"Shall We Dance?"

Ballroom dancing is everywhere these days. It's on TV, in the movies, and on Broadway. You can't help but being aware of it. People who look like they don't know their right foot from their left are doing the waltz, the rumba, and the two step. It's America's newest pastime and it is sweeping the country.

Now I am not a smooth dancer. I can get by, but Fred Astaire I am not. When our son got married recently there was a time at the reception where my wife and I had to dance and the spotlight was on us. You couldn't actually see me counting out the beat but I was pretty shaky. Still in the video of the reception we do look passable doing a regular slow dance.

Now my son JJ, well that is a different story. He practiced and practiced before the wedding. He and his soon to be wife even had their friends coming over to coach them in the dance moves. When he actually had to do the dance steps I give him an "A" for effort and a "B" for execution. That is probably generous but hey, he's my son. I will say I don't think he will be winning any dance contests any time soon.

When I was growing up my mother and several others decided in the fifth grade my class should have dance lessons. Somehow they located a dance instructor named Mr. Rippy. Mr. Rippy was from out of town and was suave and debonair. He looked the role of a dance instructor. At least to all our fifth grade eyes he did.

His assistant was Jane Ray, a local girl who always wanted to leave Clinton and make it on Broadway. She never did. But she did have her moment of glory as Mr. Rippy's dance assistant.

Two afternoons a week we would all head for the Armory in Clinton. We had the same number of girls and boys so we all had partners. My partner was Martha Jane Bryson, my true love of the moment. I wasn't a great dancer but Martha Jane was worse than I was. Still they put us through our paces and we learned the box step, the waltz, the Charleston, the rumba and the cha cha cha. To this day I can remember the basic steps to all those dances.

The magical time was when Mr. Rippy would choose one girl as his partner and Jane would choose one boy as her partner. While the others stood around the dance area the four would dance. When she chose me I learned that With the right partner you are always so much better than you had been before. With her skills taking control, I moved with rhythm and ease around the floor. And oh what a feeling that was. Everyone praised our performance.

That memory has stayed with me all these years. I will never be a great dancer but for those few moments at the Clinton Armory when I was eleven years old I was the master of the dance.

So now when I watch "Dancing With the Stars" I close my eyes and once again Jane Ray and I are dancing. We don't miss a beat. It's showtime and the magic is back.

 

 

 

 

 

©2006 Jackie K. Cooper

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