There are so many great songs that reference dancing. One of my favorites will always be “Slow Dance” by John Legend. It speaks about a man asking his woman to shut out the craziness of the world and simply dance with him. I think dancing is one of the most intimate things you can do with your mate. It requires a bit of vulnerability while you’re hand in hand, chest to chest and catching fleeting moments of eye contact. Before I turn this week’s date into a romance novel let me give you the deets. This week’s edition of Weeknight Date Night was selected by me and we attended a newcomer’s dance class.

 Photo by Ivory Door Studio

Between the two of us I’m the entertainer which is kind of strange, because I’m an introvert. Well, actually I’m a self-proclaimed extroverted introvert. I love my me time and don’t really care for crowds, BUT give me a mic and an audience and it’s show-time. Anthony is an extrovert, but surprisingly doesn’t have my stage presence (pats self on the back). So, when I picked a dance class as our date I thought, “I’m going to kill at this!!!” Spoiler Alert: I couldn’t have been more WRONG!

 Photo by Ivory Door Studio

We arrived at Studio Live 2 Dance and our instructor Steven Black asked if we’d ever done this before. I replied no, but Anthony made a point to let Steven know he took social dance in college at Middle Tennessee State University. My reply, “we’re older than we look. He hasn’t been in college in YEARS!” Steven informed us that he would be teaching the Rumba. He then proceeds to turn on “For the Love of You” by the Isley Brothers and I had to tell myself to keep it together. The Rumba is essentially a quick, quick slow box step. I quickly realized that this was NOT I repeat NOT for me. The music was great, the lighting was sexy, but me doing choreographed dancing was a definite no go. I told myself that I should stick to free form dancing, and probably should’ve taken that social dance class at MTSU with Anthony.

 Photo by Ivory Door Studio

Meanwhile, Steven has said for the fifth time, “Anthony us guys don’t do much.” If you’ve been following our date nights since we started them last summer then you know 90% of the time I’m the best (check my stats). Well, let’s just say Rumba falls in the other 10%. After a few times of testing out the steps, Steven showed us how to move around the dance floor so we would no longer resemble an 8^th grade couple at a school dance. That is when Anthony thought it was a great idea to put a little extra umph in his moves. This totally threw me off! “Dude, I’m struggling, would you please stick to the basics sheesh.”

 Photo by Ivory Door Studio

We returned to center stage for Steven to introduce one more move. Yep, you guessed it. We learned how to do a turn. Once again, Steven informed Anthony that he doesn’t do much. The turn was all on me. I hate to admit it, but I’ve caught an episode or two of Dancing with the Stars and the guys looked like they were doing more than Anthony.  To my surprise, I actually I did pretty well with the turn. We practiced the turn a few more times and then we put all the moves together. By that time Steven had put on his 90s playlist, and I was in Heaven. And just when I thought it couldn’t get any better “Candy Rain” by Soul For Real came on, and I screamed a little.

This date was AMAZING! And we gave Studio Live 2 Dance TWO THUMPS UP! Steven was made for this type of work and he made the class very enjoyable.

Why should you take a class at Studio Live 2 Dance?

1.      Steven Black, the instructor is PHENOMENAL! He’s absolutely hilarious, knowledgeable and meets you where you are with your dancing ability

2.      They have Newcomer’s Class every Wednesday night from 7:00pm-8:00pm for only $10.00

3.      The space is pretty plus the lighting and music only add to its ambiance