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Published: January 23rd 2009
So last night this Obruni tried to dance... not only dance, but tried to dance traditional African dances... let me tell you a little story
So I want to take a dance class and was really excited to see that the practical was on Thursday nights right after my Twi class. I showed up last night wearing a green t-shirt and khaki shorts. It was easy to find the room, it was the one with the African drums playing that you could hear from a block away. I walked into the room to discover that I was the only Obruni (white person or foreigner) in the class. I also quickly discovered that there is a dress code of some sort in this class because everyone is wearing black stretch pants and a white shirt. Mistake number one. Then the drums started up again and everyone already knows the steps. Mistake number two. Apparently the dance classes work kind of like our science classes and labs go. On Monday-Wednesday the students take a technique portion of the class where they learn the steps and then the practical on Thursdays is where they just do the routine and just dance for an hour and a half straight. THEN I learn that this is a 200 level course intended for actual dance majors. Mistake number three.
So here I am, barefoot, in the wrong clothes, sweating like a prostitute in confession, flapping my arms around pretending like I know what on earth I am doing. Oh yea, did I mention the African drums and people singing and chanting traditional African songs while they are dancing around? So about half way through I think, what on EARTH am I doing in here? I should just go home. Then I just got this strange urge and I thought "heck no, when else am I ever going to be able to do this in my life?" Think about it, I was making a complete fool out of myself, and there was absolutely no way I knew what I was doing, so I might as well have fun with it. I stopped and just started laughing at myself, which resulted in the rest of the class laughing as well. I think they wanted to but felt bad and as soon as they saw me start laughing and having fun with it then they loosened up about it as well. I ended up having a blast!!!!
After the class the teacher took me to the department and went over the time tables with me and helped me find the class I should be in. So starting Monday I will be in Dance 102: Traditional African Dance for beginners. 4 days a week I will continue to flap my arms around and sweat like a prostitute, but hopefully I will at least know which directions to flap around.
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Tanya
non-member comment
hilarious!
this made me laugh out loud! so funny!