Thursday, July 17, 2008

Dancing the Night Away

Last night we attended a fantastic salsa night hosted by Coconut Grove Hotel in Accra. We didn't leave our house until 8:15 so we entered the hotel just as the salsa lesson that began at 7:30 ended. But boy that did not stop us from dancing. I have yet to discover a Ghanaian that can't dance exceptionally well so I felt a bit like I was flailing in the midst of a sea of perfectly synced bodies. But I just laughed and kept dancing.

And we danced in lines to complicated choreographed dances that I struggled to keep up with. One of th dances was a salsa version of the electric slide and I mastered that one. But we reached a point between hopping on one leg and spinning at insane speeds when it just didn't matter if we looked like silly people with no rhythm and we kept dancing. When I took a break from scootin' around the dance floor, I was able to stand and admire the other dancers. Some of them were good enough to be considered professional dancers in the U.S. Perhaps one of the biggest differences I noted in the Ghanaian dance style was the fact that men move their hips like nobody's business. It was a bit amazing.

The hotel looked like a Tuscan villa and the dance floor surrounded a crystal pool. It was picture perfect and certainly one of my best nights here in Ghana. I think next Wednesday I will make a point to show up for the lesson.

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