Yule Ball Dance Lessons!

Yule ball dance lessons were exactly the sort of thing Aisa would have scoffed at, before Adorah. But now she was here, and willing to make the most of it. She headed into the great hall with the Ravenclaw, feeling strangely nervous as they had signed up for this seemingly as a couple. They hadn't really had the talk about labels yet, but it was unmistakable that they were together. Aisa smiled as Adorah walked over, and she nodded in agreement at her statement. "Yeah, no kidding." She said, glancing at Sully who was here with Chloe. Interesting. She then listened as Professor Castillo started the lesson, explaining wahat they had to do. He demonstrated it with the school nurse, and Aisa couldn't help but notice the two seemed very chummy together. She glanced at Adorah uncertainly. "So who leads?" She murmured. Aisa didn't really mind herself, but they had to discuss it before following the instructions.

@Adorah Zumwalt
 
Daintree arrived at the great hall with Jenna for this dance lesson. he put out his hand to her as he listneed to the herbology professor's instructions. He placed his right hand on her back and let her place her hands were they needed to go too, "This seems more complicated than I thought it would be," he said quietly to her with a little smile, it was definitely not just random dancing, but hopefully Jenna was having fun so far. ​
 
Lillith had been excited for the dance lessons. She had never learnt ballroom dancing despite all of the different types of dancing that she'd learn when she was younger. It was too bad that she hadn't thought of signing up Saira and her together, but she did like meeting new people.

Lillith didn't know Brooke very well, but she did recognise her, both from classes and from rose deliveries last year. Lillith didn't have a clear preference, but she did want to learn both positions in dance, it gave her more opportunities to dance with different people. "I want to do both! Maybe I can follow first?" She asked, hoping the other girl would be okay with that.

@Brooke Townsend
 
Brooke nodded when Lillith offered to follow first, enjoying the other girls' clear enthusiasm. It would have been dreadful to get stuck with a partner who wasn't even interested in dancing, though she wasn't sure if they would have signed up if that had been the case. "Sure, I'm a pretty quick study usually, so hopefully we have plenty of time to switch," She said with a smile, stepping over to Lillith and holding her arms like Professor Castillo had demonstrated. "Okay, I think I just put my hand here, and you put yours on my shoulder, right?" She said, settling her hand on Lillith's shoulder and checking to see how the other students were doing it. Brooke was pretty sure she had things right, but she didn't want to boss Lillith around too much. Once they had figured out their hand placement, Brooke took a few tentative steps around the hall, trying not to laugh as they moved. "This feels silly without music," She whispered to Lillith, surprised to find she did feel a tad self-conscious, even if the rest of the class was doing the same thing they were. @Lillith Montgomery
 
Skyler didn’t seem put off by Sawyer’s dubious leading abilities, which is probably why she was in Gryffindor. After watching the teachers’ demonstration, Sawyer turned to Skyler with a nod, joining her in the nervous laughter for good measure. He’d been prepared for some awkwardness, there was no way dance lessons weren’t going to be awkward, but his preparation didn’t make things any easier it seemed.

“I have never been more aware of my limbs in my life,” He admitted to Skyler, holding her hand loosely in his as they got themselves in position. “I can get behind that, maybe we can make each other look better in comparison,” He said with a huff of amusement. “Okay, here goes nothing,” He said once they were situated, taking a few random steps around the room, trying to hold his arms in the right place. “Look at us, dancing superstars,” Sawyer said dryly after a moment. He hadn’t stepped on Skyler’s feet yet, which was a win, but he still felt a bit weird about the whole thing, as much as he tried to play it off. Maybe it would get easier as they learnt more. @Skylar Anderson
 
"But we are together and we get some fun to" Jenna smiled Daintree and dancing with him. It was fun and she looked him eyes and feel lot of butterfliee in her stomic.

@Daintree Vaskevold
 
Juniper thought about Lysander's snarky comment for a moment. They couldn't literally duel, obviously, but they could flip a coin. At the same time, she didn't want to have to face rejection again. She hated losing, and for some reason, she kept losing against this kid. Rolling her eyes, she shrugged. "No, it's fine." Her tone definitely suggested it was not in fact fine, but it seemed like the most cooperative choice. She put her arms out like the man had suggested to come in contact with Lysander. "Well go on then," she said, trying to manage some excitement. Hopefully this was worth it.
@Lysander Summers
 
Adorah saw Aisa look over towards Sully and Chloe. She remembered vaguely meeting her on the train this year and wondered if she had been intruding as a third wheel in their compartment. As the instructors showed them their first steps, Adorah became a little more nervous. What if she went the wrong way or stepped on her feet? What if she tripped and they both fell over? Clearing her throat, she looked back at Aisa to answer her question. "I think you should lead," she said softly, not wanting to spout all her crazy thoughts to the girl. She awkwardly tried to place her hands in the spots the professors had mentioned on Aisa and could feel her cheeks start to get red. She had touched the girl's hand but never really been this close to her. Swallowing hard, she looked at the Gryffindor and nodded.
 
Nikko felt a little relieved to see that his partner seemed to be just as uncomfortable as he was with this whole ordeal. “Alright, then.” he said tentatively and reached out to take her hand, following the instructions given by Professor Castillo. He put his right hand on Saira’s back and held out his hand for her to take. Once they seemed to have their arms in the right places, Nikko took a a few steps back and tried to lead. He had no idea if he was doing any of this right and tried to steal a glance to gauge his partner's reaction. "So...have you ever done this before? Like...danced properly?" he asked stiffly as he watched his feet closely to make sure he wasn't about to step on her toes. @Saira Lykims
 
Alice laughed at Elliot's words, she had completely forgotten about the pamphlets. "I think you'll do fine." She said, blushing slightly as he kissed her knuckles. It was such a sweet gesture, and so Elliot... it made her smile. "That sounds good." She said as he offered to lead. Then Professor Castillo spoke, and Alice listened carefully as he explained how to stand. She followed his instructions, looking at the demonstration he did with the nurse. She glanced at Elliot with her eyebrows raised, had he noticed that lingering look between the two? Alice bit her lip to stop from giggling. She started moving, letting Elliot lead her. She occasionally glanced down at her feet, but mostly managed to focus on him.
 
Aisa nodded as Adorah said she should lead, thoughit made her a bit nervous. She placed her hands the way the professor said, and followed the instructions carefully. it was kind of intimate, putting her hand on Adorah's back. She hoped the other girl didn't mind. Then she started moving Adorah around the dance floor, as Professor Castillo had said. He had told them not to worry about their steps, but Aisa couldn't help it. What if she stepped on Adorah's feet? She would be so embarrassed. It was slightly more difficult than she had anticipated, but after a moment Aisa felt like she was slowly getting the hang of it. Maybe.
 
It was clear that Angel was more used to speaking to large groups of teenagers than Josephine was. He was pretty good at it, and Josephine wasn't sure why that surprised her. It was his job, after all. She let him show the kids how to stand, letting him take the role of leader easily. She couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face as they locked eyes. It was actually kind of difficult to tear her eyes away from him, but then she did, addressing the group. "Very good." She said, watching as a few of the couples tried their best to follow their directions. She pretended not to notice the boy stumbling around, hoping that he'd pick it up soon enough without needing extra instructions. She decided to move on to the next part of the lesson, and reluctantly let go of Angel. Though she stayed close to him.

"We'll be teaching you a simple waltz, which has some basic steps." She told the students. "The leader will, well, lead." She said, gesturing for Angel to start with the basic steps. They moved in the familiar stance again, and then slowly walked through the steps. "The leader will start by stepping forward with the left foot, then stepping sideways with the right foot." She said, glancing at the kids to make sure they were watching. "Then bringing their left foot next to the right foot, stepping back with the right foot and stepping back sideways with the left foot. Then bringing the right foot next to the left foot." She said, glancing down at their feet.

"We'll show it again slowly. The follower mirrors the leader's movements. Starting by stepping back with their right foot, then stepping sideways with their left foot to the left." She did so slowly. "Bringing their right foot next to the left foot... and stepping forward with the left foot. Every movement is the opposite of the leader's." She said as they moved through the steps again. "The follower steps forward sideways with the right foot, and then brings their left foot closer." She paused. "I know it sounds confusing, but watch us a few more times. Then start practicing." She said, hoping she hadn't scared off the kids. "We'll go through it again." She nodded at Angel, and together they slowly went over the steps again.

Steps leader:
waltz-box-step.gif

  1. Step forward with the left foot
  2. Right foot step sideways to the right
  3. Bring your left foot next to your right foot
  4. Step back with the right foot
  5. Step back sideways with the left foot
  6. Bring your right foot next to your left foot

Steps follower:
waltz-box-step-women.gif

  1. Step back with the right foot
  2. Left foot step sideways to the left
  3. Bring your right foot next to your left foot
  4. Step forward with the left foot
  5. Step forward sideways with the right foot
  6. Bring your left foot next to your right foot
source
Click to expand...
 
Saira took Nikko's hand with slight hesitance, shuffling in her position to get to a sort of correct looking position. She was somewhat uncomfortable and it felt extremely awkward, but it seemed that their arms were in the right-ish places. The young slytherin tried to relax and follow her partner's steps, at the same time looking at Nurse Arora and the Professor's dancing and listening to the instructions. She looked back when to Nikko when he spoke, "No. Not really... My friend signed me up for the dance lessons." Saira said, truthfully. "without thinking." She added.

@Nikko Blackwood
 
Skylar smiled at Sawyer as he said how he's never been more aware of his limbs in his entire life. "Honestly, neither have I! And I've done some pretty physically demanding things before..." she added, remembering all those years spent outside climing the trees in her backyard, which meant she'd usually had to be pretty aware of what she was doing otherwise she'd fall. She smiled at the memories, and continued somewhat awkwardly stepping around the room, letting Sawyer lead her. She gave a small laugh as he mentioned they looked like they were 'dancing like superstars', which Skylar realised was probably as far from the truth as you could possibly get, but she grinned at his sarcasm, enjoying it quite a bit.

The longer they did the steps, the more Skylar felt she understood it, and the more she found she was actually beginning to enjoy herself! Maybe it was the fact that it was fun to learn a new thing, maybe it was the fact that she was moving her body again (something she had missed lately what with exams coming up), or maybe it was just the fact that she was dancing with an almost complete stranger, something the Gryffindor streak inside of her liked. It was almost a challenge of sorts, to see how she'd do, and knowing they'd barely talked since they'd been paired up, Skylar was eager to try to initiate some more conversation to get to know Sawyer better. She was about to ask Sawyer about his interests when the nurse spoke up, and began teaching them the new steps, so Skylar just gave Sawyer a reassuring smile while they listened, and only once the nurse had finished, did she finally talk to him again. "This is so confusing, isn't it?" she asked, giving a small laugh as she mucked up the steps yet again. "Sorry about that!" she quickly apologised, hoping Sawyer didn't mind. They carried on a bit longer and Skylar decided to begin asking some questions to get to know him better. "So... what are you interested in? Like what are your favourite classes or hobbies?" she hoped he didn't mind her asking, but knowing that he was a Ravenclaw, she was sure he had some sort of interesting hobby that the Gryffindor inside of her would never understand, but would be interested to learn about nonetheless.
@Sawyer Carnahan
 
Marco hadn't entirely been sure why he had signed up for the yule ball dance lessons. Dance lessons, of all things. But the last time he had hung out with his good friend Alec, one conversation led to another and sure enough, they had agreed to sign up for the lessons together. Marco wasn't quite sure what to expect, but he figured going with Alec would be tons of fun. He was in his last year and he wanted to make the most of it after all. He looked around the room at everyone else, feeling a bit awkward at being one of the oldest students there. At least, there were a couple other people from his year too. He nudged Alec when Josephine began to speak. "I'll lead first, you cool with that?" he asked Alec, hoping she would agree. He had heard that guys were meant to lead, usually, but these were modern times and they were going to have turns with it anyway. He stood at some distance in front of Alec, sending her a wink when Josephine mentioned a waltz. He started to move like they were being explained to do so, slowly getting the hang of it. He stepped on her feet a couple of times, saying "sorry!" every time he did. It was fun, once he had memorised the steps, and he grinned at Alec as they moved.​
@Alec Maxwell
 
Adorah followed along with Aisa's guidance as they moved around in their own little space. It was weird feeling her hand on her back, but it also felt okay. She wasn't used to being so close to anyone. Her family wasn't the touchy-feely type, and this felt different. They continued moving until the other adult told them the next step in the process. The foot map seemed very confusing, and she wasn't quite sure she wouldn't cross her legs the wrong way. Waiting for Aisa to decide what direction their feet should go, Adorah wasn't sure where to look. She had been looking just past Aisa's ear, but she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold that. Maybe she could try to stare at their feet. @Aisa Hunter
 
Nikko’s attention drifted from his partner back to the Professor and Nurse Josephine, and listened for the next set of instructions. “Forward..with the left, then sideways...it’s the right. Then..back?” he mumbled to himself to try and keep the steps straight in his head. He couldn’t quite understand how it was supposed to work, but he looked back to his Saira when she mentioned being signed up by a friend. “So you didn’t want to do this?” he asked awkwardly. He felt a little bad, like he was keeping her here against her will. He shifted his weight and watched the demonstration for a bit. “Well, do you want to try?” he asked, standing up straight despite his discomfort. @Saira Lykims
 
Chloë waved at some of her friends and Sully had to laugh when he spotted it was Lysander paired up with Adorah's little sister. Speaking of Adorah, Sully hadn't missed that she was here, and paired up with Aisa as well. He was definitely going to be teasing Aisa about that later, but for now, most of his attention was taken up almost entirely by Chloë. "Dancing superstars," Sully confirmed, glad that his stumbling had managed to make her laugh, which was totally why he did it 100% on purpose.

While it'd been pretty fun trying to steer Chloë around the room, Sully was excited when Nurse Arora started explaining the next steps. He wasn't really following what she was saying, mostly just watching her and Professor Castillo's feet with interest. "Easy enough," He said to Chloë, glancing down at his feet. "So, step forward?" He said, starting to step forward with enough warning that Chloë could hopefully step back without him stepping on her. He tried to go through each step slowly with her, the rhythm pretty stilted, but they were getting there, and Sully was pleased that he was actually rather enjoying this. "We should do this at the ball for real," He said suddenly, glancing away from his feet to look at Chloë "Show everyone how it's done." @Chloe Thompson
 
Elliot's mouth twisted as he tried to keep in a laugh at the look Alice gave him as they watched Professor Castillo and Nurse Arora demonstrate. "We don't look like that do we?" He asked her quietly, feeling a little bolder. He was still hyper aware of the other students around them and everywhere he and Alice were touching, but he was glad they'd signed up. Elliot had never considered himself a dancer, but just like when they'd danced together at the Yule Ball last year, it made his heart all fluttering to stand this close with her as they moved around the room and he didn't want it to stop. He could tell Alice was also holding back a giggle about the professors, and he was also struggling, already feeling a little giddy. "Dancing is serious business," He told her solemnly, enjoying whispering to her so he could move his face close to hers.

They moved onto covering actual steps next and this was the stuff Elliot remembered, though it was a bit odd doing it in reverse now. He realized a little belatedly as Alice stepped forward that it was on him to get his feet out of the way, shuffling back quickly and laughing sheepishly. He trusted Alice though, and it helped a lot to just let her step them around the room, enjoying the familiarity of everything. @Alice Holland
 
Sawyer was glad that Skyler seemed pretty chatty. While it didn't help his coordination much to talk, it definitely helped with the lingering layer of awkwardness he could feel around the hall. Though admittedly he wasn't sure if that was his own feelings or just the general ambiance that something like learning to dance at school gave off. "Oh yeah? Like what?" He asked her, curious about what sort of stuff Skyler did that was so demanding. The most Sawyer did was play Quidditch, and if he was being honest, the broom did most of the work.

Sawyer was just starting to feel a little less weird about holding onto Skyler as they wandered around the room when Nurse Arora moved onto actually teaching them the proper steps they needed to do. He had to agree with Skyler, letting out a huff of amusement as they both fudged the steps a few times. "Yeah- Yeah, it's left foot first? Your left or mine- Crap." Sawyer shook his head, glancing back at the professors to check how they were moving again. "Turning a tortoise into a teacup is nothing, but ask me to remember four dance steps? Impossible," Sawyer shook his head again, more amused at their struggles than frustrated. He glanced away from their feet when Skyler asked him about his hobbies, trying to think of something cooler to say than 'gobstones' or 'reading'. "I play the piano and guitar a bit. And I started playing Quidditch this year too, it's pretty cool," He said with a shrug. "What about you?" @Skylar Anderson
 
Theia was nervous about taking dance lessons, but after signing up for the Heta Omega blind date thing for the yule ball she felt as if she had no choice. Arriving to the lessons late, but not intentionally late, and feeling a bit frazzled already, Theia almost jumped when a girl approached her to tell her they were partners. Bewildered for a moment, Theia soon realized the question and nodded, taking Poppy’s hand and letting her lead whatever dance they would be doing. “Sure.” She said. She tried not to focus too much on the fact she was holding a girl’s hand and would be dancing with a girl as it would make her hand sweat more than it already was, so Theia instead tried to pay attention to the dance steps explained to the class, trying to put one foot in front of the other without tripping over herself.​
​
sorry for the late post!! @Poppy Perkins​
 
Chloë looked around at how some of the other couples were doing for a second when their nurse seemed to be thinking they were doing good, wondering if she had just decided to not mention the stumbling. She tried to carefully listenen to what the woman was saying whilst simultaneously focussing most of her attention on the steps the adult's were taking as they moved around. It didn't look to be too difficult but she figured it would take quite some focus to get it right and make sure they were stepping in the right direction. They just had to move in some sort of square which should be doable. Yeah, they could definitely do that. When it was their time to start practicing she focussed her attention back on Sully, nodding when he mentioned stepping forward, taking a second to process that she needed to step backwards. She managed to do so just in time though to keep him from bumping into her. "Yeah, no, I got this." Chloë couldn't help but to chuckle at her initial slow reaction now she started to follow along with the steps as they moved on. Even if things weren't going completely smooth she still figured they were doing a pretty solid job as they went through the different steps. She was just about to look up from their feet, feeling confident they would be able to move through the steps now without having to constantly focus on the floor, when Sully mentioned dancing at the ball. "Are you.. asking me to the ball?" She grinned as she raised an eyebrow at him, pretty sure that was his intention but unable to pass up the opportunity to tease him a little. "Because if so, you're might have to be a bit more specific about it." @Solomon Tofilau
 
Lysander wasn't about to argue with Juniper, and instead tried to focus on what the professor was telling them to do. It was tough to follow. He didn't know what standing square on even meant, and had to try and visualise a shoulder in between the two of them. Was shoulders width just one shoulder, or both shoulders? There was a lot of shuffling back and forth as he tried to figure out how far apart he should be, and for the most part he kept his eyes on the man talking instead of his actual partner, until he thought he had his positions figured out. It was good enough, and by the looks of it, some of the other dancers had had the same trouble. He gave Juniper a gentle push, lowering his gaze to their feet to try and avoid stepping on her toes. This was something he thought he was good at already. He'd learned pretty quickly to avoid it when he'd danced with a ghost, since doing so had resulted in his whole foot receiving an unpleasant chill. The only difference this time was that if he did manage to step on Juniper's feet, she wasn't intangible, and he'd probably receive a kick in the shin instead of an ice cold sensation. "So..." He started, feeling like he should talk, despite how much his partner didn't seem to want to put up with him. "What are you learning to dance for?" He asked conversationally, completely talking over the nurse at this point, who'd already moved on. He felt like he'd only just gotten the hang of the first part. He paused to listen to her repeat the instructions, but there was a lot to take in. "Uh, I completely missed that. Which foot did she say?" He queried. There were like, a million steps to learn at once, but they made it look so easy to do.​
@Juniper Zumwalt
 
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Poppy smiled brightly as Theia agreed to let her lead. “So I think it’s like this?” she said even though the inflection definitely sounded more like a question, as she took the younger girl's hand and placed her other hand on her side. The next step was to watch Nurse Josephine and Professor Castillo as they demonstrated the proper steps. Poppy had a hard time figuring out how it all worked from just the explanation and watched the adult’s feet closely. “Do you want to try?” Poppy asked tentatively since Theia looked nervous and she still wasn’t confident she knew how the steps worked. @Theia Carnahan
 
Lillith smiled when Brooke agreed to lead. Hopefully with her being a quick learner and Lillith being a regular dancer, they would have enough time to switch. She put her hands in a similar position that mirrored the professor's and the nurse's. They're position looked pretty correct to her. "I think it looks correct." She said, following as Brooke took a few steps. It wasn't her first time dancing without music, though most of the time she was dancing without a partner. "I could try sing something while we're dancing." She said, giggling. "baaam bam bam bam BAm BAM BAM bam bum." (1:39)

@Brooke Townsend
 
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