Strictly unballroom
I wasn’t that good before the knees started going bad, but now I’m the poster child for this carriage of misjustice:
There are always more women who would like to go dancing than there are men who are willing and able to take them. For several seasons of Dancing with the Stars it appeared that no woman would ever win because the audience’s female voters were so enthralled by the male competitors. For young girls, imagining being the Belle of the Ball is both a delightful fantasy and big business. Dancing is a core part of fairy tales like Cinderella and The Twelve Dancing Princesses, as well as adult musicals like My Fair Lady and The King and I.
In the meantime boys are imagining being Spider Man, Batman, G.I. Joe, or a ninja. They might save Belle, but only Batman’s millionaire alter-ego Bruce Wayne would have learned to dance.
It’s times like these I envy the ninjas: it takes none of them to tango.
Still, my utter klutziness is not something I embrace with grace. A wiser man than I once said:
If I could be anyone in the movies, it would be Gene Kelly. A man ought to be able to dance like that, just in case you’re in a bar and Cyd Charisse walks in. She probably won’t. But she might.
Well, not now she won’t, but the truth at the heart of it remains.
Tatyana »
13 May 2009 · 2:50 pm
Mirror-like, on an odd chance of meeting Gene Kelly or his incarnation, I’d better prepare myself…so I’m coming to Brazilian dance class @ my gym, 8:30 sharp. As for you – youtube Susana Baca, Caras Lindas (if they have it)….
McGehee »
13 May 2009 · 9:32 pm
I can dance.
Um, the Funky Chicken does still count as dancing, right?
fillyjonk »
14 May 2009 · 7:12 am
Lots of men are potentially in luck.
Because just as I find myself distinctly uncomfortable around men who can sing higher than I can (I’m sort of a half-hearted mezzo soprano), who are prettier (in the feminine sense) than I am, I’m also uncomfortable around men who can dance better than I.
And I can barely dance.
I blame the 1980s and their music.
unimpressed »
14 May 2009 · 10:54 am
When I attempt to dance, I’m sure it looks like I’m having a seizure.