Dancing the Marinera

Morgan shares a journal entry:

It was Saturday evening. My mom had just arrived home an hour before and was relaxing with my grandma. A little after 6 we heard music playing loudly in the shared plaza of our apartment complex. We opened the door to check it out. Immediately our neighbors saw us and insisted we come down to dance.

My host mom and I both love dancing, so, of course, we went down. Once we arrived we learned there was a dance instructor there who was going to teach us the marinera. This is a Peruvian dance which is often done with a horse and a woman. On many occasions a man will substitute for the horse. Both people dance with a handkerchief in their right hand. It is a partner dance, but very rarely do the partners touch.

Our lesson consisted of learning several basic movements. For example, the main step involves crossing one foot in front of the other repeatedly. This dance is all in the leg and arm movement. However, your head should always stay level with your shoulders back and chin up just slightly. One cool movement we learned to do with the handkerchief was to wave it around in a figure 8.

There were about 10 of us students, some already highly skilled and some first-timers. Everyone came with a positive attitude, ready to learn. Sometimes people made silly mistakes and we laughed with one another, but never in a demeaning way. Everyone was gracious with one another.

The time ended with the opportunity to practice our acquired skills with one another. My mom and I danced, spinning around each other, laughing and smiling. It was a wonderful surprise, and I am looking forward to more dancing in the future. Apparently these lessons are going to happen every Saturday at 6. Yay!