So, you think you can dance?

Dance is a universal language.  I grew up watching my parents dance and I loved it!  I think watching their faces as they danced inspired me to love dancing as much as I did.  Because I realized at a young age, that no matter what fight they had between them (and they DID fight), it could all be dropped with a good song and a quick jitterbug.

I have pictures of them dancing and they are my favorite pictures of my parents together.

I remember as a child putting on music so they would dance.  I knew what song it would take to call a cease-fire!

Not that my parents argued or fought all the time; it was more a memory of what the music would bring.  Joy….pure joy!

I always hoped I would marry a man who danced.  Unfortunately it wasn’t in the cards.  But his qualities far outweigh his two left feet, so I have no regrets.

But when my kids were put into dance at the age of 3, I was curious to see what would stick.  For one of my girls, dance is a social engagement; she shows up, takes class and goes home.  Yet for the other, it’s her whole aspiration.

Now, interestingly enough, her dance is not my dance.  Hers is full of technical jargon.  Mine is full of learning the steps and having fun, or to simply be good enough to follow your partner on the dance floor! (I’m a country dancer at heart!)

When I watch my daughter in her classes, it’s a whole new ball game.  They are learning “technique” and everything stems from Ballet!  If you want to be a good dancer, your foundation is ballet,  and that is that!

But WHY??

Well, plain and simple….If dance is words and paragraphs, then ballet is the alphabet!

My daughter has had plenty of ballet and she takes it seriously and her posture SCREAMS it!  She stands straight, her shoulders back, her head high and not an ounce of slouch in her back.  Freaks me out.

Today, I signed her up for a technical private with a MOST amazing instructor.  This man can take the body and dissect your every movement and tell you what muscles you ARE using and correct you to tell you what muscles you SHOULD be using to get the desired effect!!

I watched him work with my daughter and examine her movements and in a very short period of time, I watched him correct her hip alignment, feet placement, posture, ribs, quads and hamstrings as well as discussing how to dance taller and lengthen her muscles as she dances.

As I listened to his explanations, I realized how much I take what she does for granted.  The most minute adjustments can make the biggest impact in her ability to execute her moves perfectly.

And though I’m in awe and wonderment of his gift in the world of competitive dance, I was raised dancing from the heart and dancing with partners all by “feel”.

When we were in Palm Springs I went to dinner with a group of the dancers who ranged in age from 8 to 14.  As we were waiting for our food at the restaurant, a band started playing and the girls gravitated to the dance floor to strutt their stuff.  I grabbed one of them and started guiding them through a “jitterbug” inspired dance and I could see they had trouble following me.  So, I slowed it down and eventually she followed me better.  But I kind of laughed at the difference in approach to what I learned vs. what they were learning.  It was clear that technique was taking over their brains and their hearts were left in the dust a bit.

Eventually, they will find a happy medium, but I realized we were worlds apart in our “genre’s” of dancing.

And though we both enjoyed our own approach of our own dance-ability, I doubt you will ever find us both on the same dance floor as we go forward….  that is, unless they are dragged by me because we happen to be in the same building!

The bottom line is this…. They dance, and I dance.  Yet somehow, never the twain shall meet.

But we are both happy.  And that’s all that matters.  No one is correct in all this.  The heart wins in every instance on this one.

So, go with it, I say!!!

Happy Tuesday!