Dance To My Rhythm

You know when something comes into your life at the right moment? Like the stars just align and –BAM– there it is? Well, that’s sort of how I see Shevon. This man is top notch — he knows his shit, he has a great vision, and he has an even better personality. Seriously, I’m a whiner about just about everything (okay, some of it is self-​deprecation and hilarious) and he deals with it with total grace.
He will kick your ass in the best of ways. Things will hurt or be tender the next day or two. He’ll even advise you in proper jump-​rope technique lest you find yourself a little too crippled the next day — and in my case high heels are off the table for a bit. I think he’s amused at this recent life development, but I could be wrong.
He will also mess with your head. In addition to laughing my ass off, some things that have either come out of my mouth or run through my head — «Did I just do that? Wait, he wants me to do what? I’m sure as hell I can’t do that… FACK! How did I just end up here? Oh dammit… Shit this is going to suck tomorrow.»
He’s well-​trained and speaks a few different dance languages; this is how I first found the Sultan. I remember catching a couple of his performances in the area and he had this insane energy that Tampa is missing. If you want to talk about someone being magnetic, this is a prime example. I showed up to his in-​home studio a couple weeks ago with no real plan other than he was going to school me in something new. I was minus my iPod and he asked if I had any music. I pulled a lone CD out and he ran with it. «Have you done any partnered dance?»… Nope! On day one I found myself getting spun around and dipped (among other things), all while making really ridiculous noises because I’m a control freak and it… Freaked me out. But hey, new experiences are good for me, right? So, I found myself dabbling in «intro to ballroom» for the first time, revisiting some flamenco, and falling back into the belly dance thing (though I haven’t left it since I first started back in ’07). If you want to talk about getting into fusion done correctly though… This is it. No one else in the area does what Shev does.
So, what else is there to say? This isn’t a weekly drop-​in class; you don’t just show up. If you want a regular day/​time slot I’m sure he would work with you; a friend and I have started assigning Sundays to dance/​ass-​kicking «church» with Father Shevon (yeah, it’s a terrible joke, I know). I can’t help but love this new ritual in my life because it’s so refreshing to work with someone so professional who can also put you at ease. Tampa doesn’t know what kind of gem it has because frankly, he’s too good for it.