I had my first ballroom dance lesson last night and it was a blast! It’s a beginner’s class for about 2 months at The Moving Company’s Elm Street facility. There are about 8-10 couples in the class. My wife isn’t really into dancing (perhaps that’ll change) so she suggested I get one of her best friends to be my dance partner.
I haven’t taken any formal dance lessons since I had Cotillion in 6th or 7th grade – we learned the Hustle then. The beginner’s ballroom class is all about learning the Waltz and the Foxtrot. The first lesson was on the Waltz “box steps” and the underarm quarter turn.
Some observations from my end after lesson 1 on the Waltz:
- It’s harder than it looks – there’s a lot to it for what seems like so few steps.
- 2 “Type A” personalities make for interesting dancing. Sometime I’ll have to be the “follower” just to see what it’s like.
- It’s easier to keep time and footwork while looking ahead as opposed to looking down at the feet or at the head of my partner.
- Starting out on the correct foot for that quarter turn will have to come from muscle memory since it feels completely “unnatural”.
The instructor is great and after an hour my partner and I were able to make it through a couple of rounds of the basic box with a passable underarm turn. Not bad for an hour’s work – and it was fun exercise.. better than the gym. I’ll have to invest practice time moving around the “box” alone. Perhaps I can get my wife to help me practice.
When I got home I did a few searches for “Waltz Practice”.. this one was interesting.. not exactly your basic “box step”, however.
