Charlie and his second wife
Came to me to learn how to dance
Rather than go to marriage counseling
I see it all the time
Couples who don't want to air their dirty laundry to a stranger
So instead they learn to cha cha
It costs less
But usually
There are significantly higher odds
That there will be bloodshed
Charlie and his second wife
Weren't actually all that bad at dancing
It was marriage they were bad at
By the time they got to me
Their daughter was a teenager
Ready to leave home
And they were so sick of each other
I had to remind them to hold hands
While they danced
When they finally did make it onto the floor
There was this passion
That some would mistake for sexual repression or lust
But what I saw
Was two people
Who were angry at themselves
For wasting so much of their lives
With each other
There's a certain beauty to dance
That Charlie and his second wife
Couldn't master
But anger has its own sort of beauty too
It's just that you can only watch so much of it
Before your eyes turn away
After a few weeks
Charlie and his wife stopped coming
And I assumed...
Well, I knew it was probably over
The last class they took together
Ended when Charlie couldn't get the footwork right during the tango
Because he was...
Well, I believe he had a drinking problem
I say a problem not to say he was an alcoholic
Because I'm sure to many people
He seemed fine
Maybe a little tipsy at times
But overall, fine
But my father drank
And I know a drinker
When I see one
Problem drinkers are, sometimes
Worse than alcoholics
You can forgive an alcoholic
Because they can't stop themselves
But a problem drinker can still stop if they want to
They just don't want to
And so what you're really dealing with
Is selfishness
I shouldn't say that a dead man is selfish
But he was
Charlie was very selfish
That woman gave and gave and gave
On the dance floor, at least
She gave
And she seemed very nice
Very polite
But also very fragile
One time she stepped on Charlie's toe
Because he was in the wrong place
And he screamed at her in front of everyone
Then stormed out
To leave her there crying
It may be wrong to admit this
But there were times when I hoped
She would leave him
I'm allowed to think that way
That's the difference between me
And a marriage counselor
One night
After they'd been gone for awhile
I was closing up the studio
When I saw Charlie
Sitting on the sidewalk outside
I touched him on the shoulder
And he didn't even flinch
Even though I think
He'd been out there for awhile
He was drunk
This time, really drunk
Noticeably
Not tipsy
Drunk
I should have been concerned, I suppose
But I just wasn't
He looked like a deflated balloon
I asked him if he was all right
And he said--
'She did it.'
And I knew what he meant
'She finally did it,' he said, and then--and this I wasn't expecting--
'Thank God'
That's when I sort of felt for him
Because...
When they'd dance
He'd pull away from her
He'd--
He'd pull away
And when she'd try
To get closer to him
He'd push
Sometimes people try to get away
And you don't let them
And so they push you
And it's not right
But it's how they are, you know?
Well, anyway
I brought him into the studio
And I made some coffee in the office
And we talked for a bit
It was your typical story
Left a note, bags packed
How was he going to tell their daughter
Who was on a school trip to Sicily
I didn't say anything
I just held my coffee mug in my hands
And thought about my own daughter at home
Probably around the same age
And how when her dad pushed I just pushed back harder
Until one day there wasn't anybody there to push
While I was thinking about that
Charlie was looking at me
And when I finally noticed he said--
'How'd you like to dance?'
He wasn't hitting on me
Don't think that
It was sort of a...
Well, it sounded like a last request
Which is probably why I did it
I've never been one
To deny a man
His last request
So I took him out on the floor
And we danced a little bit
Charlie was a good dancer
So in spite of the fact
That he was selfish and a drunk
And that he was terrible to his wife
I sort of loved him a little bit
And if you want to know a dancer's biggest downfall
It's that when someone can dance
We overlook everything else
As soon as we're in that moment
And hands are where they're supposed to be
Strength applied in the right places
Support where it needs to be
Soft hands and strong intentions
It allows you to make so many mistakes
So many things
You regret
And later on you say--
How did this happen?
How did I fall in love with another broken man?
And then another part of you answers--
Well...I was dancing
I was dancing with Charlie
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