Al mal tiempo, buena cara

(To bad weather, good face)

After reading the title of this post, you might think that I'm having a hard time and I need to cheer up.

Well, fortunately that is very far from the truth :-)

For those who have been asking me, I'm very well and I'm looking forward to be back with Zlata and also for this new great experience that is to become father! (No, no pictures of the belly or the baby yet :-P maybe in the next post).

Then, back to the title of this post, I will have to start sharing what moved me to start writing this post.

One evening I was chating with a new friend who is also a Salsa passionate. She was in fact asking about the Salsa lessons that I give, what type of style and other technicalities about Salsa and my experience teaching.

I then explained her that the Salsa I teach is what I call "Street Salsa"... she asked me "What is that? Is like N.Y. style or L.A. style?" (btw, isn't if funny for you to consider that some people labeled the Salsa N.Y. and L.A style? specially since Salsa was started in the Caribbean, not in the US...)


After showing a "wide smile" emoticon ( :-D ) to her, I just explained that the Salsa I teach is the salsa I learned at home with friends in Venezuela and later in Colombia, so if I had to put a name to it, I would just call it "Street Salsa" because I learned it "en la calle" (in the street).

So for me "Street Salsa" is the salsa you dance to enjoy, to laugh while you dance, to improvise movements according to how you feel the music. So that is what I teach, to feel the music.

At this point she was very curious, specially since she shared with me that she was a little stressed since she had to be ready for some Latin Dances Examination she was going to have. I must confess (and she might be readign to this now and might be curoious about what I'm going to say... hehehe) that when I read that comment in the chat window I just smiled and told to myself:

"Yep, that is exactly the kind of salsa I DON'T teach..."

For me dancing must be fun, must be joyable and should not cause you stress. In fact, many of my students have said that they feel very relieved and relaxed after the lessons, and not because it is easy, because it is not, but because I find that if there is not joy in dancing, then the whole purpose of it is lost.


So, back to the title of the post... from Salsa, suddenly the conversation turned more into what is life about, about goals for life and other philosiphycal stuff... then it started to rain very strongly... few minutes before I just asked her why was she online at 1pm on a saturday (in my case I have a good excuse... called Time difference ;-) I was calling to Venezuela just before).

Then she replied that she had plans to go out, but now with the big rain it was better to stay at home... then I had one of the crazy thoughts I use to have from time to time and told her to try going out and enjoy of being just under the rain...

Of course the reaction was a virtual laugh followed by a:

- "So, to dance in the rain like kids?" to what I answered
- "why not...?"
- "I don't know... why don't you go then?"
- "That is in fact a very good question... brb"


I stood up and started to get ready... I put on my swiming shorts and a simple shirt.

At that same time, one of my flatmates was playing with his new digital camera, taking pictures all around the house and the surroundings, testing the effects of the rain for the pictures and so on...

I then went out, and at the begining I was just walking around, feeling the drops of water following gently on me.

Actually, it seems that if you are not running, the rain doesn't bother you, but just refresh you, and I didn't even felt so wet or anything... I was enjoying the time... and I even decided to try to give some dancing steps on the rain.

I must say that even it was a little weird at the beginning, at the end I just felt very relaxed and callmed.

The rain stoped, and I went back home, and my flatmate when he saw me he just started t laugh, and bellow you can see why...

First just walking around ad feeling the rain

Dancing in the rain

Dancing in the rain (closer)

Now to finish this post, I just want to take a phrase from Mark Twain that I like very much:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

--Mark Twain

Of course, dancing in the rain is nothing "heroic", but just think something... if you do not even dare to dance in the rain, or to do any other little gesture that can bring you some happiness, just because is "weird" or because you might look crazy... if you are stopped on such a simple thing... what makes you think you won't be stopped in more important things later?


Once again...


"...Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover..."



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