Tango Angst

I’ve had my nose to the grindstone all day, throwing off a shower of pixels as I toil away on a website for which I underestimated the required time by a factor of three, and for which I will not be able to triple my fee. But I really can’t worry about that right now as I’m more concerned about nailing a fancy new tango step.

OK. In my wildest dreams, I never thought I’d write a sentence like that.

Tonight’s the monthly soiree for the Ballroom Dance Society, and this will be our third time to appear on a public dance floor. The first time was a disaster, the second time was — amazingly — much better and much more fun, but I’m afraid we’ve set unrealistic expectations about how much we can improve upon our previous appearance. Plus, we may be getting cocky.

Case in point. A few weeks ago, at the regular Saturday night class, our instructor showed us a new series of tango moves which, if mastered, comes close to looking like something you might see performed by someone who actually knows what they’re doing. We got the first part of the series, but had trouble assimilating how to wind it all up. In the intervening classes, we haven’t had a chance to get a refresher, and so out of desperation (and cockiness) we’ve created our own version of what we think might have been the proper steps. All we’re really sure of, however, is that IF we execute them properly, we end up on the right beat and the right feet…but whether our improvisation will bring down the Latin wrath of the Tango Police on our pointy heads remains to be seen.

It will also be interesting to see if we even have the nerve to attempt the steps tonight. I’m giving it a 50/50 shot, and since it’s my call (since I’m supposed to do the leading), that’s not really a vote of confidence.

I wonder if Fred and Ginger ever worried about stuff like this?

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