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One thing I certainly have experience with is starting over with a new dance instructor. Its a process. It is probably easier for some but it is always a bit of a challenge for me. There’s the introvert thing. The part of me that really doesn’t like opening up right away. Its like I have to kind of feel the other person out. See who they are, where they’re coming from, things like that. The other part is just my natural state of not wanting to let people in right away. It is what it is.
The other bit of reality is that everyone is going to feel a little different. Outside the world of dance, that could sound a little weird but I’ve learned that there are all kinds of things said that sound perfectly normal in a dance studio but a little sketchy everywhere else. Mini was tall. I’ve really only danced with a few taller women and it does make a difference. My newest instructor is not as tall. Not quite at a Kid T level but there is an obvious height and body size difference. All of that takes time to get used to. Its a process.
Oh and going back to that whole introvert thing there is the awkward silent moments. See, put me around people I know well and I’m generally pretty good at conversation. I think I have a decent sense of humor. All of that kind of goes away around people I don’t know as well. So we’ve got all kinds of dynamics working. And here you thought it was just a simple dance lesson.
But how did it go, you probably want to know. Well, if you’ve read this far, you probably want to know. First impression was very positive. She’s still relatively new to dance and working through the bronze but made all kinds of comments about being excited to dance with me. Also because it gives her an opportunity to jump start her progress and a goal to work towards the Silver stuff I know.
The first step is to just work towards the in studio Showcase in early November. Because they had to cancel the one in May, it has been almost a year since I’ve had an opportunity to do something like this. It is a great short term goal and gives me time to evaluate the options. If this new arrangement doesn’t work, then at least I get to leave on a high note. Not that I’m planning on leaving but you just don’t know anymore what the future holds.
I had been thinking about a few songs but OwnerGuy came up with a winner. It is a cover version of “Blue Monday” by New Order. I guess this version is in the trailer for the new Wonder Woman movie – OwnerGuy is in to super hero movies. No words but a strong beat and it makes for a good Tango. I’ve done Argentine Tango before but I’ve not done a ballroom Tango before so this will be new. Also, it fit with my other plan which was to pick one of the nine dances so I can get a better idea of how switching back to the Silver stuff might work.
One thing that drew me to this particular version is that there is a bit of an intro that builds to something dramatic. And the choreography that OnwerGuy put together last night takes advantage of that. Since it is from a super hero movie, we’re going with a good vs evil theme and the beginning will be a lot of posturing like a stand off between the hero and villain. Then, we use the dramatic part to do something dramatic to start the Tango.
Most of last night’s lesson was just watching OnwerGuy create. But that’s to be expected. I think he had some ideas but wasn’t going to be able to move forward until we had a song. Did to get practice a few things with the new instructor. With Mini, we had just started doing some things in frame and I’ll admit it was nice to get back to dancing as opposed to doing steps side by side.
Given the time pressure, I did agree to go back to two lessons a week. I was actually working on that with Mini before she left and the plan was always to start that once I got back from dealing with Dad. OwnerGuy is probably going to be on about half the lessons – once he established the choreography, it will be left to us to practice it.
So that was the beginning of yet another chapter in my dance life. Another path to walk down and see where it leads.
Oh, I can’t leave without mentioning that our governor declared RONACON 5 which removes many of the restrictions that were in place. Supposedly, all businesses can operate at full capacity although bars and restaurants still need to have social distancing. Which seems to suggest they can’t really be at full capacity but who I am to question. Large gatherings are allowed but still must be approved by local health authorities. So it isn’t quite back to pre-rona days but closer than we’ve been.
Of course, the mask restriction remains in place until mid October. Personally, I think this is kind of backwards because the masks are far less effective than social distancing but, again, we little people are not allowed to question the words of our authorities. I suspect he did it as a compromise. Opening up helps everyone and keeping the mask requirement may keep the Karen’s from screaming too loud. I’m not entiretly convinced we are fully on the downside of this but we’ll see. We do have plenty of hospital capacity and the number of serious cases seems to be way down so maybe we have actually flattened the curve enough. Probably still won’t be able to convince my wife that things are OK again.
Well that seems like a good place to leave things.
Facing Diagonal Wall 