A year to do new things? I try Irish Dancing.

Last night I tried Irish dancing for the first time in my life and I have to be honest – it was so much more fun than I had anticipated.

I don’t know why I was surprised. Ireland / Irish sort of equates to fun in my mind. Even though the one time I was in the Ireland I got the worst case of food poisoning of my life, I forgive, because Irish culture is disarmingly charming.   

Anyways, I go to weekly dance classes that are fantastic fun and you should come along. At the start of the year, my teacher organises a ‘Dance Detox’. Two hours of dance class a night for five nights, to get us back into the year, detox after the excesses of the holiday season and of course, have fun. Each night there are two different types of dance class – belly dancing, ballet, break dancing, Bollywood, latin dancing, etc. So over a week, you try out 8 to 10 different dance styles.  Last night it was a contemporary jazz routine to Lady Gaga’s ‘Poker Face’ followed by Irish dancing!

The Irish dancing class was taken by Kate from Lynagh Irish Dancing Studio. She started us out slow with three basic steps which we strung together to do a traditional party / festival dance in a huge circle. The steps got faster and faster until we were a jigging, giggling mess of a class. It was terrific fun!

After an hour of Irish dance I expected my thighs to ache but I had to concentrate so hard on the steps that my legs forgot to hurt. Not that the steps were complicated, they were just new and different and fast!

That’s what I love about going to dance classes – unlike going to the gym, it’s a mind and body work out. The concentration required to ‘leap 2-3’ correctly, in time and in configuration was so much more of a work out that I was anticipated.

If you’re in Brisbane and want to try ‘Dance Detox’ it’s on for the rest of this week at the Old Museum. Check out the Facebook page here.

Otherwise, my regular dance classes start next week and new comers are always welcome. It’s fun and easy and a great workout. Bollywood Connections website.

Finally, if you want to try Irish dancing, Kate from Lynagh Irish Dancing was a great teacher.

Finally, for your amusement...