I went dancing last night. Yes, you read that correctly. You can blame @Amy_Walker for the bizarre image you undoubtedly have in your head right now. She twisted my arm rather less than I expected she’d have to and I agreed to go along and give it a try.

“It?” I hear you cry. Doubtless you’re wondering exactly what kind of wibbling around on the dance floor I was taking part in. Could it be ballet? (No. I don’t look good in tights.) Street dance? (No. Largely because the music makes me want to throw dustbins. But also because it looks far too difficult.) Ballroom dancing? (No. I don’t grin like an idiot enough.)

Dance in question was Mo’Jive, which is, I believe, short for Modern Jive. (Apostrophes make everything cooler, as everyone knows.) It’s actually kind of difficult to describe, but appears to involve lots of holding hands, offering resistance, spinning people around and trying not to accidentally grab anyone’s boobs. It appears to be a pretty versatile sort of dance, too, with the music that was played ranging from the very modern to more traditional stuff from the 50s and 60s. It’s deceptively energetic, too. Although the moves themselves feel relatively straightforward to perform in terms of the amount of effort involved (if not in the considerable amount of coordination required) by the end of the night I felt like I’d had a decent workout. Obviously not quite the same as lifting weights or anything, but definitely from a cardio perspective, things were happening.

I learned three moves throughout the course of the evening which I believe were called the First Move, Push Spin; the Hatchback; and the Man Spin. The geek in me was delighted that I had genuinely learned a selection of moves that sounded like they’d require some pretty advanced button combinations to pull off. (“Man Spin” is quarter-circle forward followed by punch and kick together, if you’re curious.) The social spaz in me was delighted that I didn’t make a complete tit of myself in front of lots of different people. And, well, just me was delighted that I was actually doing something I’d never done before and never thought I would do.

Okay. I made mistakes. I kept using the wrong hand halfway through a Man Spin. I occasionally did too many turns in the middle of a First Move, Push Spin. Sometimes I got completely lost and had to start the whole sequence again. But by the end of the night, I was looking surprisingly convincing. Amy even told me earlier today that several friends she knew from the sessions had mentioned how quickly and well I’d picked things up – especially considering I’d never tried it before. She assured me that she wasn’t just saying it to make me feel better, too. I think I believe her.

I had a good time. No, a really great time, actually. After recent events, I’ve found it especially important to get out there and do stuff. Sitting at home being miserable isn’t going to achieve anything. So I’m glad I stepped out of my comfort zone for once and pushed myself to do something that I wouldn’t normally have even contemplated doing. And more to the point, the results were far from disastrous. It’s given me a bit of much-needed confidence, and God knows I need some of that right now.

I’ll leave you with this, which has to win the Scary and Hilarious Music Video of the Week award. Gotta love the Right Said Fred. Enjoy.

Post-Script: I hasten to add that the Mo’Jive class Amy and I attended didn’t involve any topless bald men, bikini-clad ladies or swimming pools. Or indeed dancing in the style seen in the video. If you’re curious about what it’s actually all about, check out the Mo’Club here.