Hi everyone,

I'm a new member looking for advice. I'm in my early 30s and have been dancing since college. I've dabbled in a few genres: I did competitive ballroom dancing in college (had lots of fun, but didn't get very far), took a few classes in African dance and belly dance for fun, and also studied flamenco fairly seriously for about 5 years, including doing some amateur performances, solo and in a group, at local Spanish restaurants and such.

What I've learned from these experiences is that I have good rhythm and can perform fast movements with my legs/feet. My upper body, however, is more lyrical and while I can be graceful and feminine, I'm unable to perform rapid or sharp movements with my head, arms, and upper body in general. I'm also mediocre at fast turns (although that could possibly get better with practice).

Even though I started fairly late, I've realized that I truly love to dance, and I would like to settle into one style/genre and reach a decent level in that. For a long time, I thought that would be flamenco, and while I really love it, I'm realizing now that I can never be really good at it because sharp movements with the upper body are so essential. I also had to work very hard to evoke the mood of flamenco, which seems to be sort of impatient/angry a lot of the time, which is completely contrary to my personality. Before each class, I would sort of "psych myself up" to exude anger and be abrupt, and then I would watch myself on video and realize that even with my best effort, I was still too "soft" and "flowy".

So, my question is: given my strengths and weaknesses, can you recommend a dance form that I would be well-suited for?

Thank you so much, and sorry for the long post!