By ChiHsian Chung (吉祥 即想)
老友 Taipei 鼓勵我寫下學排舞的心路歷程, 寫文章對當年學術股長的他是易如反掌, 對我則有如回小學繳作文的夢懨. Anyway, 趕鴨子上架, 就當作少時了了, 老來的懲罰. 也是一种自我挑戰.我是個落入「空巢族」多年, 日夜工作打拼的矽谷工程師. 去年有幸又冠上「提前退休族」的頭銜. 大學以前是個依父母期望努力用功的書呆子, 學跳舞又要牽女生手的那种事, 就不用想了. 一年前老婆參加了加州排舞協會的運動, 看她每晚下班, 又是舞鞋又是舞衣, 興致勃勃的趕場, 回來香汗淋瀝. 幾個月下來, 不知為什麼, 她不但身心健康大躍進, 人也變漂亮了. 樂得我不辭辛勞, 天天上廚打點晚餐侍候. 但腦子裡, 因工程師好奇心的天性, 一直想尋找答案, 親身探個究竟? 但不好意思說….三個月前, 老婆居然極力鼓勵, 邀我下海. 我在半推半就下, 也就正式踏上一輩子都不敢想的舞者行列, 將自己由網路「老宅男」提升為陽光的「快樂族」. 第一次報到, 是懷著少女出嫁, 期待惶恐, 喜悅害羞交織的心情, 坐著老婆的車上路的. 一進舞場, 煞見滿場娘子大軍, 也不敢多看, 低著頭跟在老婆後, 找個空間定位. 接著做十五分鐘的舒筋操, 也順便定心觀四方…. 才發現, 還有三個男士在場! 場上眾女士們是, 個個健康陽光. 教練及助教練們就不用說了. 好不容易安下的心, 排舞一開始才知大勢不妙. 排舞每節八步, 一舞多節, 第一個八步還好, 教練示範到第三個八步, 第一個八步全還她了. 還好人多好混, 第一天就在跟「學妹學弟」脫節的韻律下, 搖得汗流夾背結束了. 老實說, 雖然我當場就愛上了這個不需牽女生手的排舞, 但第一堂是帶著尷尬及挫折感離場的.既然愛上了它, 我就以矽谷工程師, 無懼無恐, 日夜打拼的精神往前走. 上完課做筆記, 上網查資料, 提早進場, 虛心求教前輩及拜託老師們惡補, 並尋找地盤, 讓自己環繞在高手中間, 四方借鏡, 好跟著擺. 反正就是無所不用其極. 幾次的觀察, 瞭解到每個人在跳舞現場都專心一致, 顧好節拍, 根本沒法發現我是慢三拍的菜鳥. 尷尬感也在第三堂就煙消雲散了. 一個月下來, 老婆還發現我為了記好每節八步, 一舞多節的順序排列, 腦子靈光了不少. 老婆的稱讚使我信心大增, 從此以後, 我就抱著快樂的心境, 期待這每天一小時的身心提昇運動的來臨.以前總覺得排舞擺腰曳臀, 是女生的玩意. 其實排舞對男生好處真的很多; 健身冶心, 強化記憶, 既沒有一般跳舞需牽女生手的尷尬, 也不失如浴春風的感覺. 只要一個小時在韻律擺動的交織下, 就可動得汗流夾背, 且心曠神怡. 此外, 排舞對消除啤酒腰有奇效. 我跳了三個月的排舞, 因腰圍恢復而省下的換褲錢, 比排舞協會一年的年費還多. 据考, 有女會員, 加入排舞運動一陣子後, 衣服尺寸, 就從 14 號 降到 Petite 級. 難怪我們的教練說: 「跳排舞, 女的會變美女,男的會變帥哥」. 我剛開始加入時,男生好像稀有動物, 最近數了一下出現的男士, 好像已超過十位. 所以我們慢慢也將失去因「物以稀為貴」而得到的厚愛, 看來需要「自強不息」了.由於團隊和諧, 除了運動, 成員有時也不免, 放下身段, 輕鬆開些玩笑. 前陣子有個教練說: 她以一支「10 minutes」為曲的排舞, 差點迷死「老公」. 我也請求「主教練」幫我們男生創作一支可以迷死「老婆」的舞子. 這個月的新舞叫「如雷打」Cha Cha Ruleta, 特難! 第一輪, 在一片人海中, 學得霧煞煞. 第二輪, 是趕鴨子上架, 昏頭轉向. 第三輪, 還好, 大概只慢眾教練三到五拍. 我的期望是第四輪, 可以跟著隊伍擺. 舞雖難, 但美. 跳完後, 汗出得也多. 私底下我認為這 「如雷打」是「操兵舞」, 特別適合男士. 我也不懼艱難, 反覆練習, 漸入佳境. 老婆舞齡多我一年, 但在這支「如雷打」上是甘拜下風. 回了家, 還拜託我教她, 讓我有十足成就感. 排舞真的是「空巢族」夫妻一起參加的最佳運動. 可擺脫在家, 大眼瞪小眼的場面.還有, 信不信由您, 大概因為持續的排舞運動, 加州排舞協會的教練及助教練們都是; 健康活潑, 快樂友善, 個個看似二十來歲的「中年留學主婦」. 排舞真的可舞出健康，舞出快樂，舞出燦爛的人生! 如您對這排舞記述產生共震, 在網路上可有許許多多寶貴資料. 譬如…初學者簡介: http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-line-dance 排舞腳步總匯: http://www.copperknob.co.uk/ 我覺得排舞的快樂, 在於團動的韻律感及團員間的互動學習, 所以加入排舞協會, 讓自己有個固定的時間, 投入健身活動, 見見朋友, 是最佳的安排.我是加入加州排舞協會. 它的網址是 www.cldaa.org 若在台北是 http://www.taipeilinedance.twmail.net/ My Line Dance Journey – The First Three Months Through the encouragement of my classmate, who was the leader of art and literature extra curriculum in our high school class, I divulge on public Blog forthe first time in my life about a personal sensation – my journey in Line Dance. After dedicating more than 30 years to the high-tech industry in Silicon Valley and coaching my kids to become independent, I recently earned an “early retiree” title. Initially, a sudden loss in the excitement generated from daily contributions at work left me depressed. Luckily, it did not take long after I refined my life-value from accomplishing paid-job-related services to giving toward myself, my loved ones and community. Prior to college, I was daddy and mommy’s nice kid; studying very hard to meet their expectations. Extracurricular activities such as dancing (that requires holding the hand of girl) would only be a dream. A year ago, my wife joined the California Line Dance Association and started the hour-long daily exercise. To my surprise, within few months into her exercise, she looked like a different person both on her health and beauty. Out of curiosity, I always wanted to know the reason behind it, but was shy to bring it up on the table …. In the beginning of this year, after one of her after-dance dinners, she asked me if I would like to join her in the line dance club. Although I agreed reluctantly, I felt as if I had hit the lotto. This started my inconceivable dancing adventure. I can still vividly remember my first day. My wife was driving us to my first lesson, and I felt joyful and anxious but also a little uncertain, much like the mixed emotions of a girl getting married. We were late that night. So as soon as we walked into the dance room, there were already an overwhelmingly massive number of ladies filling the dance floor. Embarrassed, I followed my wife into the room with my head down, and managed to find a space to stand. During the first 15 minutes of the stretching workout, I parked around the room and to my relief found two other men. The ladies on the dance floor all looked healthy and bright, needless to say about the coaches and assistant coaches. The nervous mind that settled down during the stretching section was re-agitated as soon as the line dance exercise began. It turned out that Line dance is a multi-section dance with eight-count steps in each section. Some have as many as 8 or more sections. After coach moved on to teach the third section, I had completely forgotten the first section. There was no way for me to follow except to shake and struggle to move my body around. Fortunately, nobody on the dance floor noticed my awkwardness because everyone was focused on his/her own steps. An hour passed, and my first class ended in a catch-up mode lacking behind young classmates’ footsteps. Honestly, although I instantly fell in love with this female-dominated dance, I left the class with embarrassment and frustration.Being intrigued by the dance, I committed myself with the fearless spirit of a Silicon Valley engineer. I worked very hard; this includes note taking after-class, studying reference materials from online surfing, practicing at home, and reviewing before-class with predecessors and assistant coaches. I also arrived early to position myself around skillful classmates so that I could gain references in all four quarters during dance. I eventually discovered that, because everyone had to concentrate on the dance-beat during exercise, there was no embarrassment of being a fresh member. And the awkward mindset I had in the beginning went away quickly. After a month into the exercise, my wife applauded my memory enhancement – due mainly to the repeated use of the brain to remember the sequence of multiple sections in the dance. With her praise and my passion, I became anxious to look forward for this one-hour physical and mentalen lightening exercise every day.It was my misunderstanding that line dance is nothing but a hip and waist swing stuff – a female-only exercise until I personally experienced it. After three months of participation, I have to say that the intensive rhythmic movement underline dance music is a great exercise for men, not only on physical improvement but also for mind enrichment. It is also an amazing prescription for killing beer-tummy syndrome. It was a delight that I saved more money for not needing to upgrade all of my pants with a larger waist size than the money I had to pay for the CLDAA annual membership. According to an insider story, there was a female member who dropped her clothing size from 14 to Petite after continued line dancing for over a year. No wonder one of our coaches said, “The Line Dance can make women pretty and men handsome.” When I first started, male members were so scarce that every one was treated as well-protected rare species. Lately, I have noticed more than 10 men showing up routinely. It is inevitable that I need to work even harder before our special rare-species’ right is taken away. Aside from exercise, members also enjoy friendship and humorous conversations in the dance class. On one occasion, one of our coaches told us one of her secrets that she used the CLDAA designed dance “10 minutes” to awe her husband almost to death. I have pleaded our “seed coach” to create an equivalent dance that allows male members to magnetize their wives.This month’s new dance is called Cha Cha Ruleta (pronounced”thundering hit” in Chinese). It is a very hard advanced dance. It took me three lessons to start following coach’s teaching, but still 3 to 5 counts behind her steps. Although difficult, it is a beautiful and great work-out dance. Personally, I treat this “thundering hit” dance a perfect exercise for men due to its intensive and fast-paced turning movement. I repetitively practiced it with great effort and eventually became better on this dance than my wife who joined line dance one year earlier than me. It was a great feeling of achievement. Joining CLDAA for line dance has been the best decision for me and my wife this year. I strongly recommend it particularly for those couples whose children have grown up and started their own lives.Finally, it is amazing that, probably because of their continued line dance exercises, the coaches and assistant coaches inCalifornia Line Dance Association are all very healthy, happy and friendly; all looked in their 20s’ even though they are “middle-age study-abroad housewives”. Line dance really can make the dream of dancing into a healthy, happy, and brilliant life true. If you are motivated to learn what the line dance is, there are plenty of references on the web.
