Musings on Dance and Me

Strange things have been happening lately...to make me realize how much I love and miss dance. See, I have a confession to make. Yes, I did take up running---but I have a good reason……or several, actually! 1) It’s cheap, and I’m saving for a wedding. 2) It’s a great excuse to use the cool mp3 player Sean got me for Christmas to listen to upbeat music, or dare I say it, even Irish dance music. 3) James has soccer practice at a school with a half-mile track, so it’s not too boring). 4) I don’t have to drive anywhere, so it’s time-effective, too.

Which was all great for the last 6 weeks or so—starting out with a half mile, working up to 2—nothing too extreme, but I was so happy to see progress, and to get some of the strength back that I’ve lost over the last few months. But, I can't say that I've really enjoyed it. Then, I noticed that my ankle was a bit cranky, and I stopped in to see my physical therapist friend on Saturday. And it was then that I confessed. And she hit the roof. “Of all the sports you could possibly pick up, it had to be the one with the most pounding on your bad ankle?!” She was not happy. But she was kind and iced and massaged it for me, and then she made me promise to stop running. She’ll let me run a half- mile or so to get my heart-rate up, and I can walk a million miles if I want, but no more running.

OK. Then, I started teaching an Irish dance ceili elective for middle school, and realized I hadn’t taught a dance class in a very long time...and in the midst of the blaring accordion music, I realized...that really I missed it. I agreed to teach the class because I’ve taught it many times, so there’s virtually no planning, and there are NO PAPERS TO GRADE--gotta love that. I have 15 students—7 boys!—and they are having so much fun. And unexpectedly, so am I—more than I thought. One of the girls who is taking the class for the 3rd time (and this is only her 3rd semester at our school), asked me if I’d help her choreograph a dance for her to perform at her bat mitzvah. Are you kidding? I’d love to!

And finally, one of the dancers from the old studio called and said that her church is opening its annual Irish festival, and would James and I come and dance to help promote it? I had to think about that one for a day or so, but I realized that I really just want to dance again. For fun. James hasn’t danced in 2 years, but we are reworking and remembering our steps together. I'm so glad she called.

So...I don’t know what this means right now other than I’m slowly getting back into dance—baby steps, I guess, whether I like it or not. And I do like it. I don’t know if I want to make the commitment to join a studio right now with everything going on, but I will pull out those shoes again. And yes, Melissa, I’ll be careful of the pounding on my ankle. (She doesn’t seem to mind fixing it for me if it’s because of something I love.)