“Dancing with the Bresloff’s”

Jane and I just celebrated 25 years of wedded bliss. While everything is beautiful in our lives, the one thing missing has been my being able to dance when we attend weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs and other joyous occasions. Because Jane always talks about this situation, as part of our anniversary gift, our kids bought us some dance lessons at Fred Astaire SDance Studios. Tonight, we had our first lesson!

Jane and I arrived at the studio, located in a shopping center on Dundee and Sanders Roads, just a few minutes away. We entered the studio and watched several dancers working their movements with full view of the mirrors. I thought about ” A Chorus Line” and the song “All I Need is the Mirror and a Chance to Dance” that cassie delivers. Can I dance? In my years as an actor, I learned some dance moves. I did find that, for the most part, I had to be in character and costume to get the full thrust of the dance the choreographer designed. I could do that, but when attending a wedding or other function, I am limited to slow dancing, holding Jane close, and should the music begin to go faster, I would make my exit towards a chair and a drink.

When we met Sasha, our instructor, I listened carefully to her words of “I have done this before, and I will do it again”, but not exactly those words- I was relaxed. She worked closely with Jane and I , making certain that we understood the movements that she was teaching us and showing us that once we got the basic idea, the world of dance would open for us. While, I don’t see us on “Dancing With The Stars”, I do see us at least dancing at the family functions that we attend, so Fred Astaire Studios has started the ball rolling.

Our next lesson will be what they call a “practice Party”, where they have a theme, and other students will also be there. In this case, we will not have the floor to ourselves, but rather will be on the floor with others who are also learning and while we will have our teacher ( sort of like training wheels on a bicycle), we should be in better shape than we were tonight. I think once we do the party, we will be in better position to decide if this is something that we want to continue doing.

For more information, visit www.fredastaire.com/northbrook