RANSVESTIA

Lois came in then. She is a big girl who shares my love and en- thusiasm for the dance. Unfortunately, she is taller than I am, taller than most male dancers, and heavier, so that she didn't have a part- ner, but she sometimes tried a solo spot. She was good, with lovely lines, and she had good ideas as a choreographer, even if I found her a little too insistent on her own ideas, a little too dominating; still she was a great boon to me and offered many suggestions which helped my act.

Dressed in a red jersey and black slacks, she came in and went to the record player where she could stop and start the music to suit our needs. Janet and I practiced a lift, and it never seemed to come off right - my loft would be off, or her body lines, or her jump, or my heave.

Finally Lois came over. "Maybe I can help," she said. "Carl, you know what you want. You be Janet for a minute, and I'll lift you; then you can show Janet how it should look."

We had never tried it like that before, but I felt game. Backing off, I swept my arms out, stepped in; and seizing my waist, Lois lifted me perfectly. Up, high, floating, like an angel, I completed my movement, and Lois lowered me to the floor, our bodies moving in perfect unity.

A moment of thrill and surprise I didn't know that Lois had the strength to do that. Then Lois nodded. "Again," she commended. I stepped back, came in and floated up towards the ceiling. What a sensation to be handled in that masterful way; I was a bird, a cloud, a bit of dandelion fluff. No no! A child, a baby thrown up to touch the moon a baby, to be held and cherished.

—

How wonderful to be a baby again, supported and free in my de- pendence. I felt like squealing with rapture, like clapping my hands with glee; I wanted to do it again and again, but Lois stepped back. "Now, you two do it," she said.

That's when it happened. I felt giddy, and my muscles were still tired. That must have caused it. We didn't need the phonograph to rehearse the lift, so I arranged my body, stepped forward, and Janet glided in to meet me. A surge of effort, catching my breath, my body straining. I lifted Janet up, held her there for the count, and then, as