This moment has been heavy on my mind for many weeks. Frankly, I’d assumed that the flop sweat — the kind of sudden, heavy perspiration that only great embarrassment can cause — would have begun already.
But in moments of crisis, the body can manage an unnatural calm. And standing here at Tanzschule Elmayer, one of Vienna’s greatest dance schools, a strange but certain sense of well-being washes over me. Despite the fact that it’s almost time to waltz.
You know, the act of performing precision steps, with a partner, to old-time music. With lots of other people watching. In this case, under the eye of Thomas Schäfer-Elmayer, the country’s most famous dance teacher (and a judge on Austria’s version of “Dancing with the Stars”). “Care to join me?” a smiling, statuesque young woman says, extending her hand. I guess it’s time to tango — or waltz — as it were.
