Dance Your Way to Happy
I have been dancing since I could stand up and walk mostly to Latino music. I was exposed to singer like La Lupe who sang torch songs like "si vuelves tu" that La India remade. I knew who Trio de Los Panchos was when I was a little boy of about 10 years old. Then as a teen I began to dance to El Gran Combo, like the most iconic salsa group of my life time and one that young people are still dancing to. Their song "Tu Me Hiciste Brujeria" is about a woman putting a magic spell on a man. While recently dancing to this salsa song I noted that most of the men on the dance floor would recite the main lyric. For most of my wonderful life dancing has transformed me repeatedly from an OK mood to one that is euphoric and playful.
Teaching salsa dance to others for a number of years I realized this to be a healing agent for most. Each person who stuck to learning how to dance salsa shared that their life had changed dramatically and that they felt more joy more often through dancing. I will never forget one woman who'd been divorced for several years who decided to take lessons with me. After the first couple of classes we were practicing the dance and she began to cry. Eventually she shared that the reason she was crying was out of the joy she was experiencing and how for the first time in a long time she felt beautiful. For many years one after the other, students shared their transformations through dance with me, all feeling that dance had changed their life for the better and each feeling as though they'd found a new joy and even a new way to socialize and enjoy life.
Dancing may not be for everyone but I can honestly say that many people miss their chance by dismissing it from their life, not giving it a chance. We are seeing more and more men dancing and becoming more interested in it as a way to connect with women. These are some smart men who know that this is an easier Segway to meeting a lady and enjoying their company. What is amazing is how differently men who dance treat and interact with women in ways that are very positive and on equal footing. I have shared this thought with many men and that is that women love men that can dance and do so in a gentle way with dances that require partnering. In some ways dance is old school and brings back that old fashion gentlemanly connection to women.
I love to dance and the way that I know this is that when I dance I smile and at times even laugh. Recently a lovely woman I danced with asked me "why did you laugh" thinking I may have been something she did. I responded by letting her know that dance brings me joy and that her cool move at that moment might have likely been the reason I laughed. I let go when I dance and simply am in that moment. What I know is that when we are in the moment that is when we truly enjoy life and only then are we living life fully.
Elliott Maximo Collazo: Salsero, salsa dancer
Teaching salsa dance to others for a number of years I realized this to be a healing agent for most. Each person who stuck to learning how to dance salsa shared that their life had changed dramatically and that they felt more joy more often through dancing. I will never forget one woman who'd been divorced for several years who decided to take lessons with me. After the first couple of classes we were practicing the dance and she began to cry. Eventually she shared that the reason she was crying was out of the joy she was experiencing and how for the first time in a long time she felt beautiful. For many years one after the other, students shared their transformations through dance with me, all feeling that dance had changed their life for the better and each feeling as though they'd found a new joy and even a new way to socialize and enjoy life.
Dancing may not be for everyone but I can honestly say that many people miss their chance by dismissing it from their life, not giving it a chance. We are seeing more and more men dancing and becoming more interested in it as a way to connect with women. These are some smart men who know that this is an easier Segway to meeting a lady and enjoying their company. What is amazing is how differently men who dance treat and interact with women in ways that are very positive and on equal footing. I have shared this thought with many men and that is that women love men that can dance and do so in a gentle way with dances that require partnering. In some ways dance is old school and brings back that old fashion gentlemanly connection to women.
I love to dance and the way that I know this is that when I dance I smile and at times even laugh. Recently a lovely woman I danced with asked me "why did you laugh" thinking I may have been something she did. I responded by letting her know that dance brings me joy and that her cool move at that moment might have likely been the reason I laughed. I let go when I dance and simply am in that moment. What I know is that when we are in the moment that is when we truly enjoy life and only then are we living life fully.
Elliott Maximo Collazo: Salsero, salsa dancer
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