Yule Ball Dance Lessons!

[Josephine Arora]

Open to those who signed up here:

The idea for the event today had started as a joke, but was now it was a reality. Josephine couldn't help being excited, though she felt that way about everything she did with Angel by her side. The idea of teaching some kids to dance didn't sound that appealing, until she remembered who would be at her side. It also would definitely be worth it if it helped the kids at Hogwarts dance a little better. Some of them really made a fool of themselves at events and dances. Though Josephine had a sneaking suspicion that the worst offenders weren't the types to come to dance lessons to improve. Josephine and Angel had gotten together in the great hall to prepare for the event. They had pushed the tables to the side and had made sure music could be played in the great hall.

They had finished setting up a bit earlier than expected, and as they waited for the students to arrive, Josephine was enjoying leaning against Angel as he whispered in her ear and stroked her hair. Though they had to jump apart rather inelegantly as the first kids arrived. They weren't exactly hiding that they were together, but that didn't mean they had to advertise it either. She brushed down her skirt and gave the first kids a bright smile, welcoming them quickly. She waited until everyone had arrived, before clapping in her hands to get their attention. "Hi everyone, welcome to the dance lessons to prepare you for the yule ball. I see some of you have come in pairs, which is good." She smiled a little. "But those who came alone will have to be paired up, we'll start by doing that." She started pairing up people, judging mostly on age. There were a lot more girls than boys, so they had to be paired up together. "Ang- Er, Professor Castillo and I will teach you the basics of dancing and show you demonstrations of what we're talking about." She told them. "In the pairs that you have now, you should pick who will lead and who will follow. If we have time in the end, we'll practice with the roles swapped as well." She said, then glanced at Angel with a fond smile. "Do you have anything to add?"

Pairings made by Josephine and Angel
Selene Le Fey	Padme Hume
Lysander Summers	Juniper Zumwalt
Poppy Perkins	Theia Carnahan
Nikko Blackwood	Saira Lykims
Terrell Foley	Ana Sofia Burleigh
Estella Fuentes	Hildegard de Valeriane
Sawyer Carnahan	Skylar Anderson
Brooke Townsend	Lillith Montgomery

Pairings who signed up together
Elliot Briar	Alice Holland
Chloë Thompson	Solomon Tofilau
Jenna Jusantrea	Daintree Vaskevold
Adorah Zumwalt	Aisa Hunter
Marco Mariani	Alec Maxwell
Linden Cullen	Alexei Kozlov

 

[Professor Angel Castillo]

EventID#101597​

While Angel had originally used some of the student's terrible dance moves as an excuse to lure Josephine out onto the dance floor, the more he'd thought about it, the more the idea of dance lessons seemed appealing. He was really starting to grow fond of this whole mentor/teacher role of his, and dancing was a skill he rather prided himself in. And having a lovely partner to teach it with definitely helped.

Angel lept surreptitiously away from Josephine as the students began to arrive, clearing his throat and straightening his tie as they began to file into the hall. As pleased as he was to have an excuse to touch and show off with Josephine, they'd need to be careful about not crossing any lines here. The consummate professional. Angel nodded along as Josephine greeted everyone, helping her to pair a few students with some thoughtful pointing. "That sounds about it until we're all paired up. We'll start with the basics on form and steps before we move into any actual dancing, so no need to panic yet," He said, moving over to stand an appropriate distance from Josephine as the students paired up.

Out of Character:

This thread will work much like interactive lessons do. Consider this the first part, and we'll post the second part in a day or so and so on. Please try to be active for your partner's sake, but don't panic if you miss a section/set of instructions, just try to include it in your RP for the next post and most important have fun with this awkward teenage experience

 

[Jenna Jusantrea -Maxwell]

Jenna walked her with @Daintree Vaskevold. She was so excited about dance leason.

 

[Terrell Foley]

Terrell originally signed up for dance classes on a whim. He wasn't expecting miracles, but he might be pleasantly surprised and learn some cool new moves to show off at the Yule Ball. He didn't have a partner until he was paired with @Ana Sofia Burleigh. Terrell shuffled over to stand beside her, he didn't know her well but they were in the same year and shared some lessons. "Hey I'm Terrell." He said to introduce himself properly, "I don't mind leading first if that's okay with you?"

 

[Selene Le Fey]

Selene made her way to the great hall. She had seen the sign-ups for dance lessons. She had put on a faily casual summer dress in the hopes that it would be comfortable to dance in and hopefully give her that feeling oc elegance and grace.
She entered the hall and saw a bit of a crowd. some familiar faces and some less so. She listened as the nurse and professor Castillo explained what they would be doing and paired them up. She was glad that Nell hadn't signed up. but she was mixed up and would have liked to have been with nell. she vagely knew @Padme Hume but didn't know her well. "Hello Padme. It looks like we are together. did you want to lead or follow?" she asked. She didn't mind. It made her think of the blind date that the sisterhood and brotherhood were running and she wondered who she would be paired up with.

 

[Ana Sofia Burleigh]

Ana Sofia had been excited when she had noticed the sign up sheet for the dance lessons. She liked to dance, to move around, but she wasn't much of a serious dancer. Most of what she did just consisted of skipping around the hallways, twirling every now and then if she felt like it. She didn't really care about whether or not she was a good dancer, feeling like as long as she was having fun things would be good. She did think it would be fun to learn some serious dance moved though, which was why she had immediately signed up when she got the chance. The main thing she had been curious about was who else had signed up, whether her friends would be there and who she would eventually be paired up with. "Hi!" She smiled happily at Terrell, who she recognnized from class but also knew she had never really spoken to. "Ana." She said her own name as well, just in case he wasn't sure. There were a lot of kids in their year after all and she knew she hadn't learned all of their names yet so the chance was he didn't know hers either. "Sure!" Ana nodded when he mentioned he'd be okay to lead, basically just excited to get started. @Terrell Foley

 

[Brooke Townsend]

Brooke had been quite looking forward to dancing lessons. It wasn't ever anything she'd learnt before, and unlike most things, she couldn't exactly teach herself this one. Gathering in the hall, she was pleased to see several students in her year were about as well. With any luck, she'd be paired up with someone she knew like Saira and it'd be a good chance to do something fun. She tried to stand nearer some of the girls she knew, but Nurse Arora shepherded her over towards @Lillith Montgomery . Brooke didn't know Lillith very well outside of classes, though she was on a house Quidditch team, which was pretty impressive. "Hey, Lillith, do you want to lead or follow?" She asked her, deciding to let Lillith pick if she had a preference.

 

[Solomon Tofilau]

Sully didn't think his dance skills were something that needed improving, but ball room dancing wasn't exactly something he'd ever really bothered with. More importantly though, he'd managed to get Chloë to agree to sign up with him, which would definitely make it a good time. He'd been thinking about asking Chloë to go to the ball with him this year, and as far as Sully figured, taking dance lessons together was the perfect plan to make that happen. Getting to the hall, he was pretty pleased he'd brought a partner himself, watching the professor and nurse pair everyone else up at random. "So, lead or follow?" He asked Chloë with a grin, making a show of bowing and doing a fancy twirl, though he nearly lost his balance and had to laugh before standing up straight. @Chloe Thompson

 

[Chloe Thompson]

Chloë had been eagerly awaiting the dance lessons. She had always loved dancing and with her history of dance classes she felt confident she would be able to follow the steps pretty quickly. Nevertheless, it was a style of dancing she had never tried before, except for when her dad would jokingly dance across the room with her standing on his feet when she was younger, and she was excited to give it a go. She had agreed to sign up with Sully, which she was even more content with when other kids were being paired up at random. She didn't think she would've minded being paired up with anyone that much but doing it with a friend seemed like a whole lot more fun anyways. Plus, she'd always thought Sully was pretty cool. Chloë laughed at the move he made when he asked his question. "I'm gonna give you the honor of leading." She chuckled, giving a little determined nod at her own decision. She wasn't sure how the dance lesson would go but she was convinced that being there with Sully would make it nothing less than fun. @Solomon Tofilau

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah had been fearing the Yule Ball dance lessons. It was her idea to sign up, but it was something she had more done in the moment rather than something she had a strong desire for. This would be the first time she and Aisa would really be in public together. Last year's dance could have been interpreted as friends going because nothing significant happened, and Adorah was unsure how their friends were going to react. Plus, her sister was going to attend the lessons as well, and the Ravenclaw had yet to mention anything to her about her feelings for Aisa. Wearing a solid colored jumpsuit, Adorah entered the Great Hall and looked until she found her dance partner. As she walked over, she tried not to make eye contact with anyone else and then listened as the adults explained what they were supposed to be doing. "There's a lot more people here than I expected," she said to Aisa. @Aisa Hunter

 

[Alice Holland]

Dance lessons had reminded Alice so much of one of her first interactions with Elliot, back in his first year, that she knew they had to take part in it. She was excited for the lessons, though she also thought she was a decent dancer already. Still, it wouldn't hurt to learn more. Most of all, she was excited to spend some time with Elliot. The two arrived together, and Alice squeezed his hand. She had heard rumors about Professor Castillo and nurse Arora possibly being together, and she wondered if that was true. It was nice of them to host these lessons either way. Alice watched as the two adults paired up some of the students, glad she was here with her boyfriend. She squeezed his hand. "Remember when I taught you to dance?" She murmured to him, wondering if he was thinking about the same moment. @Elliot Briar

 

[Juniper Zumwalt]

Juniper had been surprised the school decided to give out dance lessons. While she didn't have a date, maybe this would allow her to more easily attract some suitors. As she entered the Great Hall, she saw her sister walking over to a girl she didn't recognize. She saw Chloe and gave her a wave before the adults she didn't recognize well started to speak. Obviously, you needed a partner to do practice the dancing they were about to do, but it was the uncertainity of who she would be paired with that started to make her a little nervous. Shrugging it off, she waited until the woman paired her off. With Lysander. Juniper tried to keep a straight face and wanted to protest. There was no way she could dance with this boy. He was arrogant and got on her nerves way too often. Plus, there was the whole him (not really) being better at her so many times. She crossed her arms and cleared her throat as she stood across from him. "I should probably be the leader," she suggested, giving him a smirk. @Lysander Summers

 

[Skylar Anderson]

As Skylar walked into the room where the dance lessons would be held, she felt a few butterflies beginning to emerge in her stomach from the nerves. She had signed up without putting much thought into it, and wasn't sure whether that was a good idea now that she was here. And to make it worse, she hadn't signed up with anyone, so she knew she'd be paired up with someone she probably didn't know. But she tried not to think about it much while she listened to the two adults who would be leading these dance lessons, and when she got paired up with @Sawyer Carnahan she breathed a sigh of relief, glad to have been paired up with someone who was in her year. She quickly scanned the room, trying to see where he was standing, hoping that the few classes they'd had together in the past were enough for her to recognise him. It took a while, but after she did she waved to him and walked over, before introducing herself with a smile on her face. "Hey, I'm Skylar!" she grinned, and hoped he wouldn't be too awkward around her like some of the other boys she'd met over the past few years. "Oh and do you want to lead? I don't mind either way." she added.

 

[Estella Fuentes]

When Estella had seen the advertisement for Yule Ball dance lessons, she couldn't help herself. She didn't tell any of her friends about it and simply headed to the Great Hall by herself, hoping that this could be fun. As she entered the room she looked around at everyone else who had decided it would be a good idea, beaming over at @Ana Sofia Burleigh whom she hoped she could be paired up with. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, and instead Ana had been paired up with a boy whilst Estella had luckily only been paired up with another girl. Estella considered herself far too young to be dancing with boys anyway. She walked over to the Gryffindor girl who she recognised from classes. "Hello! I'm Estella." she said with a friendly smile, putting her hand out for the girl to shake if she wanted to.

@Hildegard de Valeriane

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander hadn't thought much on whether he was good or bad at dancing, until he'd seen sign-ups for classes. He had thought himself very cool by showing off the muggle dance moves he'd learned pre-Hogwarts, but not all of his Yule dance partners had been too impressed, and a lot of those moves were specifically solo dancing. He couldn't really do them with a partner, and now that he had a proper date, it felt kind of important to impress him and look as if he knew what he was doing. His last dance partner had been a ghost, and maybe that said a lot about his dancing capabilities. Everyone seemed to be pairing up these days, instead of just mucking about in a fun group as they had in the past. It sucked, and he felt like he was rushing to try and catch up.​

The idea to ask a friend to be his dance partner hadn't crossed Lysanders mind until he rocked up to the hall and watched others go off in their own chosen pairs. He should have asked Emma, or someone. Connor? It would have been more fun with a person he knew. Chloe and Sully had the right idea. He offered them a wave, before being ushered over to Juniper. He grinned at her, though she wasn't giving him the warmest of welcomes. "We could duel for it?" He suggested jokingly. He had expected to have to lead, but he didn't really know what that actually entailed when it came to dancing.​

@Juniper Zumwalt

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

Sawyer didn't mind going to the school dances and events, but he really consider himself a big dancer personally. He had vague memories of bouncing around his living room with his family, but there definitely weren't any moves from that he could bust out around any people he wasn't related to. While he'd been content with that for awhile, seeing Theia sign up had eventually convinced Sawyer it didn't hurt to try and branch out. He'd branched out trying out for the Quidditch team and that had worked out after all.

Sawyer stood with the larger group of second years as the nurse and professor got things started, glancing around to see if there were any of his classmates he'd like to be paired with. The idea of trying to pair up with Theia briefly crossed his mind before he decided dancing with his sister was a bit too weird. And she'd already been paired up with an older Ravenclaw he recognized anyway. Eventually, he ended up with Skyler, who seemed cool enough from what Sawyer had gleaned. "Hey, Skyler. Sawyer," He said, feeling a bit awkward with the introductions. The offer to lead was a bit daunting though, and Sawyer resisting the urge to stick his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, sure, if you're sure. I cannot promise I won't step on your feet though, just putting that on the table early," He said, glancing at their teachers and hoping he hadn't just agreed to doing the hard part of this. @Skylar Anderson

 

[Elliot Briar]

As much as Elliot enjoyed celebrating events at school, in his mind, dancing with other people around had always been one of the most harrowing parts. Or at least it had until last year. Dancing with Alice felt different somehow. It was still scary, though his worry about everyone else looking at him seemed to narrow down exactly to those few spots where Alice was touching his hand or his waist. For those few moments, Elliot was willing to submit himself to dance lessons if it meant getting to make that time easier.

Entering the hall, Elliot squeezed Alice's hand in response, glad to see they weren't the only upper year students there. He glanced over at Alice when she mentioned Elliot's last attempt at dance lessons, ducking his head and smiling softly at her. "Hopefully this'll be a lot easier to pick up on. No pamphlets this time," He said, bringing her hand up to briefly brush a kiss onto her knuckles before dropping it quickly. He still wasn't totally comfortable with PDA, especially with Alice's reputation as head girl, but sometimes he couldn't help it. "Though you can lead this time you want," He said, watching as the other students were paired up before the lesson could begin. @Alice Holland

 

[Hildegard de Valeriane]

Hilda arrived in the great room breathless, as usual the young girl had taken her time to arrive before realizing that the meeting was earlier than she thought.She had put on a pretty red dress for the dance class, to get used to dancing with it for the ball.She arrived just at the time of the end of the speech of the two people who seem to be in charge of the event. Hilda had just enough time to readjust her dress and re-do her hair that a girl from Hufflepuff, whom she recognized from some class they had in common, approached and introduced herself. "I'm Hildegard but everyone calls me Hilda" the Gryffindor said, shaking Estella's hand warmly.

@Estella Fuentes

 

[Professor Angel Castillo]

Once everyone seemed probably paired up, Angel clapped his hands together, shooting Josephine a quick smile before getting started. "Right, once you've picked who's leading, let's focus on your frame first. This just means how you're holding your body while you're dancing. Josephine, if you don't mind?" Angel asked, stepping close to her so he could place his right hand gently on her shoulder blade, his left hand raised so she could take it in her hand. "Leaders, you'll want to place your right hand on their back, just on their shoulder blade like so. Hold your left arm up, almost at a right angle like this, so your partner can take it. Followers, your left arm should mirror your leader, with your right arm resting over theirs and your hand on their shoulder." Angel gently turned himself and Josephine so the students could see how they were holding their bodies together. "You want to line your bodies up so that your right side is lined up, don't stand square on. And make sure you're staying about a shoulder's width apart. Nothing ruins a dance more than your chaperones having to separate you, right?" He added, glancing at the couples who'd signed up together more pointedly.

"Right, once you've got all your limbs in the right places, leaders, try just pushing your partner around the dance floor a bit. Don't worry about your steps, just focus on keeping your frame steady as you move," Angel shifted he and Josephine around in a small, graceful circle, taking the moment to glance away from the students and just look quietly into her eyes, a grin tugging at his lips.

Spoiler: Example

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy could hardly contain her excitement for the dance lessons offered by the staff. She had never taken a dance class before and while that wasn’t a problem most of the time she did like the idea of learning how to slow dance properly. It wasn’t like there was anyone she particularly wanted to dance with, not like her other friends, but she wanted to be ready if she did. Poppy had been a little nervous about finding a partner but was relieved to find they had already been paired up. She found her partner and was a little relieved that she would be practicing with another girl. “Hi! I’m Poppy.” she said, introducing herself. She was fairly certain she had met the girl before but she thought she’d be safe and do it anyways. “I can lead if you’d like?” she offered as she held out her arm. @Theia Carnahan

 

[Nikko Blackwood]

Nikko wasn’t entirely sure why he had decided to sign up for dance lessons. But he thought it might be fun to learn since he had never really done anything like this before. He was a little nervous as he entered the Great Hall. He listened to the instructions and looked at the rest of the students warily and regretted not trying to find a partner. He wondered if Aubrey would have done this with him now that she didn’t hate him. He found his partner and waved. “Hey, I’m Nikko.” he said, introducing himself. “I guess I’ll lead?” he said more as a question. He was the boy but if she wanted to lead he wouldn’t mind that either. It wasn’t like he knew what he was doing anyway. @Saira Lykims

 

[Solomon Tofilau]

Sully grinned at Chloë when she said he could lead. "A wise decision, I'm so honoured," He said with an exaggerated bow, straightening up when Professor Castillo addressed the group and began explaining something about a frame. From the demonstration, Sully could glean the important parts. He glanced at Chloë, feeling a quick moment of hesitation before holding his hand up for her to take like Professor Castillo had demonstrated, though he threw in a little eyebrow wiggle on his own. "This good?" He asked her after they'd managed to get their hands and arms in all the right places, though Sully did spend a moment messing around stepping both too close and too far away from Chloë while he tried to work out a "shoulder's distance apart". When the professor announced they could practice pushing their partner around, Sully didn't waste much time, walking forward to see if Chloë would move with him, though he was ready to catch her if she stumbled. "This is easy, aye," He said after a bit, making a show of trying some fancy footwork and mostly just stumbling when it proved a little trickier while holding onto someone else. "Whoops," He said with a laugh, feeling a little giddy having Chloë so close. @Chloe Thompson

 

[Skylar Anderson]

Skylar smiled at Sawyer as he introduced himself, but inside she was wondering how the lessons would go. He seemed a bit shy and awkward, which didn’t really fit with her outgoing Gryffindor personality... but maybe the lessons would surprise her, and she’d at least find a new friend in a different house to her.

“Sure, you can lead then” she said, offering Sawyer an encouraging smile. Once the adults showed them how to hold their positions correctly, Skylar smiled at Sawyer, hoping he’d be fine with it. “Ok here we go I guess” she said, giving a slightly nervous laugh. “Just keep in mind I’m no expert at dancing either, so at least we’ll both be equally terrible!” She grinned, hoping Sawyer would realise that she didn’t mean it seriously.

She began placing her hands in what she hoped was the correct position, which admittedly did feel a bit weird, but she guessed she just wasn’t used to it. “Well, I guess it’s your time to lead now!” She smiled at Sawyer, excited to finally begin dancing. Well, beginning to learn to dance at least. @Sawyer Carnahan

 

[Saira Lykims]

Saira was slightly annoyed that Lillith had signed up her name without her permission. She had an afternoon of studying ahead of her and wasn't particularly looking forward to dancing. Saira had thought of just not going, but she felt bad about leaving whoever her partner would be alone. Of course, Lillith should've just signed their names together, but it seemed the hufflepuff hadn't thought ahead enough. She sighed as she entered the great hall and waited around for the lesson to start. The sooner it was over, the sooner she could get back to studying.

Saira gave a strained smile to the older boy. "Um, Hi. I'm Saira." She didn't know the other student, maybe seen him around, but nothing more than that. "Sure." She didn't care much about their roles in the dance, Saira had never been a dancer after all, but her parents would probably approve of this if they knew Saira was in hogwarts.

@Nikko Blackwood

 

[Chloe Thompson]

Chloë happily waved back at Juniper and Lysander when she noticed them, watching as they were being paired by the professors. She wondered how they'd do, not sure if they even got along. Focussing her attention back on Sully she chuckled when he bowed after she decided he could lead, jokingly returning the favour before actually looking at the adults to see what they should be doing. She felt slightly awkward for a second when she needed to take Sully's hand, quickly shaking it off and giving a soft chuckle at his eyebrow wiggle. "Yeah, it's fine." She nodded when they managed to at least get their arms in the right position, feeling like she barely managed to do so without having to stand on her toes. Barely was enough though and she was glad she wasn't too short to even be dancing with her friend. Chloë tried her best not too laugh when Sully tried to get the right distance between them like they were told, not quite sure what it was that she felt when he stepped a little bit too close for a second. It wasn't awkwardness but it was.. something. When he started moving she almost automatically started to follow in those movements. She wasn't too worried about where her own feet were going, knowing that looking down at them probably wouldn't work in their advantage either. Perhaps she just had to trust on her history with dancing, even if this wasn't the same sort of dance and it wasn't solo dancing either. "Oh yeah, we totally got this." She nodded in agreement, confident that they could make this dancing thing work even if she let out a giggle not too long after when he stumbled on. "Totally." @Solomon Tofilau