School of Social Dancing 2008-09

A couple of years ago when my nephew was in 7th grade, my sister signed him up for a class that sounded SO cool. She told us about it after it was all over. I could've sworn she told me that they learned ballroom dancing, table etiquette (which fork to use!) and a few other things. I mean...what 12/13 yr old boy couldn't use a class like that? I loved the idea! She gave me the info about who teaches the class & I tucked it away in my mind thinking that it would be great to see Savannah take this same class when she reached the right age. Last summer, my sister called & said "if you want to sign her up, this is the week to do it!". I made the phone call & added her name to the list & then waited.

As it turns out, the lady who teaches the class is an ex-teacher at the school where I work. She still subs for us from time to time. Last spring, I had the chance to talk to her about the class & get a little more info. As it turns out, she doesn't teach the table etiquette end of things like I thought, but she does teach social etiquette. Dancing is the biggest portion of the class. Although it wasn't quite what I thought it would be, we signed Savannah up and I'm so glad we did. Funny thing... I know we would've never convinced her to go if my niece wasn't also going (the little sister to my nephew who went a couple of years ago).

And so, last Fall, right after football season, the classes began. Every Friday night for an hour, 7th graders from all over our area have met for a social dance class. They learned how to waltz & cha cha & do the fox trot. They learned a few line dances. They learned how to 2-step and they learned some other dances that I can't remember the names of. But more importantly, they learned how to be around boys/girls without acting like typical 7th graders. I realize taking this class doesn't negate the fact that they're still 12 & 13 year olds, but it sure helps because now they have a standard to operate by.

Each time they had a class, they began by sitting in chairs in a big circle & the boys had to approach a girl & ask her to dance. The rule was that you can't turn anyone down. The reason for this is because if you didn't do it, sooner or later some little boyfriend/girlfriend or boy/girl buddies would pal up & never dance with anyone else. The teacher wanted all of the kids to dance with everyone at some point. Throughout each dance, she would call out that it was time to switch & one boy would start the chain of cutting in on another couple. That boy would then go cut in on another couple & so on til everyone had a new dance partner. At the end of the night, the boys had to link arms with the girls & walk them to their car, open the door for them, greet the parents & say goodnight politely before they could walk away. The whole idea of the class is to teach the boys & girls how to behave around each other in a social situation before they reach a dating age.

Although Savannah still finished up the year feeling pretty ambivalent about boys in general, at least she finally reached a point that she'd dance with them without gagging & acting like we'd asked her to eat dirt.

Tonight was the final class, only this was done a little more "special" than the rest of the year's classes. It was at a local hall that is commonly rented to hold proms & weddings. The kids did the same thing they've been doing in class all year, but this time the parents were invited to come watch the 'show'. At the end of the night, there was a Mother/Son & a Father/Daughter dance. So sweet! Here are a few pictures I took tonight.