thank you

[PeterL]

I was just driving back from Aberdeen to Edinburgh after the party night there and the whole way I was thinking what a great year I've had.

It occured to me that this is all due to the fact that I have learnt to dance, and I have never thanked the people responsible for that.

Having learnt to dance has improved my fitness, my social life, my confidence and basically made my life fun.

I cannot put into words how much I enjoy dancing, the joy of expressing yourself to music and having a partner follow your moves exactly how you wanted them to. the pleasure of it going wrong and you having a new move. the smiles and the expressions on your partners face when you do a move they haven't seen before and it works (or doesn't). the elation of hitting a break in the music with a hallelulia or a well timed dip (on a quiet dancefloor of course).

So to round this off I would like to thank Obi (my first teacher) for the way he always has the patience to explain the basics of the dance so all the new cerocers get up to a standard where they can be led quickly and for the way he always makes you think about the woman (don't do pretzel followed by windmill etc) and always stresses safety whenever it may be a possble issue.

I would like to thank Scott who teaches style and grace and makes you have fun and smile.

I would like to thank Alison who teaches from a female perspective and was the first to bring it to my attention to keep a bent arm (I improved overnight 100% with this knowledge). Plus I always get a dance with her on a Monday night and I rate my progress on how well I can lead her.

I would also like to thank Matt the Taxi dancer who I have had the privilidge of working with in 2 jobs who dragged me to ceroc and the second time he did it (2 years apart) I went back.

I would lke to thank Louisa who taxi danced with Matt who though is hardly ever at ceroc anymore always comments on how much better I am when she sees me. I must have ripped her arms apart in the beggining.

and I would also like to thank all the people I have danced with and apologise for how bad I was in the begining, some of you said encouraging things even when I couldn't dance and helped me to proggress to someone who although not brilliant loves dancing and normally makes sure the partner enjoys the dance.

again Thank you

[Dance Demon]

Nice sentiments Peter, and I am sure there are countless numbers of people out there whose lives have changed since learning to dance. Heartily agree with your comments about Obi. Any time I have introduced people to the art, and there have been quite a few, I always reccommend them to Obi's class, because of his clear teaching style and as you mentioned, his patience in explaning the rudiments of the dance.

[multi-spin-matt]

Aye Peter,

But I think I owe you a bigger thanks for introducing me to Rice-wine and Oyster sauce.

My Chinese cooking has improved 10-fold, though I fear my dancing has hit a plateau of late.