The Dance

It was the evening of the L.A. Christian School’s annual faculty party, held in a nightclub in West Los Angeles. James, the principal, and Annie, a teacher at the school, arrived at the party early in order to make sure that they saved enough tables to accommodate the whole school's staff. Both James and Annie had bipolar disorder.

Annie wore a simple creation of luscious royal blue satin. Spaghetti straps extended over her shoulders. Flowing folds of shimmering cloth made up the dress's billowy skirt. No trim. No frills. No jewelry, except for a tiny gold cross on a chain around her neck.

Alicia was the third person to arrive at the party, in a dress covered with pastel flowers. Roberta, Cora, and some other teachers arrived later.

James walked over to Annie's table and held out his right hand. "May I have this dance?" he asked.

"So you can dance," Annie said, smiling. “I wasn’t sure whether to believe the rumors.” But she still wondered if James could dance well with a woman shorter than he was. He must have had a good three inches on her, and she was wearing high heels.

She stood. James led her to the dance floor, which was nothing fancy, just a small space between the tables. Two couples had just finished a dance and were waiting to start the next one, but they were on the side of the floor nearest to the DJ. James took Annie to the part of the floor farthest from the DJ.

The song started. It was Swing Town. Annie loved that song.

The music began with a simple rhythm. The soft rustle of cymbals and the throbbing of a bass alternated with the louder, lower, tap of a drum. James took Annie's right hand in his own and looked, expectant, at her throughout the song’s introduction. Like James, Annie stood, her back erect and her head held high, waiting for the melody to begin. The slightest hint of a smile crept onto her lips.

The deep throb of a louder bass joined the music. More drums added to the rhythm, rendering the music strong and compelling. A piano came in to foretell the coming melody. Then loud guitars almost drowned out the drums.

As the singer began, "Oh — oh, come on and dance," James’s feet began moving to the intricate rhythm. He pulled Annie close. When her body was almost against his, he deftly moved her past himself. Annie's body swung to his right as he moved to the left.

As she surrendered to the commands of James's arms, Annie skillfully began to imitate the movements of his flying feet. James turned so that she was now moving straight away from him instead of to his right. Annie turned toward him in one graceful instant, her movement an instinctive response to his subtle cues.

James abruptly but gently threw her out to arm's length. Both their arms stretched taut. Annie felt James's grip tighten and knew that he wouldn't lose her. She let her head and upper body fall backward, trusting James's strong arm to break her fall. She planted her right heel firmly on the floor.

James pulled gently, and Annie's body swung back toward him, closer, closer, until their bodies again almost touched. James looked down at her, his dark commanding eyes five inches above her face. She looked directly back at him, and he pulled her back up.

As James trapped Annie's sparkling green eyes and Mona Lisa smile in his steady gaze, he lightly touched her waist with his left arm, guiding her around himself to his right. Momentarily forgetting the rhythm their feet had been keeping, they swiveled around each other, never once losing eye contact.

Then James's left hand gave Annie's waist a light push as he raised his right hand above her head. Annie knew that this was the "twirl" signal. She pivoted around — once, twice, three times — using James's hand to keep her turns tight and steady. Her skirt swirled behind her in a haze of blue, rising to show her slender calves.

James's right hand signaled the end of her twirling by almost imperceptibly closing on her right hand. Annie responded immediately. She came out of her spin, stopping directly in front of and facing James. James's feet simultaneously resumed their rhythmic steps.

Obviously, James knew what he was doing on a dance floor. Annie was impressed.

James's right arm remained high in the air after the spin, while his left hand crossed their bodies and took her left hand. Now their arms created a little window between them, their right arms forming the top and one side of the window and their left arms the bottom and the other side. James slowly swiveled Annie around himself as the two of them peeked through the window like mischievous children. A faint smile came to James's face at the silly dance step.

But only for a second. Then he moved gracefully to the next step.

James’s skill made Annie's heart leap. She realized that they were going to "wring the dishrag" now. It was a difficult step. Raising their hands as high as Annie's arms would allow, they both turned around 360 degrees, Annie clockwise and James counterclockwise. The trick was not to let go of each others' hands as they turned under their own arms. They pulled it off perfectly.

James returned her to their original step, his feet still following the relentless beating of the drums. He pulled her close, then swung her away and backward on her right heel, mimicking the ups and downs and ins and outs of lovers' relationships everywhere. Their feet tapping nimbly on the floor and never straying from the beat of the drums, they continued to dance.

James and Annie hadn't noticed, but the other dancers had stopped dancing and turned to watch them. Roberta watched too, Alicia at her side.

"She loves him," Roberta said.

"How can you tell?" Alicia asked.

"Because…look at the way she smiles deep into his eyes. Look at how she's not afraid to let him draw her close. And she leans way, way back, because she trusts him. I couldn't dance like that with a man I didn’t love."

The music sang, "We been workin' so hard. We been workin' so hard. Come on, baby, let's dance."

James put the fancy footwork on hold, planted his feet firmly on the floor, and twirled Annie once again, his right hand high above her. Then he lowered their hands — and let go. He used his left hand to push her off into a pirouette. She whirled around and around, farther and farther away from him.

She came back. She reached out her right arm to him, seeking, imploring, until James took it. He pulled her to himself, bending over her, owning her. Annie's supple back bent backward to almost a foot from the floor. Their eyes still riveted together, they straightened their spines. The movements of their feet continued to mesh perfectly. They moved apart and together, apart and together, in the never-ending rhythm of love.

As the song slowed to a finish, James lowered Annie's tiny body until her head nearly touched the floor. Annie surrendered in his arms, trusting his strength so completely that she relaxed her entire upper body. Their bodies almost parallel to the floor now, they locked their eyes on each other's faces in a unified gaze of love and tenderness.

The whish of a chill wind ended the song.

Still looking deep into Annie's eyes, James carefully pulled her out of the dip and back onto her feet. Annie felt more attractive than she had ever felt. She wanted to dance with James, and James only, for the rest of her life.

As applause filled the room, Roberta said, "That’s proof."

“Proof of what?” Alicia asked.

“That two bipolars can form a good relationship.”

Home Page