It’s just the hives talkin’

The final class of my beginners jive course, and I spent the first half of it as a human rhyming dictionary: knocking out real live jives with hives. Just when I thought it was safe to eat a pizza, my allergy came back to remind me that it could still strike at any time.

Fortunately, and no doubt to the relief of my dancing partners, this reaction only involved a relatively minor skin reaction, and not my party-piece of blurred vision, vomiting and passing out. Putting aside the discomfort, I was able to perform the new moves with the flair and élan that I’ve built up over the previous five weeks.

Well, maybe not quite like that. Whereas last week everyone was twirling around the floor like pro jivers, this week things were far less fluent and there was more hesitancy. Beginning with the bouncey hands, it was left flat-hand push turn and then right-hand catch. Then over hand turn and right hand into the shoulder, step forward pushing down and to the left of the lady so that the guy is almost side on to her. Then a slight pivot (but keeping both feet on the floor) so the guy’s right hand is in the small of his back. A nifty hand flick guides the lady to turn and at the same time the guy turns 180° to the left, catching the returning lady in a close hold. Boh!

After the break we were taught another turn for the gents: beginning in the close hold, do 3 rock steps and then guide the lady into a raised hand turn. As she returns, the gent turns toward his raised left arm, keeping his left hand at his right shoulder. As he continues his turn, the lady’s hand trails down his back, allowing him to catch it again at the end of the turn. From there it’s a simple return and we’re back where we began: bouncey hands.

So there we are. Jive done [wasn’t he in Dad’s Army? rubbish convoluted pun Ed.] Five weeks down and some hot new dancefloor moves under my belt. It’s been a thoroughly enjoyable course: Level 2 begins in a fortnight and I reckon I’ll be there. Although one week it does clash with the England v Sweden game. That’s shaping up to be a major test of my rapidly-diminishing masculinity.


Tyrannosaurus Hives: http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?hives