Life's Characters

I haven't posted about dancing in a while and it's still going strong so I thought I would devote some keyboard time to that :)

I swear, the group dancing at the community center truly feels like I've stepped into a scene from a low budget independent film set. The people have such vast and distinguising personalities and I can't help but chuckle to myself the more I get to know some of these people. There's Lucky (one of the few real names I'll ever use in this blog...although I don't believe this is his real name...but I love that he goes by this and I can't ignore how well it suits him) who rides his motorcycle to class, has a tinge of male chauvinism in him and it one of the more fun partners to dance with; there's the red-haired young man who squeezes the life out of your hand as he turns you; the skinny cowboy who rides the crotchrocket, smiles goofily the entire time you dance and says "It was a pleasure" when your time is done; there's the 'serial killer' as I've donned him who seems to have taken QUITE a liking to little ol me, who douses on lots of cologne but can't look a female in the eyes; there's the female instructor who reminds me of a cross between Liza Minelli, Delta Burke and Rosanne (the best of each of them); and finally, the male instructor who I swore on day one spoke no English, was doped up on painkillers and hated being there. I'll devote another sentence or two to him now. To my surprise, he speaks perfect English with a very southern drawl and is an accomplished dancer with awards under his belt...his studded belt to be exact. He wears black jeans, black shirts, a thick gold chain necklace and has black hair that is fixed like you wouldn't believe. He has helped me tremendously in this class and I love to dance with him. Oh, and I found out last night he is probably 20 years older than I ever thought. The most exciting thing I discovered about him last night though is that he is an Elvis impersonator. You can hire him to sing, play guitar and wear the whole getup for you. I so want to find some reason to hire him. Now I understand his outrageous hairstyle ;)

I'm finding that I'm really starting to get the hang of this and am quite enjoying it. There's a part of me who desires to excell at this and perhaps compete someday. It's so much fun and I really really enjoy meeting all of these crazy characters. I enjoy that in all walks of life actually, probably one of the many reasons I love teaching ESL! Today we have our private lesson which I enjoy but not as much as the group lesson.

Dancing is also so rewarding for me because it's an activity I share with my dad. All through my life we've always had a close relationship but ever since working for my folks part time, it seems we don't hang out as much outside of work. Dancing gives us a great excuse to get together and have father-daughter time. And I know that he loves having a partner to do this with him since my mom won't. He's getting much better too :)

So today I'm sporting my dancing shoes and will be gliding around in a few hours and will put all other cares aside while I focus on enjoying a lighthearted moment of life.