Dancin' Fool

 Hey, if he can do it, so can I! Look at that grin, that wagging tail, don't tell me he's just doing it for kibble.

Now it can be told—Yours Truly has become a dancin' fool. Lucky enough to live about a block from the Club Deportivo, where once I bought a year's membership for $15 all the classes and activities are free, I couldn't resist signing up for ballroom dance on Thursdays and line dancing on Fridays. And I'm taking tai chi on Tuesdays, which the instructor also refers to as a "dance." Well, it certainly doesn't feel like a martial art.


Maybe I'm overdoing it, but I have a lot of catch-up to do.  I haven't done any kind of disciplined dancing since I was fourteen and my mom signed me up for Arthur Murray. I'm from the California "get out there and move like a wild thang" school of dance, with a little very unstructured West Coast Swing thrown in. Counting steps, moving in time with a partner, take special motor skills that I'm convinced are good for my brain. The line dancing, in particular, is challenging, especially when I've got my back to the instructor and I'm peering over my shoulder to see what she's doing next. Even more challenging because she taught us nearly a dozen different dances in a ninety minute session! The only one I caught onto right away was the Macarena. But what a workout!


The ballroom class is taught by a professional instructor, and because I don't have a partner, I get to dance with her husband, an affable guy about a head shorter than me, who reminds me of Mickey Rooney. He knows all the steps, so it's like having my own private coach. We've started with Rumba, West Coast Swing and Cha Cha and will be going on to Samba! Can't wait!

Hardest of all for me is Tai Chi. Maybe because there's no music, no beat. But the movements are graceful, and very disciplined, down to the position of the hands. And I love the names of the movements: Parting the Wild Horse's Mane, Picking Up the Golden Needle From the Bottom of the Ocean, White Crane Spreads Its Wings...  Now all I need is some pink silk pajamas!

Chances are I may never have a chance to use these new abilities out there in the Real World, and I have no expectations of becoming an expert, but I'm enjoying the process anyway. I'm having so much fun my face hurts from smiling. And if the band starts up a Samba, and somebody looks my way, I'll be ready to dance. No wallflower, I.