Dancing Machine!

Two of the days I subbed this week I was forced to participate in a traditional dance course. The student I was assisting required "special coaching" (according to the instructor) and for some reason she thought I would be able to handle that job.

Let me let you in on a little secret: I am a horrible dancer and I am incredibly self-conscious when I am doing any sort of movement other than walking. It usually takes more than two glasses of wine for me to even touch parquet dance floor. Even then, I do little more than gyrate my hips, march in place, and pump my fists in the air.

We spent 50 minutes learning something very similar to this, but with more intricate hand movements. Almost everyone in the class knew the dance. My student and I danced in the back row, which I remember from my ballerina days as the safest zone for the uncoordinated and confused. Or so I thought. The teacher of this course was all over the place. My poor student had her undivided attention for most of the class, and since I was her "other teacher," I had to work just as hard as she did. I think the teacher was impressed - in a not so good kind of way - at my inability to follow her movements. I stuck out like a sore thumb. In addition to being about two heads taller than anyone else in the room, I had zero skills. I was the uncoordinated buffoon in the back row. I'm pretty sure I was the worst dancer in the room. That's no joke.

The experience was made even more awesome by the impressive audience we attracted, which was comprised of: five bus drivers who gawked at us from outside the cafeteria windows, a handful of parents of preschoolers, and an entire forth grade class. I spent the first four weeks of school working with the fourth graders and I know them fairly well. Well enough that a few of them felt more than comfortable calling out encouraging phrases that either started or ended with my name, and for the most daring of the bunch to loudly announce: "Ms. K! I didn't know you got moves like that!"

It was a really, really embarrassing experience. Probably had to be there to really appreciate the story.

We're off to Chicago for the weekend. Hopefully I'll have something more interesting to report upon our return. The last few weeks have hectic. I'll try to find time to do more blogging next week. I don't know how I used to do it every day!