Dancing classes were not among one of my favourite activities in primary school. My memories are of reluctant, sweaty-palmed girls, boring music and tedious terspsichorean traipsing, often undertaken in blazing heat. But many people love to dance, so I decided to chance my flat and graceless feet and try again, many years later.
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Hoping for something a bit gentler than a formal lesson, I decided to attend one of the "ballroom boot camps" being run for cast members of Canberra Philharmonic Society's upcoming production of the musical Strictly Ballroom. They were being run by Karen Gillingham, a former dance teacher, now a judge, who agreed to work with choreographer Emma Nikolic on the show's ballroom content.
This was the third class and it was clear the actors (many of whom had been in other musicals) had learned a lot in that time, which did nothing for my confidence. First came an aerobic salsa warm-up - solo, not partnered - and I distinguished myself only through my utter lack of rhythm, coordination, timing, or anything else that could possibly prove useful in dance movement.
Karen asked one of the cast, Charlotte Gearside, a high school drama teacher in real life, to partner me. Accustomed, no doubt, to all kinds of clumsy clods from her day job, she was patient and gracious throughout our session. What made things easier was we were not in fact dancing but practising waltz poses such as the "oversway" (my partner on the left) and the "X line" (my partner on the right). As is obvious, I was learning a whole new set of terminology along the way, and words like "pillow" and "lunge" were acquiring new meanings.
My body was being pushed and bent into directions and places to which it wasn't accustomed. But I managed always to maintain my grip on the (dry-handed and very pleasant) Charlotte; I never let her fall to the floor. At least the lack of motion meant I was never in danger of treading on her her feet.
Karen said when she got me to relax (after the warm-up) and follow the posing instructions - chin up, arms out, that sort of thing - I made quite a nice "shape". But while all the stylised motions and poses were intriguing, I was under no illusions about my abilities as a dancer, reinforced when two competition dancers, Emma Couglan and her instructor, Danzon Dance Studio's Marko Pekkarinen, gave a ballroom demonstration that showed what real style, grace and movement looked like. It will be interesting to see how the cast of Strictly Ballroom look at the end of all their rehearsals when the show has its Canberra premiere in October.
The verdict: For those who, unlike me, have some rudimentary dance skills and enjoy the style, skill and intimacy of ballroom dancing, there's plenty to enjoy and it would be a good way to exercise.
Details: Some Canberra places that offer dance lessons are Danzon Dance Studio Canberra (danzon.com.au/) and the International Dance Studio (theinternationaldancestudio.com) and K'Motion Latin Dance Studios (kmotiondance.com.au)
