Keeping Time to the Music: Learning How to Dance (From Step One)

The best gift I got for this past Christmas was a plain envelope with a note from my husband folded up inside. It read simply, “Dance lessons.”  It was no secret that I had been daydreaming of learning how to glide gracefully across the ballroom floor and of being able to go Salsa dancing with friends on Friday nights. (It was also no secret that I'm all elbows and knees on a dance floor.)

We chose to take lessons with Amy Garcia Phillips, a professional dancer who recently opened Contento Dance in Rahway. Amy offers ballroom lessons for couples and no-partner-necessary Salsa classes, on Thursday evenings in Hotel Indigo-Rahway’s Kennedy Room.

We took our first lesson two weeks ago, facing one another nervously like awkward 7^th graders at their first semi-formal. “What do you already know?” Amy asked us. The answer: absolutely nothing. 

We started by learning the proper stance and body positions. Back straight, feet together, elbows up, hands grasped at my eye level, my left hand on his bicep, his right hand on my left shoulder blade.  “The first lesson is always the most difficult”, Amy promised. 

We began with the Foxtrot, slowly and clumsily at first, then gradually with more certainty and fluidity. By the end of our fifty-minute lesson we were still making plenty of mistakes, but we left with a level of confidence that we hadn’t felt when we arrived.

Week two’s lesson began with review. “Feet together, hands at her eye level!” We danced the Foxtrot for the first fifteen minutes, then learned an easy box step and put it together into a Waltz, complete with a turn. By the end of the lesson we were trying out Merengue and getting a feel for the eight-count beat. 

Next week’s lesson on Valentine’s Day, will concentrate on the Tango, a perfect dance for a holiday centered on romance. After Tango? Perhaps Cha cha, Salsa, or Viennese Waltz…the possibilities are numerous when eager students work with an excellent teacher.

My husband and I may never become competitive dancers like Amy, but that’s not the point. We’ll have fun dancing at weddings and parties. Maybe we’ll even impress some friends with our Salsa moves.  It’s something we can enjoy together as a couple and benefit from for years to come.

Contento Dance instructor Amy Garcia Phillips offers Ballroom dancing for couples and Salsa lessons (no partner necessary) every Thursday evening at Hotel Indigo-Rahway, 1 Carriage City Plaza, Rahway, NJ. Each 50-minute lesson is $20 per couple, $10 per person. No reservation is necessary. For more information on private and group lessons, visit ContentoDance.com or Like Contento Dance on Facebook