Introduction - Gary

Every time I caught an old movie the feeling would be there. You’ve saw them – some picture where the leading man and woman are out at a dinner club. The MC announces the singer and the band gently lights on a slow tune. He looks at her across the table and smiles slightly and asks her if she’d like to dance. Soon they’re out among the smartly dressed folks, turning around the dance floor and staring deep into each other’s eyes. I’d be right there with them on that floor – probably stepping on my date’s toes or counting measures while trying to remember if it’s slow-slow-quick or slow-quick-slow. When the credits rolled I always felt like I should have come of age during the twenties or thirties – back when people went dancing.

About a year ago I decided to finally take this sepia-tone fantasy of learning to dance from the screen to reality. I’d never really tried to dance before…I’d rocked around the floor at a high school prom but never really danced...so, the prospect was a little scary. Luckily I had access to a sister-in-law and brother-in-law who’d been taking dance lessons for a year. They talked me down from the ‘I’d never be able to do that…’ stage and today I take weekly lessons in Swing and Latin dance styles.

After a year of abusing my dear wife’s feet and various dance venues around the Midwest, I decided it might be interesting to write about the experience. I’m a writer by trade and hobby and where my feet fail my pen usually doesn’t – I figure writing about the trials and triumphs of my journey from want-to-be-Astaire to guy-who-knows-a-thing-or-two will at least be a catharsis. In the blogosphere I might prove a little more nimble than in the ballroom and, who knows; maybe it’ll help me sort out where the left and right foot ought to go.

I’ll be sharing this blog space with the other half of my dance team – my lovely wife, Kelly. Our tastes for dance run in different directions: she loves Latin and has brought us to learning the Salsa and I love the dances of the 20’s and 30’s which has brought us to learning the Foxtrot. Luckily we both love swing and it’s our mutual decision to learn the East Coast Swing and Lindy Hop. I hope you enjoy reading our stories – I know we’ll enjoy presenting them.