Tuesday, January 28, 2014

TRAUMA ON THE DANCE FLOOR


"Let's Dance", oil,
by Delilah Smith
 Last Friday, Delycia and I attended our first “practice dance” at the Fred Astaire Studio in Mystic (CT), and it was a tense and almost traumatic experience for me. I do love dancing with Delycia, and I definitely feel like I’m slowly learning the basic steps and movements, but Friday night I felt like I was suffering through 9th grade math class again. I seemed to have no idea how to do what was being asked of me, just as I usually felt in math class. Strobe lights were shaking across the dance floor, the music seemed to be shouting, and, for some reason, I suddenly lost everything I had learned in our dance lessons. The basic box step seemed impossible, and the swing steps caused me to stumble against my graceful partner again and again. Every so often, our instructor rushed up excitedly and asked how I was doing, and I’m sure my smile was colorless and scared-looking as I said, “Just fine”, which is what I always said when my math teacher asked the same question. It was a strained and anxious few hours for me, except, thankfully, for the occasional slow dances, when I simply snuggled as close as possible to Delycia and we became two kids just coming together in love.

     Don’t for a minute think I’m going to give up. In the coming months and years, I am determined to make myself into a suave senior-citizen dancer worthy to waltz and swing with my gorgeous girlfriend.    

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