The missteps go public

When the Hero and I initially signed up for our ballroom dance lessons, we were assured that we would have private lessons first. "We want you to feel comfortable out there on the floor before throwing you into a group," the receptionist said.


This reassured us somewhat, but there seems to have been some misunderstanding about what constitutes "feeling comfortable" and how long it might take to achieve this. In my mind it would be about six months down the road, maybe even a few years depending on how things went.


To our dismay Brandon, our instructor, strongly suggested that we take a couple of group lessons after only one private lesson with him. I like Brandon, but I feel now that this may have demonstrated some error in judgment on my part. He didn't SEEM like a masochist when we first met him.


But we went to the next group lesson, buoyed by Brandon's apparent faith in us. As we began the evening, Emily, the group instructor, had a little talk with just the ladies. "Just for tonight," she said in a lowered voice, "on this dance floor, we're going to let the gentleman have complete control. They lead, and we follow, okay? But once you leave here, everything can go back to normal."


She had a similar talk with the gentlemen, encouraging them to make the most of their limited "in control" time while they were there.


We ladies felt that, although Emily was impossibly thin and young and cheerful, she understood how things were between us and our men. This reassured us, and we good-naturedly went along with her suggestion, as long as she was good on her promise that this letting-go-of-control thing would not exceed the next 53 minutes.


We set to work on several of the steps we had already learned, as well as some new ones. Here I will give a quick run-down of each dance and a summary of our progression in each.


Foxtrot: As mentioned in the last post, this step involves stepping backward, forward, and sideways. Once you have mastered this, you and your partner rotate slightly as you are stepping sideways. This increases the interest and excitement of the dance by increasing the chances that the two of you will bump into one of the other couples who are also stepping and rotating. 


Waltz: The waltz is a beautiful dance full of glides and fluid motion, yet based on a rather simple step in which dancers trace a box. To actually be said to be waltzing, you must add in rotations every now and then, similar to the foxtrot. THIS will allow you to glide across the floor, now here, now there, one big blur of beauteous motion -- or, if you are us, around and around in a rather small circle that encompasses your original box.


Club swing: Individuals of a certain gender and age may be disappointed to learn that this dance does NOT involve any whoosing of weapons through the air. It is, nonetheless, a very fast and action-packed dance, consisting of -- [WE INTERRUPT THIS NARRATION DUE TO INABILITY TO RECALL EXACTLY WHAT THIS DANCE CONSISTS OF.]


So how did the Hero and I fare while learning all these complicated moves? 


Think Fred and Ginger.


Then think Fred and Wilma.


Ta DA! That's us!