Little Bit Country

A Little Bit Country…

Yes, this is the same person who, when attending a conference in Nashville was begging to be airlifted out of that godforsaken city. Yes, the same person who hates Nascar. Yes, the same person who would rather get her hand caught in a freezer than listen to Rascal Flatts.

BUT. Last night I found myself in South Amboy, NJ on a deserted strip of Route 35 just south of Delilah’s Den (hmmm) walking into a place that has country line dancing every Thursday night. Now, my friend Cl, who is being adventurous these days, has been going there for the lessons and then staying to dance afterward. So, she agreed to meet me there to help me out of my comfort zone. I walk in and there is a guy wearing a Mets shirt and a big black cowboy hat. He collects my money for the lesson while mumbling something about watching the Mets win tonight on the big screen. (Which they didn’t, ha ha). So….there is this huge room with a bar and lots of people out there dancing with themselves, each other, whatever. I have no idea what they are doing and there are a lot of steps and turns, and I know in my heart there will be many times during the night when the entire room will be facing one way and I will be facing the other. But it felt friendly and fun.

Cl started teaching me a dance called “Sex on the Beach”. Enough said. I did my best to keep up but once I thought I learned it, another dance started. It seems there is a different dance for every song they play. The Crowd. Very, very mixed from a group of Asian ladies who kept clunking into me, to genuine cute cowboys with hats, to older ladies with sweatshirts that had photos of their pets on them. But everyone, and I must stress this, was very friendly, non-judgmental, and welcoming.

Now for the lesson. The DJ (or do we call it something else in country, like LBJ) and his partner do the dance once so we can see what it should look like and then they break it down. Aside from the damn turns, it was easy to pick up and by the time we all danced it, it was a rush. No, I don’t like the music so much, but was grateful for ones that weren’t at warp speed. They did a dance at the end of the lesson that was Latin in flavor and looked great and I want to learn that one. There are also partner dances, and Cl said I should learn those in case someone asks me to dance. That almost had me bolting for the door, but I remembered to just breathe….it’s just a dance (thank you shrinkologist).

I had a wonderful time and broke a sweat as well (no, not about thinking about dancing with a guy) but from jumping around. I will definitely be back next week for more. After all, the ones in the white hats are supposed to be the good guys, right?