Last Weds. night I was the teacher's pet. O. texted me while I was still at work asking if I wanted to meet her at 7pm (an hour before our group class) to practice. I immediately sent an enthusiastic "yes." We ended up meeting at more like 7:30pm since her pops was running a little late getting the salon cleaned up (the dance studio and barber shop happen in the same place). I had assumed this was extra time to practice dance team stuff. Wrong. It was something else entirely. She's created the choreography for a new turn pattern and wanted to try it out. She'd been trying it on her mom at home, but had managed to make momma quite tired and dizzy.
So she called me to learn the pattern and used me to demo throughout the group lesson. I LOVED the attention of my peers and felt sort of kick ass for a newbie beginner. I heard the term "shy exhibitionist" the other day and I think it applies to me and my dancing skills. It made me a nervous but I dug it. I didn't look half bad! I'd gotten it. I felt a little like the teacher's pet. I even got the requisite teasing from my friends/peers about new privileges. I guess that's what happens when you are at the dance studio all the time.
When I told M. my philosophy about improving, he looked on admiringly. It's only been a couple of months and I've come a long way from that painful couch "therapy" session about my dancing fears. I keep stepping and my self-consciousness is going away, ever so slightly. I'm even thinking about having someone film me dancing with O., E., or M. to take home when I visit my family.
