extras: the dance

"So, you want to learn how to dance, really dance, not that disconnected, spazzy gyrating that you could do alone at a bar and no one would notice.  I'm talking about BALLROOM dancing." She waved her hand in the direction of the street-front windows where the lurid purple neon sign burned night and day.

"We have a man and a woman, moving together to music." She walked inside the circle as she talked, looking each couple over, seeing who was going to be the most work. "There's the beat, and the melody, of course. Then muscles, bones, and skin...touching! And the desire to make it all work smoothly. If it sounds a little like sex, well, there's no denying it, which is why we keep our clothes on." 

Everyone chuckles or blushes to one extent or another and they relax a little. Jack and Paco study their feet to keep straight faces. If they giggled, Connie would ream them out for it later. Giggling was for girls. They were supposed to be men. Jack was fourteen and Paco sixteen. 

"The agreement between partners begins in the first few seconds, the moment you make contact and send and receive the signals - who will lead, and who will follow. Oh, it's not always the man, even if he thinks he's leading, am I right, ladies?" The women smile and the men look bewildered. "Once you and your partner reach a certain level of familiarity and then skill, neither will be able to tell who is in charge and that is how it should be. The give and take, so subtle, so smooth, the dance could go on forever. That's what we are reaching for here, past the mechanics to the pleasure of moving together to the music." 

    Connie paused and finally took a breath. "Enough blah, blah. Jack, cue the tape. Paco, front and center." She snapped her fingers, and her men sprang into action.