Ballroom Lesson #2

Tonight we continued with the Foxtrot and Rumba. After reviewing the basic Foxtrot step (which I am happy to say that we remembered pretty well), we added and reviewed the Rock Left Turn (which I keep calling The Ball Chain)

Now that makes you pause...why "the Ball Chain" for Rock Left Turn? I think it is because you rock back off the ball of your foot onto the heel before turning and changing direction. Or is it because some people refer to their marriage partner as "the old ball and chain"? Is there a subconscious thought going on that is making me think of "ball and chain" while dancing in partnership with Leo? Yikes, I hope not.

However, dance does make you think about your relationship with the other person, and about the give and take that occurs, both on and off the dance floor.

The man's role in dance is to lead and the lady's obvious role is to follow. Now he could try and make her  follow by pushing and pulling, shoving and shouting, but I don't think he is going to have much success. She may go along with this for the sake of the dance, but it isn't going to look or feel nice, for either person. For her to follow, the man needs to make her want to follow. In doing so, he also needs to allow her the choice to follow.

Of course, it is not all up to the man to make this whole dance relationship work; the woman needs to do her part. We want our man to be a leader; we want him to be strong, but how can he be if we don't allow him to have that role? Are we giving him the choice to lead?

As for me, I need to be in tune to where Leo is taking me. It may be a wild ride with lots of stepping on toes, running into each other (and everyone else in the room!) and saying "I'm sorry", but in the end, the dance will look like an actual dance. Actually, tonight our Foxtrot looked rather like it was supposed to.

Until the teacher threw in a Promenade. (Oh man, and here we thought we had it down!)

Here, the gentleman leads the lady down a different path in the same dance. He does this by giving her a subtle cue with his body language as to what he is going to do next. I think the goal is to be able to dance all the right steps without actually talking about it. Amazing really when you think about it.

So, in two lessons, what is really sticking out to me is:
1.) Your frame must be strong; not just for the man, but for the woman too.
2.) Who is doing the leading? (This concept needs pounded into my head!)
3.) Can you communicate through body language only?

The Rumba review was next with the Basic Rumba Box review first. Then we learned the start of "The New Yorker" For just a brief moment tonight, I was, in my imagination, wearing sequins, high heels, and fringe that moved when I did. Then we stepped on each other's toes, crashed into each other and said "I'm sorry."

We'll keep practicing (our kitchen makes a grand ballroom), and we'll keep learning about each other along the way. I wouldn't want to experience this wild ride with anyone else.

Love,
Twinkle Toes