Who would ever have thought that dancing could be dangerous! Not to mention what happened to Misty Trainer, dancing can be dangerous to even the average everyday dancer. There we were, Friday night at our usual Honky Tonk, trying to get in just one good two-step (sometimes expectations can just run too high!). Unfortunately that was not in the cards that night and after a couple of mediocre west coat swings, we took to the dance floor for some free-styling. HOLEY MOLEY!

The floor was full of swing dancers (I use that term loosely) all of whom seemed to have no clue about, let alone desire, watching where they were moving themselves or their partner on the dance floor. If we hadn’t been paying attention ourselves, we would surely have been decked numerous times. Even after shoving one guy I know fairly well to avoid having my feet crushed, he continued to failed to take appropriate measures to occupy only his designated space. Then there what some other guy (I’m assuming, for his sake, was inebriated) who kept throwing himself onto the ground and flailing wildly. The fact that not of those blind swing dancers accidentally stepped on and crushed his sorry head was a true miracle. After a couple of those danger-ridden, damage–avoidin, free-style dances, we were forced to call it quits for the night. And, sad to say once again, the cheeseburger we shared was the highlight of our night!

So please, all you leaders, remember……..it is your responsibility to make sure no-one is in the dancing path of you or your partner! It makes dancing so much more enjoyable when you don’t have to spend your time doing damage control!

Posted for Robert:

While not a Luddite, I am thick when it comes to computers and sites. So, I decided to write the paragraph in this form and hope that you folks will post it on your blog site.

It was Friday night and I was in town for the upcoming Mario Robau workshop. Shorty’s had been recommended to me as a local dance option. Not knowing what to expect, I sat down at the bar and took in the lay of the land. The band had yet to start and the local WCS dancers had the run of the floor. I was pleasantly surprised at the skill level. Mario’s presence as one of the dancers might have influenced this. Not knowing anyone I wondered who was available for dancing? Unable to resist the urge, I steeled myself with the belief that dancers love to dance and asked Ras #1. The dance went every bit as well as I had hoped. The rest of the evening went even better in that both Ras #1 and #2 turned out to be wonderful people in every sense of the word. They also attended the weekend workshop and made the whole experience so much richer for me in the warmth of the connection. I attended the workshop hoping simply to improve my dancing. I think this objective was met. Meeting two wonderful people was icing on the cake and every bit as rewarding as the dancing.

Friday night, after my private dance lesson with Mario Robau, Ras #2 and I headed down to “Shorty’s”, another Boise Honky Tonk. Not long after we got there, practically all of the other dancers’ dispersed. As usual, Ras #2 and I were left standing there, looking at each other. Just as we were deciding what to do a gentleman walked up and asked if he could West Coast Swing dance with me. Now, having had this happen before, I did not know what to expect, so I headed to the dance floor a bit apprehensive.

Much to my delight, not only was the gentleman, aka Robert, a wonderful dancer, it turns out that he is also a great guy! Ras #2 and I spent the entire evening (and weekend) dancing with him. We took turns, so we got a break. He, on the other hand, or should I say foot, must have been exhausted! He never complained and just kept dancing. The band was good, the DJ was better, and we had the whole dance floor to ourselves. What more can a dancing girl ask for! Seems that he was in town for the Mario Robau workshop, and heard that Shorty’s was where the dancers’ would be hanging out. Once again, dancers’ all speak the same language.

Thank you, Robert for the best Friday dance night I have had in a really long time!