I’ve moved up to Beginner Level 2 in line dance classes this winter. The dances are still reasonably simple, but they come at you much faster.

I’m no longer one of the best in the class, since other people are repeating this level. On the other hand, that means it’s sometimes possible to follow other people in the class, something that was almost never true in Beginner Level 1.

I’m managing, though. I’m sometimes surprised by my ability to pick up and remember the steps reasonably quickly. I think my brain is getting trained on what it needs to do. Paradoxically, I also think the slightly more complex steps are sometimes helpful also, as it feels like a more logical sequence of dance steps than when just doing a bunch of basic steps.

Last night, I went out to my first social line dance event. It was not associated with my classes at all. They do hold events, but I’ve heard that they’re not especially beginner friendly. This event was.

I have to give kudos to my two friends and my one husband for agreeing to come along with me. The two friends had never really line danced before (though they had done ballroom and Latin dancing), something I only learned when we arrived. My husband had only line danced enough previously to know that he didn’t really like line dancing. Furthermore…

• While inclusive, this was a queer line dance club. (Meaning, they wouldn’t kick you out for being straight, but it was an event aimed at the LGBTQIA2S+ community.)
• The participants tended to skew younger than we are.
• It was mask mandatory.

Even I was kind of daunted by those facts, but we were all attracted by the theme, which was Frozen in Time: 70s party. Disco classics and Dad rock! So we agreed to give it a whirl.

I didn’t know how these events went—and maybe it varies—but at this one, it started with a demo of a fairly advanced line dance by the two organizers. This was then followed by a series of “learn the line dance” / “do the line dance” sessions, with breaks at appropriate intervals. Their assessment of the crowd at this particular session led them to back away from the original plan of teaching anything too advanced, though there was still one slightly more complicated dance included. It was a two-hour duration.

The music really was terrific. “Sheena is a Punk Rocker” by The Ramones, “Cherry Bomb” by The Runaways, “Bad Girls” by Donna Summer, “The Hustle”, and so on.

None of the dances were ones I had learned in class, unsurprisingly, but the brain training from the classes was definitely helpful. One of my friends, in particular, seemed to be a bit of a natural at this. The other did OK, with a bit more effort. While Jean found it a struggle, for sure. He can dance, but he definitely prefers dance improvisation! Though he got pretty good at faking the steps.

I wish I had taken a picture of my outfit. I dug out my royal blue, slightly sparkly, flared leg pantsuit, and did some fine smokey eye makeup above my bedazzled (mask chain) black mask. And wore it with my new black dance sneakers (I just recently learned that dance sneakers are a thing). I was pretty pleased with the effect. But I can’t prove any of it!

(There was a photographer there. Let’s see if something shows up on Instagram. In the meantime, here’s a link to one of the dances we learned, filmed a couple weeks prior to the event: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTnzxrEgHQm/).

As for the original concerns, well, it didn’t seem that weird being the straights among the queers, since everyone was dancing on their own anyway, in the end. And, it didn’t skew quite as young as I thought it would. And, it’s just not awkward to be in a mask when everyone is in a mask. (I also practice weekly as the lone masker in my line dance class, so this was a breeze.)

I had fun. A lot of fun. My friends also had enough fun that they texted me right after that they would go again, as long as it’s another “good music” theme night. Jean is… less sold on the whole thing. But he did enjoy watching me in my outfit!