OK, so, last night I had my first dance class for what seems like 4 lifetimes. (Actually 2 weeks.) It’s Debbie’s Wednesday Intermediate (i.e., Advanced) class. I arrived slightly late because as I walked out of the front door I started chatting to the lady next door about my dance exploits. And then when I got there I was chatting to Julie on reception, boasting about how I’ve danced every single Saturday night for a month.

When I went inside, Debbie was like “ah, here he is! I thought it was a bit strange that you weren’t here.” How well they know me. I quickly got booted up and joined the others, dancing the panic routine with various extra bits tacked onto it. There were quite a few people there; we had Debbie of course, Laura and beanpole girl, Pam & Clive, Adelaide and her two girls, George, Donna, Pete & his partner, Elaine, and I see that Leanne is dancing again now. (You may remember she was supposed to partner me for my exam, but was involved in a car crash which put her back out.)

The big news of the night was Debbie trying to teach us a new move, the Natural Top. Considering how much trouble the staff were having, I think it’s unsurprising that I was utterly hopeless at this. The idea is to simply spin around in a circle, but as you do you’re supposed to do all this complicated footwork with crossing one foot in front of the other and so forth. Damned if I can even remember what the steps are supposed to be, never mind actually do them! Still, if you just run round in a circle it kinda works anyway.

At the end of the class, Donna and George got the fruits of their exams. Medals and certificates all round for those two! I told Pam about the Firebirds, and I mentioned Towcester to a couple of people. Debbie’s next class looked suspiciously empty; in fact she was talking about cancelling, but then a few more trickled in.

When I went outside, Laura was kneeling beside the reception desk. I promptly got talking to her about the 50s night later this month and getting a custome for it. Julie volunteered that I’d been doing all these dance nights, and Laura asked who with, so I told her that I’ve been dragging Lynn and Lavinia around the dance floors of the principality. Her response was “aww, I bet they really enjoy that!”

Eventually it was time to go home. I’m pretty warm here, but not as utterly drenched as sometimes happens. But having spent so much time hanging around with beginner dancers, spending a night playing with the big boys reminded me of my place — i.e., the bottom of the class.