For many women, the prospect of taking to the dance floor is an opportunity for glorious gliding.
Most men, however, regard the prospect with acute trepidation.
”They fear they`ll look foolish,” says John Szostek, who has taught adults to tango, waltz and rhumba for four years through the Park District of Oak Park.
While ”most women have an attraction to it. . .feel more at ease with it,” Szostek says, men, on the other hand are just as firmly reticent.
”If people are looking at them while they`re doing it, they`re intimidated,” he says. ”It has been my experience that they only (seek instruction) when they`re about to get married and they`ll be expected to dance” at the reception.
Yet, Szostek notes that once men muster the courage to take to the floor, they often find ”it`s quite a natural thing that they take to quite well.”
So how do you coax a reluctant Fred Astaire onto the dance floor?
A little know-how can go a long way, Szostek says. Choose a non-threatening instruction situation, a community-based class, or other low-key setting where a teacher ”won`t put him on the spot,” Szostek advises.
Next, practice with your partner, but resist the urge to be a surrogate instructor and issue criticism, he recommends.
Finally, loosen up, and don`t worry about precision.
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”They need to relax and recognize that social dancing is just organized walking,” Szostek says of reluctant dancers. ”Ninety-five percent of the people watching aren`t paying attention to what step they`re doing.”