3809/2801: Introduction to Dance

2801
Introduction to Dance

Drafts

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(I'm not sure whether Permian High had a cheer dance team at this point in time. Panther Paws (which is, I'm sure, an intentional pun on the dance term pas, French for "step") was much later. The guy Rick is primarily based on would not have let himself be talked into this. And I didn't start studying modern dance until I was 21. Again, Joe is not me. This is very much pure invention -- based somewhat on my dance classes in college.) 

Cyndy and Hec met us on the way to the field where the cheer dance team was gathering.  Hec raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw Rick with me.

"What?" Rick mugged. "If Joe can do this, so can I."

"I wasn't saying anything." Hec grinned and they raised hands and slapped palms about mid-five.

I raised the back of my fist in solidarity, and the three of us traded bumps.

We hesitated on the field as we approached the group of girls talking, stretching, and warming up. Some of the girls, I recognized from Hood. I also recognized two girls from church, Maralea and Becca, from the other congregation (the ward I didn't attend), and I raised a hand in greeting, to which they both nodded and continued stretching. 

"The enemy," Hec intoned just loud enough for the three of us to hear -- not quite low enough for Cyndy and Sapphire not to hear.

Cyndy and Sapphire both gave him a dirty look.

"Joking. Joking."

Rick and I chuckled, then straightened our faces when they turned their glares on us. 

"Hmmph." Cyndy grumbled. Then she called out, "Girls, look what the cats dragged in."

And the three of us guys had a few moments of fame -- welcomes, giggles, and even whistles -- until their coach joined us. 

Well, Rick got most of the attention. Hec and I didn't seem to be as interesting.

Maralea and Becca didn't join in the fuss, just kept stretching.

Cyndy introduced us to the coach. 

"Ms. Michaels. This is Joe, and this is Joe's friend, Rick."

"Great! I've been waiting two years for you to join us, Hec. Joe, I've heard good things about you. Rick, is it? Glad you're interested. Welcome! We can use some muscle."

Rick grinned wryly. "They twisted my arm, forced me to tag along."

"We did not!" Cyndy exclaimed. 

Sapphire smirked. "Maybe a little."

Rick laughed. 

Ms. Michaels joined the laughter. "Well, glad you let yourself be persuaded. And you guys are already trained dancers, right? Just kidding. We'll get you up to speed quickly." Then she turned serious. "Some parts of our dance training gets a little physical. If it gets too personal, just say so." 

"Personal?" Rick questioned.

"Cyndy and I will make sure they're okay," Sapphire said. 

"Good." 

But Rick was still looking a bit doubtful. 

Sapphire called out, "Crews!" and the girls separated into three groups. 

"Hec, you're coming with me!" 

Hec followed Cyndy to her group.

Sapphire turned to me. "Joey, I think Rick needs my help more than you do today. You remember Tussa?"

"Uh, yeah?"

She tilted her head. "One of the many girls you've had a crush on, right?" And she poked me in the ribs.

Tussa, who had taken the lead of the third group, was one of the girls I had recognized from Hood.

"She's cute sometimes, but she can be a little pushy." 

Sapphire smirked. 

"Hey Tussa," she called out. "You think you can take this big lug under your wing today?"

Tussa turned around. "Which one, Joe or Rick?"

"Joe, of course." 

She gave Sapphire a raised eyebrow. "You trust me with him?" Then she gave me a sly grin. "Hi, Joe."

"Uh, hi, Tussa." 

"I don't want Rick to think he's in too deep." 

"And you think I'd turn the heat up on him?" She smirked. "You're probably right."

Rick coughed. 

"I think I can help. Come into my parlor, Joe." 

I turned back to Sapphire a little doubtfully, and she pulled the corners of her mouth into a tight-but-flat grin that was somehow encouraging. "You'll be okay," she mouthed. 

I took a breath and said, "Okay, ..." and turned to go to Tussa's group. 

"Take good care of my baby," Sapphire called out behind me.

I looked back and mouthed, "Baby?" She just crinkled her nose up again and grinned some more in reply.

"Get on over here, Joe. I'll take real good care of you."

Sapphire gave me a swat on the backside. 

I didn't know they were called glutes yet, but I tucked them and moved. 

"I'm going. I'm going."

"Sapph! PDA!" Ms. Michaels chastised, laughing.

There was general laughter as I joined Tussa's group. Sapphire gave me one more encouraging grin for good measure before turning to lead her group and help Rick.

"We start by stretching whatever needs to be stretched," Tussa explained to me. "Easy stretches only, don't want to tear anything.

"Yeaaokay." I stood puzzling for a few moments, looking around and trying to make sense of what the girls were doing.

Tussa prompted me. "Try this." And she demonstrated. "Right foot in front, let your left knee bend, keep your torso up, and feel some stretch in your hamstrings."

"Hamstrings?"

She patted the back of my left thigh.

"Uhm, yeah, I guess I'm feeling some stretch there."

I looked over and saw Sapphire going through something similar with Rick, except she didn't pat the back of his leg quite as much.

"Focus."

"Right." I looked back at my feet.

"Now flex your forward foot."

I lifted my right forefoot.

"Not too much. You should feel some stretch in your Achilles and your calf, here, and here." She patted my leg and ankle to show me where, leaving her hand on the back of my ankle. "How much can you flex before it hurts?"

I flexed my foot a little farther. "Doesn't exactly hurt, but that seems to be all it bends."

"Good. That's what you're supposed to be feeling. Now try the other foot."

I switched legs and gave the other set of hamstrings a try.

"Okay, stretching here?" She ran her hand up the back of my right thigh.

"Yeah, I guess." 

"Flex it."

I did. 

"But not too fast."

I put my left forefoot back down and flexed again, a little slower, and she checked my muscles again.

"Good. Now try this."

She sat on the ground with her right leg stretched out and her left foot tucked in front, not under, her hips. "This is the modified hurdle."

I followed her.

"Bend your body over the bent knee, but keep your back straight as far as you can. Don't go too far. Good. Now sit back up and bend over the extended leg. See if you can touch your toes."

I was just able to reach my right toes with my foot flexed.

"You're pushing too hard, ease up." She got up and checked my back muscles. "Gaw--oodness. You have muscles back here. See how straight you can keep your back."

I complied. "How's that?"

"You tell me."

"Uhm, I can feel some stretch, but it doesn't hurt."

"Okay, other leg."

I swapped legs and stretched, following Tussa's demonstrations. She checked my muscles again.

Then she stood up. "Let's try one more thing before we start working out." She put her left leg back and right leg forward and stood with her upper body straight and legs straight, facing over her right leg. 

I copied her.

"Now," she bent over her right leg and put her palms on the ground. 

When I started to copy her, she got up and put her hands on my waste, guiding me.

"Keep your hips perpendicular and your back straight as far as you can without hurting things. Woops. Your hips are slipping sideways."

I glanced over, and Sapphire was also doing hands-on guidance for Rick, but not as much. Cyndy was helping Hec similarly, but also not as hands-on 

"Focus!" She moved her hands to my hips, gently pressing and guiding. "Line that up with your upper body, and get your shoulders perpendicular to the line of your feet." Then she took my shoulders and straightened them and released them. "Good enough. How far over can you get?"

I bent over and touched the ground with my fingers.

"Great. Now the other side." 

She demonstrated again, and I noticed that several of the girls were watching and copying, and others of the group were helping those that were copying. 

Maralea was giving me a frown of disapproval. I wrinkled my forehead in puzzlement, but she turned away and continued with her own stretches. 

"Lots of beginners with us this year," Tussa said with her hands on the ground, as I stretched over my left leg. "Everybody's doing just fine. Now, I'm going to show you something, but don't do it yet."

She walked her hands to her right, bringing her upper body around in front, perpendicular to her legs. "What do you think? Don't do it if it hurts!"

I copied her. Several of the other girls copied her as well.

"If it feels like it's going to tear, stop."

"I'm fine, I think." 

Some of the girls stopped and stood up. 

"Everyone okay? Hold that a moment, Joe. Mary, no full hurdles." 

I blinked and looked at Tussa, but she wasn't talking to me. She was looking at Maralea, who was stretching by herself on the ground with one leg out and the other foreleg tucked outside her hip instead of in front, stretching over her extended leg.

"Sorry. I keep doing what we do in track." Maralea pushed herself up with her hands, slipped her tucked foreleg forward and continued her stretches.

Tussa nodded. "I'm not the one getting hurt." 

"I know, I just forget."

"Yeah, 'sokay. But we don't want to give Joe a bad example, either." 

"Sorry Joe."

"I'm okay. I just learned I probably shouldn't do that."

Maralea looked back at me with an expression I couldn't read. 

Tussa looked at me approvingly. Then she chuckled wryly. "And I've just left you hanging there. Sorry."

"I'm fine. Thought I'd take a nap here."

"Ooohh, Sapphire, this baby of yours is sassin' me."

Sapphire paused explaining modified hurdles to her group and looked around. "Quit flirting with my teammates, Joey." She gave me a wink and the wrinkled-nose grin again.

"Whaddid I do?" I grinned back at her and stood up.

Tussa and Sapphire laughed and I chuckled.

Rick watched us doubtfully from his position on the ground, trying out the modified hurdle.

"Okay, girls -- guys, too." Sapphire announced. "Wrap up the stretches. Then we'll get started with some easy warm-ups."

We finished our stretches and stood up. The girls lined up in their groups, three rows deep, and all three of us guys tried to move to the back.

"Guys in front." Sapphire called as she moved in front to take the lead of the three groups. Becca moved to take over leading her group, standing next to Rick. 

"Leave room so your arms can swing. Girls, remember the guys have longer arms than you." 

The girls were standing with their feet at angles, and Hec and I tried to copy that.

"Ballet position one in turnout." Sapphire was not barking orders, but she was definitely directing. "Keep those knees above your toes, don't turn the legs to an angle beyond what's natural. Turn your legs from the hips, not the knees, not the toes."

"I think that's too much." Tussa said to me, and I felt her hands wrapping around my left thigh, fingertips on the inside. 

"Hey!" My response was involuntary.

"Hmm. Relax." She checked my right thigh. 

"Tussa," Coach Michaels interrupted. "Too much hands-on. Leave that to Sapphire, if it's necessary."

"I was wrong," Tussa replied with a shrug, patting the back of my thigh. "Not too much. Doing good," she said to me as she patted my backside and moved back into the lead position for her group.

(Yeah, my glutes were already tucked from standing in turnout.)

"Tussa!" Coach chided.

"Gotta keep the guys from destroying their knees!" 

Coach rolled her eyes. 

Sapphire's expression was unreadable. 

She continued her explanations, "Don't turn out beyond what's natural. Some of you will have less turnout than others, and that's okay. Guys will definitely have less turnout. Except for Joey, I guess." 

The rest of the workout went more-or-less without incident, although the hands-on help for us boys continued. We practiced the first and second positions for the upper-body as well, and we practiced plied (ballet knee-bends) in first position. We tried rondejamb low, tracing partial semi-circles around us with our toes in the grass. Then we practiced walking in rhythm in turnout.

"That's all we have time for today," Coach Michaels announced after the walking practice. "It'll take us a little time to get things worked out for those with tight schedules, so for now we'll keep the after-school short. We won't be able to do full class sessions after school, anyway, so those who aren't taking the class will need to get someone to work with them." She nodded to me and Rick before continuing. 

"I have the year's schedule here, if you haven't got yours, yet." 

"If you need help," Tussa gave me a sly look "I'm free." 

"Thank you." I smiled and glanced at Sapphire, who gave me a tight smile a slow blink. "My, uhm, personal trainer says she'll help me."

"Darn." Tussa laughed.

I gave her a sideways grin. "Thanks for today." 

She nodded with a wry smile, and I moved to join Rick, Hec, and Cyndy, who were waiting for Sapphire to finish some team business.

"What do you think, Hec?" I asked. 

Hec nodded. "So far, so good. But this is the easy stuff."

"True. How'd it go, Rick?" 

Rick shook his head. "Nothing too crazy here." 

Sapphire joined us and gave me a side hug. "How'd it go?"

"Scary. But I survived."

"You, Rick?" 

Rick said, "Thank you, Sapphire, for not letting Tussa get too close to me."

"I heard that!" Tussa said with a laugh as she approached us with Maralea in tow.

Maralea was looking a little unenthusiastic. 

"Maralea says she lives pretty close to you guys, and she's good at this stuff, when she doesn't forget and do track instead."

Maralea laughed at that and relaxed a little. "Yeah. If Rick wouldn't mind practicing at Joe's house, I could help him there after our practices here."

Maralea's eyes met mine. There's a certain subliminal communication that goes on between members of our church. 

I turned to Rick. "I'm pretty sure my folks wouldn't mind, if it would help you, Rick."

"Merry, I don't ..." He stopped and scratched his head. "Maybe while you're delivering your newspaper route? That would leave me enough time to get back home after, eat something, and get to my job at the warehouse." 

All the girls in the group were looking confused. Maralea, in particular, looked ready to back out.

"Yeah, somebody's usually home about that time, and we've got the room to practice."

Cyndy picked up on my redirection. "If there's room to practice, Hec and I could come over, too." 

Maralea looked relieved, and she thought a moment. "I could catch a ride with Cyndy and Hec and walk home from your place, Joe."

I looked over at Sapphire, and she was giving me an unreadable expression again. 

"I think, though," Maralea continued, "we will all need to check with our parents first."

"Yeah. If I'm volunteering my house, I'd better ask first." I gave her a nod. "I'll call you tonight when I've checked with my folks."

With a bit more discussion, it was agreed, and I looked to thank Tussa, but she was gone 

"Where'd Tussa go?"

"She had stuff," Maralea answered. "I'll give her the update."

Sapphire reached out and touched fingertips with Maralea. "Thank you. And do tell her thanks."

"Yeah. See you guys tomorrow," Maralea said, and turned to leave.

"Yeah, tomorrow." Cyndy reached over and touched fingers with Maralea. "One of you can give either Hec or me a call."

Maralea left, and Sapphire and Cyndy touched hands.

Sapphire said, "I'll give Joe your number, Cyn. Do you have Hec's Joe?"

"I do," Rick volunteered.

"Yeah, Rick has my number," Hec affirmed.

"Well, we need to go. Give us a call." And Hec and Cyndy headed out.

Sapphire checked in with Coach Michaels before the three of us left together, bringing a copy of the year's schedule back for Rick and me.

"Want a ride, Sapphire?" I asked. 

Sapphire thought for a moment. "Nah, you need to get back, and I need to check in at home, too. Pick me up at 6:00?"

"Maybe a little after. Bicycle or car?"

"Don't you dare." She laughed. "Not today, anyway." 

"I'll call if the car is busy."

"If the car's busy, you come to my house after your family night, and we can walk to your place." She gave me a smile that had just a little sly in it.

"Less time for homework."

"Exactly." 

"Oh." 

"See you then." Her smile turned hesitant.

"Mmmyeah, then." 

And Sapphire left, heading home around the football practice field to the far gate.

Rick watched her leave and shook his head. "You think you know a guy."

I also watched her receding figure. "You think I'm not flying blind?"

We headed to the parking lot.  

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