I whip my hair back and forth

So on Saturday we had a treat! One of our extended family, Lee B (@LeeB_official) from BBC's 'So You Think You Can Dance' was down to teach a contemporary workshop and so the leggings were out in force. Rocking out to a great soundtrack we started with a warm-up, full of the infamous split push-ups (or awkward crouch push-ups in some instances), working our way up to exercises from the corner and then onto the routine.

Considering at least 85% of those in attendance were complete contemporary novices, the fact that we didn't have any major casualties during the corner exercises was a major cause for celebration. In fact as we got the hang of them a bit more and the level of resistance of our musculoskeletal systems went from a level necessary for resisting the dinner invitation from your strange next-door-neighbours to that necessary for resisting a second slice of chocolate cake (i.e. virtually non-existent resistance), we came to really embrace them and were (at least trying very hard) to whizz across the floor. 

Thus we were well and truly in the mood by the time we got onto the routine, especially when we found out that it was to Ellie Golding's "anything could happen" which is a serious TUNE. With lots of  whiplash-inducing and tribal action it was a brilliant opportunity to completely immerse yourself and LIVE in the music - something that is always enjoyable regardless of the style. And so by really throwing ourselves at it, encouraged by Lee's unfaltering enthusiasm and compliments, we all got a fantastic sense of release, freedom and of course fun (even if the exact execution of all the moves reflected this!). 

Overall, although contemporary can sometimes seem exclusive - especially for those who haven't studied technical styles of dance for years - we found, thanks to Lee, something new to embrace and add to our style bibliography. You can guarantee we'll have him back in the New Year.