2 hours!

Today was a big day!  Because of a concussion and pneumonia, I have missed about 6 weeks of class.  I still feel ill, but I'm sick of being sick, so today I went back to class. 

My first hour was spent at my teacher's house, in her new dance studio in her basement.  She did a great job setting up the studio, it is very peaceful & inspiring!

We had a semi-private lesson, with one new student, my teacher, and me.  We spent about half the time using poi balls - these are used by the Maori people of New Zealand.  You can buy them online at various hula supply stores or amazon.com.  My teacher made my set - hers are much softer, and don't hurt as much.   Professional dancers make poi balls look so easy to use, but they are NOT.   I need to spend some serious time practicing with these.  They provide a great arm workout.  The hardest part for me is sitting on the floor while using poi balls, and trying to look graceful.
Here is some basic info about dancing with poi, and then a photo:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poi_(performance_art)

After about 1 hour of semi-private dance, we rushed over to the dance studio for the regular dance class.  It felt so good to be back. It was nice to see all the girls in the class (10 of us last night!).   We worked out for over an hour - it was a very challenging workout for me!  I haven't been in a while, so I do not know some of the choreography, and it is very fast moving!  I can't believe I survived actually - with pneumonia, breathing problems, headaches, dizziness, concussion, and missing 6 weeks, it was a miracle I survived.  But I actually felt better at the end of the 2 hours of dance!   I have been to 12+ doctors appointments over the last 8 weeks, maybe all I really needed was to DANCE!