Harvest Moon
Swing dancing last night! So fu~~n! Some highlights:
(1) I love the mix of people we get at the major dances. Lots of international folks, a variety of skin tones, ages from 12 to 70, heights from 4' to 6 and a half. I did the foxtrot with a lovely older gentleman who told me I danced like an angel. :)
(2) I also love how non-heteronormative it manages to be, for a dance with such rigid gender roles. I danced with a couple of girls -- sometimes as a lead, sometimes as a follow. Plus they had a dance contest for "swivels", a distinctly female move, then they had a contest for "boy swivels", where the girls led and the boys followed, but then the judges asked the boys to dance with other guys leading. The guy who won had been dancing with a guy all along, and they were hilariously into it.
(3) Still, it wouldn't be a swing dance if I didn't get hit on. Tips for guys hitting on girls at dances: (a) don't forget you've met her before, (b) then give her a fake name, (c) proceed to criticize every single one of her life choices while you dance ("Physics? How do you expect to get a job?"), (d) make jokes about her heritage that double as sexual innuendoes (no you may not come back to my place for tea and crumpets), (e) and finally ask for her phone number (denied on the previous forgotten occasion) and (f) vanish in a huff when it is again denied. Not dancing with me anymore? I will try to control my disappointment.
(4) He was useful for one thing though: I am not as inflexible as I thought. He dipped me twice, and I swear my head touched the ground in a full backbend. Yikes. But in general I was much more limber than I have been in a long time, especially by the end. My hair was in a sad state though.
(5) I also managed to find one guy, one guy with a perfect lead. I didn't get tossed around, have an arm yanked out of socket, forced to dance too close, or otherwise mauled about. Not once did I trip over my feet, miss my footwork, miss a change from Lindy to Jitterbug, misread a cue, anything. I even did swivels, which I've never been able to figure out before. He was very complimentary (naturally I was in return). Finally, a dance partner I can do Lindy with and not screw up! So of course he lives in Dallas. >:(
Yay swing! And now I shall attempt to deal with the list of chores that are piling up...
(1) I love the mix of people we get at the major dances. Lots of international folks, a variety of skin tones, ages from 12 to 70, heights from 4' to 6 and a half. I did the foxtrot with a lovely older gentleman who told me I danced like an angel. :)
(2) I also love how non-heteronormative it manages to be, for a dance with such rigid gender roles. I danced with a couple of girls -- sometimes as a lead, sometimes as a follow. Plus they had a dance contest for "swivels", a distinctly female move, then they had a contest for "boy swivels", where the girls led and the boys followed, but then the judges asked the boys to dance with other guys leading. The guy who won had been dancing with a guy all along, and they were hilariously into it.
(3) Still, it wouldn't be a swing dance if I didn't get hit on. Tips for guys hitting on girls at dances: (a) don't forget you've met her before, (b) then give her a fake name, (c) proceed to criticize every single one of her life choices while you dance ("Physics? How do you expect to get a job?"), (d) make jokes about her heritage that double as sexual innuendoes (no you may not come back to my place for tea and crumpets), (e) and finally ask for her phone number (denied on the previous forgotten occasion) and (f) vanish in a huff when it is again denied. Not dancing with me anymore? I will try to control my disappointment.
(4) He was useful for one thing though: I am not as inflexible as I thought. He dipped me twice, and I swear my head touched the ground in a full backbend. Yikes. But in general I was much more limber than I have been in a long time, especially by the end. My hair was in a sad state though.
(5) I also managed to find one guy, one guy with a perfect lead. I didn't get tossed around, have an arm yanked out of socket, forced to dance too close, or otherwise mauled about. Not once did I trip over my feet, miss my footwork, miss a change from Lindy to Jitterbug, misread a cue, anything. I even did swivels, which I've never been able to figure out before. He was very complimentary (naturally I was in return). Finally, a dance partner I can do Lindy with and not screw up! So of course he lives in Dallas. >:(
Yay swing! And now I shall attempt to deal with the list of chores that are piling up...