@travyling Such an amazing night at my first Latin dance class, it certainly won’t be my last!🕺#bachata #salsa #dance #latindance #kohphangan ♬ Despacito - Bachata Version - Grupo Extra
The morning following the Waterfall Party, we caught up on some rest before preparing a home cooked breakfast of an egg, grilled salmon, vegetables, and potato scramble. Afterwards, we drove motorbikes to Thong Sala, where we went to Relax Spa and cashed in our vouchers for free Thai massages kindly provided to us by our Air BnB host, Cyril. I had received a few Thai massages at this point, but wow was this one the best. There was constant pressure from the masseuse’s knees and elbows, and even some chiropractic contortion motions that released many back and neck cracks/pops. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt better following a massage.
I was still feeling pretty exhausted from all of the island activities and festivities so far, but I remain wanting to maximize my time in each place and say yes to any opportunities that come my way. I have seven affirmations I’ve been telling myself daily for over two years now, and the first affirmation is, “I make plans, but I remain flexible and open to the surprises that life has in store for me. I try to say yes as often as possible.” A powerful affirmation that feels especially appropriate while traveling.
Being in the industry of latin dance music for their jobs, Joseph and Morgan had plans for a Bachata dance class and latin dance social at a beach-front Mexican restaurant and venue close by. Being a lover of dance and music with zero experience with Bachata or Salsa dancing, I thought it was too good of an opportunity for something new to pass up and I wanted to live and practice that first affirmation by saying yes.
At the beginning of class, our instructor, Nadia, gathered the class around to make mention that this would be an advanced class with moves that would be difficult to any inexperienced Bachata dancers. She then asked, “Are there any people who are taking their first Bachata class here tonight?” Reluctantly, I raised my hand, noticing everyone else also looking around and seeing no other hands being raised. I later learned that Morgan raised her hand too, just not as visibly or overhead. My first dance partner was Kris, a girl staying in Phangan from Russia, who had been taking classes the entire 3 months she had spent on the island. I had to open with, “Just to warn you, this is my first class so no judgment here please.” She smiled and relieved me that there was no pressure. I asked her if she wanted to lead, not realizing that the man leads and woman follows. She laughed and said told me I had to lead.
After first learning the basic steps down during a very short intro, we quickly moved into different steps and upper body movements paired with the footwork. It was a bit challenging to remember specifically what to do with my arms, but being passionate about music and dance, moving to the rhythm and stepping on beat came pretty naturally to me. I made my rotations through different following partners in the class, prefacing with my inexperience to set very low expectations. Thankfully, this class was very accepting and encouraging. Towards the end of the class, I had the steps down fairly well and felt accomplished for my first class given the degree of difficulty. Apart from the basic steps and some move techniques, my biggest takeaway was to trust the body’s natural instinct. With dance, sports, and many other physical activities, we can often get in our heads, overthinking about what moves to do next and trying to remember the sequence. Trusting my body’s natural instinct and rhythm to move to the beat and let the rest fall into place was noticeably a huge help for me.
We stuck around for a few more hours, through the entirety of the social dance portion. I returned to the dance floor a few times for the slower Bachata beats, dancing with the instructors for continued tips and pointers. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed the class and the dance hour! Latin dance comes with a fun community and is a great way to socialize and connect with other people through music and movement. I will continue practicing and take what I’ve learned with me along my journey and back home in San Diego.