My first public performance as Michelle Ballroom dancing has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, but I didn’t realise just how important it would become in shaping my future, until I had to take the place of one of my bosses following an accident. Dancing Queen A novel by Louise Anne Smithson Copyright © 2013 Louise Anne Smithson All Rights Reserved.

Alan was waiting for me along with the other guys. He’d changed into a white tie and borrowed tail suit that was a tiny bit too small for him, but he looked great all the same and it was made of a stretchy material so didn’t hinder him from dancing. He didn’t say anything as I approached but I could see that he approved of the way I looked, as well. I smiled, nervously, and we took our places ready to begin our demonstration of the Waltz. Sarah, who would no longer able to take any part in the dancing, introduced the dancers to the audience and gave a little bit of background information about each dance and explained what the audience should look for. Then the music started and we began.

It isn’t my intention to fill this story with detailed commentaries on our dances together but on this first public occasion I will try and give some indication of how it felt. It was as if the music took control of the two of us as we glided around the room. I let Alan lead us around the room whilst I concentrated on my posture and showing off my costume to best effect. Everything looked and felt just right, the dress, the shoes, my hair and makeup. I’m sure that neither Alan nor I put a foot wrong during the dance, and our poise and posture would have been good enough to satisfy the strictest competition judge. Of course I couldn’t comment on the other pairs of dancers but I gained the impression from the applause afterwards that the whole team had been a credit to the society. The first of the new season of demonstration sessions appeared to have gone very well indeed. In spite of being dressed as I was in such a public arena, I felt confident about myself and that I had not let anyone down.

All the dancers stayed around for half an hour or so after each dance, whilst they organised and signed up newcomers to the corresponding training session. This was an opportunity to answer individual questions or receive compliments or congratulations from members of the audience. One of the first to approach me was Richard from work.

‘Michelle, that was awesome, you two looked so professional together. I’d no idea that you were such a good dancer. ‘

‘Thanks,’ I replied, a little surprised by his enthusiasm and the unselfconscious way he was now addressing me.

‘I’ve filmed the whole dance, and have just checked it through. There are some wonderful shots of both of you. Would you have any objection if I put some clips up on You-tube,

‘What do you think, Alan?’ I asked.

‘It was a public performance and so there’s nothing to prevent any member of the audience from filming us,’ he replied.

‘Alright, as long as you promise only to use the name Michelle Williams, and not my real name,’

Sarah then introduced our second demonstration - the Foxtrot - which she explained had nothing to do with the gait of carnivorous mammals but was named after an American vaudeville actor. It was a progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor and danced to big band music. Although it is a relatively straightforward dance for beginners, it is actually quite difficult to achieve the elegance and sophistication necessary. On this occasion I felt that we had done so. Afterwards there were lots of people who wanted to talk to us and I probably spent more time chatting than I needed too, partly because I was enjoying myself so much that I didn’t really want it all to end. It was Sarah who eventually reminded me that I’d organised a Committee meeting at 5.00pm, and that if I didn’t get changed soon I would have to attend and take the minutes dressed as Michelle. The idea was not completely objectionable to me but was probably not appropriate and so I reluctantly followed her to the changing rooms.

Sarah helped me to get changed into Mike’s clothes and to remove all traces of the makeup. It was a relief to take off the earrings and the high heels, but in other respects I felt a sense of loss as I gave up Michelle’s lovely clothes in favour of Mike’s rather non-descript t shirt and jeans. The only difficulty we encountered was with Helen’s nail tips which proved to be somewhat more time consuming to remove than I’d imagined. In the end I sent Sarah ahead to make my apologies to the committee for the late start. By the time I arrived, I was ten minutes late for the meeting, and was disappointed to see that there were only Sarah and Rob and four other committee members present, although it appeared that Alan had also been asked to attend as the main topic on the agenda would probably concern him.

‘I’m afraid a couple of the other members have had to leave, but they have given us their views and will be happy to go along with whatever we decide,’ said Rob.

I started to take the minutes.

‘The only item on the agenda is to consider who will be filling in behind Sarah over the next few weeks, but I should perhaps begin by thanking everyone who took part in today’s proceedings which we all agree have been a great success,’ said Rob.

There were mutters of agreement from Jack and Lucy, two middle-aged members of the Committee, neither of whom had been dancing.

‘Particular thanks are due to Mike and Alan, who between them have saved the day for us after Sarah’s accident.’

There were further murmurs of agreement from almost everyone present apart from Alan and myself who both looked a little embarrassed.

‘But the question is who is going to be dancing the Viennese Waltz and the Quickstep on 10th October, the Charleston and the American Smooth on the 24th, the Jive and the Jitterbug on the 8th November and the various Latin American Dances during the remaining two sessions?’

‘Alan, would you be willing to dance any of those?’ asked Jack.

‘I believe so; you can pencil me in for any of them although I would of course need to practice some of the more difficult dances. That is, so long as you find me suitable partners to dance with,’ he replied.

‘Thank you very much. On the basis of your performance today I think we would like to make plenty of use of your talents over the next few weeks. Which brings us to the question of who will be taking the lady’s part,’ said Rob.

Sarah came in at this point.

‘I’ve been canvassing our lady members ever since my accident, looking for volunteers who might be willing to take my place or else seeking other likely names. Louise says she would be willing to take the lead and cover the Latin dances as these are not scheduled for six weeks and so she’ll have plenty of time to practice. However, Guy, her usual partner doesn’t feel confident enough to take part in a demonstration and so we will have to ask Alan to step in.

‘OK, but what about the other sessions?’ asked Jack.

‘Unfortunately I’ve found no volunteer who would feel sufficiently confident to take the lead and demonstrate any one pair of the remaining dances that we’ve scheduled. We could perhaps re-organise the schedule, although this has already been published. On the other hand one suggested name has cropped up several times during the course of this afternoon.’

‘Who’s that?’ I asked, as I was writing the minutes.

‘You, I’m afraid Mike.’

I looked up; everyone around the table was looking at me.

‘N-n-now hang on, I reluctantly agreed to fill in for today as it was a true emergency, but it was stated by all concerned that it would only be for this week.’

‘I know, and we are all very grateful,’ said Sarah. ‘But there is no-one among the ladies who is competent in all of those dances, whereas you know them all.’

‘I-I-I may know them, but not well enough to be able to demonstrate them in front of an audience.

‘You haven’t exactly helped your cause by dancing so well today,’ commented Lucy.

‘B-b-but the only way I was able to do that was because I had three nights of practice and two days of going in to work dressed as Michelle.’

‘And you admitted to me last night that you’d had learned a lot about ballroom dancing by doing so.’

‘Yes I have, but you’re asking me to take over a series of dances over a six week period. I’d have to spend two or three evenings each week just getting ready for the next session.’

‘Whoever took on that role would need to practice,’ said Alan.

‘Wha-what about costumes?’ I asked, seeking to divert the spotlight from myself.

That tactic didn’t work, as Sarah assumed that I was asking what I might wear.

‘There are five or six ladies who are roughly the same size as you are. Between us, I’m sure we could loan you enough costumes for you to wear.’

Rob stepped in on my behalf.

‘Don’t feel you have to do this Mike, if you don’t want to,’ he said.

‘Where I have heard that one before?' I thought to myself, but didn’t answer.

But Sarah had now got the bit between her teeth and used my hesitation as an invitation for her to put the boot (hoof?) in.

‘Let me put to you a proposal that I’ve discussed with several of the other ladies during the course of the afternoon and they have all agreed to help. First of all we all know that you can make a convincing and attractive lady dancer.’

I blushed, but didn’t say anything.

‘OK and you’ve spent the last three days living and working as Michelle.’

I blushed even further.

If you continued to do so for the next few weeks, we will all contribute some clothes for you to wear at work during the week and loan you some dance costumes at the weekends. Joan would also be willing to provide you with some proper hair and nail extensions. You would then be able to concentrate on being Michelle and devote all your free time to practicing the new dances and working out routines with Alan.’

‘B-b-but what about my job?’

‘You’ve already demonstrated to us that going in to work as Michelle wouldn’t be a problem,’ said Sarah. ‘Of course we’ll have to explain the situation to the weekend staff, but it isn’t going to be an issue for them.’

‘Are you saying that I would need to go in to work dressed as Michelle every day?’ I said beginning to weaken.

‘We would be happy to employ you as either Mike or Michelle over the next six weeks, but we’d be less keen if you were to keep switching back and forth between them,’ said Rob.

‘Also Joan wouldn’t be too pleased if you kept changing between Mike and Michelle,’ added Sarah.

‘But what would I say to my mother?’ I protested. ‘She doesn’t even know about my dancing today.’

Nobody had an answer to that one. Eventually Rob came to my aid once again.

‘We would be asking an awful lot from Mike and I don’t think we can expect an answer to Sarah’s proposal straight away. We do at least have a fortnight before the next demonstration so maybe we should adjourn the meeting to let the secretary have a little time to think about the idea.’

The others agreed, but Alan asked whether he might just say something before we all left.

‘Mike, or perhaps I should say Michelle, I’d just like to say that you are the best partner I’ve yet danced with and it has been an honour and a pleasure to dance with you today. I get the impression that if you were to accept Sarah’s proposal we could really do great things together, but of course it is up to you to decide.’

I blushed and didn’t know what to say in reply, because, apart from anything else, I felt he was probably right.

‘I-I’ll try and let you all know my decision tomorrow, after I’ve spoken to my mother,’ I said.

As we left the Hall, Sarah and Rob offered me a lift to my home. I accepted but we didn’t say anything until we pulled up outside my mother’s house.

‘Thank you for filling in for me at the last moment,’ said Sarah, ‘you were really wonderful today.’

‘Th-Thanks to both of you for putting me up for the last few days, and also for your help getting myself ready today Sarah.’

I was on the point of getting out, when Sarah spoke again.

‘Mike, would it help if I were to have a word with your mother, to explain about Michelle?’

I thought for a moment before replying.

‘I-I don’t know. Maybe?’

‘When does she get back to Luton?’

‘Tomorrow afternoon, I’m due to meet her off the 2.10 train from St Pancras.’

‘Should we arrange to meet her with you and give you both a lift home? I’ll then make an excuse to send you guys out on an errand somewhere and ask if I can wait with her and rest my leg.’

‘Wha-What will you say to her?’ I asked.

‘I’ll tell her about Michelle and how you came to fill in for me today. I’ll tell her what a good dancer you are and how much we would appreciate your help in the coming weeks.’

I spent a while without answering, thinking through the implications of what she was saying.

’Did I want my mother to know about Michelle?’, I asked myself.

‘Well?’ she said.

‘Alright then,’ I replied.

‘Shall we pick you up tomorrow at 1.50 then?’

‘Y-Yes, thank you,’ I said and got out of the car.

That night I relived the wonderful memories of the last few days and of the previous afternoon in particular and wondered what my mother would think about it all when she found out what I’d been doing.

Next time: Mum’s reaction

Thanks to Bronwen for editing and to everyone else for comments and kudos which are always appreciated. The next chapter will be published on 7 December. Louise