Baile Folklórico

Casa Cultura:

There are many class offerings. Patsy and I decided to sign up for baile folklórico classes: Monday Wednesday Friday from 5-6 pm. So reasonably priced, as least compared to what you'd pay in the USA - $200 pesos per month which works out to about 60 cents/hour USD.

This room is specifically for danza:

Patsy and I are the OLDEST students, the rest are teenage girls.  It was a bit disheartening to have a mirror in front to reflect back your dancing image.  At zumba I could pretend I was as good as everyone else, the mirror proves otherwise.

The teacher was quite surprised we were NEW students, since everyone else had been in the class for at least a month learning this particular dance routine.  Patsy and I took our places at the back of the room, until the rotation began.  The first row moved to the back, we did the routine again, another rotation, repeat.  I only got to the second row (whew!) when it was time to add another segment to the routine.

At the mid-point 5-minute break, Patsy asked the teacher, "¿Es baile folklórico tradicional?"  The teacher answered, "Oh no, es baile folklórico africano."  Huh?  African baile folklórico.  Apparently, this dance group is getting ready to participate in the upcoming carnaval parades ... and we were invited to participate.  We politely declined.

There are many young men hanging around, standing in the open balcony, peeking in through the door.  Some are boyfriends (in Spanish = novios) and some are waiting for their class to start after this one is over. 

Another funny moment was at the beginning of class where we warm up with a few exercises.  The teacher came around the first day (last Wednesday) and showed Patsy and I exactly how to do the leg raises from side to side.  Today, she told the class to look at how I was doing them and if I could do them the right way (unspoken: at my age) then they could certainly do them properly.

Special thanks to my novio for escorting Patsy and I each time and for doing the grocery shopping while we're dancing.