Strrretching my comfort zone

Do you ever have to psych yourself up to go somewhere new or go solo to a group event? I do. That may be because I’m a homebody at heart, but I also think it’s because it can be difficult to change our regular habits. I’m comfortable going out with Brian; I’m much less comfortable going out by myself and interacting with the world on my own.

Today, I took one small step toward expanding my comfort zone by attending a contemporary dance class at City Dance in Auckland. Although I danced pretty seriously back in the day, it’s been many, many years since I took a dance class in the ballet and modern realm and it was my first-ever contemporary class. City Dance offers classes in a dozen or more styles, but I chose contemporary for two reasons. First, I had seen and enjoyed several contemporary performances on “So You Think You Can Dance,” and second, it didn’t require any shoes: big bonus for the girl currently carrying all of her possessions on her back.

For an example of contemporary dance, check out the video below:

Class began with a warm up of both standing and floor exercises. Back in my dance days, floor exercise either meant doing ballet barre while laying on your back or stretching in jazz class. In contemporary class, we were quickly rolling about in a new and unfamiliar way. I began to wonder what I’d signed up for and if I could make it through the hour class.

I held my own, but felt like a duck out of water. Although my instructor and classmates were kind, I’m sure they wondered at times about the girl in the back with the red face. No, it wasn’t embarrassment. And I’m not that out of shape; ok, maybe a little. I inherited a lovely tendency toward ruddiness from my mama. As soon as my heart rate starts moving, my cheeks start glowing. If I’m really working, my whole face and chest are ablaze. It’s a nice little conversation starter:

“Are you sure you’re ok? Do you need some water or a sit down?”

“Oh, I’m fine,” I say. “My face just does this.”

My husband assures me it’s cute. Umm, yeah.

When I looked in the mirror during class (Note: Don’t do that!), I saw a former ballet dancer trying to learn something new. The point of contemporary dance, as I understand it, is to incorporate your body’s natural movement. Having taken ballet from the age of 3 to 18, I’m not sure what my “body’s natural movement” is. Ballet is all about what’s pretty, not about what’s natural.

As the class wore on and we began learning combinations, I realized that while many of the exercises were new, they relied on dance basics I already know. My muscle memory saved the day. Muscle memory is awesome! Even though I haven’t done pliés and developpés regularly for many years, they came back easily, as did my flexibility (helped along by yoga I’m sure.)

What didn’t come back so easily was my memory for combinations. I used to be able to watch a combination once, perform it immediately from memory and then reverse it. Today, not so much. Muscle memory helped somewhat; if I went through the combination physically, it was easier to remember, but whenever I involved my brain, the thinking just wasn’t there. Hmmm, maybe that in itself is a message from my body: Stop thinking already! Just do it! Kinda reminds you of Yoda doesn’t it? “Do or do not. There is no try.”

As painful as I made the class sound, it was actually a lot of fun. Unhindered by the need to be “good” as I would be in an art form I already know, I could just let go and enjoy. Definitely a worthwhile experience and one I’ll probably repeat while we’re here in Auckland. In fact, I wonder if there are any adult dance classes back home, beyond ballroom and Latin. Something to look into…

Have you taken any action to expand your comfort zone or challenge yourself lately? What was the outcome?

P.S. Speaking of challenging yourself, check out this video of my favorite dancer in this year’s “So You Think You Can Dance” competition — professional ballet dancer Alex Wong — jumping out of his comfort zone in a hip hop number with Twitch. Amazing!