Peter Gets Personal: Dance Lessons

Dance a mile in Talon writer Peter Mackensen’s shoes as he takes dance lessons in preparation for this year’s prom.

“Slow, slow, quick quick.”

I can hardly walk down the hall of our school without my mind wandering to the rhythm of my steps.

For the past four weeks I have been spending my Thursday all-school lunches learning various ballroom dances along with seven other Christian Brothers students.  Professional Dancers Danny Lerer and Barnaly Pande (pictured above) have been teaching the class.  They provided excellent instruction and left all of us in good spirits.

The first few times I heard the announcements of the class it all kind of breezed over my head. But soon I found myself thinking “This could be a lot of fun,” and with prom quickly approaching I decided I could really stand to have some new moves.

It was pretty apparent that I was the least experienced dancer in the room.  At least, I was the only one tripping over myself and stepping on my partner’s feet.

If any of you thought that dancing was something simple, think again.  I’m a chess player but there was no way I could think enough steps ahead to keep up with the dance.  Dancers need to maintain speedy motions, an awareness of their surroundings, and a constant count of their steps in order to put on a good show.

Still, the lessons were fun, and exciting.  There was a particular sense of progress in making the steps right after failing so horrifically the first few times.  Somehow, along with my lovely partner Sylvia Francisco (`13) I learned to foxtrot, swing, tango, rumba, and salsa. By the end of it all I feel that we were looking pretty good. From spins to dips we managed to get a grasp of the moves and make them our own.

I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not the most graceful man that ever lived, but I like to think I’ve come a long way over these past weeks.  That’s not to say I don’t on occasion dance right into people.

So if you see me breaking out the ballroom at prom, just watch your feet, alright?