The bane of my existence....
My advice to young players is to start early and often. And make sure you learn dances which are actually useful. Otherwise, you run the risk of looking like a monumental berk the second you "hit the dancefloor". This is NOT a good thing. Trust me. I know.
My first experience of dancing was in primary school, when we were obliged to practice the "heel and toe polka" every week. Being typical 5 and 6 year olds, contact with the opposite gender was a definite "no go", and I remember putting on gloves so that I wouldn't have to touch a boy's hands and get "boy's germs" (no returns).
In high school, we moved from polkas to ballroom dancing. And the awkwardness level moved up a notch (or two....or three....) as we tried to keep out 16 year old infatuations to ourselves when choosing a dance partner. In a bizarre twist of fate, I was asked to dance by not one, not 2, but 3 guys in the first lesson. But I expect this had more to do with the fact that there were twice as many guys as girls in my class, rather than because of my "irresistable sex appeal" (stop laughing, it's not THAT funny!).
Unfortunately, the school syllabus did not include learning how to dance at a bar, club or party. Consequently, whilst I may be able to whip out a mean polka or waltz, these skills have not exactly come in handy when socialising. So next time you see me at a nightclub (ha ha ha!) and I've suddenly "sprained my ankle", you'll know why. But take me to the polka club....and there's no stopping me!
When I was in primary school I was very shy and unpopular, not having the pleasure of having many friends. However, I did have crushes on the cutest boys(AKA the most popular boys).
ReplyDeleteWhen we did dances such as heel and toe polka and strip the willow in sport, there would be a chance for the boys to ask for a girl to dance with and then the chance for the girls to ask for the boys to dance.
The rule was no one could refuse an offer. Therefore, I alsways asked the most handsome and most popular boys to dance with me, even though they would not have been caught dead if they had the ability to refuse.
Lucky that life is NOT like primary school. However, i still know how to do heel and toe, but my favourite is strip the willow...
Hi Anonymous:0)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment! I, too, was shy and unpopular in primary school (and high school), so pleased don't worry!
My primary school used to pair us up in order of height, so I used to always have to dance with the taller guys. I think this was probably a fairer system than the "asking" idea. Although that did happen in high school, when it was probably more of an issue than primary school.
Glad to know that your dancing skills are still intact!
Did we go to the same school? This sounds eerily familiar... "One, two, three and bow..."
ReplyDelete(Having discovered an awesome new blog I am reading through your back catalogue to find out on what I have missed all this time)
Ha ha, we may have gone to same school, but I have a feeling that the heel-and-toe polka was something of a staple at all NSW public primary schools in the late 80s.....
ReplyDeleteThat said, I wouldn't be surprised if we do actually know each other through humanities circles :-)
Glad you're enjoying the blog! Always nice to know that I have a reader (sometimes I feel like I'm sending messages out into the ether....)