It’s the final day of the challenge. Olé, you made it!

How did yesterday's activity go? Did it feel good to just put the music on and dance not worrying about all of the other stuff? For me, letting go and dancing in this way is a great form of therapy.

Let's get on with the final challenge.

Day 10

Today’s exercise is designed to help you keep the challenge going in class or in your home practice.

I remember when I first studied with Mercedes. I felt so overwhelmed with all of the classes I was taking, coming in toward the end of the year, perhaps trying to do too much. So many things felt impossibly hard. ‘I can’t,’ ‘No way,’ ‘Impossible,’ Thoughts like this were constantly running through my head. I even declared them out loud. “No puedo,” I would tell Mercedes. Or, I would just stop dancing.

Intenta

She would say.

Try.

Half of the time I thought she was confused about what I was capable of or wanted me to look like a fool. But if I was choosing to be in her class, and she was telling me to try, I knew it was what I had to do.

Sometimes I would try, and I would get it. Other times I would try, and I wouldn’t. Sometimes after many attempts I would finally get it. Other times after many tries I still wouldn’t get it. Sometimes I felt frustrated. Other times I felt satisfied.

But there was no way I was going to get it if I didn’t try. I had to put in the work.

When I told myself I couldn’t do it, I definitely couldn’t do it. Only when I believed I could get it, and actually tried, was I able to get it.

Intenta.

I realized Mercedes was saying this, 1. because she wanted me to make the effort, and 2. because she believed in me.

An Activity for Trying

Choose a move you’ve been taught or been wanting to do but didn’t think you could or just felt too hard or like too much work.*
Now try to do it.
If you’re not getting it, consider which activities from earlier in the challenge might help you. Perhaps you need to do it slowly. Or engage your core? Or …?
Experiment. Investigate. And try again.
And again…

*If you’re having a hard time coming up with a move or looking for more guidance, you could:

Look at an old video of a class or workshop that you took. Is there a move in there that you always wanted to get but struggled with and gave up on?
Try one of the steps here.
Check out one of the many flamenco tutorials on YouTube.

So, Try

Even when you don’t think you can do it, try. Even when it feels impossible, try. Even when you feel like you’ll look absurd, try, or like there’s no possible way you can do it, try.

How did it go for you?

Do you ever feel like giving up before you even try? Does it ever feel impossible? Do you ever feel afraid to mess up in front of the teacher or in class? What skills from earlier in the challenge helped you execute today's move? What did you learn from today's practice? Let me know in the comments below.

Today was the last official day of the challenge, but class is always better with a cool down, so I'll see you back here tomorrow for a wrap up.