By May 17, I had settled into being a 25-year-old and I was in serious need of some dance therapy after a busy deadline day. I was ready for anything David would throw at me.

Well, almost anything.

We worked on the Waltz box, but not the regular box – the right box. Sometimes, it’s necessary to bend the rules a bit, David said. You might need a right box to get you in the right position for the next move, or you may just want to mix things up. Really, David? Really?

My mind started spinning. My feet don’t work that way, I said to myself. David tried to prove me wrong, of course. But, to this day, the right box remains one of my biggest nemeses on the dance floor. Even with the best lead (or on the off chance David tells me it’s coming), the neurons in my brain don’t quite touch and I almost end up on the floor.

So, guys, be forewarned. If you ask me to dance a waltz and you throw in a right box, you deserve the embarrassment that will surely ensue.

After trying to gather our bearings, the group moved on to the “fall away twinkle.”

While it sounds pretty, the move serves another purpose than making the dance look nice. The strategic move is used as you are dancing around the floor to avoid collisions with other dancers. If another couple is too close, voila! Problem solved.

So, we moved onto the Foxtrot and the inside and outside zigzags. They just look really neat.  Once you understand what to do with your feet, that is…but anything would have been easier than that right box. Understanding the zigzags became clearer as I practiced at the studio and at home (and when I took an intermediate Foxtrot course). We also tried out the promenade to pivot, which isn’t sharp and aggressive like dancing the Tango, but smooth with control.

When it was time to work on Tango, we finished learning the promenade to fan (which David said recently wasn’t the name of the move, but I can’t remember the correct words – check back on that one). It’s so neat. Instead of pointing my left toe after the fan, I did some weird kick and I was delighted that David said we might use that later for a showcase number possibly. Who knew I had an inner choreographer?

Moving on to the continuous basic and the continuous corté (both super easy to learn the steps), we also went over the corté to flick (or at least, that’s what I’m calling it for the moment). Oh la la! Now that is a cool move. It looks impressive, but can also be kind of weird if you aren’t comfortable with body contact just yet.

So, guys, here’s another tip: if you don’t know a girl too well, you could really impress her with this move or really freak her out. Dance at your own risk.

By the end of class, I was free of my stress from getting the paper to print and in a super mood. As long as I didn’t have to face any right boxes for a while.