Sam thrived on trying something new. In fact, he’d set it as his New Year’s resolution (which was also a new concept to him) to try something new every month.
He’d tried gymnastics on January and found it was a bigger investment than he’d been expecting. Even after a few months, he was still going to adult gymnastics every Wednesday evening. He just really wanted to be able to do fun archery stunts.
February had been life modelling. The studio had been cold and he realised quickly that he preferred to be on the other side of the easel. He was a confident man until he saw his body on an amateur artist’s canvas. He only continued attending for the sake of the art students. He was not going to take the blame for their failures.
So March was dance. He’d tried a few styles before but he could thank British public boy’s school for ballroom. (And a very embarrassing obsession with Billy Elliot when he was twelve to thank for ballet.)
Sam discovered he was the youngest man in today’s class when he entered the corridor outside the studio. There were some younger women but all of the men were over the age of forty. No bad thing, he guessed as he set his bag in the lockers outside. It meant that if he found salsa his Achilles Heel, then he wouldn’t look so ridiculous.
The studio smelled of the linoleum floor and there was a constant buzz of the air conditioner in the corner. But Sam loved it. It had something stupidly sweet in its simplicity. It was a space for work.
Sam smiled when the young instructor approached him. He could hardly help it when she looked at him like that. ‘Mhm, certainly. Go ahead.’ He knew going alone would make him the target of demonstrations but it didn’t seem all that bad when he was asked so politely.
“Great!” she said as she placed her hand onto his arm and looked out to the rest of the class. Her eyes went to the name tag she asked her students to wear so she wouldn’t have to go through the whole awkward thing of not knowing their name or saying the wrong one. Even if some were only there for the one lesson. “Alright, everyone. Right now we’re to focus on our footwork. As soon as we have this down that’s when you’ll dance with your partner.” She looked at Sam. “You can stay up here with me. Makes it easier to follow through to the dance.” Also she wanted to see how well he could dance. There’s a kind of confidence from him she rather liked.
Chloe stepped to the side and said, “Follow these steps,” she said as she spoke them aloud as she did the move herself a few times. “Step forward with the left and replace back with the right, which means like you stepping in place. Then you close your left foot with the right foot before you switch way.” she said as she went slowly. After the switch you step back with the right then replace the left. Remember that’s like you’re stepping in place. Then you close the right foot with the left and there you go. One of the basic salsa moves you’ll learn. Also, don’t worry about moving your hips too much right now. We’ll get to that once you get comfortable with the move. So lets do this together now and keep in mind when you do this move you’re switching your weight from foot to foot. Really put your weight into it. Don’t just tap.”
Her attention went to Sam as she smiled at him before she went next to him. “Okay class, left foot front..” she said said as she watched them, going went from student to student and then to her temporary dance partner for the evening. “The way you move makes me think this isn’t your time dancing.” She said as she surveyed his dance movements. Most of the people in the class were awkward and overthinking it.
