Improve your life learning a sexy dance

I know, you must be thinking “how the heck is learning to dance going to improve my life?” As if you didn’t have enough things to do already trying to stop smoking, stop drinking, start a hobby or just sitting there and thinking about what you should put in your New Year’s resolution list. But you know finding the time and discipline to starve and bully your body into shape is difficult –if not impossible. That is one reason while I favour dancing as a way to getting into shape while having fun. While dancing you don’t even notice that you are working out. I mean dancing for fun, dancing in a party, dancing after a copious dinner, and even dancing in the kitchen while you sing, using a cucumber as a microphone.

Dance is not only a great exercise, but one of the best therapies to keep you happy.

TANGO

Born in Buenos Aires, the Tango is the most sensual dance I have ever experienced. I grew up watching -hidden behind curtains- my grandmother dancing the Tango with my grandfather. Their bodies’ together, intertwining limbs, their feet sliding along the parquet floor, their look of complicity, my grandma’s voluptuous hips and my grandad’s thin moustache. I remember asking grandad to teach me the tango. He looked at me and said “it’s not a dance for children. Someone else will teach you when you become a woman”. That is how the Tango acquired a “something forbidden” about it, something only women and their men could do. 20 years later I still feel a mixture of guilt, pleasure and nostalgia every time I hear a tango.

The dance is actually amazingly easy for women. I cannot dance the Tango with just anyone. I need to dance it with an experienced partner, someone who can handle his lady, and then I can be the queen of the floor. All you need to dance the Tango is a strong hand on your waist guiding your movements. The rest… the rest comes naturally.

The video below shows a scene from the film Take the lead: A film starring Antonio Banderas and based on a real life story about a dance teacher (Pierre Dulaine) who brought a dance program to troubled students as a way to improve their self confidence, self esteem and their outlook on life.

Now this is one of my favourite dances.  I have very warm memories about it.  Cancan is a dance that evokes the libertinage of mid 19^th century Paris and my university years.  It is a hot dance, full of fun and spirit.  As someone once said: “Like ripe strawberries topped with Grand Marnier, then set on fire”.

This dance is not for the faint, you will need to be in top shape for it.  From the costume to the energetic movements, Can-can is a dance that will warm you and set you on fire.  Once you start you cannot stop.  Be prepared to perform cartwheels, splits, and the impossible-looking port d'armes -grasping one leg and pointing it to the ceiling while turning on the other.

I must warn you though; this is one of the few dances that might cause injury.  I remember some years ago when I did it for a charity event I ended up with seriously injured knees like most of the other girls who where performing.  But would I do it again? YES, I had a great time doing it; I never had so much energy, so much wildness running inside me and the ego boost of being on stage doing it was worth it all the pain! 

For those of you not daring enough to try it, you can always see and feel the emotion of the can-can at the Moulin Rouge in Paris.   The current show has acrobats, singers, mini ponies, an aquatic tank with huge live snakes, and plenty of topless dancing girls.

A dance from Trinidad mostly done during the carnival has been brought to attention recently by the hit Whine up by Kat de Luna. This dance is better suited for the younger people. Wild, vivacious and very torrid, there is something libidinous about the whine. The music is a blend of calypso, soca and house music.

The dance movements are pulsating, gyrating, and grinding: Very fashionable last summer in the French discos.  I had lots of fun Whining last summer! 

This is dance that you can do on your own.  All you need is the ability to undulate your hips.  The movements are easy to follow and you can increase the difficulty as you progress with the steps.

The moves in the Flamenco dance are strong and passionate:  A mixture of desire, pain and struggle, just like the Flamenco music.  Born in Andalusia, Spain, the flamenco is an improvised dance for people with character.  Whenever I think about flamenco I think about these self assured women with deep loud voices dressed in body hugging costumes –regardless of their body shape.  

I lived in Andalusia for several years and I never managed to capture the sensuality of the Andalusian women dancing the flamenco or the Sevillanas.  Perhaps you need to feel the pain or the struggle to be able to transmit it or perhaps you need to have gypsy blood running through your veins.  Whatever it is, I know this is a dance that I cannot master but I content myself with just watching them dance and wishing I could do it at least half as good.

There is no age for dancing. If in doubt check this grandmother having the time of her life on stage dancing salsa.