The steps everyone remembered

Text: an original contemporary personal-essay-style practice extract.

The first tune at my cousin’s celebration belonged to a circle dance our family had performed for years. My grandmother took my hand and announced that I used to know the steps better than anyone. She meant it as praise. Unfortunately, it removed the possibility of admitting that I could remember only the beginning. When the music started, I watched the feet on either side of me and moved half a beat late. The circle made room for me, but it also displayed every mistake.

My relatives called out instructions using names that had never been written down: “the window”, “the pocket”, “Uncle Dev’s turn”. Everyone else appeared to understand. When I moved in the wrong direction, two cousins laughed and guided me back into place. Their correction was kind, yet kindness did not make the error invisible. Soon I was smiling before each joke reached me, trying to look amused rather than uncertain. Nobody had said that I did not belong. The invitation itself simply assumed that belonging would make the dance easy.

During the next tune, I noticed a younger boy standing outside the circle. He admitted that he had never learnt the steps. We practised together in the corridor, replacing the family names with plain instructions and counting aloud. When we returned, he missed a turn and pulled me with him. This time, the dancers shifted around us without stopping. The shape of the circle changed, but it did not break.

The writer aims to show how joining in a family tradition can draw someone closer to their relatives while also exposing them.

Evaluate how successfully this is achieved. Support your views with detailed reference to the extract.