Dancing with a smile. For months, my partner and I have attended lessons at Louis’ Dance Studio in Kansas City, practicing steps over and over. It seemed we were not making progress. Was this just frustratingly fruitless? Others got it, but there we were, still trying to do the turn correctly, or trying to connect with each other, or getting the count right. Over and over with such persistence we worked. He concentrates too hard, I think, and I wonder if he is enjoying this at all. Is it too much to work all day and work at dancing, too? After a couple of hours of this serious work, we decided to relax. We took off our dance shoes and somehow ended up at a local nightclub we often frequented in the days before Tootsie’s Dance Shoes. Out came the shoes, and we “went dancing”! Something finally clicked. A breakthrough! The sheer fun of letting the music carry us brought a smile to my face. The steps we had learned, though less than perfect, came easily. We danced for fun, unaware until we left, that someone watching thought we were good dancers. Her compliment made me realize that we were indeed making progress. Ah! What satisfaction.