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May. 31st, 2005 07:04 pmI went English Country Dancing last night for the first time in, oh, more than a year. It was wonderful.
When I stopped going, the group had been dwindling in attendance - and there was a particular shortage of women, which meant that I felt a lot of pressure not to sit out any dances. (Yes, same-sex pairs can dance together, but women in our group are much more inclined to do so than men.) Last night there were about two dozen people, a nice-sized group for dancing and a damned good crowd for a holiday weekend. Some of my old friends were there, others not - and of course there were plenty of people who were new since I left. I was mostly caught up with renewing acquaintances, but I did spend some time reassuring a woman who, after a full six weeks of dancing, felt like she wasn't any good at it.
Boy, am I out of shape. (Annoyingly, two different dancers responded to that statement last night by commenting that I didn't look like I was still carrying much pregnancy weight. No, I'm not, but it's not like losing weight automatically supplies you with muscles.) I was up for about two dances before I had to sit out a dance and rest. But I had a great time when I did dance. I've forgotten less than I expected. Weirdly, although I had no trouble with complicated dance figures, I made a few completely boneheaded mistakes - such as forgetting whether I was supposed to be dancing with the couple above or the couple below. I'm sure that if I make it back there for another couple of dances, it'll be just as if I never left.
I wonder if I can corset myself into my ball gown.
Alex did beautifully. I wore her in the sling, sort of sitting up against my chest with her head well-supported. She watched the first dance very closely, and then put her head on my chest and fell asleep. She didn't get in the way at all. I kept a hand on her for some of the jerkier dance motions, like setting left and right, but mostly I felt secure about her position and safety. And everyone was glad to see her. I had asked a dance friend who also goes to our church whether there would be dancing on Memorial Day, and (unbeknownst to me) he printed out a little thing welcoming her to her first dance, and had everyone sign it. It was very sweet.
As I strapped her into her carseat afterward, she gave me a huge grin. "Yeah," I said, grinning back, "you and Mama just had a special time together, didn't you?" She didn't know what my words meant, of course, but I think we understood each other.
When I stopped going, the group had been dwindling in attendance - and there was a particular shortage of women, which meant that I felt a lot of pressure not to sit out any dances. (Yes, same-sex pairs can dance together, but women in our group are much more inclined to do so than men.) Last night there were about two dozen people, a nice-sized group for dancing and a damned good crowd for a holiday weekend. Some of my old friends were there, others not - and of course there were plenty of people who were new since I left. I was mostly caught up with renewing acquaintances, but I did spend some time reassuring a woman who, after a full six weeks of dancing, felt like she wasn't any good at it.
Boy, am I out of shape. (Annoyingly, two different dancers responded to that statement last night by commenting that I didn't look like I was still carrying much pregnancy weight. No, I'm not, but it's not like losing weight automatically supplies you with muscles.) I was up for about two dances before I had to sit out a dance and rest. But I had a great time when I did dance. I've forgotten less than I expected. Weirdly, although I had no trouble with complicated dance figures, I made a few completely boneheaded mistakes - such as forgetting whether I was supposed to be dancing with the couple above or the couple below. I'm sure that if I make it back there for another couple of dances, it'll be just as if I never left.
I wonder if I can corset myself into my ball gown.
Alex did beautifully. I wore her in the sling, sort of sitting up against my chest with her head well-supported. She watched the first dance very closely, and then put her head on my chest and fell asleep. She didn't get in the way at all. I kept a hand on her for some of the jerkier dance motions, like setting left and right, but mostly I felt secure about her position and safety. And everyone was glad to see her. I had asked a dance friend who also goes to our church whether there would be dancing on Memorial Day, and (unbeknownst to me) he printed out a little thing welcoming her to her first dance, and had everyone sign it. It was very sweet.
As I strapped her into her carseat afterward, she gave me a huge grin. "Yeah," I said, grinning back, "you and Mama just had a special time together, didn't you?" She didn't know what my words meant, of course, but I think we understood each other.
