A Saturday Afternoon Dance Class

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