Dancing in England


I just returned form England where I had the pleasure of an English Country Garden Tour. In order to make the best use of my frequent flyer miles, I had to arrive 2 days early and stay an extra day. Fortunately for me, an old dance partner with whom I used to perform has since then gotten married, had two children, and bought a house. He was happy to arrange for a baby sitter for a night so we could go dancing. Having a family has made dancing a low priority for Peter and Lara, so they thought I'd know more people there than they would. That was almost true. I knew three. It was a balboa dance, one of my favorites. Bal is mostly danced in the Lindy community. It's a fast dance with complex footwork and I don't get to do it much at home. When a bal song comes on, it's hard to find a partner in time as we don't carry signs identifying which dances we do. Someone once had the idea to print tee shirts with a check list, but everyone refused to wear them. I loved the London Bal dance where everyone knew the dance and mostly danced it fairly well. A week later I got to attend the same dance again, finding my way there on the fabulous London underground before flying home the following morning. Everyone was suitable astonished to learn that I was in England for a reason having nothing to do with dance. It wouldn't have done to have come all this way and not danced at all however.