My 2010: Dancing

photo credit: 松林Ｌ

I was having a great conversation yesterday with my friend Monique Trottier where I mentioned that I felt like I was a complete liar whenever people would ask me “oh, so you’re a trained dancer?”. I am, I still am. But I am no longer a professional dancer. I am no longer a competitive dancer.

And this hurts to admit. It hurts me that I have dedicated so many long hours to my work and to all the social media community building and to attend so many events that I have let my dance skills deteriorate. I remember when I first learned to play piano, my instructor would say “Raul, if you don’t practice your piano skills one day, you’ll notice — if you don’t practice a week, your parents will notice — if you don’t practice a month, the world will notice”. He was so right.

I had an opportunity to dance with Karen Hamilton, another very good friend of mine and someone who hasn’t let her dance skills become rusty, a few months ago, when we did Vancouver TechKaraoke. And *I* could tell. I could tell that my salsa dance was not up to par. I felt ashamed, and embarrassed. Even when people praised me for my moves and my abilities, they haven’t seen nothing. I used to be SO MUCH BETTER. I used to be a highly competitive, highly-skilled salsa dancer, and teach this stuff.

So, for 2010, I have made a substantial decision – I am coming back to dance. I have decided that, whatever my position in the social media world, and however much I will need to devote to getting back into my best shape and regain my competitive edge, it doesn’t matter. Dance was my very first passion and I want to continue doing it, and for 2010, I promised myself I would be an integrated person again. Someone who does art, who does science, who does humanitarian work, and someone who does sports.

Related posts:

1. My 2010: Going back to competitive volleyball
2. My 2010: Being an integrated person again
3. Dancing with the stars – Monica Seles
4. What I learned about myself from salsa dancing
5. My passion for dancing.