Poco-poco...oh poco-poco...

"Melenggang patah patah...na na ne goyang pica pica..." For those who are familiar with these lines would know that they come from the classic song of 'poco-poco', an Indonesian-based line dancing made popular by Yopie Latul. The dangdut beat to the song is rather corny to some, I must admit, but once you listen to it and follow the steps, it's not that corny after all. In fact, the dance steps and the song makes sense and they compliment each other.

What is so interesting about poco-poco is that I used to feel disgusted just the mere mentioning of the word but now, I'm an avid fan of poco-poco. Don't ask me why because I could not answer it myself. You see, I try to avoid, as much as I can, whatever is 'in' at the moment and poco-poco is really the talked-about thing in town.

Being an aerobic-workout enthusiast, I used to look down on the power of repetitive, simple dance steps thinking that it doesn't do much good to the heart and the body since it doesn't involve rigorous, sweat-pumping movements. But after trying out poco-poco myself, it is actually fun and the steps don't really have to be simple. You can add on some 'spice' to it by using different songs which are more upbeat and adding some kicks and punches to the routines. It is basically up to the individual on how complicated you want the steps to be. The more complicated they are, the more rigorous it will be.

I went to a poco-poco practice two nights ago at Kem Sungai Besi and they already have a set of routines that they keep improving week by week. The steps are getting more interesting and complicated. I, being the novice in this matter, could barely keep up with the steps and to tell you the truth, I basically ran out of breathe by the fourth routine! The rest of the more senior ladies were doing it smiling and cheering us the more inexperienced ones. In the end, we were sweating so much that my friend's gray shirt turned black with sweat! It was INVIGORATING!

So, for those who still think poco-poco is nothing but a bunch of middle-aged ladies jumping about doing the hokey-pokey, take the advice from this new-found follower: YOU HAVE TO TRY IT OUT!