We did it! After 53 years of living with a great sense of toe tapping rhythm, but not knowing which foot to put where. After years of childhood in which I felt condemned if I danced and knew I would pop if I didn’t get the rhythm out somewhere. After learning the drills for marching band and the choreography for stage productions; after sending my kids to Cotillion to learn social grace and ballroom etiquette and joyfully experiencing Colorado Children’s Chorale performances where-in my son eclipsed my wildest dreams by singing and dancing internationally; we finally did it.
Doug and I took ballroom dance lessons for three months and then, early in November, we bought tickets to the Jazz Dinner Dance at the high school. Sure, it was a fund –raiser for the instrumental music department where our kids have enjoyed a combined five years of music experience, and just as sure that we could have enjoyed hearing the music for free by signing up to set up, serve, and clean-up. I have done that a couple of times before and each time I got very itchy feet, had no partner, and surely didn’t know which foot came first. This year was my year. We dressed up. We went to the dinner. We ate. We danced to all the Jazz band standards. We were uninhibited enough to cut up the dance floor; laugh at our faux pass, hazard some turns and twirls and work up a healthy glow.
Done. One more thing crossed off my “to do before I die,” list.
By the way; I highly recommend ballroom dance lessons for married couples! It can be a great “reframe” at the end of a tense day. It is good to learn something together. It is great exercise.
