My most favorite part of my fitness journey is dancing. Yes, dancing is my favorite calorie burner! 🙂 I’ve been dancing (as far as I can remember) since I was 5. (I’m pretty sure as much as I like it, I probably was dancing in my mother’s womb!) My first formal encounter with dance was at the age of 7 when my mother sent me to hula dance lessons to learn the beautiful dance of my island home of Hawaii. It has come pretty naturally to me and I have been blessed to have been able to perform at various events all of my life. I even got paid when in high school as this was one of my part time jobs. And I just love doing it for my pleasure and for those of my audience. I danced the hula at 3 of my children’s weddings and was so touched when people came up to me after my performance with tears in their eyes cos they had never seen anything like it before.
As far as a fun activity, I love going to wedding receptions and other parties, to festivals, concerts and other venues where bands are playing so I can “work out” to awesome music/songs 🙂 One of the most fun times I’ve had dancing was at a rock band contest and it started raining. Since there was no real shelter, we just kept dancing and laughing in the rain! We all looked like drowned rats, but we were happy drowned rats having fun!!
One of the most unusual dance partners I’ve ever had is my new friend Too Tall. He is nicknamed that becos he is close to, if not 6 1/2 feet tall. I am 5’2 and he only slow dances…well, it’s not exactly slow, but it’s where the partners hold hands and with his long legs, he moves all over the floor and I’m not talking small tiny steps. Can you imagine? Being my size, I get a real workout dancing with him, holding on and trying to keep up. Yes, he’s been known to lift me off the floor lol I’m sure it’s a sight to see!
I am a bit partial to the dancy workout dvds that I have in my library. Chalene Johnson has a couple very effective programs – Turbo Jam and Turbo Fire that have the dancy moves so you don’t feel like you’re totally exercising, yet has moves that remind you that you are exercising. Shaun T is another trainer/instructor whose Rockin’ Body program does the same thing in a rock star setting. Another favorite that I purchased is called Body Groove with Misty Tripoli and that is done barefoot and freestyle.
What is your favorite form of dancing? Where has been the most interesting place you’ve ever danced?
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