I took a house class at Steadfast Dance Center in Pilsen tonight. It was my first exposure to house dance. It was very fun.

We began with a series of basic body movements. We did little mini hops. We worked on hinging our hips back and the forward. We hunched our chests over our feet, then body rolled backwards.

We then learned a set of basic house steps. There is the farmer, which is a springy step-hop-step. We doubled the farmer and and added a cross over in front. Then we learned a salsa step, a mambo step, and a stretchier version of the mambo leading with our hips. We ended with a move like a fall-off-the log.

At the end of class, we learned a mini-routine which started with an in-and-out foot pattern. We incorporated the farmer, mambo step, and the fall of the log with a quick double. It ended with a cool move where we extended one foot forward and balanced on its heel, chased that heel with the other foot, and snaked forward while accentuating the “and” beat.