MYSTERY OF THE TEXAS TWOSTEP

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED TEN:

GROWING PAINS

Written by Rick Archer 

JANUARY THROUGH MARCH 1982

SSQQ OR QQSS?

 

At the start of 1982 I decided to start things off on the right foot.  Or should I say it was time to start things 'Quickly'?  

Over the Holidays I decided to eliminate a nagging problem.  Do any of my Readers recall the Riddle of the Double Turns?  During the Fall of 1980 I drove myself crazy trying to figure out how the Double Turns fit the accepted rhythm of Twostep, i.e. Slow Slow Quick Quick.  Sad to say, I was never able to figure out the problem on my own.  For three agonizing months I tried everything I could think of, but still came up short.  Thankfully, in November 1980 a man named Herb Fried whispered the secret:  the Double Turns use the reverse rhythm, i.e. Quick Quick Slow Slow.  Voila.  Problem solved. 

Of course I was ashamed of myself.  After all the agony and frustration caused by my inability to solve the Riddle, I could not believe the solution was that simple.  However, my embarrassment was short-lived.  Bob and I got right to work inventing the basic patterns of this revolutionary development that we called 'Western Swing'.  In the space of two months... November and December... we had most of the kinks worked out.  That set the stage for my Christmas miracle.  When I advertised that I would be teaching Western Swing in January 1981, I started a stampede.  In January the studio was inundated with former students who were dying to learn how the Double Turns worked.  What an impact!  The influx of students in the new year jump-started the 1981 'Western Swing Synchronicity', the greatest year in my studio's history.  Next thing I knew, my Magic Carpet Ride was soaring to the heavens.
 

One of the major developments of 1981 was the acquisition of the studio's name.  Thanks to Crazy Jane, my studio would go down in history as 'SSQQ'.  The studio's identity was now permanently linked to the four magic letters.  Which was great!  Fabulous name, catchy and easy to remember.  Only one problem.  Truth be told, it was a serious headache to explain to my students that 'Twostep' was Slow Slow Quick Quick while 'Western Swing' was Quick Quick Slow Slow.  I suffered through an entire year of trying to explain why we used two different rhythms to the same song.  Talk about confusing!!

Deep down I knew the true rhythm of Twostep was 'Quick Quick Slow Slow'.  Twostep can start on either the Slow or the Quick.  But the Double Turns don't have a choice.  They must start on the Quick.  Therefore, the smart move was to start Twostep on the Quick as well.  When said correctly... Quick Quick Slow Slow... I was able to simplify the rhythm of Twostep by saying "Three Straight Steps... Pause".  You would be amazed how much easier it is to learn the Twostep rhythm by starting on the Quick step.  Walk walk walk & pause, Walk walk walk & pause.   What could be easier than that? 

Unfortunately, the entire State of Texas did not agree with me.  Why not?  Tradition.  For 100 years the Texas Twostep was synonymous with Slow Slow Quick Quick.  For an entire century, every man in Texas had been raised with this slogan etched deep in his mind.  Every person I had ever met had been taught to start the Twostep on the Slow.  That included me.  I was so locked in, I assumed that even God started Twostep on the Slow.

Who was I to disagree with God?  But then came the realization that the Double Turns had to start on the Quick.  Uh oh.  Pandora's Box was now officially open.

Let me explain something about teaching dance.  As a rule, men need things broken down into distinct units.  'Units' are building blocks.  A pattern is defined as a series of distinct units. 

For example, back in the beginning a unit of Twostep was 4 steps using the Slow Slow Quick Quick rhythm.  However a unit of a Western Swing Double Turn was 4 steps using the Quick Quick Slow Slow rhythm.  To simplify, I wanted to switch a unit of Twostep to 4 steps using the Quick Quick Slow Slow rhythm.  This way everything would start on the Quick.

Men who are good dancers can alternate between different rhythms, but not Beginners.  For that reason teaching students to begin everything starting on the Quick would make it so much easier for men to learn the Twostep.  But did I dare make the switch?  Seriously, to change now after a century of dancing Twostep the other way risked opening the gates of Hell.   

Men and women do not learn to dance the same way.  Women learn by feel.  Plus they 'copy' moves better than men.  Nor do they care as much about counting.  Since men have trouble keeping the beat, when necessary women learn to move at 'the speed of man'.  This requires ignoring the correct speed of the music.  This is why women have no trouble alternating the rhythm.  Maybe in the very beginning women like to whisper 'slow slow quick quick' or 'quick quick slow slow' in their minds.  But once they catch on, women have no need to count.  From here on out, they dance by feel.

I seriously doubt there is any woman on earth who counts 'quick quick slow slow' while she is doing a fast double turn.  But I know a lot men who whisper 'quick quick slow slow' to themselves while the woman is turning.  Why?  Men do not acquire rhythm easily.  They tend to 'think' when they are dancing.  To compensate for their lack of natural rhythm, men continue counting the rhythm in their head far longer than women.  Some men never stop.

I should know.  I used to be a man before I became a dance teacher (private joke).  For practically six months I religiously whispered 'slow slow quick quick' over and over whenever I danced.  My own struggles trying to acquire the rhythm of Twostep allowed me to know that dealing with two different rhythms to the same song drove my male students crazy.  For that reason, every bone in my body begged me to teach Twostep and Double Turns the same way: Quick Quick Slow Slow.  If so, the men would be spared the confusion of learning two different systems of footwork.  But I hesitated. 

I suppose the Readers will scoff.  Big deal!  Just do it.  No one will care.  Hey, you haven't been to Texas, have you?  To change now would be a crime equal to spray-painting graffiti on the Alamo.  Once something becomes a Tradition, it is almost impossible to switch without raising a protest.  If you don't believe me, consider Daylight Saving Time.  75% of Americans are sick of it and wish someone would eliminate this outdated, obsolete practice.  But does it ever get changed?  No.  Point made.

Fearful I would face howls of rage, I chickened out for the entire year of 1981.  However, after an entire year of confusion caused by teaching the same dance two different ways, I lost my patience.  It was now 1982.  I could use the confusion of 1981 to justify making the switch.  I would promise the men it would be so much easier for men to learn if we used the same rhythm for everything.  So in January 1982 I made my move... and immediately regretted the decision.  You have no idea.  You would have thought the Hounds of Baskerville were loose.  I received so much criticism, I expected to be lynched.  Or maybe someone would send John Wayne to kick some sense into me.  As I feared, the devotion of men to starting the Twostep on the Slow was practically Biblical in nature. 

Rule Number One: People do not like change!  I understood the problem.  I was asking every male student at my studio to relearn how to dance the Twostep.  They had paid good money and invested lots of time in doing the Twostep one way and now I expected them to do it all over again to a different rhythm.  I explained why it was important over and over again, but it did no good. 

"Let's keep doing it the way we learned it the first time!  What's wrong with that?"

I would say 80% of the men gave me a hard time.  However, the veteran male dancers agreed with me.  Based on their experience, they already knew 'Western Swing' was simply a fancier form of Twostep, i.e. Twostep with turns.  They all whispered, "It's about time you switched."  Thank goodness.  Their support gave me the courage to stick to my guns.  And I am glad I did.  In the long run it was the right thing to do.  

I am pleased to say the controversy ended sometime around the start of April.  Once the men got used to it, they realized the change made Twostep and Western Swing patterns so much easier to learn.  Harmony was restored, but that did not stop the needling.  I cannot tell you how many people asked when I was going to change the studio's name to 'QQSS'.  I replied that SSQQ sounded better.  The alliteration was better.  After saying it out loud both ways, most people ended up agreeing with me.  And so I survived another crisis, but it wasn't easy.  Growing pains can be a real bitch sometimes. 

As footnote to this story, a year later I added something called the Starter Step.  Some ladies had trouble when the man started too 'Quickly', i.e. an aggressive Quick step forward.  By teaching the men to shift their weight side to side while whispering "Slow Slow" to themselves, it was much easier for the ladies to react.  This meant we were back to starting Twostep on the Slow, but with an asterisk.  The men began by dancing sideways 'Slowly' rather than forward 'Quickly'.  The ladies said Thank you.

LIMBO MONTH THIRTY FOUR
APRIL 1982

THE MAN WHO CHANGED THE STUDIO

 

1982 was the year of Growing Pains at the studio.  The SSQQ-QQSS headache was not my only problem.  The studio was too good for our own good.  Due to the rise in attendance, lately our classes had become much too crowded.  In addition the boy-girl ratio was completely off in many of our classes. 

On Friday and Sunday, I had use of the Big Room in addition to Room 2 and Room 3.  Crowding was not a problem.  The problem was Monday through Thursday.  I ran two classes a night.  Glen taught his 7-9 pm class in the Big Room.  I taught my class in Room 2 or 3 while Judy Price, Bob Job, or Victoria taught in the other room.  These rooms had limited capacity of 35 at a time when I had students coming out of the woodwork. 

My biggest headache came when more people showed up for a class than I had room for.  Something needed to be done.  This problem was so serious that I asked V-Ann to help.  It became her job to balance the boy-girl ratio and limit the size of classes. 

I made a new rule that henceforth students had to call V-Ann to 'Pre-Register'.  A student could either leave a message on her answering machine or talk to her in person from 10 am-2 pm weekdays.  This new system worked much better.  The attendance in all our classes now fit the room space. 

In addition, the boy-girl problem was solved.  Until one night that is...  Thanks to a man named Scott, I made a revolutionary change in the way our SSQQ group classes were taught. 

My Advanced Western Swing class in March was held in Room 3 which held 32 people.  V-Ann presented me with a perfectly balanced class of 16 men and 16 women.  Unfortunately, in Week Two we were a few women short.  In Week Three, we were down several more women.  We saved the worst for last.  When I showed up to teach my fourth and final week of Advanced Western Swing, there were 16 men and 7 women.  I was really irritated.  V-Ann had gone to a lot of trouble balancing this class, so what went wrong?  How was I supposed to teach a partner dance class with such an alarming imbalance? 

I was at a complete loss.  Where were the missing 9 women?  Perplexed, I asked if a tearjerker movie such as The Way We Were was showing on TV that night.  Nope, apparently not.  

Some attrition is inevitable, but not in an Advanced class.  Why was that?  By the time students reached the 'Advanced' level, they were so hooked on dancing they rarely missed a class.  What could possibly explain the loss of nine women and no men?  This had never happened before.  Unfortunately, I did not have time to solve the mystery.  Facing the worst imbalance of any class I had ever taught, I had to do something on short notice. 

Back in those days I encouraged people to switch partners in dance class, but it was not mandatory.  Switching was done in a loosey-goosey fashion.  I would say my classes were 67% singles, 33% couples.  For example, in a class of 30 students, 20 were unattached people who came alone, 10 were married or 'committed'.  The couples stuck together while the singles took turns dancing with different partners.  Sometimes the couples and singles intermingled, but only if I fussed at them to do so.  Here is how it worked.  I would say, "Boys on one side, girls on the other."  After they separated, I would grab one of the ladies and demonstrate the pattern in the middle where everyone could see us.  Then I would say get a partner and let's practice that pattern.  Students who had come together would automatically go to each other while the unattached men played the field.  If a single man wanted to alternate partners, all he had to do was grab someone new.  Once he made his choice, he stayed with that woman until I separated the boys and girls again to begin learning the next pattern.  This technique had worked well enough for the past four years so I saw no reason to change.

Unfortunately, this system failed miserably tonight.  When I said, "Get a partner", nine men were left standing there empty-handed.  Frowning, I saw no choice but to try something new.  I assigned two men to eight women and three men to one woman.  I made it the woman's job to alternate dancing with both men.  Due to the emergency, I figured the students would embrace the 'Sharing' concept without protest.  Wrong.  This idea went over like a lead balloon.  To my frustration, the women had no incentive to switch.  There's an old saying in Texas, "Dance with the one who brung ya."  That is exactly what these women did.  If a man and woman had come together, the woman felt awkward about ditching her committed partner to dance with some strange guy she didn't know from Adam.  Consequently each woman allowed her preferred partner to monopolize her.  Some men were kind enough to suggest his lady dance with the stranger.  However, sorry to say, that wasn't happening very much.  Most of the men with committed partners were in no mood to share.  I was very aggravated as the extra men stood around doing nothing.  They had huge frowns on their faces.

Since the students were unwilling to voluntarily share, I tried to figure out a face-saving way to give all the men an equal chance.  That is when I hit on a new idea.  Hey, let's make a Circle!  Since C&W dancing travels in a circle anyway, this was a common sense solution.  Do the move, rotate forward to the next partner, do the move, rotate to the next partner.  This Circle idea might seem obvious, but at the time I had never tried it before.  However, this was one of those 'Necessity is the Mother of Invention' moments.  7 divided by 16= 43%.  Using a Circle seemed like the only way each guy was going to have his fair share of dancing with a woman 43% of the time.  Although the Circle was the best solution under the circumstances, it too failed.  Why?  The men and women who came together objected strenuously.  However, I could not think of a third solution, so I confronted the class.

"I am sorry we are missing 9 women, but we have to do something.  The Circle is the only way I can think of to get through the night.  Does anyone have a better idea?"

 When no one answered, I said, " Come on, people, the Circle is the only way to solve this problem in a manner that is fair to everyone."

To their credit, after some grumbling they all gave in.  The impasse was over, so the sharing problem was solved.  Thank goodness!  I don't know what I would have done if they had rebelled.  Once we got the Circle going, the men who came with partners still weren't happy.  However they realized the class had no chance of getting off the ground otherwise.

Using the Circle was Change #1.  Now it was time for Change #2.  I was about the dance the woman's part in class for the first time. 

I did not join the Circle because that would mean the 16-7 boy-girl ratio would get worse, 17-7.  Maybe it was the way the numbers worked, but I kept wishing at least one more lady would show up to make it 16 to 8.  That did not happen, so I continued to agonize at the large number of men standing out.  Some men had to wait two full rotations before getting a partner.  Seeing their frustration, I decided to take a huge risk.  For the very first time in my four and a half years of teaching, I decided to dance the girl's part in my group class.  I was no expert at the woman's part, but I knew it better than my female students.  Why was that?  During my private lessons with Glen Hunsucker, I often danced 'Follow' as a way to understand the woman's footwork better.  So I was not totally unprepared.  Besides, this class needed another woman desperately, even if 'she' was six feet, 200 pounds. 

So I proposed joining the girls team.  Needless to say, the men were very unhappy.  They were desperate for partners, but not that desperate.  This time single men and coupled men were united in their disdain.  I hate to be blunt, but there was some gay phobia operating here.  In those days, men refused to dance with men.  It did not matter that women didn't seem to mind a bit about dancing with other women, but guys were different.  The men put their foot down and said "No Way!"  I was about to give up, but to my surprise the women pitched in and supported the move.  Why?  Personally, I think the idea of seeing if I could actually dance the woman's part amused them.  Or maybe they thought I could help the men improve faster by dancing with them.  Whatever the reason, I didn't question their motives.  Their support was just the break I needed.

Thanks to the unexpected help from the ladies, I said, "Look, guys, I understand your reluctance, but the circumstances call for it.  I promise not to kiss any of you and besides, Western Swing is danced apart.  All you have to do is touch my hand.  If you can shake my hand, then what's the difference?  Besides, if you really don't want to dance with me, I won't make you.  Just skip past me." 

This statement seemed to help.  Since I made it 'voluntary', the guys decided to be good sports.  It helped a lot that the seven frowning women were watching and judging.  Men always behave better when women are watching.  From here on out, each man settled for giving me the obligatory look of disgust before touching my hand.  But they didn't turn me down, so another hurdle was passed.  However, my nerves were shot from all this arguing.  Little did I know the biggest hurdle was yet to come.

My third dance partner nearly killed me!!

The move was called 'Twisted Hands'.  Let's say a man sends a woman under both of his hands.  Immediately their four hands become all tangled up.  From this position, the man could lead a reverse double turn and untwist the hands in the process.  It was a fancy move and the men were dying to learn it. 

On Twisted Hands, the man's hands stay slightly higher than the woman's head while she spins and unwinds her hands under his.  For some reason, my third partner shoved my hands DOWN while I was turning.  Ow!  My partner nearly caused me to fall.  Plus it hurt.  Shaken, I told the next man to rotate through so I could try the move again with this strongman.  The lucky guy was so happy to avoid me he practically sprinted past.  Obviously I was no prize, but I was too distracted to care.  

I knew very little about Scott.  He was a man of mystery because he had never taken a previous class from me.  Here's the way the progression worked...  Beginning Twostep/Polka in Month One, Beginning Western Swing in Month Two, Intermediate Western Swing in Month Three, Advanced Western Swing in Month Four.  Scott had skipped the first three months of classes by telling V-Ann he had learned all this at another country-western dance studio.  In other words, Scott claimed he was ready to step into Advanced Western Swing without any previous training in my system.  From observation, I already knew Scott was not much of a dancer.  However, I had no idea he was this bad.  As I winced in pain, obviously Scott had not learned his fundamentals properly at the other studio. 

What should I do?  Let's face it, I was no ordinary woman.  In my spare time I was what is known as a 'jock'.  Thanks to many years of sports, I was stronger than the average guy.  In fact, I was almost as big as Scott.  For our second try I decided to fight force with force.  I deliberately pushed Scott's hands upwards while I turned.  Didn't work.  In fact, this technique made things much worse.  Why?  Because Scott had the leverage.  It is easier to push down than push up.  When I pushed my hands up, Scott simply pushed down even harder.  Ow!  The second try hurt much worse than the first try.  Again I almost fell down.  Good lord, this guy was really strong!

Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself for my third try.  This time I kept my arms as limp as possible.  In addition I did not wait for Scott to turn me, but turned myself instead.  His power still hurt and I lost my balance again, but this new trick was a clear improvement.  Things worked better when I did not resist him.  Interesting.  Relaxing my arms while turning works much better than tensing my arms.  I put that useful information into my teacher file cabinet.  Hmm.  If I could survive this ordeal, maybe I could learn more secrets while dancing the woman's part.  That which does not kill you makes you stronger.  Ha ha ha.  Good luck with that.  Death was a real possibility here.

What now, bright man?  Stunned by my helplessness, I had no idea what to try next.  Not only that, I suddenly realized that I was afraid of dancing him again.  I was scared he was going to hurt me.  So I stepped back and took a good look.  What was wrong with this guy?  What Scott was doing was insane.  He was a very muscular guy, so no woman stood a chance if Scott continued this same strategy.  As we prepared to dance for the fourth time, I couldn't make myself do it.  I was certain he was going to hurt me again.  This led to a major insight.  It had never dawned on me that a woman could be afraid of dancing with a man.  Now I knew better.  I was very intimidated.   If someone as big as me can be afraid, what about a small woman?   What woman wants to risk being hurt while she is dancing?  

Dancing with men is supposed to be fun, not painful or dangerous!

That is when the lightning bolt hit.  In a flash everything became crystal clear.   I realized that each week Scott had picked some poor girl to be his partner for a routine.  No doubt Scott had systematically beaten the woman senseless.  What is a girl to do?  Apparently women thought it was easier just to leave than tell me about the problem.  Victim number one waited for Break time, then left the studio never to come back.  Victim number two would realize her life was at stake, so she would pretend to go to the bathroom, then make a run for it.  The third woman would tough it out to the end of class, but refuse to come back the following week rather than face Scott again. 

In other words, every time we tried a new pattern, Scott would find another lady and hurt her.  I did some quick math: 3 battered women per 3 weeks = 9 women in the hospital.  16 minus 9 left 7 women still standing.  The numbers made perfect sense.  I concluded Conan the Dancing Barbarian had been eliminating female students at the rate of 3 per week. 

But why weren't the other 7 afraid of Scott?  I took a moment to think.  Ah, got it.  The 9 women who were gone had come alone.  Once they danced with Scott, I assumed they dare not return to face another beating.  But what about the 7 remaining women?  These woman had steady partners.  Since they had come with her husband or boyfriend, so far they had been spared the atrocity of dancing with the barbarian.  This quirk is what saved them from the Conan's mauling.  However, unless I did something, we might have a fight on our hands tonight.  If Conan tried using muscle on a married woman who turned around and complained to her husband, Katie bar the door.

I shook my head in despair.  I could not believe this hapless guy had chased off nine different women.  Full of despair, I announced it was Break Time.  Everyone looked at me funny because it was ten minutes early.  But they accepted my decision without protest.  Scott was about to leave the room, but I stopped him.  Something had to be done before I turned him loose on the remaining women.  But before I said something, I took a good look at the man.  Scott had the shoulders of a football linebacker.  He was obviously a weight lifter or body builder of some sort.  This was one conversation I dreaded.  What if he lost his temper?

Keeping enough distance in case he decided to swing at me, I said, "Scott, I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but you use way too much strength when you turn me."

"You're pretty big for a girl.  Don't you need more strength to turn?"

Scott's response was defensive, but not hostile.  Maybe there was some hope here.  I replied, "I see your point, but your conclusion is wrong.  As long as a woman stays balanced, a 200 pound woman and a 100 pound woman both weigh the same thing which is Zero.  In other words, unless you knock me off balance, I can support my own weight.  Here, let me show you."

I demonstrated the double turn I had been teaching.  Turning on my own without effort, I pointed out that I did not need his help.

"Scott, the problem comes if I lose my balance.  Now it requires twice as much effort on your part to save me from falling as opposed to a 100 pound woman.  But if you relax your arms, you permit me to turn myself."

Scott suddenly got it.  "Oh, man, I owe you an apology!  I should not have used so much strength.  I wonder if I do the same thing to the women?"

No shit, Sherlock!!  "Uh, maybe so.  Some guys don't know their own strength."

"Are you serious?  Do you think I am too strong with the girls?  Oh, Jesus, that explains all those dirty looks.  I am so sorry!!"

In that moment, I forgave Scott.  He was not an ogre as I first assumed, but rather a really big guy who did not realize what his strength was doing to women.  I bet I was the first person who ever tried to explain to him what he was doing wrong.  

"Let me tell you a story, Scott.  It was my first dance class.  I had never partner danced in my life.  The lady I danced with told me I was too strong.  Dorothy said I was so nervous, she was afraid my thumb was going to poke a hole in her hand.  I had no idea I was hurting her until she spoke up.  Here is what I am saying.  I made the same mistake as you, so don't pick on yourself.  Look at it this way.  If people didn't make mistakes in dance class, then I would have to get an honest job like everyone else.  So let's correct the problem.  Do you mind if I make a suggestion?"

"Sure, go right ahead!"

I explained to Scott what he was doing wrong, then suggested he avoid pushing downward.  Unfortunately, he was still too strong, so I stumbled.  I cringed as a look of guilt and alarm crossed his face.  I think he had just realized why we were so short of women.

"Look, man, I'm sorry I hurt you.  Do you want me to leave?  What should I do?"

"No, I don't want you to go.  I'll tell you what.  Why don't you dance with me a couple more times before Break is over.  Maybe we can get you to ease up.  When class resumes, I will continue to dance with you until we solve the problem."

During the second hour of class, Scott began to improve.  I won't lie and say Scott was ready to give John Travolta a run for his money.  Far from it.  This guy was not a natural dancer by any stretch.  In many ways, he reminded me of myself.  To improve, Scott had to practice two, maybe three more times than the average guy.  He still knocked me off balance from time to time with his clumsiness.  Nor did the speed of the music have any relation to the speed of his feet.  To his credit though, Scott stopped hurting me.  Towards the end of class I told Scott I was proud of him, then turned him loose on the women.  He made it a habit to ask each partner to tell him if he was too strong.  That was a great idea.  The women were happy to help.  They were impressed that he was trying hard not to hurt them.  I was impressed too.  Wow.  Scott was actually a pretty nice guy.

Scott stayed after class to talk to me.  "Rick, I want to thank you for correcting me.  You are the first teacher I ever met who took the time to explain what I was doing wrong."

I understood.  Scott came across as a very scary guy.  Recalling my own trepidation, I imagine his previous teachers were afraid to confront him.  Thank goodness I spoke up. 

Scott was not done yet.  He had something else to say.

"I came your studio because I was getting frustrated.  The women at the other studio didn't seem to like dancing with me, but I didn't know what I was doing wrong.  Now that I had alienated all the women, I needed a fresh start.  I came to your studio hoping to discover what my problem was.  I cannot tell you how much appreciate that you take the time to correct me."

I was very touched by what Scott said.  Clearly my first impression of him had been wrong.  Nevertheless, it seemed unbelievable that a man could be so rough and not be aware of it.  But then I remembered how my friend Dorothy Piazzos had taken the time to comment on my thumb mistake five years ago.  If Scott and I could make the same mistake, then why be so surprised that some men do not know their own strength?  

This event led to a serious awakening.  It was easier for my lady students to keep their mouth shut and never come back.  This explained why we were so short of women in the class on the night I danced with him.  Based on the 9 women who left without a word to me, I concluded most women are reluctant to openly criticize men they don't know about their dancing.  In the case of Scott, he not only hurt women, he scared them so much they remained quiet.  It was this revelation that would lead to some profound changes in the way I taught my group classes.

THE LEGACY OF SCOTT

 

As footnote to this story, Scott returned the following month to take my next class.  Scott stayed with it throughout the summer.  One month at a time he improved, gaining confidence along the way.  By the time the 1982 Halloween Party rolled around, Scott was one of the gang.  He invited a pretty classmate named Tish to join him.  I noted with satisfaction that Scott and Tish had a really good time.  However, Scott did not return for classes in November, so that was the last I saw of him.

My experience with Scott transformed my studio for the better.  It is very curious that one of the least-talented dancers I ever met led to more changes than any individual other than Victoria.  Since I never spoke to him about the insights I gained, Scott will never know he did more to change the direction of SSQQ than any person other than Victoria.  To me, Scott was a Messenger, a person who appeared briefly yet managed to make a remarkable contribution. 

I very much wish I could run across Scott one more time.  If so, I would thank him from the bottom of my heart.

REGARDING SCOTT'S IMPACT

 

When I started my dance career in the late Seventies, the prevailing business model for dance studios was a heavy emphasis on private lessons.  I won't say I was the first person to emphasize 'Group Lessons' over 'Private Lessons', but I was definitely a pioneer. 

In business, it is much easier to copy a successful model than build it from scratch.  Why is that?  Theoretically the kinks have already been worked out.  However I did not have that luxury.  There was no one to copy, certainly not Lance Stevens.  Preferring to teach Private lessons, Stevens treated his students in Group Lessons like they were beneath him.   

Since there was no one really to copy, I developed my program by making it up along the way.  I had figure out what worked best on my own.  One of my first major decisions was whether to adopt the Contract method favored at the time or let people sign up for lessons one month at a time.  It seemed awkward to have people sign contracts for group classes, so I decided to let students decide for themselves whether to continue lessons.  By making my classes fun and inexpensive, I hoped my students would continue because they wanted to, not because they were obligated by a contract. 

I got it right regarding Contracts, but I still had to learn a lot of lessons the hard way.  That is because I had no one to teach me until Victoria came along.  She explained the importance of emphasizing the social side of dancing.  "Group classes will be more effective if you make it easy for them to practice."  As I learned from the Winchester Club experience, Victoria was correct.  But now Scott had shown me something Victoria had never pointed out.  And what would that be?  Men needed more supervision than I was currently supplying. 

I grew up with a thin skin.  I recall one criticism about my studio that had me climbing the walls.  I had to endure the insult that SSQQ was the 'McDonalds' of Dance Studios.  The highly-trained Arthur Murray and Fred Astaire 'private lesson' instructors spoke of our 'fast food group lessons'.  This criticism made me bristle.  However, now that I had met Scott, I was forced to acknowledge this ugly criticism had some merit.  I recalled how Lance Stevens loved to criticize my limited knowledge of dance technique.  Unfortunately, he held me in such low regard that it was not worth his time to train me.  And so I wallowed in ignorance, constantly forced to learn things the hard way.

In Hindsight, I can say that no other student ever had the sane impact as Scott.  His appalling lack of skill helped me understand why Stevens felt nothing but contempt for me.  Thanks to Scott, I discovered a glaring need to teach men how to lead better.  My unintentional neglect of this all-important area indicated that my Group Classes had plenty of room for improvement.  Embarrassed by this revelation, I made sweeping changes overnight. 

•  Scott had given me the idea to use the Circle as a way to teach.  Seeing how well it had worked, I decided to make the Circle and frequent rotation of partners a mainstay of our teaching curriculum from this point on. 

•  Scott made me realize it is okay under certain circumstances for male teachers to dance with male students and female teachers to dance with female students.  In my case, this would lead to profound discoveries.

•  Scott helped me see that men need constant supervision on their leads.  It was not enough to just demonstrate a lead and talk about it.  From now on, someone needed to dance with the men to see if they correctly understood the instructions.  Scott made me realize that every class taught by a male instructor needs to have a female assistant.  We will come back to that.

•  Scott had skipped three levels without a 'try-out'.  I made sure from this point forward to discourage people new to the studio to avoid doing that.  More often than not, these newcomers over-estimated their ability.  Seeing how Scott had struggled, I concluded it was not fair to other students to let their lack of proper training disrupt the class.  So I began to suggest that certain students move back to an easier class.  Most people agreed with me, but some felt insulted and left the studio.  It is impossible to please everybody. 

DANCING THE GIRL'S PART

 

Thanks to Scott, I made all sorts of changes in 1982.  Most of my changes were greeted favorably, but there was one major exception.  For obvious reasons, my decision to periodically dance the girl's part was not at all popular. 

By dancing the girl's part, I hoped to double-check the men on the quality of their leads.  I needed to see for myself how well the men were doing.  By dancing as a 'Follow', i.e. the girl's part, I received valuable lessons about leading and following that made me a better teacher not just for the men, but the women as well.  I made sure to pass on my discoveries to the ladies.  For example, I learned to keep my feet closer together when I double turned.  I learned to wait for the lead rather than anticipate what move was coming next.  Another discovery was the need to double turn under my own power as a way to encourage the men NOT to use power like Scott had done.

Unfortunately, I paid a price every now and then.  I got hurt several times.  Recently I had begun teaching a dance known as the Whip.  There is a hip position known as the 'Hitch'.  By sticking her hip out, a woman attracts a lot of favorable glances from the men.  However she has to arch her back to do so.  By dancing the girl's part in class one night in Whip class, I learned the hard way that this 'arch' is a very vulnerable position. 

I was explaining how the woman's hip motion works and how the man should lead it.  As I worked with a man on his lead, he made a bad mistake.  Right in the middle of my hip motion, the man jerked my arms really hard.  Ouch!  Like Scott, he assumed a 'big woman' like me needed extra power.  Wrong!  Exposed in this vulnerable position, I felt something pop in my lower back.  It didn't hurt too much at first, but then the swelling kicked in and touched a nerve.  By the end of class I was in excruciating pain.  It hurt so bad that I had to be helped to my car.  When I got home I literally crawled to bed on my hands and feet because I could not stand up.  Thank goodness it was a Friday class because I had the weekend to recover.  It took three days of bed rest before the swelling subsided enough for me to walk again.  The entire time I was very scared.  I worried I had suffered some sort of permanent damage.  Fortunately, I recovered completely. 

Yet again I had learned a tough lesson the hard way.  Based on this experience I made sure to explain why the men had to keep their hands steady during the woman's hip motion.  By dancing the woman's part periodically, every bruise I suffered made me a better teacher.  In other words, my pain was the woman's gain. 

My lower back injury was not the only time I got hurt while dancing the girl's part.  A couple months months later we were short of women one night.  I decided to dance the woman's part during Whip class. 

A Walkaround Double Turn led to an uncomfortable position known as the Hammerlock.  Where did this name come from?  A Hammerlock is a grappling hold used in wrestling.  The opponent's arm is bent behind their back and forced upward, applying pressure to the shoulder joint.  Needless to say, the opponent is rendered helpless.  Guess what?  So is the woman.  As always, I learned this nasty secret the hard way.  To my surprise, a man named Chris used his right hand to pull my body sharply into him at the end of my turn.  Bam!  My chest hit his chest so hard it knocked the wind out of me.  Ow!  That really hurt!  As I slowly got my breath back, I wondered how much this same move would hurt a woman's unprotected breasts.  Shaking my head, it probably hurt a lot.

Here is what I found curious.  Chris had not made a mistake.  He led it exactly the way I told him to.  So I asked Chris to lead the move two more times.  Each time it hurt.  Because my left hand was pinned behind my back and the other hand was in no position to protect me, I was defenseless to protect my chest from being slammed into his body.

Bruised and grouchy, during Break I went to find Judy Price.  She was teaching in the other room.  I asked Judy to dance and led the same move.  Bam.  Sure enough, Judy's chest slammed up against me.  Seeing her wince, I asked if the move hurt. 

Judy's eyes bulged.  "Are you kidding?  I HATE THAT MOVE!!  It always hurts!"

"But, Judy, if that move hurts so much, why don't you ever complain?"

"Because I figured that's the way the move is supposed to work!"

Judy's answer surprised me.  Judy accepted the pain because she assumed that was the price she had to pay to dance the Whip.  I appreciated Judy's candor.  Judy made me understand that a woman often accepts pain and never says a word.  But if the woman doesn't say 'ouch', then how would her partner learn to become a more gentle dancer?  As far as I was concerned, I was learning a lot more about being a woman than I had bargained for.  But that was not necessarily a bad thing.  Now that I was aware how much that Hammerlock move hurt, with Judy's help I redesigned the move.  Instead of bringing Judy towards me, I pushed her away from me into the Hitch position.  Then I brought her forward into the Bump.  This change allowed Judy to come forward under control.  The days of painfully slamming her breasts into me were over.

Judy smiled.  "Thank you for doing that.  Much better."

The thing that bothered me was that I taught the move the way Glen had taught it to me.  Except that Glen did not pull me as hard as Chris had done.  I felt very guilty.  How many women had been hurt due to my ignorance?  Thank goodness for Scott.  Thanks to him, I was starting to catch on to a lot of things.  Like Scott, Chris did not mean to hurt me, he just didn't know better. 

The following week I explained to the men why we were making the change in the Hammerlock.  Once I made the needed change, no woman was hurt on that move again.  Now I was more determined than ever to study the woman's part.  If women were reluctant to speak up, then I needed to learn things on my own.  That is why I made a habit of dancing the woman's part whenever we were short of women in our class.  Each time I got hurt, I either explained to the man what he was doing wrong or went back and changed the pattern. 

My awareness of the unnecessary pain sent me on a mission to clean all the moves up.  I reviewed every pattern in our system to find the best way to lead it.  I would ask women like Judy to let me experiment.  I would lead the same move two different ways, then ask the woman's opinion which lead worked the best.  Or I would ask Bob to lead a move two different ways and I would experience the move for myself.  Dancing as a woman, I could feel which leads were effective and which did not work.  I used this knowledge to fine-tune my own leads.  I also looked for ways to protect the women from dangerous patterns such as the Hammerlock.  If something hurt or didn't feel right, I would investigate till I found a safer way to lead the pattern.  This was tedious, but the work paid off.  I began to feel how leads worked in a way I had never grasped before.  When done right, a good lead is like gentle judo because it redirects a woman's momentum without hurting her. 

My growing awareness of the painful things women put up with when partner dancing led to a very strange memory.  I recalled something a professor had said back in college.  Johns Hopkins was a men's school.  For reasons I will never understand, in class one day the professor showed a graphic video of a woman giving birth to a child.  Would he have shown this video if women had been present?  Probably not.  The video was a gruesome experience for me, but I imagine it would have been even harder for a woman to watch.  I was horrified by the copious amounts of blood.  However, it was the woman's screams of overwhelming pain that really upset me.

After the video ended, the professor quipped, "I think this video should be shown to every man in America.  They would come to appreciate the sacrifice women make far more.  Let me add that if someone found a way for men to alternate having babies with women, the birth rate would be cut in half."

Amen to that.  I completely agreed.  This video had been quite the eye-opener.  I had never given a second thought to the child birth process.  The thought that crossed my mind was just how insensitive I had been to the suffering of women.  I felt ashamed of myself at the time. 

Now as an adult, I felt a similar embarrassment.  Until recently I had no idea how much unnecessary pain women experienced when dancing with men who were too rough.  Oddly enough, making me a better woman made me a better man.  Now that I had gained more empathy for the challenges a woman faces in partner dancing, I felt an odd kinship.  In my role as a dance teacher, I became part-man, part-woman.  This insight led to my private joke... "I used to be a man until I became a dance teacher." 

No one seemed to understand what I meant but me.