West African Dance kicks ass!

My troupe director suggested that if I was in the mood for a good workout, I should try this West African dance class she takes. Whoooooooweee, did it ever kick ass--mine! It was 90 minutes of super aerobic energetic jumping, hopping, kicking, and generally having a good time. There were 5 drummers and the drumming was amazing, including one father son team. That boy may only be eleven, but he has a major gift in the music department and can play drums better than many adults I've heard.

I had never met the instructor before but evidently he's seen me dance, as when I walked in the room he promptly introduced me to the drummers as "a fine, fine bellydancer." *lol* It was very sweet and rather overly generous in my mind as a baby bellydancer, but I was quite surprised that he recognized me so quickly. It seems he saw my sword dance at a restaurant on New Year's eve and another performance at a cafe in the town he lives in.

Given that I've never done this form of dance before, I followed it pretty well, with only a couple of the combinations eluding me. I could have picked them up as well had they been broken down a bit, but that wasn't the structure of the class. My strategy was to watch his feet first and get the footwork down, then add the arms, and finally and postural things and hand/wrist gestures. The tricky part was only having a few seconds to observe before I had to jump in and do it. *lol* While this particular dance form is fun, exhuberant and challenging, it hasn't bit me like raqs sharqi, but I'll be keeping it up simply for fun and one hell of a workout.

I am fairly sore today, but considering the high energy level and intensive leg use, I'm not nearly as sore as I thought I would be. Last night after class my thighs were shaking with exhaustion and I would have thought walking was going to be a painful endeavor for days. I'm definitely aware of my legs (and to a lesser extent my chest), but I'm not nearly as stiff I expected. Yay for stretching and hydration! Marinating in Ben Gay when I got home probably helped as well. Next time however, I need an ultra supportive bra. The girls did not appreciate 90 minutes of jumping and hopping!