Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

one, two, triple-step

It's become part of our "routine" after our Tuesday-night Ballroom I dance class to break down the events of the night: what worked, what didn't make sense, what wouldn't have made sense if we were coming into this with no dance experience whatsoever, and, at our most catty, comparing notes on our assorted dance partners.

After attending today's West Coast Swing workshop, however, there was no such cattiness, both of us burned out and fairly confident in our mediocrity.

The four-hour crash course had two components: a basic introduction and instruction on more complicated steps to build on those basics. Personally, I could have done with stretching that two-hour introductory portion to the entire four-hour length of the program. Just when I felt I was beginning to grasp a series of steps, we moved on to another dance move. I'm definitely going to need to practice this, as none of the basic steps have become so ingrained yet as to be second nature.

We did get a lot of practice, though, and with a wide assortment of partners. The instructors had us rotate frequently, and I got a feel for the other dancers' relative skill levels and personalities -- people like the twentysomething guy who tried to teach me a twisty move called "The Titanic," or the old man who jerkily danced like Frankenstein, or the guy who loudly complained about women who couldn't follow a lead but who himself couldn't lead worth crap.

I'm sure the partners I danced with steadily revised their impression of me downward as the workshop went on. In the second half of the session, my blistered heels and tired legs began to get the better of me. Even as I did so-so on the more advanced moves we were learning, my mastery of the most basic steps began to slip and I would frequently mess up my steps. To their credit, most of my dance partners were amazingly patient with me.

Practice, practice, practice. It's the only way we're going to get better.