Dancing

When I first arrived in Dunedin, I looked for a salsa studio to get acquainted with the salsa scene and possibly teach some On2 (because who doesn't want to be accurately referred to as an International Salsa Teacher? haha).  I had coffee with Alfonso, the owner of the salsa studio in South Dunedin, and he kind of took me under his wing and showed me around.  I've learned that it pays to find a good dancer who knows where all the good dancers go and on what nights.  Especially in large cities, you can waste loads of time looking for the good dance spots.  

After my coffee meeting with Alfonso, he and his fiancee Kate picked me up to go dancing at The Church.  The Church is a restaurant/bar/cinema that is home to a salsa/Argentine tango social on Friday nights.  There's a pretty good sized group of regulars that shows up every week  My first night there I got introduced to several people who either teach or attend classes at the salsa studio.  Alfonso introduced me as his new prima (cousin) so all night it was "come dance with mi prima!"  My dances with Alfonso were super fun.  I felt like it was my teacher's audition (and I didn't dance shabbily, thank goodness) and Alfonso commented leading me was like driving a new car...I reckon that's a good thing. 

I started going to salsa on Friday nights and when I wasn't working on Wednesday nights I joined Shaz dancing ceroc.  It's another 4 count dance that you can dance to practically any song - which is nice when you can't place a ballroom or latin dance to the song that's playing.  I jumped into ceroc pretty quickly (yay 5 years of ballroom dancing teaching you how to follow!) and joined Shaz in the intermediate class.  Learning the patterns was easy enough, but the social dancing after the classes definitely tested my following abilities.  The guys I danced with would set me up for...something, but I had no idea what move they wanted me to do.  Instead, I regressed to my fallback move: I wiggled on beat until they realized I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing and either talked me through the move or led me into something else.  Rockstar dancer I am.

After a few months of dancing, I got introduced to my new good friend Tom who had recently returned from the States.  He'd been living in South Carolina for a while and knew how to dance on2 and on1.  I got pushed to dance with him and it was so nice to dance on2 again and with someone who's danced for years! After moving to Dunedin from NYC and LA before that, I've been used to dancing with lots of people who've danced for years and are better than I am so I'm used to being challenged when I go out dancing.  Not that the dancers here in Dunedin aren't great, but the variety is definitely more limited based on the population so new blood is most welcome.

Tom and I danced all night and he invited me to the NZ Salsa Congress in Wellington.  I had wanted to go but hadn't planned how and he was driving up and offered me shotgun.  Over the next couple weeks I checked up with people to make sure he wasn't crazy or a serial killer, got some days off work and had coffee with him to plan our trip.  Laura and Todd were still in NZ and "happened" to be nearby while Tom and I had coffee so they all got introduced.  Laura's final job as my protector in the Southern Hemisphere: to check out that the most recent random travel buddy was ok before I drove the length of the South Island with him.  They didn't seem too disturbed by him so all was well with the world and our congress plans.

Last view of Dunedin - a quality memory

A couple days before Tom and I drove up to Wellington, Laura and Todd flew home.  We attempted a wee flash mob at the airport, but Matt Tucker and I were the only ones who were able to get work off.  Regardless, we arrived at the airport, sat at separate tables and read the paper all nonchalantly as Laura and Todd arrived with Kitty and Vanessa.  They had a good laugh and we all sat around until their flight was called.  Hugs and tears ensued (I think Laura shed one too!) and then we all made blowfish/haka faces at the glass by security for their amusement.  Classy we are.

A couple days later Tom and I started our trip up the south island.  We drove up to Christchurch on Thursday night and stopped at Salsa Latina to dance.  According to Tom, most of the good dancers were already up in Wellington so after a couple dances we motored up to Kaikoura where we stayed with his friend Tony.  Tony is also from the states and has a house in Kaikoura with a lot of land.  Friday morning we all went motorbiking/four wheeling around his property.  It's just a little north of Kaikoura so from the hills around his house there's a lovely view of the Kaikoura beach.  We also scared some sheep atop a hill and Tony had to help one sheep get back up as it was too fat to roll itself over after falling.  Tony is keen to sell some of his property so let me know if you're interested!

Tom and Tony

Kaikoura beach in the distance - me and the bikes - more of Tony's land

View from The Store

Friday afternoon we continued up to Blenheim, stopping at The Store for a late lunch and a view of the early sunset colors over the ocean. In Blenheim we stayed with Tom's uncle Mike and his fiancee Jo.  After dinner, the boys decided to go out driving in Tom's car and me and Jo watched the Highlanders v. Force rugby game on TV.  It was a GREAT game, mainly because I "knew" half the people on the field.  The Highlanders and their coaches come into No. 7 relatively regularly and the previous weekend some work friends and I happened to meet, have a drink and watch the F1 race with a few guys on The Force (the rugby team from Perth).  I love how small Dunedin and NZ are.  It makes access to relatively famous people so easy!  Hence my goal #1: drink with rugby players - check!  I digress...   

Saturday morning we hit the Wairau winery before catching the ferry into Wellington.  We checked into our hotel, met up with Keith (another Dunedinite in Welly for the congress) and hit the congress.  It was definitely a lot smaller than the LA and NYC congresses I'm used to, but it was still a lot of fun.  I didn't dance much on Saturday night, but I did my reconnaissance so I knew who I wanted to dance with on Sunday night!!  

Sunday night dancing

Sunday I met up for brunch with Ashleigh who used to work at No. 7 and had moved to Wellington.  I love the fact that I know people all around NZ now.  During the afternoon Tom and I hit Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand and tried to check out all the cool things that Laura and Todd had raved about.  Great museum, but alas, my attention span isn't much longer than a newt's when it comes to museums.  Fortunately neither is Tom's so we both happily left after a couple hours and got ready to dance it once more.  Sunday night I danced heaps and was brave enough to ask guys to dance!  We danced until about 2am and then ran back to the hotel to pick up our stuff and catch the 3am ferry back to Picton where I was meeting Nicky to go tramping.  Nothing like a jam packed weekend, eh?