Lately I’ve been training more outside the local PCYC. My spot is next to the cafe, directly facing the kitchen counter area which has a glass window. I use the reflection there for my upper body movements, and occasionally this results in awkward split second eye-contact with the baristas or reception staff.
There’s a children’s playground nearby, and usually a large number of children on bikes and scooters pass by. Sometimes they’ll stop by briefly, cautiously, curiously, distantly, watching from the sidelines. Occasionally one may stray near and start goofing in front of their friends. I usually ignore them, as I usually prefer to concentrate.
A few days ago a toddler approached me – her Mum following with an apologetic smile, hunched over to ensure her child’s safety in case she tripped on the hard concrete floor. This toddler had the softest pair of bright blue eyes. She smiled and waved with those small, half-fists of hers, and I returned the gesture briefly with a smile before returning to my practicing. She got scared, turned around, and toddled back 10 seconds later with a smile on her face. She giggled, then toddled off once again with her mother in tow.
Yesterday, a kid approached me and started imitating my down-groove, albeit with an exaggerated exuberance. My session was long (as planned: 2 hrs), so this time I welcomed the distraction.
I loosened up my posture, and joined in on the goof-off. This non-verbal cue clearly put him more at ease. His goofing soon reached a peak. “You got it!” I said with enthusiasm, laughing with him. Two of his friends (I guessed, at the time) were standing closely by – a younger boy and an older girl.
“Do you want to learn a two step?” I asked him. He paused briefly, then continued his dizzying combination of jumping and shaking.
“He’s just being silly,” the girl said with a smile. “I want to learn!”
I went with the timing first, and then the moves and then an accented lean on each 2-count. She picked it up right away.
“You’re learning pretty fast.” I told her.
“I like this. Dancing is fun!” she said with an open smile, wider than the first.
“Yes, dancing is a lot of fun!”
I rarely use so many exclamations in my everyday speech, but kids have such a barely-contained, often infectious enthusiasm that I couldn’t help but mirror.
Clearly my voice was interpreted as welcoming to other kids within the vicinity. Within seconds, a few more kids stopped by and started listening in.
The thing with kids is once they can tell you’re engaged and actively listening, that’s when the questions – all types of random, unrelated questions – will start rolling in.
Soon I was surrounded by 8 kids, all facing me in a wavy semi-circle, launching a bombardment of questions.
My decision to welcome distraction had resulted in what was essentially now a panel interview run by 6-8 year olds.
The flood gates were officially open:
“When did you start dancing?”
“Do you have a Youtube Channel? What is it? How many subscribers do you have?” [I proceeded to show them my most popular video, a video older than them. To them, it must be ancient history.]
“Are you famous? You should be, I love your dancing!”
“Can you do a flip? Can you do a backflip? Can you spin on your head?”
“Can you do this? [proceeds to Ollie on his scooter]
“Can you do the Renegade?” [proceeds to demonstrate a TikTok dance]
“Can you play the song Sunday Best?” [suddenly, I was receiving song requests]
(And finally, my favourite) “Is this really happening? Is this real? Am I seeing this?” [arguably the Aristotle of the group]
The exchange lasted about 10 mins before the quick-learner kid surprised me:
“We’ve been asking him a lot of questions. It’s a lot,” she said to the other kids.
I laughed and told them I’d be training more often and usually come during the afternoon and that I’d see them around.
“Do you know what time it is?”
I checked my watch. “6:30,” I told her.
She turned to one of the younger kids and said “It’s time for you to go home,”
“Okay!”
Usually I feel tired having to answer rapid-fire questions for 10 mins – but with these kids, I actually felt more energised and motivated to dance harder. And so I did.
And then I was exhausted.
Unfortunately, I still wasn’t able to sleep last night, so I decided at dawn chorus to write this post.
Until next time.
“Only where children gather is there any real chance of fun.”
— Mignon McLaughlin, journalist and author
612 and Rising 