Just the First Steps
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Like the excitement at Christmastime, with all of the preparation for that perfect wedding, sometimes the real meaning of the event gets lost—two people coming together in a partnership for the dance of a lifetime.
With the scramble for the perfect dress, the perfect cake, the perfect venue, often the wedding dance is the last on the list—an afterthought remembered only weeks before the big day. Like so many other concerns for the wedding day, the couple’s first dance together becomes an item on a list to be checked off during the count down to the big day, a photo for the album.
Many calls have come through to us here at the National Dance Clubs only a week or two before the wedding asking for a crash course to make the special couple look like good for their wedding dance. Those that think of it early on put off actually booking a lesson until closer to their wedding day, as though they have no intention of learning a skill they can use long after the wedding, they are only concerned with remembering the chorography for that day. Just as a marriage takes more than a wedding, dancing well takes more than one or two lessons.
The first dance together as man and wife should not just be a single, photographic moment, but a celebration of their first steps in their journey together, a beautiful demonstration of their commitment to move together in harmony through life. Many people expect that learning to dance simply involves learning a few steps, but as in marriage, those expectations can be challenged as the complexities of partnership, balance, and interpretation come to play.
Each partner must maintain their own balance and frame and be in constant attention to the subtle indications of their partner in the present moment in order to come together in harmony. Just as the man must learn how to lead in a way that can be followed and accepted by his partner, the woman must learn how to respond gracefully and move of her own accord.
Learning to dance well together is an exciting way to explore your communication, a romantic way to develop your relationship, and a refreshing way to refocus your attention again on each other. Dancing can help alleviate the pre-wedding stress of all those other little details, bring you closer together in mind, spirit, and body, and prepare you for a lifetime moving together in harmony.
The wedding ceremony demonstrates the commitment, but the dance shows the love. When you learn to dance for your wedding, you are asking, “Can I have this dance for the rest of my life.”
