Adventure Wednesday... with Guest Adventurer Alexa, the Curvy Nerd!

It seems like every outing with Heidi & Tom is an adventure, and last Friday was no exception! They introduced me to downtown Los Angeles's summer dance party series. You heard me right -- L.A. has a summer dance party!

Dance Downtown takes place at the L.A. Music Center, right by the opera house/fancy Disney music hall you've seen in the movies (notably: Iron Man). Every other Friday, from 6:30 to 10 p.m., there is a FREE dance party celebrating a different genre of dance/music. This past Friday was Bollywood.

Never heard of Bollywood, let alone seen Bollywood dancing? That's the fun part -- they kick off with a thirty minute dance lesson, followed by about 45 minutes of "free style" dancing (to the week's music theme). Then the cycle kicks off again with another lesson (so you can show up at around 8, like we did, and catch the 2nd lesson).

Bollywood was a BLAST. Our instructor was Achinta S. McDaniel who heads up the Bollywood dance school/performance group blue13 dance company. She was peppy, funny, easy to follow and taught us a Bollywood dance routine that had us hopping around and bouncing our hips to the beat. Let me tell you, we totally looked like this:



Ok, not really. (by the way, that scene is from Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, my favorite Bollywood film -- it involves dance numbers set in the streets of Paris & London and a dance competition!)

Fun fact about Bollywood/Bhangra: you sweat. A LOT. Our friend Rena remarked: "she's the Bollywood Richard!"

If only I had known! I would have worn better footwear (ballet flats - can go flying off your kicking feet) and my sports bra. It was a proper workout! Next time, I will totally be rocking out like this:



(fun fact: Katrina Kaif, the lead in Sheila, is UK-born, though she's a HUGE Bollywood star)

Los Angeles can't be the only city with a fun, free summertime activity like this. Check your local city for something similar. Get out, shake your booty and have fun!

L.A. based or bound? This is the schedule for the rest of the summer? (note: you WILL see me at Disco)
July 15 - Argentine Tango
July 29 - Disco
Aug 12 - 60s Night
Aug 26 - Zydeco
Sept 09 - Samba

Essentials:

• on-site parking is $9 flat rate for the evening
• on-site food is limited, but includes a taco stand.
• there's a cash bar if you want a little wine to get your groove going
• the on-site convenience store has bottle water for $3.50... or ask for a little plastic cup and get tap water for free :)