Day 167

Day 167:  Dance a Day Challenge – Hungry Eyes, from Dirty Dancing

Yes I took a few days off from the challenge.  I needed a break; my dancing was becoming too routine – and my life was insanely busy.  Glad I listened to my instincts on this one.  I am back and better than ever!

I was sitting here watching Dirty Dancing on TV (one of my all-time favorite dance movies) and I was inspired to dance to Hungry Eyes (this same scene on YouTube) as they were dancing, and  I danced what they danced, with my own “spin” on it.  (Sorry, just couldn’t resist.)  It was fun again – and completely different from what I would have done to this.  They danced a very slow mambo.  Just wish it could have been me dancing with Patrick Swayze.  That guy was a gifted dancer.  It is so tragic that he had to die so young.

Day 166

Day 166:  Dance a Day Challenge – After All, by Cher

Yes, I love Pellegrino with lime – and Cher!  Hmmmmm….

Great song and it was a great dance tonight also.  I am having a really good time exploring this rhythm thing within my dancing.  I am not consciously trying to make anything happen – I think that would be contrived and weird.  Instead, I am just trying to let new things happen – to let go and be free from convention.  I think that is the best part of this challenge, so far – letting the new have free reign – and see what happens.  I am excited to see what lies ahead. I have been surprised where this journey has taken me thus far, so who knows what may happen tomorrow or the day after …

Day 165

Day 165:  Dance a Day Challenge – Steal Your Heart Away, by Bonnie Raitt

Great song – fabulous singer – led to a great, fun dance.  There were so many different rhythms to dance to, and I heard them all.  Interestingly, today, as I was walking the track during my prep period, listening to a completely different song through headphones, I was acutely aware of many different rhythms.  I am guessing that is why I heard all those rhythms in tonight’s dance.  Cool.  Very, very cool.

Day 164

Day 164:  Dance a Day Challenge – Night Moves, by Bob Seger

What a great song – sung by a great singer.  I have always loved Bob Seger since the very first time I heard Old Time Rock and Roll – in a club at my bachelorette party – but that is another story …

This was a really cool dance.  It started out as a basic cha cha, but then I got more and more into it and let the music dictate the moves with amazing results.  There was the spin – double time spin – double/double spin – that I repeated until I did it still in control, rather than spinning and spinning out of control.  But my absolute favorite part was the slow part – where I barely moved – used all that core strength that I have been working on – and my moves matched the tempo as it picked up speed and then crashed through in this blaze.  It was surreal – and I loved it!   :  )

Day 163

Day 163:  Dance a Day Challenge – Essence, by Lucinda Williams

I cannot believe I found this talented singer so recently.  I love her music!  danced a great rumba to this the other night with Russell and danced a solo improv – again completely different – just like the last time I wrote about this.

The thing that I think is so interesting is how my improv dancing has changed drastically from the beginning of this challenge, and that seems to have happened only in the past couple of weeks.  I can feel “steps” in my dancing, but for the most part, it is now simply movement, rather than dancing a cha cha per se.  Very freeing.

Da 162

Day 162:  Dance a Day Challenge – Righteously, by Lucinda Williams

A friend recently turned me on to Lucinda Williams.  I think she’s great! She has such a down to earth funk about her.  And the dance tonight was an interesting mix of cha cha, salsa, samba and who knows what else.  It was a compilation of whatever fit the music.  I love how my dancing is getting more and more spontaneous and improv.

Days 160 & 161

Days 160 & 161:  Dance a Day Challenge – Electricity, by Elton John

I intentionally danced to this song two days in a row – once with partner – once without.  I wanted to see what, if anything, would be different.  As I suspected, it was completely different.  Last night I danced with Russell, and it was wonderful – a beautiful and spontaneous nightclub two-step.  Tonight, however, dancing solo, it was much more like the dancers in this video – I did indeed feel like I was flying.

I used the lyrics to this song last week for Poetry Wednesday with my students, so I had a clear grasp of the words, so I was dancing to the words tonight as much as the music – and it was noting short of absolutely amazing.  Elton John wrote the music; Lee Hall wrote the lyrics – at least that is what my research revealed – and I felt like I was at one with the lyrics, the movement and the music.  And that feeling cannot be explained – it must be experienced.