So, last night I went swing dancing with my very nice roommate and a member of the ward who, as it happens, just graduated from the school I'll be attending in the fall. I asked mucho many questions and she answered them wonderfully.
Anyway--so we went to this church-type place that was much like an LDS cultural hall. There was a live band (Eight to the Bar) which was just--wow--fantabulous and there were tons and tons of people who--holy heck--really knew those swing dancing steps.
It would have been an awesome evening if just...
If I just...
(Oh I'm ashamed...)
If only I knew how to dance.
Because, you see, dancing is just Something I Don't Know How to Do, rather like speaking German or performing acts of higher math. (Haha! Performing acts of higher math! Yeah. It sounds like a crime or something.)
So I mostly sat on the side, tapping my foot (because seriously--the music was just so good that I couldn't stop) and smiling because all these very skilled dancing people were really quite enjoyable to watch.
And eventually, despite my decidedly Not Interested in Dancing Thanks pose (crossed legs, crossed arms, avoiding eye-contact, etc.) I did get asked to dance thrice by some very nice gentlemen (one twentysomething--I think he's in our ward, one probably-fifty-something and one probably-sixty-something) who were all kind enough not to scold me when I trod on their toes (I'm not kidding here) and messed up their moves and in short made a rather public disgrace of myself.
After which I sat down and tried not to think embarrassed thoughts.
But it was still a good evening and a good experience. In fact, I may go dancing again in a month or so and I'll be sure to get to the event in time to catch those oh-so-essential beginners' lessons I've heard about.
Wish me luck. And wish me less clumsy. Because, seriously, I am so going to need both.
6 comments:
Beth gets a gold star!
That's really cool, though. Way to go! I'm uber proud of you. Dancing IS difficult though, at times. When I go to dances, my friends are all crazy, so I just act stupid and crazy with them, and pretend that I totally know what I'm doing.
Swing dancing might be a little more difficult to pretend, though....
In any case, yay for dances!
Sounds life fun! Phillip and I both want to learn swing dancing, too. The trick is to find someone willing to teach someone as dance-challenged as we are.
I wonder if a good remedy for feeling embarrassed is to imagine that everyone around you is mentally ill. I'm working on a psychiatry unit, and the other day we had karaoke. Normally, I might feel a bit inhibited, but with a room full of schizophrenic and bipolar patients totally getting into the music, I could sing "Oops I Did It Again" without a hint of shame.
Debs, yeah. At swing dances people are doing actual steps and actual moves like synchronized sashaying and suchlike. (I really have no idea what the moves are called. They just look complicated.)
Kim, I hope you find a dance instructor (or instructress) as patient and kind as you are. :)
And Christian, I think I'm going to enjoy following that advice. Thankee very much.
New city, new hobby! Go for it!!!
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