There we were, on a tour of Italy, having dinner in the beautiful Brancaccio Palace in Rome with 150 other people, in the most spectacular ballroom we had ever seen. There were huge chandeliers overhead. The members of the 12-piece orchestra were all dressed in Tuxe, as was I. My wife was stunning in her new peach colored chiffon wrap-around floor length dress.
The music started and my wife and I made our way to the elegant dance floor. I dont’ remember the song, but it was probably a swing, jitterbug or foxtrot. Whatever it was, my wife and I stepped onto that floor and proceeded to do the only thing we knew how to do, indeed the same dance we had done since high school 30 years earlier – we DISCO danced!! Yes ladies and gentlement, here we were in the most romantic setting of our lives until now, in a ballroom rivaling “Dancing With the Stars” and all I could do was John Travolta???
But, it’s what happened next that changed our lives. The band starting playing a waltz and a man and his wife came onto the floor. He was in a starched white shirt and she in a beautiful dress. They were the only two on the floor, perhaps the only two in the room that knew how to dance the waltz. He offered her a solid frame and then he led her through very simple box steps, change steps and underarm turns-nothing more difficult than that. However, to me it was the most amazing and inspriring dance I had ever seen in person. I was envious of this man and his wife and their amazing connection and confidence through the dance. And it was then that I vowed to learn how to ballroom dance when I got home-I would finally learn to dance like a GROWN UP!
And so, two months later, as a birthday present to my wife, I signed us up for introductory dance lessons at Arthur Murray. That was 5 years ago and we have never looked back and are still as enthralled with learning new dance steps and growing together as we were then.
Eventhough Arthur Murray always made learning fun and non-threatning, it definitely wasn’t easy at first. Patti and I argued quite a bit in the beginning. And it seems like it was at least a year before I felt comfortable enough to be able to lead other ladies through many of the dances. But it was so worth the wait and the effort of sticking with it.’
We have found this out over and over again in experiences which have turned out much differently than our first experience in Rome. For instance, when Patti’s employer sent us on a trip to Cancun we danced Salsa with the “locals” in several different clubs. We had been taking lessons for about 2 years and weren’t quite at the same level as them, but we certainly held our own and had a fantastic time! We even got a “thumbs up” from several of the club regulars who respected our willingness to get out on the floor and told us we were doing great.
While on another vacation in Aruba we ventured into a nightclub where a DJ was spinning top 40 and no one was dancing! We decided to get out on the dance floor and try our syncopated hustle rather than our old freestyle disco dancing. We weren’t playing to the crowd, but they were clearly noticing our dancing because when we were done everyone in the club started clapping! The lesson I learned is that you don’t have to be advanced to look impressive to people.
The same story has happened over and over during the past 5 years. We have been the “hit” couple during our 30th class reunion, and during several weddings. We are often the only couple to step onto the dance floor and “get the party started” when no one else wants to be first! Arthur Murray has instilled confidence in me that I never had and that I will always be grateful for.
I guess my dream is to go back to Italy one day, to the Brancaccio Palace where this journey all started, and step onto that ballroom floor with my gorgeous wife, offer her a solid frame, and waltz with her, showing her off to 150 people, hopefully inspiring them to take ballroom lessons when they get home!
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