Zumbalicious

Source: keepcalmstudio.com via Melissa on Pinterest

I went to my first ever Zumba class on Thursday evening. 

I've been hesitant (and really, for the last six months at least I've been pretty far from any place that might even offer a legitimate Zumba class). I've been a dancer since my first Ballet class at age three. What happens if you go to a gym class, a class based entirely on dancing, and you can't keep a beat? Even with 20+ years of dance experience? What if everyone laughs at you? What if you look like this:

Source: Uploaded by user via Lorraine on Pinterest

Fortunately, Zumba is nothing like that. I mean, I probably looked like that cat for about half the class. But I blame that on the lack of knowing the routines rather than lack of pure Zumba dance talent. Right? I mean, I can dance. I just don't know the steps yet. 

Source: google.com via Samantha on Pinterest

I swear. No one looked like Jim Carrey in that class. Promise. Had there been water pouring down the stage the instructor was on, I swear she would look like that first picture. Talk about inspiration. A good instructor with Zumba (I assume), like most things, can make all the difference. And this instructor was amazing. AMAZING. She was hilarious, engaging, and fun. And she looked the part - in shape, happy, and loving what she was doing. I couldn't really ask for more.  

I LOVED this class. Seriously. I was sweating my butt off. My legs still ache. I felt so good during the class and after. And I had so much fun. SO MUHC. You can't ask much more from a class - I didn't even realize I was working out until I left. It was that good.

Do you Zumba? Have you ever tried? Do you love it? How can I get better?!

Music & Dance

I love Dancing With The Stars.

There, I admitted it.

I mean, it has more to do with the fact of the 2 years of ballroom lessons I too before I moved to Hungary and the fact that I've been taking dancing classes from other genres since I was little. But, nonetheless, I still love it.

And I love good music. It's something that can really stir or ease your soul. This is something that Sam over at Life is Beautiful discussed, and that we further discussed in a few fun emails. But, it still deserves a mention here. There's something about the opening chords of a song that can just completely change my mood - from good to bad, bad to good, you name it. Songs tie themselves to pieces of your life; a memory of a beautiful morning on the beach, a fight with a loved one, your high school graduation. There are some songs that hold such a hard tie to some events that I can't listen to them if I'm not in the right mood to be brought back to that (happy or sad or anything in between) memory. J.K. Rowling said it best: "Ah, music! A magic beyond all we do here!" And it's true, music is a form of magic.

So, being abroad I still have my music. But coming by DWTS is a challenge (you can't watch most American TV shows on their stations websites abroad, not Hulu!). So, I tend to miss things like this amazing performance which beautifully melds two things I love: dancing and music. (Because really, can you have one without the other?)