Leader of the Dance
Friday Club is always changing according to the seasons, the people, the projects but one its constants over the past nine years has been that we start the day with a dance.
Dancing is such a good and cheering way to start the day. Personally, I can’t recommend it enough. It’s quite stressful getting ready for Friday Club - lunch and activities for 40 people while also running the normal business of the wood is challenging. But as soon as the dancing begins, the stress lifts and it all feels worth it. Visitors to the wood are sometimes amazed and always heartened to see our cool teenager kids holding hands in pairs and prancing around the central courtyard.
We have mainly danced country dances - sometimes even Morris dancing with sticks. Our dancing has been led by one of the parents who offered to lead this activity on the very first week we began Friday Club. I am not sure she could have imagined what a long-term commitment it would turn out to be! The leadership of a group dance is not to be underestimated - you need to somehow instruct everyone in what to do without turning into a tyrannical PE teacher or army general. Over the years, the parent has been helped by her two sons who have helped with the technology side of the music and can instruct the moves as well.
This term, we have a rota for who is making snacks and offering a contribution at the morning meeting. One of our teenagers is a keen dancer who goes to dance clubs every day of the week. When it came to her turn, she decided that she’d like to teach the group a contemporary dance routine. She asked me if I thought it was a good idea and I said ‘definitely yes’ - I didn’t really have any doubt - it is one of the joys of organising Friday Club to be able to just say ‘yes’ to ideas like that and give people a platform for sharing their passions. She was nervous - she is one of the younger and newer members of Friday Club and had never taught a group before. But her preparation and delivery was really professional (in a good sense!) - she worked out a simple routine of about the right length, taught her best friend the moves so that they could demonstrate together and then practised teaching an adult member of the home-team so that she was clear on her instructions. And then the moment of truth came and she rose to the occasion magnificently. Everyone loved learning this new dance. And I loved that our commanding teacher was thirteen but absolutely the boss for that 20 minutes - a lovely break for me and for the parent who has been doing it for 8 years.
Conclusion - it’s good to dance and it’s good to change up the Leader of the Dance.
