Dancing With The Stars....the Finals!

My friends think I'm nuts because I'm so addicted to this show...! Christian is handsome and has grown on me. Outside of the fear those skimpy outfits the women wear will snap in two. Or mybe I'm just a wanna-be-dancer who will always wonder what if....

At four years old, my mom took me to my first dance recital. I really didn't 'get' what we was going to see. I just know Mom and I walked hand-in-hand to the junior high school where the recital was being held. I remember being surprised how many folks were there. I figured if so many others were there, it must be a good thing.

The recital itself--the only thing I remember was a girl dressed in blue, with blue slippers on her feet. The slippers made her stand on her tippy toes. My mouth dropped. I knew that's what I wanted to do. I babbled on about that one dance all the way home. That fall, I began dance lessons. Again, I didn't 'get' what was happening. I didn't realize I had to work at getting to a point of being on pointe. Being four years old will do that to you.

By the time I was old enough to be on pointe (as some others girls I knew where) Mom burst my bubble, "Black girls can't be ballerinas." Something about being not the right build. It didn't matter--I was crushed. Years later, in fact about three years ago, I watched a PBS documentary about blacks in the arts. There sat a black ballerina-who danced around the entire globe in the 60's and 70's-said she was told she could never be a ballerina because colored girls weren't built the right way. She proved them wrong. I wish I had tried to prove them wrong too.

Dance didn't hold much weight after my mom's crushing blow. My dance teacher put me in a hula skirt because I looked 'authenic'. I was good at the hula, yet for me- dance, TRUE dance was ballet. My dance lessons lasted but a couple more years. My heart wasn't in it. And the weekly 50 mile, round trip to the lessons, felt more like 500. Mom gave me the option of staying or quitting. I really think she tested me. Let me make a decision about my future.

Big mistake. I quit. It's the one thing I do regret. Heck, I wasn't quite 12. I should have kept going. I would have learned sooner--that True dance is what YOU bring to the dance. Not what style it is.

I've taken some adult lessons here and there. In fact, I receive in "A" in jazz dance class. I was the oldest in the class and the teacher said, I had 'presence.' Last fall I tried belly dancing-quite enjoyable, plus quite a workout. I plan to take ballroom lessons this summer. It does help that still 4 year old wanna be ballerina inside me.

So tonight, I will be Dancing With the Stars--in my eyes and still in my dreams--with a little ice cream to help it all down.