FYI for women in Jerusalem area

Several months ago an acquaintance of mine told me about a dance class he was taking called "Contact Improvisation." Basically, you partner with someone in the class, the teacher puts on music, and (with guidance from the teacher, sometimes) you improvise a dance. The idea is that you stay in physical contact with the other person, and have to really pay attention both to how you feel like moving at any particular moment and to what your dance partner is doing. I told him that sounds pretty erotic and he assured me that actually the environment was very safe-feeling, and more earthy than sexual. He does Yoga too so I took his word for it. (Geez, there are so many fruity people in this town!)

Well, anyone who has known me in person for more than 5 minutes knows that I'm very touchy-feely, so when I found out that this guy's teacher was now offering a women's Contact Improv class, I had no hesitations about signing up. Since it's not co-ed, I could totally circumvent any "halacha vs. what I want" internal conflict and just go! And it really was great. It was more exercise than I thought it would be, so it's like going for a 2-hour workout. The people ranged in age from about 20-60, and were really nice. And since there are no moves to memorize or techniques to "master," it made no difference that I'd never tried it before. Very non-threatening! And I loved it. You just go there and move. You don't have to be tiny or have rythm or be able to can-can or anything. You just do it. It feels so great!

Then the teacher went abroad for a few months, so that was that.

Now she's back! And she's starting a 12-week women's class (2 hours once a week)! It starts this week, at a dance studio in Talpiyot. I am so there. I need the exercise, and it feels good. Totally worth the 50 NIS per session, I must say. It beats trying to force the fencing to work for me. And it's more healthy than spending the money on a 2-hour movie and popcorn.

I'm not posting the day or time of the class because announcing on the internet when I won't be home is not a good plan. But, if you are female and live in or near Jerusalem and want the details, send me an email. I think more people should know about this class, because it's so great.

(Does this mean that now I'm one of the fruity ones? If I ever write a post about the wonder of walking everywhere barefoot, smoking pot, and/or using the words "tikkun olam" more than twice in a conversation, please just shoot me.)