"The First Steps"
Written by Jose Diaz
September 4, 2001 

In a previous article ("The Awakening", 9/4/01), I wrote about how added school funding paved the way for dance classes in high school and how that affected me. Needless to say it was a defining moment for me as it led me to develop an even deeper and more astounding interest in dancing. I would like to to describe my first steps, so to speak. When I say first steps I say that because I felt like a baby, walking for the first time.

I signed up for the Caribbean studies class because I wanted to impress the ladies with some hot Latin moves. I thought to myself "it can't possibly be that hard if you can learn it in one semester". Gosh was I wrong! The truth was you would actually be lucky to learn it all in one semester. There is just so very much to learn stemming from the subculture behind the dance to what the style means to most people itself. It's a very passionate dance, an emotionally charged one at that.

Caribbean dancing is a test of agility, memory and pure grace. Grace is something I didn't have a lot of back in high school (probably still don't have now). It's also very emotional because it requires close contact between a man and a woman as they move their hips and feet in sync. Nonetheless I followed the old saying "if you don't succeed then try again". That I did and as time passed I was moving to the sweet sounds of bachata. Bachata is one of the more prominent Caribbean dance styles. Bachata is a sound that was born and traveled over to America from the Dominican Republic. While I may not be Dominican myself, it was easy to tell what was so great about the music. It's such an original sound that it just physically forces you start dancing and becoming one with the melodies.

It was one of many great experiences but this time it was great because learning something of that nature is just very invigorating and exciting. There's just something so interactive and hands on about dance that makes learning in any other way totally unappealing. I assumed others felt that way too because after that first semester funding for the dance programs went through the roof to the point where even productions were held in the school auditorium. That class will be one of those memories that will stick with me for a lifetime.

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