If you saw the video of me ballroom dancing with our 3-month old baby, Rikuto, then you’ll know that once he’s able to stand I’ll be splashing out on these awesome parent and child dance shoes from Sala Shop.
I originally came across the shoes picture on Molly McGinn’s I am Kindermusik blog. Molly has a lot of great finds from around the net including this wonderful video of shadow puppetry which is definitely worth a watch. Thanks Molly!
Can’t see the video? Watch it here at MetaCafe.
I promise one of these days I’ll post a video of me dancing the Rumba or the Waltz. Yes, if you haven’t read about my ballroom dancing antics before on this blog, let me tell you that every Friday night I take dancing lessons. I started learning with Mami, but since she became pregnant, I’ve been taking private lessons with my teacher, Mr. M. That’s right, two guys arm in arm on the dance floor, which is embarrassing to admit.
Ballroom dancing, or any kind of dancing for that matter, is never easy. It’s made even more difficult when you’re trying to learn it in a foreign language. As I dance around to Mr. M’s Japanese instructions, my brain does a bunch of quick translations before I can perform the steps. I even have to keep a notebook to write down the names of the all the moves. If only I had some English DVDs…
As luck would have it, DanceCrazy.com is a site devoted to ballroom dancing and more. They offer DVDs for all the popular dances and even line dancing if you’d prefer to keep your cowboy boots on. My birthday is just around the corner so I’m hoping someone will buy me a Rumba or Cha Cha Cha DVD.
Evan Margolin, CEO of DanceCrazy, Inc, had this to say:
“We’re filling a need for quality dance instruction, so that everyone, and I do mean everyone, can learn to dance and dance well. Our goal is to teach the world how to dance, regardless of feelings of a lack of rhythm or two left feet.”
Here’s a taster of the Rumba video. This couple certainly know their stuff and have probably got the edge over me and Mr. M, but with the help of a Dance Crazy DVD, I’m sure we can present a decent challenge – if you can call two blokes on the dance floor “decent”!
If any of you would like to get into ballroom dancing, and I don’t believe you’re not tempted, take a look at the testimonials on DanceCrazy.com. The Salsa looks particularly popular, but I don’t think I’ll be trying that one with Mr. M!
If you can’t view the video, you can see it here.
This post is sponsored by DanceCrazy.com.
In my post Ballroom dancing in Japan I told you how I got into dancing, and it’s been a while since I’ve mentioned it again. So for the record, I haven’t given up and I still take lessons once a week. My wife Mami, on the other hand, stopped going when she learned she was pregnant about four months ago.
This has caused a bit of a problem because I’m a man, and my teacher, M-sensei, is also… a man. This means that I spend my Friday nights dancing hand in hand with another bloke! Should I give up? In my first post on ballroom dancing I talked about how important it was for me to have a hobby I can share with Mami, but now I find myself dancing with a man!
As gay as it looks to be doing the rhumba, or waltzing around the room, arm in arm with my teacher, I feel it’s good for me to be doing something other than stare into my computer screen in my free time. If I’m not standing in front of a class of six-year olds, then I’m at my desk working on my websites. Fortunately, Mami is very forgiving despite the amount of time I spend in my office… at least while my adventures on the net are paying for our mortgage and bills.
I’ve been ballroom dancing for nearly as long as I’ve been working on my websites, and while my net earnings continue to grow, my dancing skills are improving too. While they may seem unrelated, I’m not taking any chances, so come on guys! Shall we dance?
While most of my free time is spent sitting in front of the computer, watching movies or playing video games, I have tried to find some other hobbies to keep things interesting.
I tried juggling, and succeeded in keeping four balls in the air for a good five seconds. I mastered the Rubik’s cube, being able to complete it within three minutes, and I even tried something a bit more Japanese – karate, which I soon gave up after breaking my fingers!
Japanese calligraphy and the art of ‘tea ceremony’ never really took my fancy, and one day each at pottery and taiko drumming classes was enough for me. Learning the language was probably my greatest achievement. I’m not fluent by any means, but I’m comfortable in Japanese enough to follow TV dramas, the news, chat with just about anyone, or complain to the bank manager.
After getting married, however, I wanted to find a new hobby which Mami and I could do together. Strangely, that hobby found us!
Mr. H, a 70-year-old student of mine who despite his age wanted to learn English so he could travel the world by himself, is an avid ballroom dancer. He’s been taking dancing lessons for ten years and even competes at ballroom events. I invited Mr. H to our school’s Christmas party and he brought his friend, Ms. K along with him. While everyone was dancing to your typical dance and pop music, Mr. H and Ms. K, lit up the dancefloor by doing the Jive to the classic Y.M.C.A! Needless to say everyone was dead impressed.
A few days later, Mami and I went on our belated honeymoon to England, where she would finally meet my parents. Since it was the Christmas season, there was a special edition of Strictly Come Dancing. While Evander Holyfield graced the TV set, Mum and Dad told Mami about how they first met each other at a ballroom dance, and we told them about Mr.H and Ms. K. It was also around this time that Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez starred in a remake of the Japanese movie, Shall we Dance?, which then prompted a popular Japanese TV station to produce their own version of Strictly Come Dancing, imaginatively titled Shall We Dance?
Early in January, Mr. H invited us to watch him at a special ballroom dancing event, and we happily agreed. The first thing that struck us was that everyone was much older than us. Nevertheless, we couldn’t help be impressed by how good all the dancers were, and they clearly took it very seriously. Dressed to the max in glittering costumes, top hats and tails, they looked like Japanese versions of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. Later in the day, a group of professional dancers performed for the crowd, including a ballroom version of Star Wars! When the show was over, and after we had taken advantage of the free booze, Mr. H introduced us to M-Sensei, and our first dance lesson was booked.
We take dance lessons just once a week, and sometimes only twice a month, but we have pretty much got the basics of the Slow Waltz, the Blues, the Jive, the Rumba and the Cha Cha. Soon we’ll be starting on the Fox Trot and who knows what after that.
Ballroom dancing might not be for everyone, but I highly recommend it if you’re in a relationship and would like to try something that you can both work at together. I think it’s important to have a hobby which you can learn and share with your partner, even its only purpose is to give you quality time together.
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