Dancing has never been my forte, but I’ve certainly worked at it. My wife, on the other hand, is an excellent dancer. She can dance everything from hip-hop to salsa. She, like many good dancers, started out very young. It turns out that one of her aunts owns and operates a dance school. So, basically, all her family are very good dancers.
Back when we were dating, I kind of felt at a disadvantage sometimes. There would be the time when we would go to an event where dancing would be included. Some of the friends she had grown up with would ask her to dance, and she would agree the first few times. Then, she would tell them she was tired and would stay with me. I kind of felt guilty that she did though, and one day decided to ask her to teach me.
She, of course, was very excited. I told her not to have such high hopes for me because I wasn’t very sure of how long it would take me to be any good. I guess love is always optimistic because she told me she trusted that I would get the hang of it very soon. I got to work and was relentless in my pursuit of being a good dancer. I was always on time for my lessons and would even practice at home.
About a month later, I was ready for a test. So, we went to this wedding. It was one of her cousins who was getting married, so I was sure there would be good music and plenty of opportunities to dance. The music started, and I couldn’t wait to get on the dance floor. My wife, (girlfriend at the time) was very considerate in waiting for the ‘right’ song to come up, so we could give it a try.
We took to the dance floor, and I started getting that funny feeling in your stomach. You know, kind of the feeling you get when the SAT gets closer? I went there and gave it a shot. I was very confident, and even though I managed to screw up a couple of parts, I think overall, I was OK.
I would say I had passed my ‘dance exam’, and I still carry that feeling of achievement to this day. Fortunately, I went with her to other dances and got a little better. I kind of felt like a success story worthy of a book, until I saw the next video. A guy has been taking hip-hop dance lessons and made a video to show how much he has learned. He’s really killing it with his dance moves and impressing everyone, even me. By the way, he’s 70-years-old!
