I always thought that I could dance fairly well. I don’t mean ballroom dancing or even disco or club dancing. I mean going to the gym and doing the exercise dances. Twenty years ago when I last did an aerobic dance class I wasn’t too bad!
So last Thursday I booked the ‘Twenty Twenty’ class. Twenty minutes dance, twenty minutes step and twenty minutes abs. I felt confident that I could give it my best shot but was slightly concerned about my knees not being able to cope with the steps. I climbed Ben Nevis about ten years ago and damaged my left knee. My right followed a few years later but, with the help of knee straps, they haven’t stopped me from doing anything!
The warm up was easy! I could manage the moves without any problem! I even became quite excited at the prospect of learning a new dance. I wandered if I could convert some of the movements to chair exercises for the residents on a Wednesday morning when I have to give the class! The instructor began showing us a new routine. We sashayed, stepped back, kicked our right leg forward and did a mamba. All was going really well and I was feeling confident!
Then we had to sashay from one side to the other moving forward, turn, perform an intricate four step, then sashay back. Alas, this was too much for me to handle in the allotted time. My balance is not good but the quick turns and cross over feet left me lucky to stay upright! We had to do this routine first starting with the right foot and then the left, with no breaks in between. This was the first time for the whole class but I”m sure the others must have been given a heads up and practiced at home! Or I am even worse than I ever imagined!!
We moved onto the twenty minutes step routine. Once more we were warned that it was new and also that it was not going to be easy! That should have been my cue to make a quick exit! But I didn’t! I soldiered on regardless of the potential embarrassment that was bound to ensue. If I thought that the dance routine was difficult, it was nothing compared to the step! The instructor gave us a choice to stick to the easy moves or follow her. There was no way that I was going to even attempt the intricate double hops, sideways kicks and then jumps off the front of the step, turn around and leap back over to face the front! It was so bad that I forgot the easy options and stood still until everyone faced forward and we started with the other foot!
But I have decided that I will be back next week! If I was able to hold my own twenty years ago I can do the same now! Because I have to see the instructor (it is awkward wearing varifocals so don’t wear glasses) and I am deaf in my right ear, I position myself in front on the left. This means that my lack of skills are clearly visible to the rest of the class! I can’t even remember enough of the moves to practice at home! Trying very hard to have a ‘glass half full’ I am sure that one day soon I’ll have a Eureka moment! I’ll miraculously find the confidence to leap over the step without fear of broken bones or nails. I’m holding the thought of dancing like a professional and twirling around the room like the woman who stood behind me and kept on trying to bump me off the floor! I’ll embrace the power of positive thinking! I’m up for this challenge! Watch this space ……… 👠
Jenny Burrell 