This kitchen is for dancing

When I was fifteen my first boyfriend took me to the after show party for the show we’d just been in, it was in a nightclub. I was terrified of the notion that I’d have to dance. I’d been in a car accident almost a year earlier and broken my pelvis and I was relieved for the excuse that I couldn’t dance on it. The idea of dancing in front of all my friends and my boyfriend, and looking stupid terrified me, I vowed I’d never dance in public. By the time I was eighteen however I’d worked out that dancing was bearable with a few drinks inside you.

But in private that’s another matter….

I’ve always danced in the kitchen, the older I’ve got the less self-conscious I've got and the more I’ve danced.  It used to be met with tuts and comments like “Stop farting around and get on with it” (“it” usually being making his food for the day) It was hard to not let those comments steal my joy but if I’m honest I’d still be dancing inside even if on the outside I was dutifully cutting up chicken.

I REALLY dance in my kitchen now, I am lucky I have a big kitchen with a breakfast bar where my boys sit and eat, or watch me cook with calls of “is dinner nearly ready?” I’m not a natural mover, I don’t have rhythm, I have no doubt I look ridiculous. But I dance. My boys sit at the breakfast bar and laugh their socks off as I stir their dinner, chop veg and still manage to boogie at the same time. On occasion they’ll even come and take my hand and dance with me, although I have to admit that takes a lot of persuasion.

For me dancing in the kitchen is the epitome of my freedom, I dance, I feel happy, I feel free, rather than have somebody sniping about how I’m making everyone late or how stupid I look, I have three kids who take pleasure in the fact that I am happy, and if I don’t feel happy when I start to dance I certainly do by the time I finish. If a man complains about me dancing in the kitchen again, for me this will be a game changer- love me, love my dancing.

My dancing looks quite a bit like this, and I hope I’ll still be doing it when I am this lady’s age. Enjoy