Salsa dancing, Sicilian style 16/11/09

Just had a hilarious salsa lesson and a half. The instructor went through the basic steps – God how many times have I seen them now? And we danced in lines facing the mirror with some Shakira like girls wiggling and stroking their hair. We laughed a lot though. The instructor talked a lot to my English-speaking companions (from the language school) at the beginning and joked that we didn’t understand him much. But as soon as I walked in there was a nice couple who have come to the locale a few times. So they said ah she is also Irish but really now she is a milazzese so the owner said who are you and who is your husband?! Can I not go anywhere and be greeted for just myself? I said we had had the idea of having a Caribbean night or tango night and would they be interested and he said they already did it with the another bar near us. I didn’t know it was they who organised it. But he said they were interested in getting the most exposure possible. I said the room upstairs was fairly big and that there was room on the terraces too. He said he’d come up and have a look. I said there was live music on Thursday if he was interested and gave him a flier! How funny, getting really into the advertising business. The girls were laughing when I also gave one to the two other English girls who teach in the other school, ‘hey you have them coming out of your bag like a magician!’ I said ‘yeah but it is all about communication, got to get out there.'

We had to dance in partners and how I missed those Brazilian classes then! The guys were not much good at all. One called Dimitrio was so funny, he was straight over to me like a shot when the instructor said choose a partner. So he asked was I studying or working and I said I was a teacher like the others but for now I was running a bar and he said he had heard of it.

Then the instructor got into teaching us about the rhythm and the clave the wooden instrument which marks out the rhythm the five tick tick tick tick tick, three slow and two fast which can sometime be inverted he said. He went on for 45 minutes and then made us dance to see if we knew how to start and when and to count the tick tick clave. I did it because the others didn’t know what he was on about, and felt put on the spot. Dimitrio was rolling his eyes and all the Sicilians were shuffling towards the door, so funny. But the instructor was undeterred by the blatant body language. Too funny.

Lola

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