Leading Ladies

ONE

POLKA DOT

Left, right-left, hop! Right, left-right, hop! Ms. Endee called in the school gymnasium, using a snappy rhythm. If you’re facing opposite, you have to do the reverse! Left, right-left, again! Right, left-right, again!"

Megan looked at her friend Cindy and screwed her face into a question mark. What?

It’s left-right-left, hop, Cindy repeated, using speech and sign language. And the same thing on the other side. Right, left, right. And then hop. Cindy tried the step herself but Megan didn’t budge. Instead she gazed around the room at the sight of all her classmates hopping, flopping, and skipping side to side.

Everybody has ants in their pants! said Megan.

Cindy laughed a little and grabbed Megan’s hand. Come on, follow me! It’s better to learn the dance than to stand there catching flies! She imitated Megan’s open mouth and her slack-jawed expression.

Megan immediately closed her mouth and smirked. You’re right, she agreed, squaring off with Cindy. Let’s dance!

• • •

Every February, Ms. Endee dedicated a segment of time in her fourth-grade classroom to Folk Dances of Many Nations. It was an unofficial annual tradition at Wilmot Elementary. Most of Ms. Endee’s current fourth-grade class knew the day was coming from listening to kids in the playground from the year before. Even so, the scene in the school gymnasium was the usual chaos.

The students formed two great big circles and each kid faced off with the one standing opposite, as Ms. Endee instructed. Of course, a lot of them were wiggling and chattering and not paying any attention to Ms. Endee’s instructions either.

The fact that there were more girls than boys in their class meant that Megan had to rescue Cindy from partnering with Tony Rosenblum. "You’re dancing with me," she said, snatching Cindy’s hand and placing her other hand at Cindy’s waist so that they were locked into dance position. Tony Rosenblum ended up dancing with their friend Alexis, a tall, pretty, and supersmart girl who was relatively new at Wilmot Elementary. Alexis Powell was a good sport about dancing with Tony—even though she stood a good three inches above him.

Once the students had tackled the basic "left, right-left, hop, Ms. Endee turned on the portable boom box from the classroom. Now try it again, a little faster, she cried, and this time to music! She clapped her hands loudly, in big broad gestures, emphatically marking the loud oompah-oompah" wafting from the CD player.

Being deaf, Megan couldn’t exactly hear the music. She wore hearing aids so she could sort of hear something, especially something really loud as the music was now. She didn’t hear music the way other kids listen to the radio or iPods or CD players—but Megan knew well enough what music was. In fact, she had a good sense of rhythm. And if the music was as loud as it was in the gym, she could feel the sound vibrations coming through the floor. Other kids might have felt the sound vibrations too—but they didn’t notice or appreciate them the same way because they didn’t happen to be deaf.

In the classroom, Megan relied on Jann, her sign language interpreter, to translate everything that was going on. Other times—both inside the classroom and out—Megan preferred to get the translation from her best friend, Cindy.

Ready, set, go, said Cindy. Come on, Megan, we’re dancing! Both girls gamely hopped through the steps from left to right, over and over and over.

Megan freed a hand to wag by her ear and looked quizzically at Cindy. So what’s this music? she asked.

Cindy didn’t answer the question with words. She pursed her lips, crossed her eyes, and puffed her cheeks, pretending to blast into an imaginary tuba.

Megan laughed out loud. What are you doing?

"It’s a tuba," said Cindy. She freed one hand to spell the word

"T-U-B-A, using the manual alphabet. Tuba!" she repeated, exaggerating her lips as she enunciated both syllables because she knew that Megan was a lip-reader, too.

What the heck is a ‘tuba’? Megan replied, twisting her mouth to imitate Cindy’s funny face.

It’s a big musical instrument that— Cindy began but stopped because she had just landed directly on Megan’s foot.

Oww! cried Megan, stopping to grab her foot and put on a big show. You stepped on my foot!

"It’s your fault, said Cindy distractedly. You asked me about the tuba!" They shook out their hands and resumed their position to start the dance all over again.

A tuba must be loud, said Megan, once they got the hang of the steps.

How can you tell? asked Cindy.

From the vibrations in the floor, Megan replied. She stopped to press her sneaker flat against the floor.

And that was when Cindy stepped on Megan’s foot for the second time.

Owwwwwww! cried Megan, maybe a little louder than was necessary. You’re not a very good dancer!

I’m a great dancer! Cindy protested. It’s your fault! You put your foot under my foot when you stopped dancing!

Let’s take a break anyway, said Megan, willing to let it go. I need to catch my breath.

Glancing about the room, Megan and Cindy saw that most of their classmates were doing pretty well with the side-step part of the dance. Alexis and Tony Rosenblum in particular seemed to be having a lot of fun. As it turned out, Tony was a pretty good dancer.

Nice moves, Tony, said Megan, as the two of them drew near.

My mom taught me, Tony replied, somewhat embarrassed at his own ability. He and Alexis paused to take a quick breather alongside Megan and Cindy. My mom insisted. She rolled up the rug in the living room and everything. I told her everybody would tease me.

We’re not teasing you, said Megan.

No, no, no, added Cindy, we’re very impressed.

Tony and I have to keep practicing, said Alexis. He dances so well that he’s making me look bad!

You don’t look bad, said Tony, leading Alexis back onto the dance floor. You do the steps right, but you have to stop looking at your feet!

Megan and Cindy continued to watch as Tony and Alexis started dancing again. Look at Tony go, said Cindy. I’d be better off dancing with Tony Rosenblum.

But you’re stuck with me, said Megan, tugging Cindy’s hand to pull her back into position. Deal with it.

Megan and Cindy grew more confident as they practiced the steps—left, right-left, hop!—to the oompah music. As soon as they got comfortable with the dance steps, of course, Ms. Endee made the dance a little more complicated. Okay, boys and girls! she announced in her big voice. "Start turning! Everybody, get ready to turn! Ready, set, turn!"

The entire dance floor came to a screeching halt.

Wha-aat? the kids cried. Either the kids hadn’t heard what she’d said over the music, didn’t understand what she meant, or simply couldn’t believe it. Regardless, a whole smattering of kids bluntly refused to budge. Dancers pulled partners to a standstill, peppered with loud groans of dismay and disbelief. Everyone was completely thrown by the prospect of where-and-when-and-how-and-whom to turn.

Except for Tony Rosenblum, of course. I told you we were going to have to turn, he said to Alexis.

Ms. Endee! Alexis cried loudly. "How are we possibly supposed to turn?"

What is the problem? the teacher replied with a small chuckle. I ask for a simple turn—and you act like I said, ‘Stand on your head!’

Oh! I can stand on my head! cried Casey Waite, raising her hand. Several other budding gymnasts threw their hands in the air as well.

Thanks for offering, Casey, Ms. Endee replied, but we don’t need to see you stand on your head again. She turned toward Jann, Megan’s sign interpreter. Jann, she said, extending her hand, would you care to join me on the dance floor?

I’d be delighted, Jann replied.

The children giggled as Ms. Endee and Jann stepped into the middle of the room as dance partners. The two women took their positions and began the little side-step shuffle to the music. Watch closely! Ms. Endee called out, as she and Jann marked the movement. "Every time you hop, you also turn. Ready? Set? Starting now!"

At the next opportunity, Ms. Endee and Jann began hopping and turning around each other in little circles on the dance floor, never once missing the next step or landing on each other’s foot. It was almost a gallop, really—and the little gallops rolled into a much larger gallop that took them all the way around the gymnasium floor, somehow managing to sidestep and hop and turn, all at the same time. The kids roared with approval. Ms. Endee and Jann laughed over their own dancing. After one full round, they released each other and turned toward the students with quick curtsies and bows.

Now you try, Ms. Endee said encouragingly. Come on! Give it a shot! You’ll never know until you try!

Jann approached Megan and Cindy for a brief huddle. Do you girls understand? she asked in sign.

I think so, said Megan. It looks like fun.

Cindy nodded in agreement.

Okay, show us what you got, Jann enthused—and ran back to the far corner of the gym where she could watch the action without getting trampled.

Megan and Cindy eagerly squeezed each other’s palms in time to the beat.

You know I’m going to step on your foot, said Cindy.

Bring it on, said Megan, moving into position. I’m ready this time!

Ms. Endee turned on the oompah music and clapped the beat until the students were comfortable with the side-step shuffle again. Then she cried, "And now, turn!"

At her command, kids galloped—and continued to gallop and kept galloping—until they had galloped all the way around the room. It seemed impossible at first but as each couple gathered its own momentum, the prospect of turning wasn’t so bad. If one dancer managed the turn, he or she pulled the partner along. Pretty soon, they were flinging one another about with relative ease. Mostly, the kids found themselves so surprised they hadn’t fallen to the ground that they laughed at their own success or failure.

Tony Rosenblum and Alexis were turning so fast that Tony lost his glasses. Alexis managed to retrieve them before they got stomped in the horde of kids. She handed them back to him, he put them on, and they resumed the dance position. More? said Tony. It’s a jungle out there.

Let’s do it, said Alexis.

Megan and Cindy were doing really very well with the polka—until Megan tried to get tricky and switch direction. Naturally, Cindy landed right on Megan’s foot again.

Owwwwwww! Megan howled, even more dramatically than before. She stopped in her tracks and leaned over to rub her foot.

Did I hurt you? asked Cindy, stopping to look down as well.

Not really, said Megan, "I was just acting." Glancing toward Cindy, she noticed a frenzied crunch of kids circling the floor—and headed right for them. Megan and Cindy were directly in the path of oncoming polka traffic. Megan quickly yanked Cindy to the side of the dance floor to avoid collisions—where they laughed, screamed, and caught their breath.

Close call, said Cindy from the sidelines.

You owe me, Megan replied. I saved your life!

More? said Cindy, resuming the dance position.

More! said Megan, yanking her partner back onto the floor.

With all the laughter and energy it took to do the polka, almost all the students were quickly winded—but the polka charged forward, and the excitement continued to climb. If a couple messed up or tripped over their own feet, they dove right back in. Nobody gave up until everyone was on the dance floor—dancing.

I told you! cried Ms. Endee, delighted with the results.

By the time the song ended, the entire fourth grade had the hang of the dance. They gave a big cheer and a huge round of applause, clapping for their partners, the music, and the whole class at large.

That was a blast! said Megan, leaning toward Cindy’s ear. This tuba dance is crazy!

It’s not the ‘tuba dance,’ Cindy replied. It’s called the polka.

Spell it, said Megan.

Cindy released a hand to spell "P-O-L-K-A."

Pol-ka, Megan repeated, enunciating each syllable.

Did we all enjoy that? asked Ms. Endee, as the noise level simmered down. Megan’s hand shot into the air. Yes, Megan, her teacher replied.

"What’s the difference between the ‘polka’ and the ‘polka dot’?" Megan asked.

The class laughed as though the question was silly but Ms. Endee answered it all the same. Good question, said Ms. Endee. "The polka craze hit the United States in 1840 or so. ‘Polka’ is Polish for ‘a Polish lady’ and ‘pulka’ means ‘half’ in Czech, so it’s anybody’s guess how the dance was named. The dance was so popular that people would buy anything with the word ‘polka’ attached to it—even crazy fabric covered with dots—and that’s how we got the ‘polka dot’!"

Jann translated Ms. Endee’s response into sign language so that Megan would be sure to understand.

So the polka was like disco? asked Tony Rosenblum.

Like disco, said Ms. Endee, like hip-hop, like rap.

It cracked the kids up that Ms. Endee referred to hip-hop and rap.

But where did the polka come from? asked Megan.

The polka is danced all over the world, Ms. Endee explained, but the dance itself probably originated in the Czech Republic, or more specifically in a country that doesn’t actually exist anymore called Czechoslovkia.

Oh, boy, Cindy muttered under her breath. "Czechoslovakia?! Watch this! She turned her attention toward Jann, Megan’s sign interpreter. Cindy was not alone. The entire class enjoyed watching Jann scramble through challenging translations of difficult phrases, complicated ideas, and really hard spelling words. They shifted their gaze toward Jann to see how she was going to handle Czechoslovakia." Even Ms. Endee glanced over in anticipation.

Sure enough, when Jann arrived at the tricky word, she shifted from sign language into the manual alphabet and slowed her movements down slightly to make sure she got every letter correct.

At the end, Jann wiped her brow with a loud whew and shook her tired hands with relief. The students gave her a nice round of applause.

You know, boys and girls, I’ve been thinking, said Ms. Endee. "We had such a huge success with the polka today that maybe we should put on a big