Dancing and Cleaning

A longtime friend who has taken ballet for 60 years (YES! I mean Sixty whole years!) asked me what I do for exercise. I told her, "Belly-Rock-Reggae while house-cleaning." She asked me what on earth that was, so I thought I'd tell all of you. It's exercising for fun and profitable. (not profit)

Belly-Rock-Reggae.... I have recorded dozens of albums and singles to my i-pod and to i-tunes on my computer. Some are Belly Dance, Some are rock music (Michael Jackson's "Thriller," Elvis's "Jail House Rock," with a little nippy surfin' music thrown in). Some are Caribbean reggae music, but all of them have a pretty rapid beat. I even have some electronic music (sounds like robot rap), and am waiting for some bouncy pirate ditties from my daughter-in-law. I clean my house while I dance. Fun!!!! And definitely aerobic! Plus, I end up with a tidier house.

I now have about 360 tunes on my list. I click "alphabetize," and they all fall into title order, but not style order. So it's quite amusing to be jitterbugging through the kitchen, and suddenly have to switch to belly dancing on the way to the bedroom, returning later to a brisk Sousa March. Anyway, the only time my house is tidy is after I've dancercised around the rooms. I even mop and vacuum while I prance. It's strictly belly dancing for doing dishes, though, since my feet can stay in one place while my hips and arms undulate above them, sloshing water over the countertops.

Half an hour of dancercise takes me through about 7-10 songs, so I can make it about a month before hearing repeats. But I'm always looking for new fast songs. (Donations are MORE than welcome!)

After 15 years of this, I have one thing to say about "pop music" of any style. Having grown up with classical music, I never cease to be amazed that people actually MAKE, and other people actually BUY "songs" that contain not more than five notes, screamed, growled or moaned in a voice without ANY tone quality, in words so repetitious one goes mad hearing "Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby! Oh, Oh, Oh! I want you, I want you, I want you...."

The only saving grace of such lyrics is that the diction of most singers is so muddy you have to listen a few dozen times before you can be sure what it is they are repeating ad nauseum. And, of course, you have to watch out for gradually coming to understanding that some of the words or meanings are shockingly obscene. (Never mind tasteless. We can live with tasteless. It's TODAY!) That's why some of my favorite songs are in Spanish. Catchy beat, and I can't tell if the words are dirty.

Anyhow, it keeps me in shape, and frightens away peeping toms.