When I Heaved Away

On my mind this morning is line dancing and how much fun we had dancing when we first moved here in '05. We danced weekly for almost three years until we started babysitting full time and ran out of energy at night. It was also about that time that my ankle began to wear out, making the steps problematic.

Being brought up as a strict Pentecostal I had never really danced in any form, so it was all new to me. It took me a long time to get the hang of it. Even the very simple Electric Slide (our first dance) gave me fits, but I went over it and over it on my own and finally got it.

Thanks goodness I had the ability to break down the instructions on my own and drill the steps in my own good time. Most of the folk found it too difficult to follow the written instructions, but I found it almost easier as I could break the dance down in bits that made sense to me.

The video below appears to be the version we did albeit to a different song. Our song was Rock My World Little Country Girl by Brooks and Dunn. I think it was recently hearing another Brooks and Dunn song that began my wistful reminiscing.

Although line dancing was very foreign to me, and it took me a long time to master the first few routines, I did get better at it and, as time went on, was able to learn even more complex dances faster and easier.

I suppose I consider Heave Away (below) to be our ultimate achievement. Perhaps partly because of the Celtic vibe but also because the steps look complex and interesting, I loved it when I first saw it done. It was only performed by the more adept members of the group after the formal part of the evening was over and most had gone home. Sue and I were in no hurry to leave and would stay and watch the experts strut their stuff.

Being a difficult dance, Heave Away was deemed too difficult to be done or taught in the regular group, but Sue and I got ahold of both the steps and music and taught it to ourselves. Then we were able to join the elites in the afterglow (as it were).

Although the steps are the same, these ladies are working in tight quarters, so I think our movements were more expansive and perhaps exuberant. We certainly had fun to put it mildly.

Line dancing took place at the local Army and Navy Club where I also got my feet wet at normal couples dancing. I began to manage the waltz and the two-step, but these events stopped after a few months, so I never did get too proficient.

But line dancing went on a for a few years and was a load of fun. Learning to move my body to the music like that was a new and most enjoyable experience, especially within a group setting. There's something about doing the same moves to the same beat within a group.