Background

After succeeding in the January Dance Challenge and kindling a liking for dance, it seemed only logical to keep the magic happening; therefore, Jen challenged me to dance every day for the month of February – 2015!

The Requirements

In order for this challenge to be a success, I must complete the following tasks:

• Dance every day… duh!
• Minimum time dancing is the length of any song I choose.
• Miss no more than 3 days.

How did I do?

For this month, I principally increased the frequency with which I went to dance class… simple enough. I would go Monday through Saturday for an hour or more each day when possible, and practiced a variety of dance styles from Puerto Rican salsa, Cuban salsa and bachata. I have found Cuban salsa to be my favorite so far, partially due to the teacher being very entertaining, and also because I feel that of all of the styles it is the most liberal and carefree, with the other two being a bit more technical and structured. But I like them all.

When I could not go to dance class I would put on Youtube videos and follow along to the choreography. My favorites were disco and funk videos, especially the ones in German(!), but I also took it way back and spent a day or two working out the moves to ‘N Sync’s “Bye Bye Bye” and educating myself to Fresh Prince of Bel Air classic dance moves.

Lastly, I spent about nine days in Rio de Janeiro this month visiting my challenge partner in crime, Jen, and celebrating Carnival. There was definitely some samba attempted in those days, along with dancing on the beach, in a car, and even on a plane.

Successful?

I definitely consider this challenge a success. Pretty much every day I made the effort to dance, and the more I danced the more I would say that going to dance class after work was my favorite part of the day. I have learned a lot over these last two months, and I look forward to all of the progress I will make over the next few months. I still feel terribly awkward and unconfident with dance, especially when trying to dance outside of class, but even this is improving.

What’s Next for the Challenges?

Well, after two dance challenges in a row I think it is time for a change of pace; thus, Jen is mixing it up quite a bit and has challenged me to journal every day for the month of March – 2015! I like writing, but I am not in the habit of writing every day, and especially not about those, how do you call them… feelings! I’m excited to begin and to see what will result from this challenge, especially because I enter it with zero expectations or goals in mind…