Dancing Diary: Take the lead

David Beck and Natasha Whitewood strike a pose after finding out they have been paired together for Harcourts Rotorua Dancing with the Stars. Photo / Supplied

We have a song and we have a dance style. Things are getting real.

Last week, I wrote about the process of being paired up and learning a few basic steps with the rest of the dancers.

I described myself as a rhino on a tightrope in that edition of Dancing Diary, but during practice last week our dance instructor Shelley Martin said if I called myself a rhino again she would hit me. A unique, but effective, approach to letting me know I am capable and I might just be able to dance.

Tash and I started looking at songs to use, with Shelley and our other instructor Troy Smith. I suggested one of my favourites and was happy to find out that it would work well with one of the dance styles, so we jumped into learning the start of a routine.

On Wednesday night we had a big practice session because Tash is off to China for a week-and-a-half and we wanted to make sure we had what we had learnt so far down pat before she goes.

I'm pleased to say I'm feeling less like a rhino and more like a caterpillar, slowly building a cocoon, ready to become a dancing butterfly.

We also discovered, and began to tackle, one of my issues this week. Traditionally in dance, the male is expected to lead. I'm not sure if I'm just too used to having women tell me what to do, but I struggle a little bit with being confident and taking control.

We started to realise that if I was not taking the lead, we got a bit lost. Every time we ran through what we had learnt so far, Tash was having to remind me to take control.

By the end of the night I started to get my head around the idea that I'm "the boss" and we started to move around the floor a lot more smoothly.

It's cool to look around the room and see the progress all the couples have made so far, you can even feel a little bit of friendly rivalry creeping in.

This is just the beginning. Stay tuned as once a week I give readers an inside look at the whole journey as we help to raise money for a fantastic cause - Rotorua Hospice.