Play in the City : Dance Class Debut

Just got home from our first installment of Crash Course in Dance!

Dance class was a blast tonight - I'm so excited we have seven more weeks of it! I think even Dave enjoyed himself, though I don't know if he's ready to admit it yet.

He met me at my work around 5:45 and we made it over to Milwaukee School of Languages on Burleigh for our 6:00 class with barely a minute to spare. We were directed into an auditorium and saw a dozen other couples waiting at the back to be told where to go. At the front of the auditorium, the teacher started to play some music, which was our cue to make our way to the front. Everyone sat down so we followed suit, but the instructor said, "This is dance class! We stand to dance!" so we took off our coats and stood up, ready to learn some moves.

He started things off by introducing himself. His name is Paul, he's probably in his late forties, and he was very friendly and funny - I liked him right away. He told us that we'd be learning two dances tonight: the swing and the rumba, and that these would be the two main dances for the entire eight weeks. Each week we'll learn two new dances, but we'll also go back to the swing and the rumba and add onto them each week so that by the end, we'll (hopefully) be particularly good at those two.

He had the guys stand on one side and the gals stand across from them, and he taught each step first as individual groups, then had us do them together in our respective lines, and then finally he had us get together with our partner and practice. He counted for us, and gave extra instruction to those who needed it.

We learned the swing first - back-front-march-march, back-front-march-march - and soon learned how to rotate and then how to do a turn. It was so much fun, and once we started doing it with the music, we got the hang of it. Of course we still screwed up a lot and each time we did we'd stop, look at each other, and then count out loud 1-2-3-4 with the music and then start again. It took us awhile to figure out when to let go of our hands so that I could spin without having so say "ok .... spin!" But we got it eventually. We danced to Paula Abdul and Gary Glitter ... I'm hoping we'll progress to a little Zoot Soot Riot and Jump Jive and Wail eventually.

When we were standing in the two lines facing each other, I looked up and down the line at the other men, and none of them looked like they'd been dragged there. There was a good mix of people, some young, some old, and most of the guys looked really into it. Then there was Dave, with his arms hanging at his sides, his feet moving as little as possible, and no smile on his face. I was convinced that he would be a punk the whole time and that maybe he wouldn't even want to come back next time.

But the more we danced, the more he smiled, and the more he started actually trying to get the steps right. I have to say, I was impressed.

After we'd been swinging for about 45 minutes, Paul had us all stand in a circle and do the twist, just to learn how to "freestyle" and not have to "look like the guy who went to dance class."

Then we learned the rumba, which is just the slow, basic box-step. You make an L with your feet and then another L to complete the box, always using the opposite foot as your partner. Sloooow-fast-fast, sloooow-fast-fast. 1 - 2-3, 1 - 2-3. It actually took us longer to get this one down - we stepped on each other's feet a lot - and even by the end, we still had to really concentrate on which foot to move when. And to make things even more confusing, for the swing, we rotated clockwise, but for the rumba, we moved counter-clockwise.

The hour and a half flew by, but I feel like we learned a lot already. I didn't take pictures during class because 1. I was learning 2. I didn't want people to think I was weird. So I slyly snapped a few once we were done, just to be able to show the auditorium, but they turned out pretty blurry since I didn't use a flash.

When we got home, though, we did a little reenactment to show what we learned. Of course Dave had to make a face in every picture, but I think he's just putting on a show. I probably had more fun than he did (seriously, I loved it), but I don't think he hated it as much as he thought he would! He's actually in a very good mood right now. Coincidence? I think not.

I can't wait to go back next week.

(To see all the classes that Milwaukee Recreation offers, visit their website!)

Comments

She owes me huge.

Posted by: Dave | February 06, 2006 at 09:28 PM

That looks so fun. I also love Dancing with the Stars and every time I watch I think about how much fun it would be. I love how in every picture you are smiling and totally into it and Dave could care less. Dave, bring out your inner Drew Lachey next week!

Posted by: kelly | February 06, 2006 at 10:28 PM