Ballroom dancing.

Last week, I saw my friend Anne post a link on Facebook about this dance school somewhere in Makati. I saw in the ad that they included ballroom dancing, plus they have free sampling classes this week before they officially begin the summer classes.

A couple of emails later, I had signed up for one of the sampling classes for basic ballroom dancing, which was yesterday (Friday) at 1:15 in the afternoon. I honestly didn't know what to expect, so I decided to come a bit earlier to A. Venue (where the place was) and look around. There was not much yet, but the dance studio had a glass front, so you can see everything inside. There was a ballet class still going on inside, with only one student. I went inside the office next to the studio, and asked about the rates for the classes. One of the 2 people I got to talk to was Ian, who was the ballroom dancing instructor. There were some pretty good packages, especially for us who had signed up for the sampling classes, and enrollees also had the option of using their units for other classes as well, instead of just sticking to one for the entire summer.

After the ballet class was done, we all filed in inside. The sampling class was composed of mostly girls, plus 2 guys who were obviously dragged there by the staff. There was this young girl who was appropriately dressed in dance attire, complete with ballroom dancing shoes, so I guess she's one of the advanced dancers (there were 2 girls in the class that are, I think).

We covered the basic samba for that one hour class. The basic stationary samba walk. The bota fogo. The volta. The curacha. Plus another one whose term I forgot. What's funny is that one of the guys actually remembered all the terms. Anyway, I already knew the typical samba, but we were taught that simply doing the steps just for the heck of it was purely for social dancing, which somewhat looks awkward, in a way. With a little technique, some swinging of the hips, and it becomes a beautiful dance that makes you move like a wave bobbing up and down.

There was still a bit of time left, so we covered the basic step of the cha cha cha. Yes, it's called the cha cha cha, not merely the cha-cha, hahaha. I had already learned the technique when I once attended this half-hour ballroom session during Pasinaya back in 2008. It took a while to get it back in my system, but Ian simply said to just keep crossing your legs, which was basically the trick to doing the cha cha cha.

What was amusing about Ian was that whenever someone gets the steps properly, he says thank you. I got that when I picked up the cha cha cha, hahaha. And that one girl doing the advanced stuff, she's really good. She made everything look so easy.

Anyway, it was a really fun class, even though it was just for an hour. I'm seriously considering the class, but I sure do hope they have a payment scheme if ever I won't be able to give the full payment right away. Unless there's anyone who would want to sponsor me? Hahaha!

Thanks, BIG Shift DANKA, for the awesome time, even though it was just for an hour.