went to the autumn's first Zouk practica and left home, well, annoyed, pissed, sad, frustrated - some words to describe the overwhelming negativity in me. As soon as I got home I wanted to open my blog and publicly declare that I'm done with Zouk all in all. Fortunately as strong as my emotions sometimes get, I am aware that those will, after peaking, calm down. After couple of nice fb messages from dancer friends and a well slept night I am now ready to better examine that peaking. No, I'm not making that initially intended declaration for sure! Rather, I realize that I need to be re-programmed.

A lot of dancing is psychological, a fact that can be easily noticed from yesterday. In the beginning of the practica I felt good and I felt that I danced good. Little by little I started to get this suspicious feeling that the other dancers were judging me in some way; paying attention to my, oh still so many, mistakes in my technique. So I started to pay attention to those and - no surprise here - started to dance badly. The last straw was a dance with my teacher who not even slightly tried to hide that he was testing everything, every single move, on me, whether I was able to get through with those or if I was I a lost case after my six-month dance holiday. After that dance it was just impossible to dance well, follow well or to do anything well for that matter (not even that fake smile that I tried to put on, damn it). Why? Because I thought I couldn't and that restricted my dancing tremendously. If you think you can't dance well, you simply can't.

Those negative feelings I gathered during the evening reminded me some of the feelings I had about dancing six months ago. That I wasn't never good, that I was totally useless if I didn't go forward all the time, that it was my responsibility to improve if I wanted to get, as a prize for that improvement, enjoyment from dancing. And if I didn't see that improvement I got angry at myself. However, all of this negativity is just in my head; none of it is true. A better question is that why I had these kind of feelings again now that I'm back home? I never, ever, had that in Brisbane. The problem is, I think, that I have accidentally somehow programmed my mind to work that way here. So if there is some triggering factor, I easily overreact. As I said, I need to be re-programmed.

Really, there was no-one judging me. No-one except my hardest critic: me.

Dreaming?

Have you ever had a feeling when you wake up and you are like wait, did yesterday really happen? That is pretty much the feeling I'm having now.

Sure, I had my first WCS class yesterday at Comets Rock'n'Roll Dance Club that totally exceeded my expectations, but it is not that. I also, by sudden idea, went dancing to a lovely choir concert, but its not that either. Further, I received positive news that my Zouk practicing is, after all, going to continue this fall, but no, not that...

It is that I had, out of the blue, kind of a private Kizomba party last night. Dancing for hours until late with an amazing Kizomba dancer. Getting to know to this passionate dancer, hearing fascinating dance stories from a perspective of an instructor. Not being even slightly intimidated by the fact that I'm dancing with a dance teacher, as I usually easily am. No thoughts crossing in my mind, except couple of those is-this-really-happening-to-me-suspicions. Music, connection, magic. Unreal.

Or was it just a dream after all...?

Dance Directions.

Lately most of the dance bloggers have been posting their weekly autumn training schedules into their blogs. As I wrote earlier, I feel uneasy about having such fixed schedules, but I guess as a dance blogger this is one of the compulsory posts to make.

So, the last days I've been trying to figure out what is going to happen in my dance life this fall. Most of it has been reasoning that whether I should continue with Zouk or take another direction. On the other hand I would love to improve my Zouk even more and take a step towards to an advanced level, but on the other hand it might be good to give it a rest and try something else. There is of course the financial side of everything and also this influenced to my final decision. So here we go: its time put the dance style I've been dancing so much almost the last two years to a rest and direct my dance passion some other dance styles. Phew.

Now, I know some of you my beloved readers will object, but this doesn't mean that I would give up Zouk totally. I'm already looking forward that the autumn practicas will start rolling and there is no doubt I'd like to go dancing in Zouk parties. I'm also taking Andressa's ladies styling course and going to the Helsinki Zouk festival in November. What this means is that I won't put my objectives into improving constantly or think that I would have to get any better. I'll go forward if it comes naturally and if I don't then I won't stress about it.

So, what next then? Well, I have now signed in for a 12 week Voguing course and 10 week West Coast Swing course (even though I wouldn't like to fix my weeks, but this was almost the only possible and most affordable choice to make). Moreover, I was planning on going to Argentinean Tango every now and then. However, where I would want to put my biggest efforts into would be West Coast. I would like to find a good practice partner to get my technique sorted out and to be able to attend some bigger events with high-level teachers. Let's see how things work out.

I have also been wanting to start doing something for ages now. Something that contributes to dancing as improved strength, balance and flexibility, all of which I really need and want to improve. So now I've finally making it happen. I'm talking about yoga. Last month I had an excellent chance to do yoga outdoors when some of Helsinki's yoga instructors organized free yoga sessions in some of the many parks around the city. This week they opened a pop-up yoga studio called Pranama in the center of Helsinki and I just love the idea behind the studio: they want to make good quality yoga available to everyone by giving people an option to pay as much as they want from the classes. All the profit they make goes straight to the instructors and to their training. This is a place I'm definitely going to go weekly. Yoga has already made me feel a lot better in my body and that is something really important to a dancer: a healthy, strong and flexible body to dance with.

Yoga in the park together with almost 200 people. Photos by Sinebrychoff Park Rangers.

One of the things I want to include into my normal week, however, is enough emptiness. By emptiness I mean unplanning, flexibility, time for anything, spontaneousness, free evenings, random dancing, whatever comes to my mind at that moment. It might sound like I have already booked all of my days with the dance courses, but actually the timing of the classes enable me to have quite a lot of nothing for every day. If someone suddenly asks me to, say, have a dance practice or just to catch up maybe, I want to be able to make it happen if not the same day then the next. Being too busy is not good for me.

Kizomba Trance.

One reason why I love being back in Helsinki is Kizomba. Many people say that they don't get the idea behind the dance, but I seem to get more and more addicted to this dance style after each Kizomba party I go to. One of those happened last evening in bar Pacifico and it has been a while since I danced my feet as sore as I did there. It was great spending the whole party in the dance floor without having to ask anyone to dance with me. Call me an attention-seeker, but it just gives somehow good feeling for me. Helsinki Kizomba scene had the pleasure of having a Kizomba DJ from France in the party who turned out to be a great dancer too. I found a strong connection with him and we had quite a few dances together.

This led me to the following reflection. As some of you might know, I often end up dancing with only few dancers in Kizomba parties, but I dance quite a long time with them. I feel like one or two songs are not enough to find a good Kizomba connection and if I find a strong connection with someone I can easily lose the sense of time while dancing. I call this a Kizomba trance. But how many songs in a row is too much? Is it against the social dancing etiquette to "reserve" someone for yourself for a long period of time? Yes, many would say: social dancing is about giving everyone a chance to dance with everyone. So after a while, say five to ten songs in a row, I start to feel getting angry looks from the other ladies. But then again, it is not just me who decides the dancing to continue. The leader could at any point let go of me and go dancing with someone else. It is not that I'm forcing him to dance with me, no, it is he who wants continue. Right, it is rarely me who takes the first step to end our dancing, but am I still to be blamed? At some level I feel that it is part of the leader's role to do anyway. Not ending the dance is also kind of my way of saying I liked dancing with you. And yes, it is not just him who wants to keep on going.

I had this feeling also yesterday. After trying to leave the party but being brought back by one of my regular Kizomba leads, I went to the Kizomba trance with the visiting DJ and danced with him until the music stopped. We had a short chat about this topic after dancing. Later he send me a message saying that if the party had not stop he could have danced with me an hour or so more, but added humorously that in that case the other girls would have killed me.

So what should I do? Ignore all the angry ladies and label myself as being the irritating and selfish girl who steals all the best dancers (wow, that sounded supercilious - didn't mean it that way but you know what I mean)? Maybe not the wisest thing to do. I do understand their point of view: also I find it sometimes irritating if I can't dance with someone because he is too busy with other ladies. However, I want my Kizomba trances to happen. What if I make sure the others have had chances to dance with the leader before I steal him for myself, would that suffice?

Living From a Calendar.

One thing that many people seem to do in Finland is living their lives out from a calendar. There is always so much to do and so many people to see that there is not enough time for anything or anyone. Everything needs to be scheduled to make the most out of the little time there is. If you want to catch up with someone, it has to be agreed well in advance so both can reserve the time from their over-booked calendars. If you want time for yourself, you have to plan that or otherwise there is no time. Right, I might be exaggerating, but this is not too far away from the reality. And don't get me wrong, I used to be exactly like that too. It is so easy to get addicted being busy.

What I loved about Australians was that they lived their lives without such calendars. People were always up for something spontaneous and it was easy to make some plans in a short period of time. A big dinner with friends could be organized in just a few days warning. There was always someone available if I wanted some company. I didn't have to plan my life to be able to do what I enjoyed doing. I didn't have to have a calendar to be able to catch up with my friends. I never had to plan my weekends beforehand, yet I always ended up doing lots. Sure, my normal week included many dance classes, but nothing was fixed: if I felt like skipping one, I wasn't left behind nor did I suffer money-wise.

Now I feel that I don't want to go back to the calendar-centered life. I want to be able to be spontaneous and not the kind of person who never has time. But on the other had I feel like my surroundings are driving me into the opposite direction. If I want to see my friends I have to reserve the time from my calendar or otherwise I won't fit into my friends' calendars. If I want to take dance classes I have to commit to a certain weekday for the next four or five months. If there was more than one class per week, it would mean as many days already planned and scheduled. I would have to know now, since all the dance courses are starting, whether I would like to spend the next who knows how many Tuesdays (or whatever the weekday might be) in a row in that dance class. But I don't want to give up dance classes completely either. Tricky, isn't it?

Now that I have actually had time to do anything - or nothing for that matter - I have found out that it was useless to run away for something. Being busy might give a feeling that I'm living my life the fullest, but getting rid of that rush has enabled me to find an inner happiness inside me that seems to be somehow deeper than the more superficial happy feelings I might otherwise get. I do what I want exactly in that moment, not what I had planned previously.

Sure, if I have written "dancing" into my calendar, there is a huge probability that I will want to be doing exactly that when the day comes. I just feel anxious about the thought of having fixed weeks. Nevertheless, the dance courses are starting from the next week onwards, so I have to make some decisions soon. Maybe it is then just a matter of how many fixed days I'm willing to have in my upcoming weeks?

J-Zouk.

Have you been wondering if I ended up dancing in Japan? If you have, this is the post to read!

So, my six-moth adventure to down under ended with 10-day stop over to Tokyo on my way back home. It has been five years since I lived in Japan for an year, and this was the first time to come back. It goes without saying that returning to this special place brought back heaps of good memories and that I was delighted to meet many of my old Japanese friends and spend some time with them. The short visit made me realize how much I missed the country, the people and the culture.

One of my dancing friends from Brisbane visits Tokyo quite frequently and told me that there was a small Zouk community to be found from the city. I, of course, had to check that out and see how the Japanese dance my beloved dance style. And what a warm welcome I got! I was able to make friends with many amazing and friendly individuals during my short but intensive visit, dance many great dances, take part to a Zouk class and even give a class of my own!

Everything started with Saturday's Zouk party, Paraiso de Zouk, organized by Tokyo ZOUK Scene. I took with me my best Japanese friend who was hosting me during my stay and we had a blast. The party wasn't that big and it was more Lambada style of Zouk, but what made the night especially great was that the dancers took us into their group with open arms. While we were getting home by train one of the dancers invited me and my friend to come to sailing with him and his friends the next day. Since we didn't have much planned, we woke up early the next morning and had beautiful Sunday in the sea with our new friends (some nice dancing included!).

As you might know, space is quite limited in Tokyo and so the places to dance are pretty small. Many of the social dancing events and dance classes are held in small clubs around Tokyo. After the sailing day I wanted to check out a Zouk class and to dance again with my new friends and so I found a beginner class followed with social dancing in a small club in Shinjuku. After the class I was chatting to the local teacher throwing an idea of giving a ladies styling class and, can you believe, he organized everything for me and only two days later I was teaching a class of twenty-something dancers! Many of the attendees skipped their normal dance classes or cancelled their other plans just to make it to my class and I even got some male dancers to my ladies styling! I was astonished. Such a short notice and so many dancers. These dancers wanted to learn from me just after seeing me dance in the couple social dancing events I went to. The class was kind of exciting experience for me since it was my first own dance class that I taught. I loved sharing my knowledge and the feedback I got couldn't have made me happier. Everybody seemed to enjoy my class and I believe I was able to give something new to everyone. 

It was interesting to notice that almost all of the female dancers in Tokyo also learn to lead. This also resulted me being a leader for many times. Great challenge after not leading for ages! Some other general notes from the Zouk scene are that even though the scene is quite small there are many opportunities to dance Zouk. What they are lacking, though, is professional Zouk teachers. However, people seem to be ready to learn and they are open to try out new things. So, if you ever happen to go to Tokyo, I advice you to go and meet these dancers! They have such a friendly and warm dance community.

To end, I want to tell about one special dancer who I met during my visit. What a gentleman, passionate dancer and big soul he is. It was that instant dance click that we had and he became somehow close to me during the short time we had. It is unbelievable how bad it can feel to say goodbye to someone who I just met. This is what dancing does; it opens doors to a deeper connection between individuals. I can't wait the next time to dance with him.

Also, a huge thanks belongs to my best friend for hosting me and for coming to all the dance events with me! I really need to go back to this city and to these people more often.

(Is It) Good to Be Back (?)

My silence here might reflect the quiet dancing life I've had since I came back home. My life, then again, hasn't been that quiet. I've hardly been home nor in Helsinki, and I've taken every chance to go somewhere away from the city. Does this mean running away? Maybe. I couldn't say that I have been taking that good care of myself either; during the last couple of weeks I have exhausted myself both physically, emotionally and socially. I can't remember the last time my body has felt so stiff, strength-less and hard as it did couple of days ago. This can't, and won't, go on. I need to stop and see my life in a new light. There is no use running away or avoiding the present.

I do have to admit that I got bit depressed coming back to Helsinki's small Zouk scene. It just feels so tiny after Brisbane. Every time I open Facebook I see my friends posting pictures and videos from different dance parties and events where I can't go any more. It is not a jealous feeling I get and I do love seeing my friends' joy from their smiles, but it just somehow makes me feel down. A good example is maybe a video I saw from Brisbane's Zouk flash mob rehearsal. They had almost hundred people, whilst we had almost ten. Hurray. Seriously, all you Brissy dancers should realize how great dance community you have there!

Enough with complaining though! I am now in a situation where I can make a new and exciting life for myself. I have no idea how it is going to turn out, but I have all the opportunities to make it as I wish. I don't know what dance styles I'm going to continue or start. All I know is that I'm going to be in Helsinki at least until the next summer. And there is a lot in Helsinki.

Furthermore, there have been some pleasant dance surprises. A week ago I found myself from a great Kizomba party in Helsinki. Lots of dancers, good visiting teachers, great atmosphere. What a nice feeling it was to dance again with my favourite Kizomba leaders and to notice that the connection still was as good as it was the last time. It seems that Kizomba has gained more popularity and that the dance scene is growing steadily. What great news for me! I also had a special guest with me in the party: one of my Aussie dance friends came to visit me for the weekend. Thanks for coming beautiful, it was so nice to have you here!

This weekend, then again, I found myself from a WCS event in Tampere. Yes, I was pretty sceptical about it beforehand, but when I got there I was really happily surprised! There is good West Coast Swinging in Finland after all, yay! It has been a while I have been feeling high from dancing, but the event did the trick even though I was able to attend only the Saturday's and Sunday's social dancing. There are some more nice West Coast events to come this fall where I'm definitely considering going to, and apparently I could find some regular classes from Helsinki too. I have so much to learn from this marvellous dance style! The weekend made me feel even more motivated to improve and get rid of my Zouk manoeuvres that push through to my West Coast. I also had a spontaneous WCS dance practise after the actual event with a dancer who I tempted to stay in Tampere for an extra day to hang out and dance. If only he lived in Helsinki and I would have the perfect practice partner for West Coast...

So now I'm again back in Helsinki. Maybe it is the time to slow down for a while before my studies and work starts. Time to think what kind of life I want to build. Time to wonder what I want from dancing. Time to keep on loving my life as it is.