Under "normal" circumstances, the Shuffle And Smile Club gathers periodically for fun line dancing in a non-teaching environment. However, we have changed the format temporarily to adapt to restrictions imposed as a result of the pandendemic.

Instead of a social with no tables and no snacks (what fun is that?), I teamed with longtime instructor Darlene Miller for something different. We used the two hour slot to teach two challenging intermediate dances to a few experienced dancers.

I began with This Will Be (An Everlasting Love), a phrased dance written by the incomparable Max Perry in 2014. Rather than wait out the lengthy musical intro, Max gave us 40 dance steps done once before the main lyrics. This is followed by a repeated 32-count Part A, and an ingenious Part B that fits the music so well it makes me smile. It's not an easy dance, even though the step combinations are not difficult--it's just a lot to remember.

Darlene taught a lovely waltz by Gary O'Reilly and Maggie Gallagher called Faithful Soul. It was written in 2019, but because of the pandemic it didn't get all the attention it merits. However, it has remained on the Copperknob charts because dancers love it. The quirky phrasing requires leaving off the last 8 counts on the first repetition, but "getting them back" on the second, when we do them twice--how cool is that?

Both teaches were well received by the hardworking dancers, who took the challenges we gave them with enthusiasm. We may have to do this again as we wait until the time when we can put the "social" back into our socials.