Monday, 24th of January 2022

That’s the most asked question on any salsa party. I get to ask it and hear it countless times yet never get bored of it.

The question has many different forms of course. When I ask someone to dance for the first time, it’s usually in the form above. If I already danced with them before and enjoyed it, often a look and the nod is enough to ask the question. If they’re my mates, the question might be replaced by the pat on the shoulder, a hug, stroke of their hair or even a kick 😅

No matter the form of question, I always want to dance! Even if I’m too hot and my feet are painful. Wait… that’s only part of the truth. Sometimes the music is not very inspiring and in such moments, I hide in the corners as to not be seen. Although if someone is persistent and finds me, I’ll still dance and have fun in most cases.

This past weekend I found myself in a dance heaven. With 3 of my friends we booked a hotel in London and attended 3 salsa parties each evening of the weekend. On top of this we had some time to wonder around London and have some cocktails too, as none of us had to drive. Sadly one of us couldn't make it due to covid, but he finally tested negative today, so all is well, he's just gutted he couldn't make it.

Getting ready for the first party on Friday, I mentioned to my friend that I haven’t seen myself dancing for a long time. She said she’ll try to record me when she has a free moment.

Well, she didn’t, but another friend of ours seem to have read my mind and recorded me dancing with one of our most promising dancers from the ‘new generation’ of Alchemy dancers. He is a super fast learner and also takes seriously the tips we give him during our trips to various salsa parties.

The video was taken on the last night of the weekend. It’s a rather slow version of salsa and we’re dancing on the carpet, as there were way too many people to fit on the small dance floor!

Most of our conversations while in London were of course about dancing. Talking with a few different people we came to the conclusion that we have all became music snobs. I remember when I first started dancing (2010) and learned the basic steps, I was so super keen I would dance to anything and all night long.

These days even if we really want to dance, when someone approaches us with the question, the answer often is ‘Let’s hear the music first’. I guess it’s like with everything in life - once we tasted good things, we don’t necessarily want to settle for anything less than.

Some of my friends won’t even go to the party, when they know a certain DJ will be playing. That’s going to far for me. Even my less favourite dj will play a few of my favourite songs and a few more bearable ones plus I get SO many hugs that it will last me for a week!

Plus! You just never know who you gonna meet! It might be a friend who you haven’t seen for years. Or it might be a dancer who you’ve never danced with before. This weekend despite of not feeling my best, due to upset stomach, I was lucky to have both of the above.

I got to see some very old friends and I got to meet a Greek guy who lives in Ireland and I don’t even know his name!

On Friday night he approached me all of the sudden with the cutest smile and once we started dancing, within a few moments I knew I won a lottery! His leading was spotless and his musically off the scale, plus he had a cute smile and kind eyes and gave awesome hugs too.

I couldn’t help but ask for another dance and luckily for me he also attended Sat and Sunday parties, so I could have more and more of this awesomeness! I seriously announced him my discovery of the year. For some weird reason we didn’t connect on fb though! Ehh, another time.

Today I posted on noise.cash that it feels like Sunday rather than Monday. With the weekend full of adventures I haven’t had time to wind down and chill. Plus every muscle of my body reminds me that I had a hell of an exercise these past few days. Good job there is no boss waiting for me to turn up at work early morning, cause he/she would be very disappointed! Haha!

Until next time 💙