Today was a difficult day in St Jean de Luz. Choir is taking an autumnal break so my cultural pursuits lie in the heady world of dance. The weekly class has extended beyond the two hour mark (from 45 minutes) so I am having to keep moderately fit just to keep up my learning. Having grasped the fundamentals of Sevillanas I have moved on to Flamenco Rumba. Now, the Rumba itself is a fast-paced affair, the Flamenco Rumba is just silly. We need to break down each second into three parts each with a different movement in each 1/3 second for arms and feet. My coordination is not brilliant at the best of times so I am struggling a little.Fabienne, my wonderful teacher, is probably the strictest woman on the planet. If I feel things are getting too much there's no sitting on the sidelines, she simply tells everyone I'm finding it tough and makes me dance in front of them. Although my feet were several seconds behind the class I felt I moved up in the macho-matador-upper-body-stance-stakes. At the end of the lesson I was feeling a little despondent but Fabienne together with a couple of ladies from my class insisted I am not to give up. I can safely say that I am most definitely the most brilliant male dancer in my class, absolutely no doubting that, then again I am the only male in my class. It's good to be humbled from time to time. (Fabienne, I will practice harder for next week!)
Basque of the day:- to learn one's lesson :: eskarmentua hartua izan
