When I first moved to Los Angeles I had about $200 in my checking account and no job lined up. I also didn't have a car yet. I basically was stuck in a room with nothing to do. I wanted more than anything to start taking a dance class but it just wasn't logical. By the time I finally got a job and my life started to come together I didn't have the time to take a dance class. My first PA job I was working six days a week and 10-12 hour days. The idea of moving, let alone dancing on my day off made me want to cry.
It wasn't until about a year into living here that I started to look for somewhere to take a regular class. My dance studio back home is like a second family so finding a place that felt the same wasn't going to be an easy task. I literally searched for weeks before I found somewhere that seemed like it might be right. I won't say the name but they had a hip hop class that seemed like a good fit. It wasn't too advanced (since I had never taken the style of hip hop before), seemed to be taught by a legitimate dancer, and looked liked it'd be a fun community of people. Best of all it wasn't way too far or expensive.
The first time I went there I was pretty intimidated right from the start. There was a very advanced ballet class before mine and there was a lot of awesome dancers in it. Not to mention, a woman that had to be somewhere between the ages of 75-85 dancing right along side the other girls. By the time my class started I kind of wanted to run out the door. However, once I got into it I instantly was excited to be dancing again but it wasn't fun. The girls in my class weren't friendly at all. Most of them were much younger than me and were not just there for a good workout and to make some new friends. They'd give you dirty looks if you weren't getting a move exactly right and made me feel inferior. I know I'm a good dancer but I definitely was rusty. Their looks and comments weren't very forgiving. The teacher wasn't much better. I went there several more times after that and each time it was nice to be dancing again while getting a good work out but it just didn't feel right. I wasn't there to become one of Beyonce's back up dancers.
My next stop was trying out the gym dance classes. LA Fitness must be much better right? Guess again. Somehow it was even worse. People were literally shoving to get in front of me to see themselves in the mirror. Plus, there's no size limit on the class so it was double the diva dancers throwing themselves in my face, figuratively and literally. Thrusting high kicks before class and the glares of people were just as bad as the last place. I quickly switched over to the pilates class but wasn't getting that creative outlet that I needed...
It wasn't until this past February until I've finally found my place. Cirque School LA. I'm taking their tricks trapeze class and am absolutely in love. It's an amazing workout and it's 100% fun. The environment is my favorite part. There's people in my class that have been taking trapeze for years but they're not rude or boastful in any way. The instructors are helpful and never call you out on anything. It's exactly what I needed to find here and I couldn't be happier. Although, my blistered hands disagree with me.
The moral of the story is this is a point for the other side. If I was all LA I'd be high kicking my way to the front. Instead, I'm just hanging upside down enjoying the view.
In the spirit of the NBA playoffs:
Celtics Girl: 1
Lakers Girl: 1
PS I will ALWAYS be a celtics girl. I think that technically should make it 2 to 1 but I'll let it stay for now.
i like this one
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