2020-01-28 - Dance Dance

After signing in for their lesson, Katy happily leads Jonathan into the assigned studio to wait for their instructor. Wearing grey yoga pants and a black leotard, a throwback to her younger years, she was ready to go. She had even purchased the two different types of shoes, the closed toe standard and the open toe Latin heel and brought them both.

Doing her stretches on the studio floor, she looks up at Jonathan and asks, “Nervous?”

"Mostly nervous about stepping on your toes, or ending up tripping us both up," Jonathan replies, with a bit of a smile, before he adds, "The rest of it, I should be able to handle, I think."

“You’ll do great, sweetie,” Katy says while standing to face him, “It’s nice to see you smiling again. I was worried about you for a while.” She gives him a quick kiss.

"How could I not be smiling when I see how happy you are to be here?" Jonathan replies, before the kiss. "You look fantastic," he adds.

Katy gives Jonathan a hug and says, “I really appreciate you trying this out with me.” She smiles and adds, “There’s no one else I would rather do this with.”

Jonathan smiles, hugging her in return. "I'm very glad to hear that," he replies to the part of there being no one else he would rather do this with. "And there's nobody else that would manage to get me to try this, you know."

Before Katy could answer Jonathan, the sound of high heels hitting the floor interrupts them and a blonde slender walks into the studio with a smile. “Hey, I’m Chelsea, I’m the instructor that’s been assigned to you.”

Katy smiles and says, “I’m Katy.” The two women shake hands.

Turning to look to the instructor as she enters, Jonathan offers her a smile and a nod, as well as the handshake. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Chelsea," he offers. "You got the challenging task, it would seem." It's offered a bit lightly.

“I’m no stranger to challenges, I assure you,” Chelsea says to Jonathan with a smile, “You don’t become a five time national champion without a few challenges along the way.” There is a pause. “I think I am going to start you slowly.”

And Chelsea instructs Jonathan where to put his hands to hold Katy properly with the proper posture.

“You look good,” Katy whispers to Jonathan.

"Five time national champion? That's impressive," Jonathan replies, seeming a bit more relaxed as the instructions commence, moving to place the hands where they are supposed to be. He smiles as he hears Katy's words. "While you look great," he replies to her, also whispering.

“Now that you know where your hands are supposed to be, I’m going to teach you the key components of learning a dance. I’ve taught plenty of different types of beginners and I know that once they understand the rhythm or the heartbeat of the dance, the rest of it comes easier...”

A song comes on and it’s a nice slow piece. Chelsea starts counting out a three count. Then she turns the music off.

“You step forward, while she steps back on one, guide her to your right on two, and step back on three,” she instructs Jonathan, “A simple box step. Just count it out, no music.”

Katy smiles and says, “You got this.”

Jonathan nods as he hears that. "The rhyhm of the dance. Got it..." There's a moment of pause as he listens to the instructions, before he grins to Katy. "No. We got this," he replies, before he nods at Chelsea's words again. "Box step. Got it."

It’s a little awkward but as Chelsea counts, the pair practice the box step. “It’s going to look and feel a bit awkward as I’m teaching you basic figures but eventually, I’ll help you put it all together into a recognizable waltz. Right now, my job is to teach you foundational basics.”

Katy nods after a few repetitions of the box step and Chelsea’s little talk. “I can’t wait to learn,” she says with an excited smile.

Moving a bit more relaxed as they practice the box step, Jonathan offers a grin to both the ldies, before he is unable to hold back a chuckle. "Learning something useful often can be a bit awkward. It's just the way things are," he offers, with a smile.

“The last guy I dragged to a class didn’t really think it was all that useful,” Katy quips.

“Now this is the way I like to train my students to get used to the rhythm of the waltz, and I want you guys to try it to the music before we really get to the core of the technique.”

Chelsea turns on the music again, for them to dance to.

There's a grin offered at Katy's words, before Jonathan nods again at what Chelsea says. "Yes coach," he replies. The words might have come out without him really knowing it, but there's also a grin offered. Looking back to Katy, he offers her a grin. "Shall we?"

Before she knows it, Katy is instinctively following Jonathan’s lead, her body being led to do the move as she quietly keeps count for both their benefits. It’s not something she’s used to, dancing with a partner, but with Jonathan, following seems natural.

Similarily, while he's never been much of a dancer of any kind himself, Jonathan finds dancing with Katy quite natural. That doesn't mean he won't have to concentrate on not placing his feet on her toes, but somehow he manages well so far.

“It’s not so bad, is it?” Katy whispers as they move along.

"Feels quite good so far," Jonathan replies, with another mile.