5'9" 40 Year Old White Girl with No Rhythm Dances Hip Hop?

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Dancers (Left to Right): Debbie Drum, Hwan_Hee, Mylee
Song: Dance Monkey, Tones and I
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That's right. 5'9" and 40 and...no rhythm. I always played sports my entire life. I never took a formal dance class. I never really learned how to move my hips in a proper "dancing way." And as a 5'9 white girl, the moves don't come naturally to me. πŸ˜ͺ

It wasn't until recently where I really wanted to learn how to dance. My friend Kevin told me that knowing how to dance would make me quicker and more elegant on my feet to get better at playing my favorite game on the planet, Pickleball.

But, you know how it is, life gets in the way. I never had time to learn to dance and make that commitment. I always had something to do. Always another Pickleball game to play.

Then BOOM. πŸ’₯πŸ’₯The Corona Virus struck. I was left in the house with no where to go!

The opportunity came up where I had no choice but to finally live out my dream to be able to move my hips without looking like this:

Why Dance Monkey? It All Started Dec 2019, Delray, FL

It was December 2019. I was in a rental car driving around West Palm Beach and Delray Beach Florida. The weather was beautiful, the Pickleball was plentiful and it was just a blast. It was also Christmas time which I love in Florida.

It was on a random radio station when I heard Dance Monkey play for the first time. I instantly loved the beat and everything about the song. I was playing it non-stop. Blasting it in the car and in my hotel room when I took a shower and when I was warming up for Pickleball.

Not to mention that was also the time when I fell in love with Lizzo - "Why a man great til they gotta be great?" was my jam.

Me and my friends love to dance and Dance Monkey would definitely be a song we would dance to together.

This time. This song. This beat. These moves. These outfits. These Awesome Girls Dancing. All of this was symbolic in a huge way.

Keep reading to learn why...

What Would Life Be Like Without Pickleball?

It would absolutely suck. I miss playing so much. I miss the people, the competition and the practice to get better and better.

The only way I envisioned life without Pickleball was injury.

I had shoulder surgery in Feb of 2019 and during and after my rehab I started to work on getting my entire body strong to avoid future injury. Working my muscles better, doing yoga, and footwork. I got into hard core training mode to get better and safer on the Pickleball courts.

Off the courts, I would often think to myself, "what would I do without Pickleball?" This is not a good thought to ponder...

Here's why...

I study the Law of Attraction, and listen and practice the teachings of the amazing Abraham Hicks. She always says when you know what you don't want, you know what you do want. Makes sense right?

But if you constantly think or worry about what you don't want, (even if it's by accident)... what you don't want might end up happening and coming true!!! That's the Law of Attraction...it follows where you put your energy (bad or good).

You're essentially putting power to the thought and you are fueling the flame πŸ”₯ when you think about something enough times.

What would life be without Pickleball? Well, it looks like a f**king PANDEMIC! How horrible right?

I am currently living life without Pickleball and the result? Life, of course, goes on. It's as simple as that!

Here's Where It All Changed...

Fast forward to quarantine, one afternoon, while relaxing on the couch, I started to do what everyone does, scroll through Instagram. The inevitable ad was shown to me and the targeting was spot on. It was the PERFECT AD at the PERFECT TIME.

You know when that happens right? Yep!

The ad presented a dance site where they had about 250 dances waiting to be learned. Not only was it the best timing in quarantine, but I thought it would be a great activity to do with my niece Ryley. No Brainer. I'm IN!

Then one morning while drinking my coffee, I was scrolling on YouTube and the YouTube GODS presented this video to me:

I was like, "NO WAY!! I have to learn this right now." This was a free dance and not even part of the dance program that I paid for!

I watched the dance and immediately loved it. I tried dancing it a few times, mostly in slow motion at 50% speed. After this, I was determined to nail this dance step by step one way or another...no matter how long it took. I mean, what else was I doing right?

My wife, Jennifer, was the only person who knew about this undertaking because I couldn't hold in my excitement from her!

For the first few days I was completely horrible. Just look at the days breakdown in the video below.

It took me about 50 times to learn the dance where I felt comfortable about the routine. Then another 50 times or so to really get the moves down point by point. Getting in sync with Mylee and Hwan_Hee was challenging but mandatory to pull this off.

Here's an embarrassing diary of each day...

Video Diary Compilation of Each Day...πŸ˜‚πŸ₯΅πŸ₯΄

5 Signs Why I Had To Do This Dance

I believe in signs. There were a lot of signs pointing me in the direction of taking on this project.

1) I was born in 1980... the year of the monkey

2) One of my favorite songs of all time is Proudest Monkey by The Dave Matthews Band

3) My colors are black and yellow - just like my girls Mylee and Hwan_Hee wore in the video 🐝🐝

4) The only English words on their website were:

5) Two Worlds Coming Together Under The Same Tough Time

The whole world is going through a tough time. There's not one person who hasn't sat inside in quarantine and felt the intense suffering of the world.

I knew Mylee and Hwan_Hee were of Asian descent, but I wasn't sure which part. I thought if they were Chinese it would be pretty magical because our connection would be about dancing and having fun, not about a deadly virus. This is the ultimate way we could still unite and be happy dancing souls while our countries battled out where this this scary Corona Virus came from.

We are just stuck in the middle with no control.

However, I believe the girls are Korean...but we are still two worlds uniting with dance and that's very powerful to me because dance is a universal language. Dancing makes us all feel better!

It Was All Meant To Be...

When I discovered the song Dance Monkey by Tones and I, it was such a fun time in my life. Me and my partner Anthony won the Gold Medal at the Delray Beach Pickleball Tournament with some very tough competition. It was one of my most proudest Pickleball moments. I will always look back and have the best memories of this time.

Anything Is Possible When You Put The Work In

Most things in life that are worth it don't come easy. They take work, commitment and consistency.

I hit many roadblocks while learning this dance and putting this project together.

They included:

  • Learning the dance with no teaching, it was all by observation of every last detail of Mylee and Hwan_Hee
  • At first it seemed as though I had to learn the dance without mirroring the dancers' moves.

    From the first day, I thought about production and how I needed to be in sync and dancing on the same side with the other dancers to make this work. After a little bit of research, I learned a cool camera mirroring trick to do in my editing phase that switched me around.

    This would allow me to learn the dance by mirroring the girls and then flip my camera in the editing phase so that I danced in sync with the girls.

    Phew! Learning the dance opposite the girls' moves would have been a huge headache with a lot of confusion.
  • My current green screen didn't accommodate my entire body...I needed to redo my green screen set up completely. My green screen still wasn't perfect in the end (I doubt it will ever be) but it worked to get the job done!
  • I didn't (and most likely still don't) have the best moves and had to practice A LOT to get this project off the ground.
    Getting the routine SOLID WITH NO EDITING was the plan!
  • After doing the dance about 20 times on production day, I still was not 100% happy with it BUT I am going to continue practicing and perhaps I will do this again with another song.

This just proves that anyone can do anything if they put their mind to it. Simply set yourself up to complete a task and don't give up no matter what! You will achieve your end goal!

To Your Health and Success,

Debbie Drum

Update and Afterthought 🧐

It turns out that on the same week of releasing this article, the courts are opening to play Pickleball again. My plan is to only start out drilling with one other player on the court wearing a mask and gloves.

As I was proof-reading this article, I realized my yearning to dance also brought out this amazing opportunity that might have never happened if Covid-f**K-face 19 never came about.

The power of the universe is REAL.

Remember this: what you think about the most ALWAYS comes true, both good and bad!

Don't forget that and you'll do JUST FINE. I promise. β™₯️β™₯️

Leave Me A Message πŸ’Œ

Contact me at: help [at] debbiedrum.com

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