Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Grumpy?


It's been a month since whitewater of any kind has dried up in Minnesota.  With the exception of sporadic surf on Lake Superior the rest of the state is below runnable.  Pacing has been included in my list of exercises. Mind, body and adrenalin in a beautiful natural environment is like my breath of life.  I need it to feel...to feel alive.
  I have cheerfully engaged in other sports hoping to fill the time until the rivers run again. It's just not the same. I have thrown myself into planning a super trip for this winter.  Daydreaming and fantasy helps but still leaves me unfulfilled.  Bottom line is passion is interrupted in my life right now.  Where to go from here?
  I have searched my mind for interests that I have had in the past to rekindle.  Having seen the Zorongo Flamenco Dance perform before I was always left with the "I want to do that" feeling.  The dance is as passionate as it comes combined with a flowing beauty that leaves you breathless. Click, click, aha!  Monday night intro class!  I am so there!
  First I checked YouTube for the dance basics.  I'm glad I did.  It does help to have some knowledge beforehand.  I showed up early and asked about the dress code for the class. A simple flowing skirt fits right in.  Clicky heels a must!
  The class was small.  Just the instructor, Deborah, and two other students. It starts off with dance moves carefully disguised as stretches and before you know it you have the beginnings of your arm movements. Then it moved into the foot work drills.   Smoothly it then transgressed into simple steps put together and repeated.  Add another sequence and repeat. Then another sequence of steps added.  Followed by a proper twirl. Before I knew it I had all the steps to Sevillanas.  Of course it was only my first class but I kept up fairly well. I danced,  laughed and really had a lot of fun. I will be back but I will also be back with much more practice under my belt.
  Then the advanced class came in.  The room filled with many women from young to much older than I.  The instructor, Susana Di Palma is a woman I have seen perform before.  Well into her sixties she looks like she is maybe forty but an awesome forty.  She has traveled the world in search of her passion for Flamenco. Just a phenomenal dancer and woman!  I watched her lead the class. There is an essence that fills the room from the dance.  One of strong femininity and ageless beauty. Passion, the soul of Flamenco.  I'll be back because I enjoyed it.  It spoke to an aspect of myself that needs to be fed and without whitewater this is a perfect time to indulge.
  It's a shame I live where I do.  There is so much to learn out in the world and I have to drive so far to do it.  Still it is worth the effort to explore any kind of education because in the end you are really just finding yourself and developing who you want to be.  Passion!  Without it you're just grumpy.