A personal essay about finding solace and community in a reggaeton dance class amidst personal struggles and loss.
I barely knew the people from my reggaeton class yet they went above and beyond any social protocol for a casual acquaintance’s deceased furball y dance school had a Christmas concert. I abstained from performing, having long ago put my dreams of dancing stardom to rest. But cheering on my reggaeton class as they popped, twerked and body-rolled their hearts out in a primary school hall was pure joy. Let’s normalise amateur dance concerts for adults.
Reggaeton is a music genre and dance style that originated in Puerto Rico and Panama in the early 90s. A hot and sassy blend of reggae, salsa and Jamaican dancehall, it broke into mainstream culture around the mid-2000s. If you know This year my friend Spenser invited me to a reggaeton class. I’d done dancehall classes before but never reggaeton; it was love at first grind. The teacher was a delight, the random mix of students were welcoming and the routine was super fun. I hadn’t danced in a while and hadn’t realised how much I needed it. After I became the oldest in my family at 24, the pull towards older people was gravitational. Dancing has always helped me through rough times, and it’s been a rough time. I had a rough year in 2024, to be precise, and I know I’m not alone in this. Like most humans with living expenses and a soul, I’ve struggled. I’ve struggled with all of the death, I’ve struggled with all of the Trump, and I’ve struggled with the unrelenting financial sinkhole that is Covid-era late-stage capitalism. As 2024 ended my mental health was shot, my debt was high and my sense of safety and belonging frayed. Also, my cat died. Blanche Devereaux, feline, died suddenly, just shy of her 13th birthday. She was my weird little shadow, my non-ingestible antidepressant, my stage-five clinger. She whinged constantly and woke me regularly, and I miss her like the deserts miss the rain, which I’ve been led to believe is a lo
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