Monday, September 8, 2008

Bronze 1 through 4 followed by Silver 1 through 3

A few weeks ago I went to the dance studio for an open house - I'd invited a friend, so of course I went too. They had the usual lessons broken up by experience (newcomers, bronze 1, bronze 2 and above), followed by open dancing.


I asked a fellow to dance and we foxtrotted around the floor. I could tell by his frame that he was early in his dance experience, and we stayed to pretty basic steps. I don't have a problem dancing with less-experienced dancers; it can be more fun dancing with other Bronze 4 and Silver dancers, but I like to meet people and to just dance with different people. Besides, our first teacher told us what one of his coaches told him, which was that you can always work on the "one" (as in, one, two, three, four), and i can always work on following.


After a few steps I asked, "Have you been dancing for a while?" Because I'm not around the studio that much, there are a lot of students I don't know, so I don't know how long they've been coming for lessons. He said yes, and after a few beats asked, "I haven't seen you around here before. Are you in Bronze 2?"


I had to tell him the truth, which was, "I'm in Silver 1." I felt like a snob doing so. I didn't want him to think I would never enjoy dancing with him because he was "just" Bronze 1 (my guess, but I think it's accurate). It also felt strange to say it because I never have before. Zirpu and I graduated from Full Bronze and then started over with dances we didn't know at all, like west coast swing. So it doesn't feel like we're at that level in the syllabus, even though we are.

No comments: