Dancing

  C and I went out dancing last night. There is a place that has a band that plays swing and big band music. They also have a vocal quartet that sings standards. We try and go out dancing at this place once a month.
  It's a lot of fun. The music they play is my favourite kind and the crowd is interested in dancing. I've never seen anyone get drunk and out of hand there.
   There are three groups of people that dance there. There are the professional dancers who might be there to practice or are there with students. There are the older couples who either learned the dances when they were younger or have taken lesson. Then there's C and I.
  I love watching the professionals. Sometimes they dress up. The women wear flowing skirts or dresses and the men wear suits that look like something from the 30's. They are pretty easy to spot. They are doing graceful dance moves and never seem to miss a beat. The women turn their heads at just the right times and they spin around like human tops. Their form is perfect. It's kind of like they are channeling Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. The only flaw is that they don't look like they are having fun. They are more on display then anything else.
  The older couples are also fun to watch. Some of these couples have been dancing together for a very long time. You can see the personal connection between them. They look into each other's eyes and hold each other close when they dance. They don't have the perfect forms that the professionals have, but they are clearly enjoying themselves and clearly love who they are dancing with. One advantage to going to the same place all the time is that you see the same people. There's one couple that I watch with admiration and amazement. He has to be in his 80's but he moves with the ease of someone 60 years his junior. He also seems never to tire and he and his partner are always in sync.
   Another reason why I like to watch these  couples dance it because I can learn from them. They are doing steps that we could do if we watch and then practice. We'll never be able to duplicate the showy moves that the professionals have, but we can do what the other couples can do.
   I'm sure it seems somewhat narcissistic to put C and me in our own class, but we really don't fit into the other two. We are clearly not professionals. We are also not a couple that has been dancing together most of our lives. We have never taken dance lessons. We only know what we learned from past experience. (Or in my case childhood dance lessons) We know exactly two steps. One is what I call the North Dakota idiot two step. The other one doesn't have a name. We don't really know what we are doing, we just like to dance and have a good time. We do whatever we want. Sometimes C spins me. Sometimes we try some other things we have seen others do. I'm sure that there are some out there who think we are nuts, especially when the song "American Patrol" is played. There could be some purists who are appalled at our form or lack thereof. It seems like the other people don't care. As long are we don't run into other couples and don't do anything too outrageous, we are left alone to do what we want.
  C sometimes remarks that he would like us to take lessons. It's not a bad idea and would be a lot of fun. Unfortunately it doesn't look like it will happen anytime soon. It's all right. We're still having fun and we can still learn from other dancers.