First Dancing Lesson

I had a proud mummy moment yesterday.  I took my daughter to her first ever dancing lesson.  She had been looking forward to it all week and had been practising hard her whirling, twirling and leaping prior to the big event.

We inevitably were early to the lesson (in fact, first there). The grin on her fact reached from ear to ear and she nervously awaited the reminder of the class to arrive.  As the girls and one solitary boy started to fill up the hall, the noise of excited chatter and giggles reached ear splitting levels, each voice speaking louder to be heard over the incessant rabble.  Eventually changed and ready to go a voice boomed out.

“Right Girls, Lets line up, big ones at the back, are we all ready?”

The girls emerged from various corners of the room, and attempted to make two neat rows.  They failed miserably.  One line had 5 girls, the remainder in the other, all huddled together with hardly room to breathe between them, never mind dance. 

“Chantelle, move that way a bit, Sophie move forward, Sweetheart you stay where you are.” Eventually they were lined up and good to go.

“Ready, Girls? Here we go!”  Boom, the sound of ‘Sexy Chicks by David Guetta, feat Akon’ filled the room.

Every face wears a huge smile. They each attempt to copy the teacher, while glancing to the person next to time, to see what they are doing. I could see my daughter with her tongue stuck out as she desperately concentrated on the steps.  Nervously playing with her hair when she lost the sequence, then with determination she’d try again.  Arms and legs flailed in all directions, each girl adding their own interpretation into the mix.

“Ok Girls, Skipping, Nice big circle, moving that way” pointing to her right.

Chaos inevitably ensued, bodies crashing into each other, toes being stepped on, as disorientated, each girl lost track of where she was going.  Just as they all corrected themselves and were all skipping (or running in most cases) in the same direction.

“And Stop!”  The warm up was finished.

“Get yourselves a drink, Girls”

Whilst they all eagerly scrambled for bottles of water and juice, an ear splitting scream filled the air. Someone had fallen over and scraped their knee.  Of course this led to a major drama as a gaggle of girls flew towards the scene to establish what was happening. Shouts of

“Ohhh are you ok, shall I help her sit down miss, Come with me I’ll look after you” filled the air.

Eventually scraped knees sorted.  They attempted to learn a new dance routine.  Each child was placed in the correct position and the music re-started.  I could see the intent concentration on each face as they scrutinised the teacher, watching her every move.  Then it was their turn to try.  The steps performed looked nothing like they should. None of the steps were in time with each other, or the music, but it didn’t matter because they put in 100% effort and were having great fun.

Eventually attention spans started to dwindle and it was ‘Can I go to the toilet please’ and with that every girl suddenly had the urge to go to the toilet.  All too soon the class was over and it was time to leave.

“Did you enjoy that?” I asked

“It was wonderful mummy” came the reply, “but can I have one of them purple things, with the swishy skirt to wear next week.”

“So, you’re coming again then?”

“I can’t wait”