So We Thought We Could Dance
Oatmeal, coffee and The Sandusky Register give me the jump-start to my day. Wednesdays the Register includes a community events supplement, the Funcoast. On Thursday mornings, my boyfriend and I make weekend plans based on our discoveries in Funcoast’s weekly calendar of events. The notice for a free dance lesson followed by a dance party on Friday night at a new dance studio in Sandusky caught my eye and we agreed to check it out this week.
We see ourselves as decent dancers even though we haven’t had formal training other than a social dance class we each took in college. Still, we’ve got rhythm and love music so we think we can dance. On our second date, we spent an entire Sunday afternoon playing music from the 40s and doing our version of ballroom dancing. Friday night we fueled ourselves with dinner at our favorite, local Thai spot, Siam Orchid, just down the road from our destination, Dance N Style in the Sandusky Plaza on the corner of Cleveland and Milan Road. The studio is tucked away in a corner of the shopping center next to Arthur’s Shoe Tree, a family and specialty shoe store that’s called Sandusky plaza home for years.
We were the first to arrive and the affable studio director, Michael Walker, greeted and took us on a tour. With over 25 years of dance instruction under his belt, Michael brings a great mix of experience, enthusiasm and entrepreneurial spirit to the studio. His plans for expansion include creating a large ballroom dance venue in the warehouse space located behind the current studio.
About 20 people showed up for the free group lesson. It didn’t take long to realize that half the group knew what they were doing and the rest of us didn’t have a clue. The good news is that Michael and his three other dance instructors patiently guide you along. Once the lesson ended and the dance party began, the more experienced dancers didn’t hesitate to embrace and lead us across the floor in a rumba, waltz or cha cha. Michael plays a diverse mix of dancing tunes so you can practice a lot of different steps. My favorites included Edelweiss and Mack the Knife.
Michael asked me to be his partner in an early dance demonstration of the box step. He instantly recognized my need to know how to do this right and to know this right now when I attempted the dance steps before he even began to lead. He described how having patience with yourself and the process is important to learning a new skill. He went on to ask what I did for a living and my answer, “I’m a REALTOR”, made him smile.
The evening was humbling but exhilarating. It’s humbling to attempt these new steps with complete strangers; knocking knees and stepping on their toes. It humbled us because we both walked in feeling like we thought we could dance and realized we may know how to dance with each other but we have a lot to learn when it comes to dancing with a new partner.I commented to my boyfriend that it felt like I had two left feet. He said, “I guess we have four left feet then, because I feel the same way.”
It’s exhilarating to do something that involves so many senses-hearing the music and moving to different beats, touching your partner with enough pressure but not too much, looking into your partner’s eyes (I realized it’s important to do this to avoid watching his feet which leads to getting tangled up in each other’s feet), and yes, smelling their breath because when you dance with a partner, you dance close. Dance N Style provides mouthwash and hand lotion in the restroom as a courtesy to the students-a thoughtful touch for nervous newbies as well as seasoned dancers.
Michael pointed out early on that “Learning to dance is like learning to ride a bicycle. At first you focus so much on not falling and struggle with finding your balance in order not to fall. Once you find your balance, riding becomes second-nature. It’s a pleasure that you’ll keep for life. Learning to dance is the same way. It’s a fun skill that once you get it, you can enjoy for the rest of your life.”
That night inspired me to learn to ballroom dance with any partner. I hope to pick up some lessons in patience along the way. But most of all, I want to have fun dancing for the rest of my life. I plan to begin the journey next week at my first private lesson at Dance N Style.
Copyright 2001 Ann Steinemann
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