A Line Dance Class

Last night, I taught my mom's friends to line dance.

Let me back up: My mom, her three closest friends, and all four of their husbands get together once a month for a "dinner group". They each take turns hosting. My mom's been planning the July party for a good three months, and decided to go with a Western theme. She had my dad and my brother find the old bebe gun and drink soda so they'd have cans to shoot, she pulled the rocking horse out of storage so they could take turns lassoing it, and spent quite a bit of time creating a quiz on cowboy terms and pop-culture cowboys and sidekicks. She even bought bandanas for everyone.

She asked me two months ago if I would be willing to teach her friends to line dance. I said "No." She kept asking every couple of weeks, but I really, really didn't want to do it. For one thing, I can only ever remember one line dance (the Boot Scootin' Boogie), for another I don't like being in front of an audience when I don't have a script I've been rehearsing for two months. I haven't taught a class like that in about 10 years and I was afraid Mom's friends would think it was lame, and by extension that I am lame.

Last Saturday, Mom asked what she'd have to promise me to get me to do it. I felt more than a little bratty at that point. Apparently it meant enough to her to try to bribe me, and goodness knows I've made her do plenty of things she didn't necessarily want to, so I said "Okay". I just asked her to make sure she had the music. If I asked for something else, I don't remember what it was.

I admit, I really enjoyed telling people on Sunday that I was teaching my parents' friends to line dance Monday night. You just can't make something that bizarre up!

So last night I hung around the house out of the way so as not to disturb the party, and secretly hoped that they'd decide not to do the dancing after all. They'd eaten barbecue and apple pie, so maybe they'd feel too full. I held onto that hope until 9:30 when Mom came to tell me they were ready.

Actually, I was surprised at how willing everyone was to give it a try! Even the men who normally don't go for that sort of thing got into it. They were all quite good, too. I was proud of them. I taught them the steps for the Boot Scootin' Boogie, and then we danced through the whole song. Mom even insisted I teach them how to dance with a little swagger. I am not going to pretend I am the coolest line dancer in any group, so that was a little humbling for me. Once we actually started the music and turning around at the end of the segment, I had a tough time trying to get around everyone so I could always be visible in the front. I had quite a workout, but I managed! They probably didn't even need me to do that, but I think it helped them to relax anyway. I wish I had a video or pictures, but I know they never would have had so much fun if they knew someone was actually watching them.

There you go. That's what I did Monday night. Mom's party was a success, and I have fantastic leftovers for lunch today. What more can a person ask for?

Oh yeah, not to have to do it again. At least, not anytime soon...