Never Not Trying Something New: My First Adult Dance Class

I recently spent three Tuesday evenings doing something wildly unfamiliar: learning choreographed hip-hop with ten other adults in a mirrored studio, trying not to trip over my own limbs.

Yes, a hip-hop dance class. As an adult. With no prior experience. And no, I don’t know what possessed me either.

Week 1: Left Foot, Right Foot...Chaos

The class was a mix of dancers: a few naturals, some brave beginners like me, and a few who seemed to have mistaken the studio for Beyoncé’s backup rehearsal. I spent most of the first class watching the instructor and thinking, “Wait, what just happened?” My body lagged a full ten seconds behind every cue while my brain tried to retain each movement.

But here’s the twist: it was fun.

Not the kind of fun that’s graceful or Instagrammable, but the kind that kicks your brain into gear and reminds you what it feels like to be new at something. That rare kind of exhilarating discomfort.

Week 2: My Brain vs. My Feet

By week two, the moves built on the original routine. This was helpful in theory, until I realized I could barely remember week one. Somehow, I found myself concentrating harder than I have in any Zoom meeting in recent memory.

Key revelations:

• I can memorize a 20+ move routine. Eventually.

• I have zero coordination and dance like Rick Astley.

• My brain does not follow directions blindly—it rebels against the possibility that blind trust in unfamiliar direction might be catastrophic to the body's (and in turn its own) survival!

In short: I learned just as much about my brain as I did about my body.

Week 3: Doing It Anyway

By the third week, I wasn’t good but I wasn’t completely lost either. And that felt like a win.

Something shifted. I stopped worrying about how awkward I looked and felt, and started appreciating what my brain and body were doing together (well almost together

).

What I Took Away

• Trying something new lights up parts of my brain that maybe daily routine leaves dark.

• I don’t need to be “good” at something to enjoy it.

• Joy can live just outside my comfort zone.

• Rick Astley moves might be underrated.