As a 9 year old at the Les Rutherford Dance Academy in
Yagoona, Sydney, Australia I was attending a Social Dance Class on a Saturday
afternoon, when Les entered the ballroom. Now Les was a dramatical character of
the Australian Dance World who always wore white shorts, white long walk socks
and a Hawaiian shirt with lots of gold necklaces. He also was never without a
glass of white wine in one hand and a cigarette in the other…the good old days.
So in comes Les and exclaims “Darlings, today you are going
to learn about social dance etiquette!” His lesson on that Saturday afternoon is still
with me 43 years later.
“Gentlemen on one side of the room, Ladies please sit
sweetly on the other side. Now Gentlemen, please walk across the room with a
smile on your face, eye contact with the pretty thing you are about to ask to dance.”
“Introduce yourself first, my name is…… May I have this
dance? As you extend your hand in a gentlemanly manner. Link arms with your
partner and guide her onto the dance floor and take dance position.”
I can’t honestly remember how many times we practiced this
ritual of asking a lady to dance, but its importance was not lost on me and to
this day I think fondly of the dance teacher who taught me gentlemanly skills
and elegance.
Another golden rule Les taught us that afternoon is to
escort your partner back to her seat and not to abandon her in the middle of
the floor, to run off to the refreshment table. One should walk her to her
seat, wait for her to be seated and thank her for the dance and request another
dance later in the program. A gentleman always asks for another dance, for you
never know who you are dancing with, and your ugly duckling could develop into
a beautiful swan.
The Powder Room was
another short and wonderful tale Les would like to remind us gentlemen of. That
is ladies always go to the powder room in groups and love to dissect the
attributes of the gentlemen they have just danced with. So your ability to get
lots of dances could depend upon the grade the ladies give you while powdering
their noses. Your manners, dancing ability, conversation, dress code and
desirability as a future partner were all discussed.
The most important lesson that I did learn from Les, is to
keep it simple when you first dance with a lady. As you don’t know what she may
or may not know as far as steps. So during the first dance keep it simple and
comfortable, that way you can talk to each other and find out what you have in
common. The lady will appreciate you keeping it simple for the first dance and
you can try flashier material next time around. There is nothing worse than a
man, not being a gentleman, throwing a hundred steps at the lady trying to
impress his knowledge with a poor lead and the lady being embarrassed by not
being able to read it.
I was with Les Rutherford as a student from the age of 9 to
12 years and we met again 20 years later, when I was a Professional competitor.
He installed into me, my love of adagio and theatre arts, the essence of styling
and dancing the woman. It was great to be able to thank him for the skills he
taught me, his reply was it was his privilege to pass on his love of dance and
asked that I do the same. I believe I
have kept his request and passion alive to this day.
Thanks for reading and letting me share my fond memories.
Michael Rye
