In college I took ballroom dancing for my P.E. credit. From this I learned two things: 1) Being a great dancer is a god given, inborn talent that cannot really be taught...in the same way one either does or does not have artistic talent or musical talent,etc. BUT 2) Everyone can learn to dance.
I'm not a great dancer. Never will be. I don't have the smooth, graceful, natural rhythm that some people possess. I pretty much have no sense at all of beat or rhythm, but even I was able to learn the basics of ballroom dance, feel confident, and look knowledgeable on a dance floor. Even though I learned the basics I really haven't done anything with them for the last 7 yrs b/c I never really met any guys who knew how to dance. It's true what they say...use it or lose it. All that was left was a vague memory of the basic steps.
For the wedding I really want to do more with Fiance then just sway. However, I don't want our only good dance to just be our first one. I want to be able to dance through the night...and not to just some choreographed routine we frantically try to memorize.
So last night Fiance and I started dance lessons. We are taking lessons at the Dance Factory in Arlington (Virginia Square). I like the Dance Factory b/c it is close to where we live and right off the metro. They offer incredibly flexible class times and the staff is really nice.
We are starting with Ballroom Dance I. Ballroom Dance I is made up of 3 parts. Each part is 4 weeks long for a total of 12 classes/weeks overall. After you are done with the 3 parts you can move on to Ballroom Dance II which is also made up of 3 parts for a total of 12 classes/weeks. We signed up for a package where if we buy all 3 parts of Ballroom Dance I we get 1 part of Ballroom Dance II for free. The cost of this package is $189 per person. We have 8 months until the wedding so my plan is to take the full six months of Ballroom Dance I and II and then spend the last two months learning specific steps for our first dance song.
So last night we started our first part of Ballroom Dance I which includes learning the Foxtrot, Triple Swing, and Rumba. Last night we learned the triple swing and I was amazed that after one hour we could already do something that resembled a dance! Our instructor is Sam. I like him a lot because he's very funny, elegant, and easy to follow. Our class was made up of mostly younger couples our age but there were a few older couples as well. They have classes at 6, 7, 8 and 9 p.m. so there really is no scheduling conflicts. I have the feeling that younger couples tend to frequent the later classes more.
I forgot how fun it was to dance (even when you are messing up!) and what good exercise it is too. Both fiance and I broke a sweat. It's a good way to keep fit and I'm excited that we'll be able to dance the night away at our wedding and look good doing it! Just remember even if you aren't a naturally gifted dancer if you learn the basic steps you will already look better then 90% of the people on your dance floor because hardly anyone knows how to dance anymore.
Pictures of the Dance Factory
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