Unfortunately, dancing has been limited lately, what with all the Christmas lists, work, and social activities going on. I did make it to the Christmas Ballroom Dance although I had a hard time leaving my warm, cozy home to brave the cold, icy roads, but finally I forced myself to get going. Got there a little late, but it turned out better than I thought it might be. I actually got to dance pretty much all evening and had a good time. Looks like Ras#1 may have had an even better time though, more men, new moves, etc. I have to say though,that I did get to practice some steps and dance styles I have not had a lot of experience with, so, all in all, that was good. That’s always good when your dance partner is willing to work with you on new things…..and they all were.

So here it is……..the after Christmas let-down…….which follows all  the frantic hullabaloo (not sure that’s really a word, but I’m sure you get the gist). I then made the really big mistake of going to the mall yesterday. Only hit Macy’s which was really no problem……………….until, I tried to leave the parking lot! It was a 7-minute drive to the mall, 3-4 minutes to park, 20 minutes in the store and……………………………45 minutes to get out of the parking lot! And…………..to make matters worse, my back seat driving, know-it-all, shopping hater, 17-year old son, is in the car with me! Any of you who now have or have had teenagers in the past, understand the dire situation I was in. Holey Maloley…..not sure how either of us made it out of there without killing each other……..but we did nonetheless.

Earlier that same day, I had been contemplating whether or not to go dancing and…..after that whole scene…….contemplation was gone………………..I was going to go dancing! Unfortunately, the only venue going on where I knew dancers would be was at Shorty’s (another county honky-tonk) where they were teaching line-dancing at 6:30. Not my favorite, but….hey it was something……so I went. Once again, dancers were limited, particularly with regards to the male persuasion, so I tried to learn a couple of line-dances and then Roger, one of our fave dance partners, showed up, and since I was sitting closest to him  ( I actually moved) I was luck enough to get to dance with him the most! A couple of women left for greener pastures, which made it even better. Once again, got to learn some new moves…………….lucky me! Tonight I’m actually staying in (sort of) but stopping in at a party down the street. Tomorrow……. dancing with the swing dance club and Monday………….off to the Palm Springs Dance Festival where Ras#1 and I can dance and dance and dance! Yahoo………….. you should all join us for a New Years celebration and 4 days of workshops and all night dancing!

I have to say, next to having to re-write this blog cause the first one went into cyberspace somewhere (think that could be the same place all my socks went?), is the fact that there are rarely enough men to dance with! Other than last night when fewer women came out to dance due to bad roads, the weekend was a bust as far as dancing goes.

We went to Ras#1’s office Christmas party and I think there were maybe 2 men who could do even a modicum of couples dance, so we got in 2, maybe 3 dances each. As usual (you probably guessed it) we ended up at the usual honky tonk hoping to add a few more dances to our evening. Big disappointment there! Again, there were about 2 guys there who can do any couples dancing, one of which indicated he had retired from dancing (said it was a long story) and the other oftentimes too much of a pain to bother getting on the dance floor (I don’t like that song, it’s too fast, it’s too slow, too many people on the dance floor, not in the mood, yada yada yada). Once again, we leave early, dissatisfied and disappointed. I even have male friends who admit that men who do dance have a distinct advantage with women, yet they still aren’t motivated to learn to dance themselves. Would someone please explain that to me? So, all you men out there, please come out and dance if you know how, or take some lessons if you don’t. We need you and you won’t be sorry. And, if you are out there and know how to dance already, please move to Boise, or at least come for a very long visit?

The “Ras Girls”

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!

Stalled….nah, just idling temporarily…..

There have been a couple of occasions in my short dancing career when I have been become disillusioned in my ability to become a better dancer. It just seemed that my dancing skills were not improving and I had reached some sort of a plateau……where there was no path to continue onward and upwards. I was dancing 3 to 4 nights a week but just didn’t seem to be getting any better at it. Then just a couple of weeks ago, while dancing at our usual Sunday night Honky Tonk, I had not just one, but two men actually tell me I was dancing better. Wow! That is such a boost! I know I still have a long way to go to be good….but I now know that I am still heading in that direction. So, when you come to one of those standstills….don’t be discouraged, and for heavens sake don’t stop! Just remember, it’s just a temporary idle before the next big surge!

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!

Dancing on the Cruise

Well……last night was one of those…….shall we say wasted dance night? There we were……first night back at the honky tonk following our limited dancing cruise…..in our sassy dresses/skirts……primed to dance the night away……looking forward to dancing till our feet hurt! Think again!!! Many of the local dancers were out of town at a dance festival/workshop in Tahoe….the place was brimming with numerous drinking fools who haven’t yet figured out the dance floor is for dancing…..not drinking! I left my table for just a moment……came back to have a long drink from a cold one we (obviously not big drinkers) had just purchased, and……………no beer! What the??? As I was frantically searching through all the beer bottles (not ours) on the table, the guy at the next table indicated one of those previously mention fools had picked up our beer and was drinking it as we spoke. I marched right over….grabbed that beer from his hot little hand ..just as it was about to touch his lips,,,,,, informed him that was not his beer…. and sat back down at the table with our beer…..now tainted by the lips of some buffoon! What to do! Well……..in the interest of monetary preservation…..we cleaned it up and finished it off! There were a couple of guys there who could dance (of course, competition was great with all the other women dancers), so we did get a couple of dances in. I only got one 2-step, however. Asked a guy in the next room who I knew can 2-step…who proceeded to tell me he was with a girlfriend (not really so, but not worth arguing). I said it’s only 3 minutes of your life and he said I had to check with her…..which I did…then indicated to him that it was now only 2 minutes of his life. So…got my one 2-step in. Danced a few other dances and did some free-styling with the girls. Finally decided we’d had enough, ordered our usual hamburger from the stand outside and called it quits. Oh mymymymy……those hamburgers are heavenly (actually only 1/2 – we share to avoid too many additions to the love handles)!! Have to admit……………….it was the best part of the whole night…….bar none!!

Well………………tonight’s another night! Maybe we’ll hit the piano bar and dazzle them with our voices…….or not!

Beer Goggles

While it is proper etiquette to dance when asked, there are appropriate times when it is all right to politely decline. In other words, it’s OK, to say no. Generally you wouldn’t say no, just because someone is less experienced than you, or you don’t like the outfit they have on, or even if they have bad breath. (although you might want to share a mint or two) But it is perfectly acceptable to say no if someone has had too much to drink, or if they are inappropriate in any way.

I have had the good fortune to experience both of these happy occasions. One night, not long ago, down at the local honky tonk, a “regular” asked me to dance. Now this particular dude, is a fan of seeing just how many rotations he can get a lady to do, during one song. Kind of like the tea cups at Disneyland. The first time I actually danced with him, I got off the dance floor and was so nauseated that I had to go home. Now however, I can spin like a top. But back to the valid reason to just say “no”: Within a few seconds into our dance, I realized that Mr. Twirly Man was having a bit of a problem standing on his own two feet. Fortunately for me, I figured this out rather quickly and was able to do damage control and self preservation well enough to walk us both off the dance floor in one piece, no injuries.

Ras #2 (Cindy) was not quite so lucky………..I saw Mr. Twirly Man heading right towards her, before I could maneuver my way across the room to warn her, it was too late, and there they were, right in the middle of the dance floor….. I feared for the worst and was not disappointed (ok, evil side of me)….. Once, twice, three times around and then *crash*, she was on her rear, legs up, for all the world to see…… Not a fun dance had by all!

Needless to say, this is the perfect example of when to say no, which we both did, for the rest of the evening. And yes, we warned all of the other girls, too. Seems Mr. Twirly Man had a bit too much fun at “Alive After Five”, in Boise, before he came dancing. So, I guess the moral to this story is to bring a breath-alizer?

Another really good time to say no is when a “gentleman”, ( I speak the term loosely) is just a bit to “friendly”, dances just a bit too close for comfort, and/or has wandering hands or eyes. If keeping a stiff frame does not seem to do the trick, I’ll share a little tip that I use. I break free from his iron clad hold and say, “This is my dance space, this is YOUR dance space, now, Let’s Dance”! Thank you Baby Houser, (Dirty Dancing, in case you were wondering). If this does not work, I have been known to just simply turn and walk off the dance floor. Ladies, you do not have to put up with inappropriate behavior on, or off, (for that matter) the dance floor!

It doesn’t take too long to establish the un-dancables, and after saying no, three, four and sometimes even five times, they will eventually quit asking and leave you alone. They are a relentless bunch, so do not cave, or they will never leave you alone.

Luckily, this is not a common occurrence since most dancers’ generally drink water, but if you are out, in a bar, on a Friday or Saturday night, be mindful…… you can’t say that you haven’t been warned!

Of course men, I am speaking from my experiences as a “girl”, I am sure you all have your own horror stories, too. Please feel free to share, I would love to hear just how out of control we girls can be. Maybe it will help us keep our P’s and Q’s in check.

Happy Dancing!