I am a Dancer

I, am a Dancer

The girls were obviously bored, sitting on the couches, with their familiar look of self pity. They never did like extended family braai's, I don't think they enjoyed the prospect of the adults enjoying ourselves, laughing and chatting, more than they did. But, as this typical scene unfolded, the typical remedy, the one that always worked, was put into play. The New Hits '91 Cassette was put in the hi-fi. The girls screamed and got into the usual firing line. 'Walk like an Egyptian' was our secret weapon against pre-adolescent boredom. And the resulting dance was definitely entertainment for us parents too.

I don't see why everyone was compelled to watch them. They always did this, and everyone, always watched. I was forced to watch them. Mum and Dad laughed as the girls smiled and moved and spun and stepped altogether at the same time. It's music that does it - the 'doof-doof' of the big black boxes.

The problem, however, was that the remedy was only three minutes long. But they were working on a new routine for the next track on the cassette tape: 'Ice, Ice, Baby', which gave them something to keep them busy. But since they were only working on the dance, the moves were by trial and error and the repetition of the song and parts thereof began to become quite trying. I swear I could do their whole routine with my eyes closed, let alone sing the whole song. "Yo, Vanilla, kick it one time:

The music came again. This time I knew what to do. I had seen my sisters 'walking like an Egyptian', and to my knowledge, it wasn't that hard. Then impulse, call it instinct, made me put my right hand up just like the teapot dance, and my left hand down, like an upside down teapot dance. And the music motioned me to move with the beat, to move sideways and let the teapot spouts move. 'Ice' made me bob my head. 'Ice' made me pulse my arms. 'Baby' made me move to the music as one, just like they had done it.

Someone had been playing a bit too much Simon Says. To see my nephew dance to the newest music of the time, in the newest dance of the time, just made me laugh. It made me wonder if he knew what he was doing, or just simply doing as he'd seen. Nevertheless, even if it is to the wrong song, a four your old boy 'walking like an Egyptian' to 'Ice, Ice, Baby' makes any humoured human being laugh. My brother went to get his new Video Recorder, to record the event, lest we forget a moment like that.

My uncle looked at me with absolute amazement. Never before had I received attention like that, not even on the day I entered this world. But, not only was I receiving attention, I'm proud to say I was the centre of it. I felt like a novelty, a spectacle. It was amazing to know that I was the source of another person's happiness. My sisters too, didn't even attempt to join in, but passed comments of adoration and praise. So too was my mother and aunt's reactions. I knew how to do it. I knew how to grab the attention of the world. It's a mere spouting of the arms in alternation, and the bobbing to the noise of the black boxes. I knew where I belonged; I knew now my destiny. The people needed me, the stage beckoned. I, am a dancer.