From Fitzroy's Private Diary (Extract 148)

I’m a rather nifty dancer and at various dance events I will almost always be able to glide effortlessly across the floor. I prefer not to indulge in dances that make one look undignified, but sometimes the urge to join in is just too much.

What people never seem to understand is that the placing of one’s feet, and the control of balance in dancing, is exactly the same principle one uses in fighting. Also, in learning dance steps, one repeats and repeats until one’s body knows exactly what to do without thought. In hand to hand fighting, or cane or sword fighting, it’s exactly the same. Muscle memory kicks in, the body remembers the steps, so the eye and brain are left to observe, ready to counter and react to what an opponent is doing.

What really fascinates me is if one could learn to fight in unison with another, the same way that a couple might dance in perfect harmony. Generally, fights are ugly, scrappy brawls, but if one worked in combination with a partner, might one have an advantage over the chaotic brawlers?

I’m unsure, but in the interests of experimentation, I’m dedicating some of my working hours to dancing. It’s also rather good exercise.

Quite coincidentally, I’ve discovered that Alice is an excellent dancer, and rarely has the opportunity to dance. It’s fortunate then that I’m taking her to practice every night we are in London this month.