Marriage License by Norman Rockwell
Click the picture for an unonbstructed view
Source: Art.com
Featured:

CC's Random Thoughts
Franklin, TN, USA Manila, Philippines

           Temperature:

As of :           

           Temperature:

As of :           
Click for Franklin, Tennessee Forecast Click for Manila, Philippines Forecast

Background pictures illustrate current weather conditions

               CC's Tweets


Sunday, June 18, 2006

Was NOT a nice girl last night

Current Mood:

Last night should have been more fun for me. It was our first social dancing event and I was very excited to finally have a chance to practice all the steps that Steve and I had learned in foxtrot, tango, and rumba. It started out great--we even met our teacher, Mr. Rukendorfer, and his wife, Christine, at the dance and because we were his guests, we weren't asked to pay admission for this dance.

I started having less fun when Steve and I began to dance. It was difficult for both of us: I was frustrated that he didn't remember most of the steps we learned; he was frustrated that I wasn't more relaxed. Dancing was a struggle for control.

"That's not where you're supposed to put your hand...!"
"Nobody else is doing it that way."
"You're confusing me, I don't know where you want me to go...!"
"Will you relax?"

Oh yeah, that must have been quite a sight. Out of over a dozen couples dancing expertly in the gym, there's this one couple in the corner doing nothing more than a couple of steps and stepping all over each other's feet, arguing with each other. At one point Steve let go of my hands and threatened to go sit down and leave me in the middle of the dance floor.

Towards the end of the dance, with much prodding from Steve, I finally started to relax enough to have even just a little fun. In the car on the way home though, I kept trying to figure out why I couldn't make him understand why it was important for me to be technical about the steps. I replayed the night's events in my head, remembering that he kept stressing the words "improvise" and "dancing for fun." Then I realized what it was.

"We're coming from two different perspectives," I said.
"What do you mean?"
"You want to dance just for fun. I want to be the kind of dancer you see on tv. I want to become a good enough dancer to one day be considered to join a competition."

We each wanted different things from our dance class. No wonder we couldn't see eye to eye: he believed that you should have fun even if you don't get the steps right, I believed that having fun *meant* getting the steps right.

It makes perfect sense now, but it was terribly frustrating last night when he and I couldn't understand each other. Hopefully having this realization will make the next dance better for both of us.


Posted by Unknown | 6:44 AM | 3 Comments |
Write or read comments about this entry