CRINGE
You love him
But…when he hits the dance floor!
Ladies in one of our Yummy Mummy FB groups were having a cheeky little thread about their other halves.
And it got me thinking.
I LOVE it when little boys turn up for my dance classes. I always say to the nervous ones:
When you are a big grown up man, if you aren’t afraid of dancing…
You can choose all the NICEST girls and they will all want to dance with you! And probably marry you as well.
hehehehe – I’m so naughty.
But it always makes them join in.
I have Irish friends and actually my family are Irish – and at Irish parties EVERYONE dances.
Boys, girls, Nannas, Grampys all having a great time and twirling and stomping about the place – similar to the Scots.
But in England, we are one of the few places that men ‘don’t really DO dancing’.
Not all of them – and of course the recent upsurge of cool street dance crews has REALLY helped.
So when our little ones are grown up – maybe Dad Dancing will be a thing of folklore.
It’s tough for the fellas..
We girlies have had more practice at strutting our stuff, growing up.
Lots of us have even gone to dance lessons…
And we had sleepovers and practised the latest macarena/Steps/S Club 7 dance in our bedrooms (I know you did…)
And all the while, the boys were kicking a ball and riding their bikes and skateboarding.
(Yep, a little bit of a sweeping statement – but in a lot of cases it’s true. That’s the UK for you)
That’s why most men prefer to prop up the bar at social events, and engage in in-depth post-match analysis… while the girls are #REACHing for the stars….”, barefoot, on the dancefloor…
I get couples come to see me, to help them with their wedding ‘First Dance’
In lots of cases that is the FIRST time the chap has ever had to learn a sequence of steps… no matter perform them in front of an audience.
(Especially his p**taking best man and brother!)
I have seen FULL on nervous breakdowns, cold sweats dry mouth, and shaking….
But never fear – wife or girlfriend of ‘DAD DANCER’
You can help.
(and you know I am only playing, right?)
#1 Help him get control of his arms
Dad dancers tend to be able to operate the top or bottom halves of their bodies.
But not usually at once.
Help him to find the balance between not moving his arms at all (as if the best man has just given him 2 dead arms) and looking like he is trying to direct the air ambulance down to land.
#2 Explain that ironic dancing…. isn’t funny.
Or Ironic
(for more on what isn’t Ironic please refer to Alanis Morrisette’s early 90s work)
While it is fun for lovely granddad Pete to be pretending to reel his fishing line in, while Dexy Midnight Runners ask Eileen..
to come on…
Doing silly faces and ‘big fish little fish, cardboard box with his tongue out.
Isn’t funny.
It just isn’t
Stop it, dad dancer
….especially if you are expecting a smoochy slow dance at the end.
All your tuxedo-ed sexiness at the start of the evening will be in tatters.
Like any kind of cool rating among your children.
#3 Teach him the Dad-Dance Warm-Up Shimmy
Ok, so he is going to need one emergency move in his toolkit to bust out when you drag him onto the floor.
- Feet hip distance apart
- Very relaxed fists just below chest height,
- ELBOWS IN!!!
- Listen to the music
- Listen to the music
- FOR GOD’S SAKE LISTEN TO THE BLOODY MUSIC
- See 4) + 5)
- ever so slightly move your weight from one foot to the other
- you’ll find the arms also move a bit, naturally with you
CAUTION: Dad-dancer, on no account wiggle your hips.
YOU WILL LOOK LIKE A BIG GIRLS BLOUSE SOMEONE WILL VIDEO YOU.
It will go on YouTube. Or even Facebook… Ot heaven help us… FB LIVE (The most honest and raw of all the video thingies)
Haha – you know I am only teasing!
Getting him on the dance floor at all is sometimes a HUGE achievement – so we want to encourage him all we can when he’s there.
But maybe get him to practice busting his moves at home before he goes LIVE at an important DO! 😉
- And when he starts to look a bit less white in the face
- And his palms are a little less clammy
- And he maybe even cracks a bit of a smile…
- Congratulate him – he has made it through step 1.
- In time, you may even get him along to salsa!
Watch out though…remember what I say to the little boys?
If you are going to get him looking too cool and sexy on the dance floor?
You better make sure you join him!
We have an amazing FREE dancey webinar coming up soon – any number of left feet welcome!
Make sure you are on the mailing list
First come, first served as always
xxx