Dancing has not been high on my list of “Must do” items, but when one has been single long enough, AND is as inept as me (Huffyman), the promise of being able to hold hands with a willing female is too much to pass up!
My friend Ruth roped me into this event by suggesting we go to a Halloween party, then after I made all the arrangements to get down to Salt Lake City, switched to dance lessons at the last minute. So much for my incredibly detailed Ironman costume with the working flying doodad - at least when I jumped. We arrived at BallroomUSA just before 7 pm to find what the evening had in store for us. Turns out there was an hour of ballroom dancing lessons, followed by 90 minutes of open dancing to beloved ballroom tunes that talented dancers dance beautifully to, and uncoordinated wannabe’s embarrass themselves to. Any guesses on where I fit in?! Following that, there would be some salsa and then a live band until 2 am. There were chocolate chip cookies and punch on a table so I agreed to give it a go.
The ballroom dancing lesson was really cool. It was great to watch the teacher move so fluidly and he was very supportive and positive… until I started…, um…, moving my feet. I kept putting my foot in the same place that Ruth had hers and I tried to help her understand that she was doing something wrong, but that teacher dude kept throwing the blame on me! I think he liked Ruth and was trying to get me to run crying out the door!! After Ruth dragged me back in the door, I tried the foreign steps again. We did things called waltzes and tangos and la cucaracha and Macarena and other traditional ballroom dances. At least I did. Everyone else was doing unrecognizable steps that didn’t make any sense. The instructor was obviously having an emotional day as he started crying several times while helping me. Kept saying something like, “Odio mi trabajo!” over and over… I tried to console him to no avail.
Following the lesson, the open dancing was really fun, though Ruth kept putting her foot in the wrong place again! The owner of the studio kept trying to show me something but I didn’t understand why he was talking to me. He was doing his feet all wrong, just like Ruth, and he should have been helping her instead!
Finally time for the salsa but it turned out it was more dancing and not more Mexican food! This was turning out to be a really confusing evening. After Ruth’s toes had received the proper first aid, we stepped onto the dance floor where they had us make two circles – guys on the outside and girls on the inside – and told us we were going to be switching partners. Ruth must have misunderstood cause she started laughing with what sounded like glee… I tried to help her understand that we wouldn’t be dancing together, but she was already gone. We did a dance called the Hakuna Bachata or something like that – One of my favorite songs from The Lion King, though they really changed up the music cause I didn’t recognize it at all. This dance was a workout! The guy has to do most of the work which included spinning slow, then spinning fast, then some behind the back, hand trick (which got me slapped a couple of times) and then some other indecipherable arm and body movements. After each time through, we guys would move to the next partner in the girls circle. I think I was doing pretty well, because almost every partner I had was smiling real big when it was time to move to the next guy. And the 2 with the twisted elbow and the sprained neck were not my fault. I was having a lot of fun even when they had me start a second circle… with just me in it.
Finally the Salsa band started and they were really good. The dancing was pretty cool and crazy and really fun to watch. After I found Ruth hiding behind the drummer, we danced the night away! Or at least for 2 songs. Well, until the bald, smooth-talking gentleman asked her to dance. I have to admit he was pretty good, though he still had room for improvement. He was spinning Ruth and making all these fancy moves that didn’t look at all like any of the dances we had been learning. The crowd noticed and made a circle around them, clapping and laughing, obviously trying to get the guy back on the right rhythm. When the song finished and the dude kissed her hand and let her keep the flower he had placed in her hair, I could see she was glad to be done cause she looked like she was gonna pass out. Someone called it swooning, I think. Must be a Salsa word for “glad to get out of there!” or something.
All in all, it was a really fun night. I wanted to go back and try to learn even more, but when I called for information the next day and told them who I was, they told me they had gone out of business and even if I saw people dancing through the window, it was just some friends getting together and to please not knock on the door ever again. These tough economic times are hitting everyone really hard.
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