Gotta Dance!

I think mentioned earlier that I found an adult dance class. And I was very excited. Then I attended for a couple of weeks, and I wasn't so thrilled anymore.

The class is taught by high-school-age advanced dance students at the school, and it is kind of designed for out-of-shape middle-aged women who don't really know how to dance to get exercise and have some fun. OK, yes, I realize that I am now middle-aged . . and I'm also out of shape . . and I'm mainly doing this to get exercise and have fun. But, I DO know how to dance -- and creative, challenging and meaningful choreography is my favorite part of dancing.

Unfortunately, the choreography was really lacking in this class. In fact, when I started the class in January, they said they'd been working on the same combination since the class started in the fall. Ugh. So they started teaching me this combination, which I picked up in one lesson. And we did it for the next three or four weeks. Ugh. This was especially frustrating because I was the only one attending the class regularly (which perhaps explains why the other women took four months to learn the same combination).

Well, for the last couple weeks, I've been the only one attending the class at all. I'm sure the dance school is not thrilled about that . . . but it's been an awesome deal for me! Because now the teachers just teach me the choreography from their own classes -- and it's GREAT! It's challenging -- I have to really concentrate to pick up the new steps. It's new and fresh every week -- we've done some hip-hop, some lyrical, and tonight, one girl tried to teach me to "pop and lock".

And I get all sorts of ego-boosting. They keep telling me how quick I am at picking up the steps and remembering the choreography. And last week, when I told one of them that I was 40, her eyes popped open wide and she said, "No WAY!!!!" And not in a fake way, either -- I think she really meant it!

And none of them do much ballet, which is my area of dance expertise. So last week, they actually had me come up with a ballet combination and teach it to them! It's been so fun!

However, I'm sure it won't last. Either some other women are going to start coming again and they won't be able to keep up, so we'll have to go back to learning the same combination for weeks at a time . . . or if it's only me for much longer, I bet the school cancels the class. I wouldn't blame them.

So, now I have to fly out Jo Robinson out to go to plays with me AND fly out Karen Heyt to teach me a dance class every week. Maybe we can just move the whole Voorhees area inland a few thousand miles . . just for me. Because it is all about me, right?