NEW SWEDEN, Maine — When it comes to the waltz there are no mistakes.
Instead, according to dance instructor Christina Theriault, there are only opportunities for couples to think on their feet in one-two-three time.
“I believe the people [in Aroostook County] were starved for ballroom dancing,” Theriault said Saturday night as 11 couples prepared to trip the light fantastic at the New Sweden Consolidated School gymnasium as part of her Ballroom in the Valley series. “It’s a great way for couples to connect and for people to get to know each other.”
Theriault began teaching ballroom dancing in the St. John Valley after moving north from Boston — where she taught dance for a number of years — with her husband and dance partner, Jake Theriault, two-and-a-half years ago.
“Ballroom dancing did not exist up here,” she said. “I asked people where the closest ballroom dancing would be, and they would say, ‘Portland,’ so I said to myself, ‘I guess I’ll start teaching again.’”
Theriault first approached the SAD 27 adult education office, which said she was welcome to offer a ballroom dance class, as long as she got at least 10 participants to sign up.
“I thought, ‘No way am I going to get that many,’” she said. “But that first night, 16 people showed up, and it’s been growing ever since.”
Theriault offers eight-week sessions and usually teaches out of the New Canada town office. She moved this past weekend to New Sweden for a change of scenery and to provide a more central location for people south of The Valley.
Saturday night’s focus was on the waltz, a dance style Theriault said is among the most romantic.
“Ballroom dance is any partner dance,” she said. “I know 18 different styles but routinely teach six of them.”
Among those are the tango, rumba, swing, fox trot and cha-cha. One of her favorites is West Coast Swing, a style she said differs from other dances in that both men and women trade off taking the lead.
“In the other dances, the man leads and the woman follows,” Theriault said. “In swing, there is more give and take, and it really gets the creative juices flowing.”
Dating from the 16th century, the waltz, Theriault said as she lined up her students — men on one side, women on the other, facing each other — is the oldest and original ballroom dance.
“It was extremely scandalous when it was first introduced,” she said. “It was the first dance where couples actually touched each other.”
Like it or not, she said, for the three hours of dancing Saturday night, the men were totally in charge, at least when it came to the waltz.
“As long as you are on the dance floor, the guys are in control ladies,” Theriault said. “But only until 9 o’clock.”
As the strains of “Moon River” echoed in the gym, Theriault took her students through the one-two-three count of the traditional waltz “box step” as she walked from couple to couple adjusting hand and body positions.
“This is the beauty of partner dancing,” she told one couple who were not quite getting the hang of putting the left foot back and the right foot forward. “You both compliment each other, [and] there are no mistakes, only lots of opportunities.”
While some couples concentrated on the basic moves, and counted the steps out loud, others glided across the floor like modern day Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaires. Anyone, Theriault said, can learn ballroom dance, and she welcomes both couples and singles into her class.
“I always have people tell me, ‘I have two left feet,’” she said. “I say to every one of them, ‘If you do have two left feet, I’m really good at removing one of them.’”
The key, Theriault said, is practice.
“Dancing is just like a sport,” she said. “Would you expect to be an expert in baseball the first day you start? Of course not, that’s why you practice.”
Practice — and even taking notes — is definitely the key, according to student Lena Michaud of Fort Kent.
“When I was little, I always used to watch my aunt and uncle dance, and it was so beautiful,” Michaud said. “I would say, ‘When I get to be an old lady, I will do that, too.’”
At, 50, Michaud is hardly “old” and has taken three of Theriault’s beginner classes with her partner, Jeff Spencer.
“It takes a lot of practice and repetition for me to get the hang of it,” Michaud said. “I go home and write notes so I can remember which dance is which.”
There have been times, she said, when she and Spencer have been out on the town dancing but unsure of what dance fits the music.
“I’ll send Christina a text and tell her what’s playing and ask her what dance would work the best,” Michaud said with a laugh. “Even if it’s 10:30 [p.m.], she’ll text me right back with the answer.”
That dedication is what makes Theriault such a great instructor, according to students Dr. Cameron and Bettina Grange of Fort Kent.
“We showed up about a year ago,” Bettina Grange said. “We always wanted to do ballroom dance and jumped at it when we saw a chance.”
Her husband agreed.
“We really did not know what we were getting into,” he said. “I think we are still jumping.”
University of Maine at Fort Kent’s newly appointed president Dr. John Short and his wife, Caryn Cleveland-Short, were attending their first ballroom dance class Saturday night and, while some of the steps were proving a bit tricky, the couple was all smiles.
“My wife has always been interested in dance,” Short said. “We watch those dancing reality shows on television, and they make it look so easy, but this is great fun, [and] we can laugh at ourselves and hopefully get better with practice.”
It also is a great workout, Theriault said as one of her students commented that a fitness tracking device worn during a recent class logged 10,000 steps.
Cecilia Pinter of Fort Kent said she does appreciate the exercise part of the classes, which can extend to a mental workout.
“It’s almost like a brain gym,” she said. “You have to coordinate your head and your feet and figure out what to move when.”
For information on Theriault’s next dance class, or to schedule private lessons, email BallroomChristina@gmail.com.
