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Dance with the Dancers
It contributes greatly towards a man's moral and intellectual health, to be brought into habits of companionship with individuals unlike himself, who care little for his pursuits, and whose sphere and abilities he must go out of himself to appreciate.
-- Nathaniel Hawthorne
Wednesday, December 3, 1997
When I arrived at the Century Ballroom tonight for beginning swing class, Marilee (one of the teachers) asked me what we had learned two weeks before. They don't really have a planned curriculum, I guess! I tried to recollect as best I could. Or were they asking me what was covered in the previous six-week session? In intermediate swing they tried to teach us one of the most elaborate combinations of moves I've ever seen, let alone dance! I really think we need more practice on some of the things that have been introduced to us in the past few weeks. "Walter's Move", the pull ahead, the Aberdeen, the push turn. The name of the new combo may turn out to be "Finger Lickin' Good," because we were facing the Kentucky Fried Chicken while we were trying to learn it!
Kate, Glenn and Denys came to the dance after class, and Jon Newman stayed as well. I was very pleased! It's more fun, the more people I have to dance and chat with. Denys couldn't believe that Jon and I had already been dancing for three hours, but class is really less strenuous than a dance. When we are learning new, complicated steps, we are walking through them at a slow tempo more than we are dancing full out.
The rest of us were impressed with Jon's social initiative; he asked women to dance that he didn't know! This is one of the purposes of going to a public dance, but it still isn't easy!
Once again there was a lindy lesson at the intermission time. The drilling on the Charleston is very helpful, and tonight we got a variation where the partners kick to the front, then turn around and kick to the other side. Complicated to look at, but I think I'm ninety percent there.
While we were chatting at the table, Jon asked the age-old question, "What does it mean to be 'fannish'?" We explained that science fiction fans from way back formed a social and correspondence network. They wrote to each other, met, became friends, worked on projects, had parties, got married, had feuds, made peace. This continues even if they don't always talk about science fiction. (It's like online communications, huh?) The interest in SF is like a marker, but there are even fans who have no interest in SF at all. They are called "fake fans."
I got another chance to explain (to Denys) my theory of how the online journal world resembles fanzine fandom. There are some real life connections, too! Lucy, Grinder, and Michael Rawdon are all journalers who are or have been active fans.
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