Back to New York, Back to the Dance Studio

So far, I am having the loveliest time staying with my friend Kenya and her wonderful Nana (more on their wonderful-ness later!). Kenya picked me up yesterday evening at Bolt Bus’ very random drop-off spot (amusingly situated by a sketchy little business called Peep World, hahaha. I’d rather not elaborate.) and saved me from having to have any more luggage misery through the New York City subway. My body was cramped by the long bus ride, but was also refreshed by a nap, the restful view that ran by my window, and a chance encounter with a new friend. We connected quickly over our South East Asian heritages and our interests in international development. The fascinating thing about this meeting was that I hadn’t even been sitting next to her when I first got on the bus! A young couple that came on board couldn’t find anywhere to sit together, so I offered up my seat and moved. If I hadn’t done that, I would’ve missed out on a great connection and the insightful conversation we shared.

On another note, today I took my first dance class in over a month! I haven’t really danced since the Wheaton Dance Company took the stage in the beginning of May with “Behind the Wall.” And although I tried quite hard to work out in D.C. (more on that fitness adventure later), I missed dancing so very much. At noon today, I had the complete joy of taking a “Slow Intermediate Contemporary” dance class (of the Simonson technique) with a teacher named Laurie DeVito, at Dance New Amsterdam. From the name of the class, I figured it was the most appropriate one for me to take first as I try to ease myself back into dancing shape! It was my first dance class in over a month, and intrestingly only my fourth dance class in the US that I’ve taken outside of my college!

Thankfully, I didn’t die in the slow, intermediate class, and so far I don’t feel all that sore yet (but I’ll update you in the morning). I had so much fun! The style felt just right for me. We had a great warm up (which I hope to become more familiar with, as I plan on returning to the class) and an interesting combination (getting my memory muscles working again!). And although the class was quite full, we all had our turn to switch lines in the warm up and run the combination in small groups. It was so lovely to just be moving across a space again!

Hoping for more fun in class tomorrow!

This is an older photo of Laurie DeVito, which I've borrowed from her website: http://lauriedevito.com/.