The Dance Of Changes - Part 12

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'The Viennese Waltz should be alright, but the Quickstep is going to need some more practice,' I explained.

She asked me what we were planning, and I explained about the famous Astaire Rogers routine from Follow the Fleet, which we watched together on YouTube.

'I doubt whether Alan and I will ever be able to dance as good as that,' I commented.

'Maybe not, but there's no reason why you shouldn't have a reasonable stab at it, all the same.'

'Do you think so?'

'As you know, the steps themselves are fairly straightforward, but, as the name implies, they are performed very fast.'

'Yes, the dancers need to keep their upper bodies upright and stable while their legs are going like mad,' I added.

'I found that the main problem with the Quickstep for the lady dancer is when she has to keep up with her partner without seeming to be struggling to do so,' Mum explained. 'It isn't easy to do this as a woman's stride is shorter than the man's, especially if she's wearing a long dress.'

'So I'm beginning to discover.'

'But there are one or two tricks you can use,' she continued.

She proceeded to demonstrate them to me so that after an hour or so, I felt a lot more confident.

'Would you be willing to come and see our practice tomorrow night and let us know what you think?'

'Yes, of course, I would love to do so, but first, we should discuss the matter of your costumes. What are you planning to wear?' asked Mum.

'I hadn't really thought about it. I was leaving it to Sarah to organize.'

'Ideally, you should wear a fairly traditional ballroom dress with floats for the Viennese Waltz, as they will tend to guide the eye movements of the audience to focus on the dancers and also give a sense of direction.'

(Afloat is a lightweight piece of material sewn at each cuff of long sleeves or on wristbands in the case of sleeveless dresses.)

'I hadn't realized that floats served any practical purpose. I'd always assumed they were purely there for decoration,' I confessed.

Mum rolled her eyes in disbelief. I was beginning to see that there were aspects of ballroom dancing of which I knew very little.

'I've never really thought too much about female dance costumes,' I admitted. 'I always assumed it was up to the lady herself what she chose to wear.'

'Yes, it is, but there are certain basic things that need to be taken into account.'

'Such as?'

'Ballroom dance dresses are not the same as those that you might wear to work or for a social gathering. They need to look good while also allowing for the free movement of arms and legs. That's why they tend to be made of light or stretchy fabrics such as silk, chiffon, Lycra, or Spandex.'

'I suppose that is the reason why the dresses are often long and flowing.'

'Yes, at least those that are designed for traditional ballroom dances, but they mustn't be so long that they hide the feet, which must be visible to the judges at all times. Dresses designed for the Latin dances are usually shorter and tend to be more colorful; they are often designed to show off the dancer's hip action.'

'I may know about dance steps and body posture in ballroom dancing, but I'd never given much thought to the importance of the woman's costume before now.'

'I'm sure that most male dancers feel the same way, but I hope you will now begin to revise your opinion, Michelle, in the light of your recent experience.'

'I'll do my best, but I'm afraid that I only have one ballroom dress available at the moment. Sarah is trying to arrange for me to borrow some others for the last demonstrations in the series.'

'Hmm, and that dress won't be ideal for the Quickstep either; you'll need something a little more colorful and fun to wear,' continued Mum, seemingly talking to herself. 'Maybe I should have a word with Sarah and volunteer my services.'

Thursday at work was also quite busy as Sarah was out for most of the day as she had an outpatient appointment at the hospital. As a result, Helen and I ran the office for most of the day. Alan telephoned at one point to make arrangements for our practice session that evening, and I confirmed that Mum would also be there. He then offered that he and David could collect us from our home and give us a lift to the dance studio. When Rob eventually brought Sarah back into work, she had a shorter plaster cast which allowed her a little more leg movement and enabled her to walk with a stick rather than crutches. She was still going to be out of action for a few weeks, but things had begun to improve. I gave Rob a series of phone messages that I'd taken for him during the course of the day.

'Thanks, Michelle, it seems that business is beginning to pick up again.'

'I hope so.'

'I understand that you will be showing some clients around a property at Houghton tomorrow morning.'

'Yes, it will be my first time, and I'm quite looking forward to it,' I replied.

'Make sure you are well prepared and can answer any of their questions.'

'Yes, I will do my best.'

'How are you getting out to Houghton?'

'I was planning to get a 37 or 38 bus.'

'It would be more sensible for you to take the office car home tonight?' You'll then be able to drive straight over to the house tomorrow without coming in to work first.'

'Yes, please, if I may.'

Fortunately, I had left a pair of flat-heeled shoes in my locker at work after driving in on Tuesday.

As I was getting out of the office car, one of our neighbors (a guy who'd never so much as acknowledged me during the five years that we'd lived at our present house) stopped to wish me a good evening. He had just got out of a large and flashy car (which no doubt served to compensate for other inadequacies on his part).

'You're new to the area, aren't you, sweetheart? I don't remember seeing you before,' he said after I'd briefly acknowledged his initial greeting with a nod.

'Yes, I'm staying with my Aunt for a few weeks,' I replied.

'In that case, I hope to see you around,' he said with a self-satisfied smile.

'Not if I see you first,' I thought to myself as I smiled sweetly in reply but didn't do anything to prolong the conversation in case it might encourage him to ask me out.

It occurred to me that while it might be good fun being a girl for most of the time, I was going to need to learn how to deal with such encounters over the next few weeks. At the same time, though, it was pretty gratifying to be noticed!

As a result of Mum's advice, I had a clearer idea of what was required of me in the Quickstep, and Alan had also been practicing. As a result, we did a much better job for our first run-through than we'd previously done on Tuesday. By our fourth attempt that evening, I was no longer so worried that we'd been overly ambitious in our choice of routine and was beginning to look forward to the next performance.

'That last routine was very good indeed,' said David, applauding as we decided to take a short break. 'You could have the makings of the next 'Fred and Ginger!'

'Not with my present hair coloring,' I replied, laughing.

However, I knew that Mum would not be quite such an easy critic and would undoubtedly have some observations and suggestions to make.

'So what did you think, Mum?' I asked.

'Not too bad! There were a couple of times when you went slightly wrong, so you are going to need some more practice, but you do at least seem to dance like a couple rather than two individuals.

I grinned at Alan, and he smiled back.

'Shall we show them our Viennese Waltz?' I asked Alan.

'OK then.'

The Waltz went without a hitch, and Mum and David expressed themselves satisfied with our performance; it was merely a question of having a practice session with the other couples to ensure that they followed our lead.

'We should be able to do that during the normal club practice session next Tuesday evening,' said Alan.

'Alright, I'll notify everyone concerned,' I replied.

We were about to return to practicing the Quickstep when Mum asked about costume once again.

'What about your shoes, Michelle?' she asked.

'I'll be wearing the ones that I currently have on,' I replied, not sure what she meant.

'Oh.'

'What's wrong with them?' I asked.

'They should be alright for dancing the Waltz, but they're not ideal for the Quickstep. You really need more support over the arch to hold the foot comfortably and securely in the shoe,' she commented.

As far as I was concerned, a lady's dance shoe was a lady's dance shoe, but clearly, there was more to it than that.

'I'm afraid they are the only pair I will have available; Sarah has loaned them to me.'

'Do you still take a size six?'

I nodded.

'In that case, I may have a pair up in the loft that you can use.'

'How about you, Alan, what will you be wearing for the demonstration?'

'These shoes and the tail suit that I wore last time; I am borrowing it from David,' he replied.

She clearly wasn't impressed by that either.

'That suit was too small for you. I could see that from the video.'

'Maybe, but I can't really afford to get myself a new one at present.'

Alan had a job working at the distribution center for a supermarket chain, but I doubted whether he made a lot of spare money, and ballroom dancing can be an expensive business.

'There is a tail suit in my attic, which I feel sure would fit you better,' said Mum, smiling.

'Really?' said Alan.

'Yes, it used to belong to my late husband when we went dancing together. I kept all his dance costumes after he died in case my son ever had need of them, but he took after me and stopped growing too soon for them to be of any use to him,' she said, talking as if her son was no longer present. 'I'm sure it is in good condition, and there are some other male dance costumes as well if you are interested.

'Well, if you're sure, Mrs. Williams, I'd be happy to have a look at them.'

'Of course, you would have to get them down from the loft for me, but you are welcome to try them on.'

'Thank you.'

'There is also a much better pair of shoes for Michelle, with a double strap, in a suitcase in the loft somewhere. Would there any chance that you and your friend could get them down for me sometime soon?'

Alan turned to David, who nodded.

'We could have a look for you this evening if you like when we give you a lift home.'

'Good, at least then we'll know that you'll both be alright for Saturday week.'

An hour and a half later, the two guys had retrieved four large suitcases from our attic and deposited them in our spare bedroom. After quickly looking through a couple of them, Mum found a tail suit, a dinner jacket, a pair of grey trousers, and a couple of fancy shirts she handed to Alan.

'Try these on; if they fit, you are welcome to have them.'

Mum and I left them for a few moments and then were called back. Alan was wearing the tail suit and one of the shirts and looked absolutely wonderful, although I wasn't going to say so, as I didn't want to excite any jealousy on the part of David.

'What do you think, Michelle?' he asked.

'I think it fits you better than the other one,' I said.

'Yes, you look very smart indeed,' added Mum. 'As you are going to be dancing with my daughter, I should like you to have them.'

'Thank you very much. Would you now like us to put the cases back in the loft for you?' replied Alan.

'No, don't bother; for the time being, I have to find that pair of shoes for Michelle to wear, and there may be one or two other costume items in here that she'll be able to use over the next few weeks.'

'In that case, we'll be happy to come back and put them back for you whenever you have had a chance to sort through them.'

'He's a nice-looking guy and a good dancer,' commented Mum after they'd left. 'It is a pity he's spoken for.'

I blushed, not sure how to take her comment. She noticed my embarrassment.

'You have the makings of a good dancer, too, Michelle'

'But only in the female role,' I commented.

'Yes! I'm afraid you never had the physique for a professional male dancer, but you do have elegance and a good sense of rhythm.'

I didn't respond for a while, thinking that maybe she was right.

'Mum, you referred to me as your daughter earlier when you spoke to Alan.'

'Well, I did warn you that you could be my son or my daughter, but not both. Looking the way you do at present, I could hardly refer to you as my son.'

'No, I suppose not.'

Neither of us spoke for a minute or two while we both took in the implications of what had just been said, but then Mum spoke once more.

'I was happy to have a son, but at the same time, I'd always wanted a daughter to be able to help with her dance costumes. Unfortunately, your father and I left it too late to have any more children. That's why I'm so pleased to have you as Michelle for a while. As I said last week, I'm really looking forward to the next few weeks.'

I could see from her expression that she meant it.

'Me too; so far, I'm enjoying being your daughter and looking forward to the next few weeks.

I was able to take my time getting dressed on Friday morning, as I had no need to go into work before showing the elderly couple around the house at Houghton Regis. I, therefore, fixed my hair and makeup on my own and felt that I'd done a pretty good job of it. Mum even commented that I looked like a professional young woman as I was leaving. It was surprising what a difference it made to the way I felt about myself, knowing that I looked so good.

As I drove over towards Houghton Regis, I gave some thought to how I was going to deal with the elderly couple. It seemed as if she was going to be the decision-maker; he would just need a little stroking of his ego and then would go along with whatever she wanted. My sales pitch would have to be aimed at her, but I needed to be careful not to appear too pushy. I would therefore concentrate on those aspects that were likely to be of most interest to her. For example, I would point out that the kitchen was somewhat larger and more conveniently sited than most modern houses in the area. Although the house needed superficial attention, it could be modernized without them spending a great deal of money.

I arrived at the house about fifteen minutes before they were due to arrive so that I could have a preliminary look round and work out what I was going to say to them. I knew that the house was within their budget and was fairly close to their married daughter (which was their main reason for deciding to move). I also knew that they wouldn't be able to afford a lot more. On the other hand, the house was a little scruffy and run down, although it had potential, and its condition was reflected in the asking price.

'Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, thank you for coming, and it's nice to see you again,' I said as I opened the door to them.

(The first rule in showing someone around a house is to appear cheerful and welcoming when they arrive.)

'Hello, young lady, we weren't expecting to see you this morning,' she replied.

'I know, but my bosses have let me out of the office as a special treat today as I have been a good girl all week. Now please come in, and I'll show you around, and please call me Michelle.'

I began my tour of the house, letting them enter each room first: that way, they get more of an impression of spaciousness. I did my best to be positive but also to be open and honest in answering their questions or responding to their observations. I did not seek to hide any of the faults and didn't contradict when they pointed out the disadvantages. Yet, at the same time, I tried to get them to focus on the advantages it had to offer. My strategy and preparations seemed to work, and within half an hour, I felt that I had developed a rapport with the couple. Eventually, after about an hour of looking around the house, followed by a brief discussion outside, I felt that I'd done everything I could.

'If you have no more questions, and there is nothing that you would like to see again, I'll leave you to consider whether or not it was what you are looking for,' I said smiling.

'Yes, thank you, dear, we may be interested, but there is so much to take into account,' she said.

'Well, take your time, I'm not pressing you for a decision,' but it would be nice to know one way or another.'

'Yes, of course, we'll let your office know next week, but we do both appreciate the way you have shown us around and answered all our questions.'

I smiled and took my leave with them, still looking at the front garden, discussing what might be done with it. As I drove back to the office, I went through how things had gone in my mind. I felt reasonably satisfied with my performance. I quite enjoyed the work and, with a little more experience, I could do it well.

I arrived back at the office just before lunchtime, and as soon as I'd taken off my coat, changed my shoes, and refreshed my makeup, Sarah asked to have a quick word with me in the back office.