Shall we Dance – Apart

The latest news is that the studio plans to reopen next week. But they are taking several steps to comply with the social distancing measures that are still in place.

They want everyone to wear a cloth face cover in the studio. There will only be three teachers on a lesson and each teacher will have a section of the ballroom. And, these will all be no touch lessons.

I do have one cloth face mask which I plan to wear to the shot clinic. For our trips to the grocery store, we just happened to have a box of face masks so I’ve been using those. But I’m not going to go through those for dancing.

Aside from the discomfort, there is the issue of cleaning. WebMD recommends washing after each time you are outside and that makes some sense. Well with three lessons per week, that would be a lot of laundry or I’d have to get some more masks. Minor problem which could be overcome.

Have you tried to wear a face mask with seasonal allergies. At times, it ain’t pretty, let me tell you. Not to get gross but you often are left with the choice of taking it off or end up having it covered with the stuff that is coming out of your nose. Taking it off defeats the purpose but the other option isn’t pleasant either. And, if I have to stop to do this, then it requires, washing my hands so I could see the bulk of the lesson taken up with me running to the bathroom to deal with the allergies.

And it would not be like normal – just a few people on the floor so I probably wouldn’t see a lot of my dance family. Not going to lie – I enjoy the social part of this as well. There is something about the energy in a full studio. This would feel – weird.

If there are three couples on the floor and each has a territory, then it limits the ability to do dances that move. Doubt we’d be doing a lot of the smooth patterns because they are designed to cover the floor. Yes, we could contract them to deal with the space and there is some benefit to them. But I also don’t want to lock in some bad habits and taking smaller steps when I keep getting yelled at to drive and move.

We haven’t even touched on the biggest issue which is the no contact rule. I know I could focus on the steps and I could work on keeping my frame and posture. But it still isn’t the same. I just learn so much by feel and reacting and the feedback I get while dancing. You can do a spin turn by yourself but it is a whole different animal when you’ve got a partner. That’s when you find out that if you don’t have things just right, you don’t get the rotation you need.

So I have a dilemma. On the one hand, this offers a chance to get back to doing something dance related. On the other hand, is it going to be helpful or fun. One reason I do this is because it is fun. Grinding through the lessons isn’t always fun but when you do a final run at the end of the night and see that some little point has clicked, it makes it all worthwhile. I don’t see myself getting that type of feedback without an actual partner.

I suppose I should try it at least once even though I’ve just gone through all the potential problems. I suppose I could be wrong but I do kind of know my learning style and how I best pick stuff up. I don’t see this type of lesson really getting me ready for Showcase or any other event. Of course, there is no way of knowing when the next event is going to happen.

I guess we’ll see what happens. I’m supposed to get a phone call. I’ll decide then. Is a modified dance lesson better than none at all? This is the question that I don’t have an answer to.