My husband and I refuse to go to weddings if there’s not going to be a wedding dance afterwards. I’m joking. But the couple does get a better gift if they’re hosting a dance.
That’s just how much we love to dance. Maybe I should rephrase that. That’s how much I love to dance. And how much my husband doesn’t hate it.
I actually have an extensive dance background, something you might not believe if you’ve ever seen me dance.
When I was in college I spent an embarrassing amount of time disco dancing. And I took a semester of ballet which was almost as embarrassing.
Before that I was a member of my high school’s drill team. And I loved all of it, though you might not have been able to tell by watching me. I hurt too much to smile in my ballet class. And my drill team leader often had to remind me and the rest of the squad to smile. It took a lot of focus to remember all those steps and I’ve never learned to concentrate and smile at the same time. I’d go so far as to say that when I concentrate really hard, I get kind of a mean look. That would never do on Dancing with the Stars.
After college I participated in an assortment of aerobics classes that were a bit like dancing. Smiling wasn’t so important then. Aerobics is a workout, so mean was a good look to have.
I’ve even persuaded my husband to take a variety of dance classes with me over the years. And I admit that during our lessons there were times we both looked a little mean. Still I’m proud to say that eventually we reached that level of skill where we’re willing to dance publicly but only if there are already other dancers on the floor.
I recently added more experience to my lengthy dance resume: I took a beginner line dancing class. For those unfamiliar with it, line dancing is exactly what it sounds like. Dancers line up in rows and follow choreographed patterns while the music plays. No partner required. It’s perfect for people who love to dance but whose significant other would rather sweep and mop the dance floor than waltz on it.
You may have seen line dancers in action at pubs or wedding dances. Some uninhibited soul jumps up and starts stepping and pretty soon there’s a line of dancers doing the same steps. Maybe you thought to yourself, “I wish I could do that.” Or, “I wish my partner could do that so they’d stop asking me to dance with them.” Or, “I wish those people would get off the floor so I could sweep and mop it.”
I’ll need more classes before I’m willing to line dance anywhere except the classroom and my kitchen. But I’m living proof that you don’t have to be good at something to enjoy it, a fact that many of the golfers I know will attest to.
And I did enjoy it. And as I stumbled across the dance floor, I couldn’t help but think that all my previous dance experience had brought me to that moment. Line dancing is like disco dancing—except that you do it in lines, there’s totally different music and there’s no strobe light.
It’s like aerobics without the sweat and drill team without the pom-poms and the cute, little matching outfits. There are even many of the same steps. The class took me back to my days on the drill team. There was the instructor reminding us all to smile. And there was me grape vining, weaving, doing jazz boxes and trying hard not to look mean.
Dorothy Rosby is the author of ‘Tis the Season to Feel Inadequate; Holidays, Special Occasions and Other Times Our Celebrations Get Out of Hand and other books. Contact her at www.dorothyrosby.com/contact.