Emily Learns to Dance

I had every intention of giving out the awards I’ve been hoarding since Christmas tonight, but then something outrageous happened at the gym that I just had to share with you.

Emily He learned a dance routine to Justin Bieber. You can laugh, friends, but baby baby baby ooooh it’s for real. 

Those who know me know that “graceful” is not an adjective that describes me. My mom encouraged me to take ballet lessons when I was little, but it took just one after-school session to convince her that it wasn’t for me. Throughout middle school and high school, my friends and I attended numerous dances because we wanted to meet cute boys. But I was always too shy to really dance, and whenever a boy would come up behind me to “grind” I would cringe and awkwardly sway back and forth while secretly laughing my brains out at just how silly I looked and felt.

But even though I’m no Shakira, I still love to dance. My friends and I always have dance parties back home and I go wild at every concert. In 6th grade, my oldest friend, Ailen (pronounced Ellen) and I even choreographed a dance to Lucky by Britney Spears wearing matching oversized Limited Too sweaters for a talent show. I also participated in a bar dance-off once and blew everyone away, literally. I think I have improved as an untrained dancer over the years, but I’m still a laughing site because of my funny (UNIQUE AND AWESOME) moves.

Me being a karaoke queen. Oh, I didn't tell you? I'm a star.

Even though I haven’t done much dancing in China, tonight confirmed that I’ve still got my groove thang.

My mom and I went to the gym expecting to take a Latin Dance class, but since I suffer from memory loss, we showed up to a “hip-hop” class instead (I put quotation marks around hip-hop because it wasn’t real hip-hop). Chinese Andy Mcphee from Dawson’s Creek was our instructor.

We started out with some stretches, yes, normal. Then we got into actual moves like jerking the hip from side to side, thrusting my chest backwards and forwards, tossing my head like I do when I’m falling asleep in class, and best of all, twiddling our spirit fingers.

We even had to blow a kiss. All of these moves turned into a less-than-2-minute dance routine that only took an hour to learn! And let me tell you, I got it all down. I was so good my mom asked me later, “You took dance lessons in New York didn’t you?” No, mommy dearest, I’m just that good. 

Injured shoulder aside, the dance class really was a blast, and I laughed throughout the entire session because I was in a roomful of old ladies, and one man, strutting and dipping our hips. To Justin Bieber. In China. With my mom, who loved every moment of it.

Can’t wait till next week!

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