The Dancers

Once upon a time, there were two dancers. One danced with abandon and the other swirled inside but move cautiously around the dance floor when she dared to venture there. Fate had the two meet and the whirling dervish answered questions of the quiet one as she probed about where he learned to dance.

He fox-trotted alone for her to see while she asked.

“Did you have lessons?”

He told of the few lessons and sang of how much he learned from knowing partners and dances attended then and savored now. The feet moved sweetly and surely as he shared for the movement honored those sweet partners now dancing elsewhere.

“Did you have formal instruction? Arthur Murray? Those type places?”

The dancer smiled and said he had attended a few Arthur Murray sessions with others and enjoyed the evening but learned better in dance halls rather than class rooms. He switched to the waltz as music he heard and she began to sense played for them.

She asked more questions and shared about her dancing and how much she had loved it. She was cautious though for one thing she used to loved, to dip, now seemed almost undoable. The muscles for the dip seemed to have lost form and function and this made her wonder if she was still a dancer.

He smiled and said, “Dance without dipping. Who cares? Just enjoy the dance.”

They talked and shared and spoke of dancing, dancing around as they wondered if they would dance together someday soon.

After a while, she asked him. “Will you teach me to dance?”

He moved to her and took her hand in his. She rose and followed him to the dance floor. She stopped just prior to stepping onto the floor. “I am afraid I can not dip. What if I can’t dip anymore?” Her eyes were downcast as she added, “You dance differently than I do and I will likely slow you down.”

He stepped onto the floor and opened his arms. She stepped into him.

“I lead. You follow.”

She did as he said and they danced. Their movements were slow at first as they felt the energy of the other and learned to sway in unison. Soon, they danced around the floor like two kids. She felt the beauty of the dance once more.

In the days ahead, she heard the music as she worked and when she drove to places and did the things that were her life. Alone but not alone anymore. The dancer and the Teacher was in her head and her ears as well as her heart. The very feel of her heartbeat made her bolder.

She arranged outings so others could see them dance. The first one just a small function with some new friends with a second to follow a week later….the day before a private dance so others could see the two move across their own floor.

The first function was wonderful. The two waltzed around while others drank coffee and talked. Both enjoyed the movement as well as the reserved audience. Then they went to a private room and danced with abandon. There was Rock and lots of Roll. The two twisted and jitterbugged like they had been partnered for decades instead of just days. The clock turned midnight and they danced into the day. Loving the dance until they fell into each others’ arms and slept….spent and joyous.

The next day dawned and he still whirled inside, savoring the sweetness of the night before and the days ahead. She smiled but moved to the edge of the dance floor and stood. He danced slowly around her and waited to see if she would rejoin him on the floor.

“I never really dipped last night. Why?”

He smiled and said, “Maybe you will dip next time. Goodness though, you jitterbugged like a pro, girl.” He twirled and smiled to the Cosmos.

She asked again about the dip and lack of the dip but stopped asking for he was dancing in wait on the floor.

“We didn’t tango last night.”

He smiled as he danced slowly by himself, “Yeppers. You are right about that.”

“Why didn’t you tango with me?”

He danced and talked of the Twist and the Lindy they had mastered.

She re-worded but repeated the question. “I need you to explain why you did not tango with me.”

He danced quietly and waited for her to remember the moves and seek to learn new ones.

She continued. “You did not answer me. You did not tango with me. That makes me wonder if I am a dancer. That makes me wonder why you would not care to tango with me. That makes me wonder if you really want to dance with me at all. That makes me really wonder.”

His silence angered her. His smile of joy frustrated her. His continued dancing inside of himself made her want him to stop and talk about the tango and explain.

He did not. She headed off to be by herself, wondering why she had danced with him in the first place. She wanted to tango. The Tango is the dance. The Tango is the proof that you can dance. She needed time to think and she took it.

He let her. Dancing around the floor, hoping she would dance again soon. She was such a good dancer. He thought of her and whirled anew. One-Two-Three. One-Two-Three.