inTENSE-ive

For the last 36 hours life has been all bellydance all the time. This morning I woke up to sore legs and back muscles from taking six classes non-stop since Friday. I don't think I take six bellydance classes in one week! And the last two nights have been a blur of fabulous dancing, one act better than the next and all beautiful.

This experience has been inspiring, uplifting, motivating and frustrating all at the same time. I go from feeling, "I just don't get this at all," to "Wow, this is neat," to "I can do this forever," to "Huh?" to "I've got to learn this style on my own," all within the span of an hour and a half class.

So far I have taken Turkish style, Moroccan and Tunisian Dance, travelling steps, Flamenco fusion and Creating and Destroying rules not to mention Suhaila's evil combination class (without the all-important layering technique class beforehand -- it was full up).

Of course the teachers that I like don't teach classes (they just charge an arm and a leg for privates) or they live far away -- oh well. And how in heck am I to remember all their steps from a class I took once sandwiched in between classes of someone else's style so I can practice at home. It is very overwhelming. So I am just taking this weekend for what it is, a great workout in my favorite dance style along with a new moves tossed in that may serve me well in the future.

Timing of meals has been intense too. I forsaw this with the crazy schedule of one class starting after the next that I packed a lunch and brought several liters of water. Lunch would be just one hour. I shared that hour with a couple nice ladies in one's AC-ed car. I could have gotten fast food (they got greasy stuff), but I enjoyed the satisfying turkey, avocado, babygreens wrap that only took me a few minutes to throw together this morning. Snack was a two point bar furtively eaten in between classes.

I did skip the last class though. I already know beginning zilling (finger cymbals) and needed that time to shower and eat a healthy dinner (wasn't going to leave that to the whims of the potluck gods at that night's Hafla dance show) at home, especially since iconoclastic Amara had us rolling all over the dirty dance floor on our heads "breaking rules" in that last hour.

But wait, there is more! Today I return for more punishment, I mean er, FUN! I sit hear trying to get myself hyped up to learn and to move more. Yesterday was like running a marathon. Today will make it an ultra. My running partner is going to get her "long run in" before she shows up to take a class. She will be sorry. I feel no guilt about skipping running this weekend, especially when these classes have been more like back to back aerobics classes.