Sanne and the Two-Step

This morning I am feeling muscles that I haven’t felt in years.  There’s an interesting muscle that runs up the side of your leg which is currently screeching “ouch” every time I take a step.  And who knew there were muscles at the waist line?  I’ve always had shoulder tension but now I have a nice little twitch in my neck and along my upper arms I notice a sort of rubber band zing.  All this because of a little dancing!

       Yes, we were learning country dancing yesterday as part of our Stampede Team building event.  We certainly looked the part in our lovely new western shirts, the ladies in black and the gents in white, so coordinated.  Until we got on the dance floor. 

       The dance instructors (world champions) had us lined up against each other just like a football scrimmage (as though I knew what that was) but happily we had no mishaps.  I was considerably alarmed however when I discovered that we were not learning line dancing.  Instead, we were to learn the two-step, twirls and all.  I feared broken legs, arms, or worse.  The concern was not of my partners but  because I knew I did not have a country twanginess in any part of my body and the poor gentlemen were endangering themselves.  There were only 10 ladies to 25 gents so we got double workouts (no wonder I can barely walk this morning) but it was Sadie Hawkins Day all over again as the instructor instructed us to go “grab your partner”.  10 determined women sached across the floor while the men looked over their shoulders for an escape route.  Unfortunately for them, the only exit was through to the kitchens and two bartenders stood guard there.  No way out. 

       They smiled then and bravely took on the one, two, three, five; one, two, three, five, back and forth across the floor, released us and we grabbed the second partner and did it all over again.  Needless to say I was dripping with sweat after the first round.  I looked at my watch.  2:05.  I still had one hour and 55 minutes to go.  Would it ever end?  Oh no, now we are going to twirl.  This does not bode well.  However, surprisingly now, the gents were really getting into it.  They had been told “this is your space”, just like Dancing with the Stars, and suddenly we had a firm hand guiding us along the floor.  Was I actually doing it right?  It seemed to me that for a fleeting moment I actually had the full tempo but then whoosh, I got excited and made a misstep and we were back to cautiously counting (one, two, three, five).

       Three o’clock.  Time for a drink.  Where’s my nice little terry hanky from Japan to wipe away all the sweat dripping from my brow?  Oh don’t I look like an appealing little partner.  Envision Sandra Bullock in her worst moments and still she would be charming.  Not so Sanne. I looked like a ripe tomato about to explode.  I pitied my partner and certainly understood if they wanted to look at their feet instead of me. 

       But here’s the thing, from the get-go there was laughter around the room and throughout the lessons everyone was smiling and having a good time.  Not a complaint, only the normal deprecating that “they were no good at it”.  When I took my breather and watched, they were so very good at it! 

       What a team!