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Showing posts with the label Fred Astaire

We Can Dance if We Want To

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Me trying not to throw my sister off of a balcony while "swing dancing" at my other sister's wedding reception at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. A few weeks back I wrote about taking introductory dance lessons by way of a Groupon for Fred Astaire dance studio . They ended up being enough fun that we signed up for a beginner package of lessons. In addition to the basic steps, some basic turns and such were taught (I know, lots of "basic" going on here). The gf and I are even finding time to practice outside of the lessons. There's something very intriguing about learning the steps, technique, etc. For me, it has the feeling of learning the footwork and technique in football. It's about taking proper steps and developing the muscle memory and the ability to do everything in time. Training the brain-body correlation is a welcome challenge. Lessons and practice are as much, if not more, mentally strenuous as they can be physically.  There is a...

Everybody Was Ballroom Dancing

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This evening, my girlfriend and I picked up a potentially interesting hobby and activity: ballroom dancing. This momentous evening came out of my looking for an interesting birthday present for her. I wanted to find something simple, but fun and hopefully memorable. I chose the gift to be from  Fred Astaire dance studio(s)  largely on account of there being a  Groupon  available. What could be better than dragging my uncoordinated buttocks out onto the dance floor? As a couple of my old football teammates can attest, I have a knack for stepping on and probably even mutilating toes. I think I've even inadvertently stepped on my kids' toes a disproportionately high number of times. Sadly, it's not because I have size 14 feet. I've worn a humble size 11 since high school. I think it could really be a coordination thing.   I'll even argue that I possess some amount of rhythm as I do play guitar and know my way around a drum kit. I can just over, under or o...