English Country Line Dancing

When I heard that they were going to have an English Country Ball at NITOC last year, my first thought was, and I quote, "...What?"

I stalked the NITOC website a bit. My second thought was "...what?" (notice the lack of capitalization.)

I snooped and stooped and sniffed some more and thus concluded, "Oh. Ok. So, it's like, we’ll have dinner and then do a dance or something."
Boy, was I wrong. That was the least "or something"-ish dance I've ever been to. It was intense! Actual teenagers were out there doing dances like "The Virginia Reel." Has that even been done since the American Revolution? I certainly didn't think so.

That was the first of several English Country Line Dances I’ve been fortunate enough to attend. It’s been almost a year since the NITOC ball. My life is changed. I can now do the Virginia Reel with the best of them. Only not as well. Yet. I can even do the Posties Jig. Only took three dances to master it. (The caller once promised that she’s never had a dancer not learn to do it by the end of the night. I must be the golden exception.) In fact, at San Diego, I was the only one in my group that knew it and that. felt. awesome. Whether I’m doing the Spanish Waltz with super-cool-eagle-hand-movements, or trying not to hit someone in the face doing the Polka-Dot Whateveritscalled, English Country Line Dancing has made me go from a nerdy homeschooler who hated dancing and sucked at it to a nerdy homeschooler who loves dancing and sucks less than a couple other people do! It’s great! Thank you English Country Line Dancing!

So yea. Very few people except homeschoolers have even heard of English Country Line Dancing. But you have. Because you’re homeschooled. And you love to dance.