So I Think You Can't Dance

Story Submitted by Brenda:

Eric had "dancing" on his online profile.  I love salsa and swing, and I told him so, then asked him to what type of dancing he had referred.

"Salsa and swing," he replied.

Perfect.  I had a great idea for a first date.  A dance place had been open for a couple of months in town, and I had tried it once and had a blast.  I asked him if he wanted to do dinner and a dance, and he agreed to it.

Eric had moved to the area from across the country, and at dinner, he told me how he was the best dancer in his hometown.

"I gave lessons," he said, "People came in from all over the state, and neighboring states, too."

I was impressed, and also intimidated.  What if he thought I was a lousy dancer?

We made it to the dance studio, and I steeled myself to be swept off my feet.  What if I missed a step?  What if my rhythm was off?  What if he got tired of my intermediate-at-best skills?

When he took me in his arms and we began to salsa, for the first minute, I was confused.  His steps were completely alien to me.  I struggled to keep up, thinking that I was way, way off.

Then, it dawned on me.

He couldn't dance.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.  "We're supposed to be doing salsa."

"Oh," he said, and then switched up his first incorrect steps to a different set of incorrect steps.  I don't know what he was doing, but it definitely wasn't salsa.

I stepped away and gave him some instruction, careful to save him as much face as possible.  He repeated the moves I had showed him, but repeated and repeated them, as if he didn't know anything else.

"I was never really all that good at salsa," he confessed after several minutes.

I said, "But you said that you had taught it."

"Well yeah, to five and six year olds in an after-school program."

Thankfully for me, we switched partners every few minutes, but he was by and large the worst dancer there, all over the floor, spinning people non-stop... I felt really bad and after a few switches, matched myself up with him again and asked him if he wanted to do something else.

He said that he was fine dancing, and then he went over to the water cooler and leaned against the wall, watching everyone else.

I danced with another fellow, then went up to Eric and told him that I was feeling tired and ready to go.  He seemed surprised, and instead of taking the hint, he walked off and danced with another woman for one more dance, then came back to me.

He said, "Okay.  I'm ready to go."

We both went home and that was it.  I have no idea what his game was, and at this point, I don't care.