Looking to Return to Dance

Last week, I shared with my ko-fi subscribers some memories of my childhood as I'd just received a bunch of stuff from home. I'm not rehashing it here, except that included in that bunch of stuff was a pair of tap shoes.

I took tap dancing briefly in school as part of my Duke of Edinburgh Award programme. I cannot remember what level it was; bronze, silver or gold. But I did take tap dance for a semester. 

I hated it. Not the dancing. I loved the dancing. But I hated the teacher (who had absolutely no patience for a wilting flower, which I definitely was in school). I was uncoordinated, painfully shy, and did NOT want to be on stage for anything. Especially not in a leotard and tights. I have been struggling with body image issues for quite a while, I realise.

But it was the love of dancing that struck me the most when I picked up those shoes. They still fit, incidentally. They're tight and stiff, more so since I started doing everything I can as barefoot as possible. But holding those shoes again brought back so many memories of how much I loved dancing, even if I hated the teacher.

Back in the day, when I started martial arts in university, I also signed up for an Argentine Tango class. I loved that, too. I also remember prepping for our end of year formal in high school (Grades 11 & 12). We had to learn formal partnered dancing - The Canadian Three Step, a Waltz, The Pride of Erin, the Foxtrot, a Jive... and I REALLY loved that. If you have the opportunity to waltz with someone who knows how, it is genuinely like floating. It is magical.

Receiving those tap shoes made me all nostalgic for dance. And so I'm looking into taking a dance class. I'd love to do more Latin and ballroom, but men my age are all weird about learning how to dance (which... you'd think they wouldn't be given how much more attractive being able to dance is), and so showing up without a partner already lined up means that it's a struggle to find someone to dance with.

(I also have a trust issue, and so have difficulty being a good follower. I'd probably need to dance with someone I trusted well in order for me to relax enough to let them lead)

So I'd love to do Latin and ballroom, but I don't think that's in the cards right now.

So an unpartnered dance it is. I'm looking into tap dancing, obviously. I already have the shoes. But I'd really to take up Irish dancing. There is a hard shoe (tap) component of Irish dancing, and so I'm halfway there. The problem is finding adult classes that fit into my budget and schedule... and also my intent.

I have absolutely no intention of going into competition, or performing. I just want to dance. It also cannot clash with my martial arts schedule. So, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays are out. There is one class happening on Wednesday evenings, but it's tricky to get to. There's another that has a beginner "exercise" class (would much rather a proper dance class) for adults on Monday evenings, but that is also a little tricky to get to and from, which will especially be the case once it starts snowing.

Man, not driving makes it really hard to do anything in this city. I wish transit was better.

In any case, I'm still researching, but hopefully I'll be able to start something in September. If you know of any classes that aren't listed online, I'm very interested in hearing about it. Right, I have to go and do actual paid work.

Slán go foill!