在生活中翩翩起舞

I held Georgia close. We swayed to the music and slowly turned. Next to us， a couple twirled and spun in elegant circles. Their feet and bodies moved in harmony with the music， as they floated over the dance floor.

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful to dance like that?” Georgia asked me.

“It sure would.” I replied into her ear.

A few weeks later， my daughter， Vanessa， announced plans to attend her boyfriend’s prom. Georgia decided to give them dance lessons as a Christmas gift. She found a dance studio and called them. “Are you sure you and your husband don’t want to take lessons with them?” the gentleman asked. “There’s a discount for a second couple.”

“Well… ” my wife hesitated. “Why not?”

We stood with ten other couples in the centre of the floor at Jimmy’s Dance Studio. I listened to the conversations. “I’ve always wanted to do this.” One woman said.

“I hope I don’t step on someone’s feet.” A man of about fifty said to his greying wife.

A dapper gentleman of about sixty stepped into the room and faced us. He was five foot two inch—if that. “I’m Jimmy. You’re here to learn to dance and you will. I promise you， by the time you finish your first six weeks， you’ll make your friends jealous.” He said.

His toupee， obviously fitted many years ago， was slightly off centre and barely covered his spreading baldness. We started with the basic box step， a simple waltz for those who know how to dance. We practiced the steps facing each other but standing several feet apart. The men stepped forward with their left foot; the women stepped back with their right. Our steps were mirror images of each other. “One！ Two！ Three！” Jimmy shouted.

It seemed easy.

“OK！” Jimmy said.

“Watch how it’s done.” He took one of his assistants in his arms. An Anne Murray song began to play. “Save The Last Dance for Me” she sang. Jimmy and his partner drifted elegantly around the room.

“We’re going to start the music again. Take your partner in your arms. Now let’s give it a try.”

Jimmy smiled at us. “It’s easy. You’ll see.”

Anne Murray sang again. The song would haunt us for months. I held Georgia in my arms. My right hand held her waist， the left held her hand. The music began. I moved my left foot forward and stepped on Georgia’s toe. We stood， waited for the beat， and tried again. Half way through the box， we faltered.

“Hold her firm！” One of the assistants came to our side. She grabbed my arm.

“Here! Put your arm around her waist. Hold her hand with the other. Don’t move it. Keep it firm! You have to guide her!”

Anne Murray wailed again. We got through the full box without stumbling or stepping on each other. Compared to the instructors， we looked like two kids dancing for the first time. We were awkward， but we learned.

Several weeks later， something happened. While Anne Murray begged for the last dance， Georgia and I began to flow across the floor. Our awkwardness was gone. We were partners. We were one.

“Yes! Yes!” The Jimmy yelled and smiled.

“Look at them， class. They got it.” He clapped his hands， which caused his toupee to slide to the left. “I told you it was easy.” He smiled.

It took a lot of practice and time， but we did it. We became a team. We anticipated each other’s moves and interpreted the slightest signal from the other. What seemed hard before became natural.

Once we learned how to dance， we looked at our relationship. We stumbled at cooking together. We stepped on each other’s toes when disciplining our children. I wanted to go right， she went left: when to mow the lawn， how much to spend on a car， where our vacations should be spent， and all things couples struggle with.

We applied what we learned in class. Once we got the steps down， we danced through life.

喬治婭抱近我，我們隨音樂(lè)搖擺，慢慢旋轉(zhuǎn)。在我們旁邊，一對(duì)夫婦一圈又一圈快速優(yōu)美地旋轉(zhuǎn)著。他們的舞步與身體和著音樂(lè)的節(jié)拍，飄動(dòng)在舞池中。

“像那樣跳舞難道不是很美妙嗎?”喬治婭問(wèn)我。

“當(dāng)然啦，”我在她耳邊回答。

幾周后，我的女兒瓦妮莎說(shuō)她打算參加男朋友的舞會(huì)。喬治婭決定安排他們上舞蹈課，作為送給他們的圣誕禮物。她找到一個(gè)舞蹈工作室，并打去電話。“你確定你和你的丈夫不想跟他們一起上課嗎?”那位男士問(wèn)道，“第二對(duì)報(bào)名可享受折扣。”

“噢……”我的妻子猶豫不決，“那為什么不試試呢?”

就這樣，我們和另外十對(duì)舞伴一起站在了吉米舞蹈工作室的舞池中央。我聽到人們的談話。一位女士說(shuō)道，“我一直就想學(xué)這個(gè)。”

“但愿我不會(huì)踩到別人的腳，”一位50歲左右的男士對(duì)他頭發(fā)花白的妻子說(shuō)。

一位60歲左右、身姿矯健的男子走進(jìn)房間，面向我們。他身高5英尺2英寸——如果沒(méi)猜錯(cuò)的話。他說(shuō)道：“我叫吉米。你們都是來(lái)這里學(xué)跳舞的，你們會(huì)學(xué)會(huì)的。我向你們保證，等你們學(xué)完前六周的課程，你們將會(huì)令朋友們羨慕不已。”

他戴的假發(fā)明顯是多年以前配的，現(xiàn)在看著有點(diǎn)歪，勉強(qiáng)蓋住他日漸擴(kuò)大的禿頂。我們從最基本的方形步學(xué)起；對(duì)會(huì)跳舞的人來(lái)說(shuō)，這種華爾茲舞步簡(jiǎn)直是小菜一碟。我們面向彼此練習(xí)這種舞步，相互間距離幾英尺遠(yuǎn)。男士左腳上前一步，女士右腳后退一步；我們的步子互為鏡像。

“一、二、三!”吉米大聲喊道。

好像挺容易。

“好了!”吉米說(shuō)。

“請(qǐng)注意看我們?cè)趺醋龅摹！彼炱鹨晃恢帧Ｒ皇装材荨つ虻母栝_始響起；她唱的是“把最后一支舞留給我”。吉米和舞伴在房間里翩翩起舞。

“我們?cè)僦匦路乓槐橐魳?lè)。請(qǐng)挽起你們的舞伴。現(xiàn)在讓我們?cè)囍槐椤！?/p>

吉米朝我們微笑。“很容易。你們能跳好的。”

安妮·莫莉又唱了起來(lái)。這首歌將在我們腦海里縈繞數(shù)月。我把喬治婭擁在臂彎間，右手摟著她的腰，左手握著她的手。音樂(lè)響起。我左腳向前邁了一步，踩到了喬治婭的腳趾。我們站住，等待合適的節(jié)拍，接著跳。方形步跳到一半時(shí)，我們猶豫不定，停了下來(lái)。

“抱緊她!”一位助手來(lái)到我們身邊。她抓起我的手臂。

“這里!把你的手臂繞在她腰間。另一只手握著她的手。不要亂動(dòng)。保持好姿勢(shì)，你得帶著她跳!”

安妮·莫莉再次哀泣。我們成功跳完了整個(gè)方形步，沒(méi)再撞到或踩著對(duì)方。和那些指導(dǎo)老師比起來(lái)，我們就像兩個(gè)初次跳舞的小孩子。雖然動(dòng)作笨拙，但我們學(xué)到了東西。

幾周后，奇跡出現(xiàn)了。安妮·莫莉依然在乞求跳最后一支舞，但喬治婭和我已經(jīng)開始能夠流暢地在舞池中起舞。我們不再笨拙。我們是舞伴，是一個(gè)整體。

“對(duì)!很棒!”吉米叫道，微笑著。“看看他們，同學(xué)們，他們學(xué)會(huì)了。”他拍手稱好，不小心讓假發(fā)滑到了左側(cè)。“我跟你們說(shuō)過(guò)的嘛，很容易，”他笑道。

這次學(xué)跳舞花了很多時(shí)間，經(jīng)過(guò)無(wú)數(shù)的練習(xí)，但最終我們做到了。我們成了一個(gè)團(tuán)隊(duì)。我們會(huì)預(yù)想對(duì)方的舞步，并能理解對(duì)方的信號(hào)，無(wú)論這個(gè)信號(hào)多么細(xì)微。以前覺(jué)得很難的事情現(xiàn)在變得自然而然了。

我們學(xué)會(huì)跳舞后，開始審視我們之間的關(guān)系。我們一起做飯時(shí)會(huì)口角；管教孩子們時(shí)會(huì)觸怒對(duì)方。很多時(shí)候我想向右，她卻向左：比如什么時(shí)候給草坪割草，花多少錢買車，去哪兒度假，以及夫妻疲于應(yīng)付的其他一切事情。

我們把跳舞課上所學(xué)應(yīng)用到了生活中：一旦我們學(xué)會(huì)了步子，就能在生活中翩翩起舞。