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Folk Dance Federation of California, South, Inc.
DANCING WITH TWO LEFT FEET |
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Dancing on the water is not easy. Dancing on a moving boat on the water can be even harder. I call this effect "Mel's Theory of Relativity." Let me explain. You have all heard of Einstein's "Theory of Relativity" that is usually explained by comparing a person bouncing a ball on a moving train. While he sees the ball bouncing straight up and down, an observer standing by the tracks (as long as he doesn't stand on the tracks) will see the ball making an arc and not landing on the same spot and bouncing several feet apart. Therefore, it is relative on how you look at an event, and a judge in court a court of law would have great difficulty reconciling the testimony of the train rider with the one standing by the tracks.
"Mel's Theory of Relativity" is similarly explained by a dancer on a moving boat, leaping from one foot to the other with his eyes fixed on a Buddhist temple or a boat village going by on the shore. While the dancer on the boat thinks he is leaping in place, the people on the shore, having never seen a crazy folk dancer, see him taking wide leaps from one foot to the other. Neither the people on the shore, who have never seen a folk dancer, notice he has landed on the wrong foot.
Is this a minor flaw in Mel's theory, a flaw in the dancer, or maybe a corollary to the theory?
Of course, you must have realized that I am talking about yours truly double-left-footed-dancer, or for short: 2LFD. While the full discovery of Mel's theory must be credited to me, partial credit goes to Mel Mann who organized the recent "Dancing on the water" cruise to the Mekong Delta in Vietnam and Cambodia.
So, while dancing on the top deck of the Mekong Pandaw boat, my eyes fixed on the shore and my feet bouncing on the mahogany deck, listening to the music and Lee Otterholt singing the words to the Romanian dance Maica, and my two left feet are making the same mistakes I make on a regular gym floor. I guess it does not matter if you dance on a solid floor or a moving one, two left feet do not make a right one.
There must be another theory that probably needs some investigation. It seems that for me, it is relevant on what floor I dance. When you have two left feet you will make the same mistakes whether the floor moves under you or does not.
If my investigation proves to be true, I just might name this theory as Lou's "Theory of Two Left Feet" or "2LFD Theory."
Printed in Folk Dance Scene, "DANCING WITH TWO LEFT FEET (24), March 2007.