Disappointment

"The theater, the theater, what’s happened to the theatre?
Especially where dancing is concerned
Chaps who do taps aren’t tapping anymore
They’re doing choreography
Chicks who did kicks aren’t kicking anymore
They’re doing choreography
Heps who did steps
That would stop the show in days that used to be
They’re doing choreography
Through the air they keep flying
Like a duck that is dying
Instead of dance its choreography"

Choreography
Danny Kaye
White Christmas

Yes, as Kelly said the routine is a thing of the past. Last week we decided to discontinue our quest – probably making it the shortest lived quest in quest history. Unfortunately, brevity isn’t equivalent with ease. We’re both unhappy and disappointed – but we come out of the experience with a better understanding of what it is to be involved with a routine.

Kelly said it all: we expected one thing and our studio had different ideas. There were miscommunications all around. We expected collaboration and the studio was offering to choreograph a routine for us to perform. Yes it make sense that the studio wants the end result to be a good advertisement for their business and their instructors. It all makes sense but making sense isn’t the same as the reality feeling good. To be honest, it feels pretty rotten.

Those of you considering a routine should ask two questions. Firstly, ask yourself what level of involvement you want to have in the construction/choreography – for some people the answer is you’d like to have a routine designed for you and for some, the answer is you want to have an integral part in creating the routine. It’s important to know the answer to this question before you take on the second: what level of involvement does your dance studio or instructor allow. If your dance instructor requires total creative control over the routine and you want to play a large part – you’re not likely to be satisfied with the outcome. In our case, we wanted a high level of creative involvement and our studio would allow none. Hence, for us, no routine.
There was a little tense discussion with our instructor, then we ditched. I hate to get all poetic and big-headed but dance (for me) is about self expression and having fun. That wasn't what a routine would have been and so it wasn't for us. The music goes on and the experience hasn't dampened my like of dancing. I'm still jazzed when I get to spend an evening with my girl and a good swing band in a fine old dancehall. There's still magic in a hardwood floor massaged by decades of dancing feet. Kelly and I are fond of saying that dance is a form of athletics; the athlete has to be resilient – even when things don't turn out as expected.