Dancing dangerously

Guilermo began to feel Phryné’s animated enthusiasm and brought a new-found zeal to the dance. They kept perfect cadence, performed parallel and cross walks, multiple pasadas, step-overs and suggestive leg hooks. The dance was theirs until the mishap.
He had sandwiched her left foot with his and pushed her into a deep, waist-high leg wrap. Her dress restricted her movement and forced her to stop in her tracks, break her partner’s embrace, stand on her right foot and quickly recover equilibrium without an embarrassing fall. In a split second, Phryné reached down to her hemline and tore the tightest, bottom semi-sheer tulle fabric upwards, halfway up her hip to the garter and stocking top.
It seemed choreographed. The finesse that followed seemed rehearsed. Despite exposing her garter, stocking and thigh during the rip, Phryné managed to maintain a modest decorum.
She spoke into his ear, “Lead me in a walk. There’s more.”
Guilermo stepped to the music and began to lead his partner with a short, four-step, defined salida .
Phryné repeated the performance of her impromptu, untried, dress-tearing tango step with a full turn and an overhead, high-handed flourish two more times; once for each additional layer of soft purple silk tulle. Biagi’s violin and Lamarque’s vocals paired perfectly with each tear of fabric. Biagi’s band ended Tango Negro with a strong set of bandoneón and concertina riffs, a rolling drum flourish and a vocalized grunt. Phryné and Guilermo had made an unforgettable impression on the sedate audience as well as the dancers on the floor. Her actions also garnered a boisterous fan base throughout the ballroom and there was applause, not overwhelming, but applause nonetheless, accompanied by a few isolated boorish whistles and cheers.
© 2018 Edward R. Hackemer