Ballroom dancing, an international language

On Saturday, I attempted to find the ballroom dancing club. I knew they were meeting in the Engineering Building 7A (symbol, symbol, symbol 7A). I had a map of that region of the campus (in Japanese) as well as one with a few buildings in English (thank, freaking, heaven). It took me 10min to orient the map initially... then another 20min to find my building, which was only a few blocks away. My adventures consisted of comparing the curves of streets (b/c there are no street names), comparing the shapes of buildings and where they compared to the combinations of street intersections, as well as a few signs on the buildings (in Japanese). I knew I was on the right track when I finally found Grad School of Engineering, Building 1, then I found Bldg 3 so I could compare the two on the map and find the street 7A was on. I'm pretty sure I said "YAY!" out loud. I did successfully find building 7A (despite there being no sign anywhere on the building) but it was closed and under construction. It turns out they were meeting on a different university campus on Saturday! I wish they had put that information on the calendar (or anywhere!) on their website.

Yesterday, I attended the ballroom dancing club meeting at my university. Two of my coworkers walked me to the meeting and then proceeded to stay and watch... the entire thing. As it has been two years since I moved away from my AZ ballroom dancing community, I certainly felt a little physically-awkward but I had not forgotten the steps. I was so intensely-involved before that it would probably take more than a decade for me to forget the basics.

The practice was very interesting to see. The women were on one side of the room and the men on the other. And they (we) practiced the basics over and over and over. They (we) also practiced their "basic" combination of steps over and over and over for waltz and quickstep. Still all without a partner. Then we moved on to latin where we practiced the basic steps for rhumba, cha-cha, and samba. This is not dissimilar to what we would do in AZ; yet, it somehow felt different: more military-like. Between each dance, the leader (student) would call out something and then they would all shout "hai" (yes/agreement) and then change to the new task. A very kind woman (pictured in teal top and black skirt) helped explain things to me throughout the process. With her broken English, my broken Japanese, and my notepad for writing, we were able to get through the class well. She was very complementary and said she wanted to dance with me again. It was nice to know my cluelessness was not unwelcome. It was also nice to hear that I had done very well, but I would have been happy to return to improve, even if I had sucked completely. They are so precise and I learned a lot of international standard and latin technique details since they obviously are not going to dance "American style."

"For the special occasion of [my] company" (and that of my coworkers who were STILL there watching), they performed for us. I felt super-uncomfortable having them change their routine on my/our account but it was totally worth it! One couple danced a waltz. It was really spectacular. Then another couple performed a cha-cha. When the couples walked out onto the floor, their choice of apparel for the day, as well as their mannerisms/attitude embodied the dance and showed me that they definitely specialize in the style they performed. When the sassy cha-cha couple came out, I couldn't help but feel like M'Bunny was performing for me, in little Asian woman form. When I watch a good dance, I get goosebumps and/or tear up a bit. I had to take some calming breaths. It was also partial agony to watch but not be dancing myself. I miss experiencing a really great dance.

I really enjoyed my time during the dance club meeting and was very happy to be able to return for more. It was also an intense workout and I'm always happy to get in semi-hidden exercise. UNFORTUNATELY, this was their last official practice because their summer entrance exams are coming up. The room is available  M-F 4:30pm-7:30pm for practicing but I'm not sure what I would practice without others there. I will probably continue to go on Wednesday evenings.