But a good song awaited us and we had no trouble diving into the rhythm of the rather fast tempo. Delighted to have each other as dance partners, we promptly forgot everything we had just learned in class and resorted to our old routines and bad habits. It was such a fun dance . . . and Maria was having fun too. . . she threw me a sexy shoulder, and I, not to be outdone, surprised her with a daring reverse dip. Big, huge mistake! With her much too strong arms countering my lead, I lost my balance during the critical set up time of the dip. As I wrapped my right arm around her back, there was no doubt about it and no going back, we were both falling to the floor. . . big time!
At times like this, everything slows down. This horrific moment for the lead can result in night after night of waking up uttering terrified screams. Your entire dance career passes before your eyes: the first time on the dance floor, your first compliment from a new partner, the time you almost didn’t make it to the restroom. In an instant, they’re all there. But now it was time to descend into the hell of the dance experience. With a good number of patrons looking, and with Maria tightly wrapped in my arms, I vigorously fought to regain our balance (much like George Foreman did when he went down with that last punch from Muhammad Ali), but in the following nanoseconds I surrendered to my deserved fate and prepared for touchdown. With the last bit of control I could manage, I rotated my body under hers to take the fall on the hardwood floor. It worked, and she landed heavily on top of me, and for the second time that evening, she took my breath away.
