Goin' dancin'
Two Sundays ago, I went to DSW to get some shoes and blow a $25 reward coupon.
When I imagine girls going shoe shopping, I visualize them running around the store, buying cool-looking shoes. That's not me. I can't wear “cool” shoes. Can you imagine me in white crocodile skin? Gawd. Maybe P Diddy, but I'm not that far out there.
I pick shoes to serve specific purposes. I found three pairs. One pair of everyday “nice” rubber-soled shoes for Shabbos and other occasions. One pair of very nice wingtips, leather-soled, to be my “dancin' shoes”. And one “boot-y” pair for walking though 2-inch puddles.
So I went up to the counter to pay. The clerk asked in her usual bored voice if I had a rewards card. “Yes, I do,” I said, handing it over, “and one of these too,” showing her the coupon. Her face lit up. “High five!” “What?” I was a bit confused. “High five! Not too many guys have a card.” I talked about the different shoes and how I was going to rotate out three existing pairs, but she just was so stoked. Finally, a guy she should understand, a guy who bought shoes.
Yeah.
The JCC in Manhattan rotates in different exercise classes, and this month is swing dancing. So, yes, I put on my dancin' shoes and went there. I had trouble because it was 6-beat and the music was 8-beat, and I kept getting lost. ONE two THREE four FIVE SIX. Repeat. I'm not sure what subtype of swing it was, but we flew through a lot of moves and I struggled to keep it straight.
Never being one to do things half-way, I also signed up with the Learning Annex for four weeks of ballroom dancing. Today we learned the basics of salsa, and I caught on after they drilled it for two songs. ONE TWO THREE four FIVE SIX SEVEN eight. About half the people in the class (of six) didn't seem to have gotten it by the end of the class, and I was accused near the elevator of having done this before. No, but it's rhythm, and I can (mostly) deal with rhythm. If I'm concentrating, though. If not, I'll just start stumbling around and flailing. But the salsa basic? Just step forward. lean back, step backward, step backward, lean forward, step forward. That easy.