It's a dancing affair

After much twisting and turning, this writer finally
plucked up his courage to sign up for a dance lesson.
As the only "male power" in the class, never in his
wildest dreams thought that he would find himself
tapping to heartwarming encounters with a bunch of
aunties, plus a few beats of courage along the way.

By Jason Tan

"My husband is on the hospital's watch list, being one
of the most severely ill patients," she says
matter-of-factly when asked why she has been skipping
the dance lessons of late.

Her man has to undergo an organ transplant, and it
seems to be proving too much for her to juggle between
hospital beds and dance classes.

He has been bed-ridden for some years, and it's
becoming clear that the witty professor in him is long
gone. For a few times, his life hanged by a thread and
she thought she would lose him for good.

Once, when the acclaimed ballroom dance performance
"Burn the Floor" hit Taipei two years ago, she
couldn't wait to catch the production, as dance has
been her favorite pastime after retirement -- besides
freeing her mind off her husband's routine, long hours
of kidney dialysis.

Fate dealt another blow and it was on the production
day that her husband was rushed to the emergency room,
but he told his daughters to put off telling her the
news.

Her delight turned into despair as soon as she got
home to an empty house. With a heavy and anxious
heart, she tearfully rushed to the hospital to see
him.

"He knows that how much dancing means to me. He
respects what I do, and he just wants me to enjoy the
show," she recalls.

Her husband pulled through that time, and she is
convinced he would again this time.

In the same city, a mother plucked up her courage to
dial for a private detective to check on her husband.

It all began when she suspected something fishy about
his late nights and suspicious calls.

When the detective returned with evidence of his
cheating heart, she confronted him. He responded with
a slap on her face when she pushed for an explanation.

Stunned, she grabbed the car keys, while he shouted
after her: "Where do you think you are going? Who is
going to make dinner?"

It was the first time that she would not be cooking
dinner for the family in her over 10 years as a
dutiful wife and mother.

Both of the women were my fellow classmates when I
took up ballroom dancing in Taipei about three years
ago.

With butterflies in my stomach and weak knees to boot,
I stumbled into the dance studio for the first time,
knowing that the male presence was practically
non-existent.

But it was no turning back. I was desperate to step up
my dancing skills in a more advanced class, even if it
meant having to battle for waltzing space with the
20-over aunties who are mostly in their 40s or 50s.

My worries proved unfounded when these aunties so
tenderly lent their helping hand to help spice up my
moves.

"It is so refreshing to finally see a young guy
picking up the dancing shoes," one aunty remarked.

During lesson breaks, we would share fruits and
snacks, and this sharing even extended outside the
classroom.

Every Friday, they would put on someting sassy to
match their high-heeled dancing shoes and strut their
stuff on the dance floor to the jazzy tunes of jive.
They were really the centre of attention.

"It is the happiest moment of the day when I come to
dance," uttered my another "motherly classmate", who
also picks up Indian dance, yoga and belly dancing.

Last summer, when we were lining up at a water theme
park in Taipei, I teased her if her husband, who works
in China, would have extramarital affairs.

To my surprise, she replied nonchalantly: "He already
did."

With business exchanges firing up between the two
sides, Taiwanese wives these days live in fear of
losing their men to other women living in the
mainland.

But this motherly aunty managed to weather the storm
of her marriage, just as her fellow classmates did.

These women cha cha cha-ed to each other's support
every Friday morning, albeit for a short two hours.

Life is tough, but the music and dancing shoes can
surely help weave some magic, gradually mending a few
broken hearts in the process.



Although the dancing shoes have been lying quiet in
the wardrobe of late, this writer will always remember
the courage of the tender-hearted, motherly aunties
during his seven years of stay in Taipei.