And one, two, three, and one, two, three

Continuing on with our series on our “imported” professors, we move into the world of dance, otherwise known as the banquet room, with Axier and Gabri. Born and raised in Luzaide, these boys are avid dancers. Both dance with the town group, Luzaideko Bolantak, and Gabri even gives Salsa lessons both in Barcelona, where he has just completed his studies to become a physical therapist, and throughout the Basque Country. We professors have had a blast taking advantage of after hours salsa lessons and even some of the campers have picked up a trick or two. As an added bonus, all the girls have developed a dancing frame that would make even Patrick Swayze and Mary Murphy proud.

As for what we do in dance class, well… I suppose if I’m going to be honest, we’re a bit of the drill sergeants of Udaleku. There’s lots of “left, right, left, right, left,” (to be read in your best military voice) and we’re infamous for making kids dance holding their ears if they have their hands in their pockets. You’d be amazed how difficult it is to dance the quadrilles when your partner is holding your ears – on the upside, the pairs are getting to be much more in sync with their steps. (Axier is standing behind me, and would like to inform everyone reading this, that me categorizing them as militant is harsh. He would rather be characterized as nice, good looking, and fun – which, while all true, makes for a less interesting post… although I suppose in Axier’s defense, Gabri is the one that does the yelling, sorry, loud talking)

Along with learning the Kontra Dantzas, Dantza Luzea, and Erdizka-Lauetan from Baxenavarre, Lapurdiko Makil Txiki, and Xiberoko Makil, we’ve also been spending some time learning social dances such as Ryan’s Polka and Polka Pik. This way, next time you visit the Basque Country everyone will be able to jump right into the fêtes, no problem. Even better, your kids will have an awesome excuse to stay late at the picnics as, after all, they’re just practicing what they learned at Udaleku. (We’ll be around all summer if you’d like to thank us for turning your children into late night party animals).

Scroll down to see the kids in action :)

Gabri doing what he does best.

Uh oh Chris, gotta keep those hands out of your pockets!

Ps. Special shout-out to Jacy who turned 12 yesterday! Zorionak!