Switch Lead II

On Friday we are graduating from Full Bronze in the regular format, and from Newcomer and Bronze 1 in (what we're calling) switch lead. In Bronze Four we'll be dancing rumba, foxtrot, and bolero. In Newcomer and B1 I'll be leading Zirpu through foxtrot, rumba, tango, and swing. because we're graduating from a whole section, we'll also get to dance our choice for the "honor dance;" we have decided that we will dance to "Watermelon Man" by Mongo Santamaria, the cha cha which was our "first dance" at our wedding. It's almost our anniversary and we're even going to start it off the same way.

Switch lead is very unusual. The foxtrot routine in which we started with my leading and switched to Allan leading halfway through was described as "very avant-garde" by two coach/judges. It's actually outside the rules for competition so it's not on the schools' agenda. Women learn to lead, of course, but it's not the main focus of most people's lessons. Gender roles are reinforced in Dance Land, and I feel that it's strange that I have chosen a hobby that is so attached to them. The people at our studio aren't attached to the gender roles; in fact, the teachers are rather excited that Zirpu and I are busting through and doing something so different.

The thing about gender roles is that everyone at the studio is "a modern woman" or "a modern man" and sometimes dancing feels like playing more old-fashioned roles. When people ask why we ar eleraning echa otehr's parts, we tell them the official answer, which is that knowing the other person's part makes you a better dancer. I think part of our desire to switch lead came out of our desire to do the nontraditional, unconventional thing... like Zirpu waiting for me to ask him to marry me, rather than asking me to marry him, or when we got our portrait taken at Excalibur with me in the Musketeer costume and him in the dress.



We'll see what happens on Friday night, and learn what the judges' reactions are on Saturday morning. We're not actually competing so it'll be allowed. I'm sure the reaction will be positive - it's a dance school after all, and they wouldn't want to chase away students. I'm interested in hearing what a real live competitor has to say.