Last Friday I went along with some of my new friends from the dormitory to a "Boogie Woogie" dance class. Now anyone who knows me know that coordination when dancing is not my strong point. However well I can play hockey, play piano & do other tasks requiring coordination, when it comes to dancing, it's a whole different kettle of fish!
The building the class was held at wasn't far from us and we all trotted off. From the outside it looked pretty dodgy, well, most buildings in Russia look extremely dodgy from the outside and rundown, but they're modern inside! We ventured inside, climbed 4 flights of stairs and were greeted by a friendly face once we reached the dance studio! A quick change of jumpers & coats and mumbles from the boys about appropriate shoes/clothes.
We decided, the 3 girls, to wear dresses and skirts so that we could dance and look pretty too! Only problem was that this wasn't a regular dance class. Our leader was an ex ballerina from the Bolshoi Theatre! His class involved a gymnastic warm-up before dancing began. This meant we had to sit, giggle and watch everyone else - we weren't about to flash our knickers to any unsuspecting Russians!
The boys had all decided to wear shirts and chinos with sneakers or deck shoes. So they weren't suitably attired either and looked lovely sweating all down the front & back of their nice shirts!
The dancing was interesting but the music was fun. We learnt some basic steps as well as the double step. Then we partnered up and practiced spins and dancing the double step as a couple. Only awkwardness was when we switched partners round the room and ending up with a subdued, non english speaking Russian who held me rather feebly!
Obviously the class was in Russian but one of the studio dancers stood near us and helped us a little with some of the translation. It's pretty easy to take a dance class in a foreign language because you just have to follow the instructor and commands like sit down, stand up are easy to grasp after a few barks! I'm debating whether to return or not. It was a fun evening, followed by a few drinks in a nearby pub, but I don't know if I can cope with the coordination and things. I do get rather frustrated if I can't get something right first time, something about being a perfectionist Wycombe Abbey girl......sigh. Watch this space though! 
