Judging by the ceilidhs I’ve been to in Edinburgh, I think that’s the general idea.
Marriedbro and the SiL went to “social dance” for a couple years, then to “latino”. Bro still can’t waltz unless he’s allowed to count (his ears’ main use is to hold up his glasses); SiL’s main problem was that as a former aerobics teacher she was used to a 1-8 rythm and anything else, like the 1-3 of waltz, felt weird.
No dance shoes are needed. Promise.
I’ve never taken dance lessons but the few times I’ve had a good lead (I could easily understand what he wanted, and what he wanted was always within the range of our possibilities) was very pleasant both for us and for the people watching. I loved it!
Good. It was seeing your PM from way back when that reminded me to go ahead with this. Thank you.
On the surface, these seem to be very contradictory. I know deep down that they’re not, but right now I can’t tell the difference.
This is going to be very much like when I learned conducting.
Let me explain.
When I said “Don’t be a control freak”, that applies to the instructor. The person I take dance lessons from is a small, attractive blonde woman who is as tough as any Marine Drill Instructor. She will move your arms, shoulders, and anything else that needs it into place. She knows the men’s side of things as well as the women’s, and she can get you to move your body so you do things the right way, rather than the way you have been doing it. The fellow I mentioned last night was an older man who may not have cared for being told what to do by a woman. For some reason, he kept trying to do it his way rather than the way she was showing him how to do it.
“Be a definite and sure lead” applies to when you’re dancing with fellow students like me. Basically, I’m depending on you to signal where we’re going to go and what we’re going to do next. If you’re hesitating between going left or right, I’ll be able to pick up on it and I’ll wind up confused, too. Some of the most frustating moments for me have been when I have no idea where to go or what to do because the man I’m dancing with isn’t giving the proper signals. One of the hardest things for me to get the hang of is to surrender control to the man and let him do what he wants, even when I know it’s wrong. If you ask the gentleman, I still don’t have the hang of it, and, all joking aside, he’s probably right. (I’m also a control freak.) They’ll cover this in dance class, but basically, as the man, you provide the power and the direction. Women provide the style, I think? (It’s been a few weeks since we’ve been to class.) It will become clearer once you get started. Basically, if your arms are kind of limp and your posture’s sort of curved, the woman you’re dancing with will find it harder to know where to go, which means it will be harder for you to get her to do what you want her to do. We women need firm, strong men, rather than limp and dangly ones. 
Does that make more sense now?
By the way, you’re entirely welcome. I hope you enjoy it!
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Absolutely. And now I’m doubly glad that I decided to sign up.
It’s very much like learning to conduct. I submitted to my teacher totally, and let him control my movements in any way he felt necessary. This helped me in taking total control of orchestras with total dominance and authority.
Hey, it was fun! Hot and sweaty (no ventilation in the room), but fun. And it was pretty easy. (Except step two of the box step.)
I totally forgot you gave this advice, but I pretty quickly figured it out on my own.