Ballroom Story- "Come Dance!"

Barb Kaitz

A wise teacher of mine once explained, that the desire or reason you are drawn to something often is not what keeps you with it.

Not long ago, I realized I wanted to learn to dance and had wanted to for a long time, yet never acted on my desire! I admitted (to myself) that if I didn’t do something about my interest in dance soon, it would simply never happen. It was a deep desire…I wanted to move to the music effortlessly and I realized that it took great effort, instruction and discipline to accomplish that! I listened to my heart and I began studying ballroom dance. The nuances, techniques, styles and dances were hypnotizing me and I was addicted. As I committed more time and brain power to my dancing, I finally had the epiphany that I was stepping out of my box, out of my safe-haven, out of my comfort zone and into a new world and a different box. A box that moved and had its own rhythm. Music held new meaning and new messages, as did “partnership” and many other familiar words like: “step”, “feel”, “listen”, “lift”…and of course – even “box!”

Every Child Has known God,
Not the God of names,
Not the God of don’ts,
Not the God who ever does
Anything weird,
But the God who only knows four words
And keeps repeating them, saying:
‘Come dance with me.’
Come Dance.

I accepted the invitation. I went and I danced…. I danced 12 different dances. I had newcomer entries, beginner entries and intermediate entries. All I could think of was that I was insane for any and all entries! And then I was escorted onto the dance floor for my first official dance! All doubt evaporated! I knew all along that I was blessed with a magnificent teacher. I was well prepared. I was ready! I was in a way, Liza Doolittle!

I had been groomed on everything…really, everything. I knew how to walk on to the dance floor and I knew how to exit the floor. I knew how to dress and “coif”. On the outside, well, it was a pleasant picture….but my dancing came from some where inside.

My teacher, a many time Ballroom Champion had drilled me with technique. I was even beginning to feel less mechanical and more expressive as a dancer. The greatest achievement for me was in trusting my teacher and myself. Forrest Vance and I were a dance team when we stepped on the floor together. Forrest had been patient and diligent, exact and repetitive with me. He was funny and kind and precise and patient. Forrest taught me the rules, and the do’s and the don’ts, the how to’s, and he was PATIENT!

Forrest is my CHAMPION. He teaches magically. Forrest Vance was there to showcase me and I was there to “listen” to and follow him! He always told me that he would be my music. Grace and partnership were sure to envelop us on the floor. And it was a royal experience.

I cherish the excellence, dedication, wisdom, spirit, energy and talent of my teacher….the way he teaches and his great patience. It is my courage and his example that keep me dancing, not just the fun of it! His gentle yet strong and clear “lead” has power and panache. It’s no ordinary “box” with Forrest! It’s an honor to study with Forrest and it is that great honor and my respect for Forrest Vance that keep me on the “wood”! Perhaps

it’s no surprise that a quote by Jane Austen expresses my feeling about what could lie ahead for me… “Fine dancing, I believe like virtue, must be its own reward."

My teacher recognized my fascination and commitment. He led me out of my gentle predictable world to a dream of excitement, glitter and greater passion for dance when he combined the words goals and competition in the same sentence. We were talking about dancesport….not simple or simply dance now. The passion for excellence, the willingness for a firm foundation and the community of dance were all appealing so I was OK with setting goals. The concept of competition was uncomfortable and unpleasant!

It was unfamiliar; it didn’t sit or dance well within me! Competition is not thrilling or inviting to me. What a spin when I found myself in Tampa, at the Florida Superstars Competition with my teacher and 5 other of his students. I was amazed! Before arriving in Florida I pondered and panicked thinking of the rites of passage to this brave new world. Would the “wood” feel more like quicksand devouring me, or could I actually slide and skim and float across the “wood”, smoothly and seamlessly, with composure and elegance…….like a dancer!

Barbara's Links

http://www.forrestvance.com

Ballroom Stories

To "get the ball rolling" for the ballroom story contest, I'm going to share my own story of how I got involved with ballroom dance. Of course, since I'm the judge for the story contest, my own story is not eligible. :-)

My first experience with Ballroom Dance was as a required PE credit in college. Ballroom Dance 101 on the schedule at 7:15 in the morning, at the furthest east (and furthest uphill!) building at the University of Utah during Winter Quarter. Someone who put the schedule together really had a sense of humor.

We all showed up to class in waffle-stomper boots and parkas, rubbing the sleep out of our eyes and the snow off of ourselves. There were far more women than men, and most of the people taking the class were taking it for the same reason I was - they needed the PE credit and 7:15 was the only open slot on their schedule.

So it was not a terribly spellbinding experience, in spite of the instructor's best efforts at being cheerful and helpful.

I've always loved watching ballroom dancing - movies like Dirty Dancing, Shall We Dance, and even old movies like A White Christmas with Danny Kaye and Rosemary Clooney have always held a special attraction for me. But my actual experience left a lot to be desired, for at least another ten years.

John suggested we have dancing at our wedding, and I loved the idea. There was just one problem. I remembered very little except the basic box step for waltz. (And as it turned out in later instruction, I'd been doing that wrong as well.)

I was engaged to John for nearly two years. For 18 months of that, he was in on active duty at Fort Hood in Texas. I was very lucky, I got to see him every other weekend. (Many military fiancees didn't get to see each other for years!)

In any case, we had a limited amount of time to spend together. During that time, we took private lessons from Margene Anderson in Bountiful, Utah. Margene was great about scheduling around John's leave and was able to fit in a 2-hour lesson whenever John could get leave to come to Utah and we could manage the time.

John and I practiced in his tiny apartment in Texas whenever we could, and the rest of the time just practiced on our own at "home." (We probably would have looked silly to any bystanders, but that's not a problem in your own living room!) We learned a simple waltz and a tango for the wedding.

John was discharged in March, the wedding was in May, so we had a few more "crash" lessons.

One big obstacle was my dress, which needed to be shortened for the tango we were planning to do. Margene also helped us modify the steps to fit the dress and the concrete dance floor.

We had a great time, and really enjoyed the wedding. Our two dances are in the wedding video. We danced with each other a lot of the night, in between seeing family and friends who we were very fortunate to have attend. Margene also attended the reception and offered informal dance lessons to anyone who wanted them. Several people took her up on it, and the dance floor was full all night.

We wanted to get back into ballroom dancing but didn't see another opportunity until October of 2006, when we met Lois and Pat in Tooele. We had a ballroom class each Wednesday night with a few other couples. This gave us the perfect mid-week break to have a "date" with each other, get out, forget about work, and have a good time.

We're learning a two-step and another waltz, and are making a lot of progress. Given that we've had less than a year of practice, I think we're doing pretty well. Or at least really enjoying ourselves.