Back in 2018, Vanessa Williams (who I've known since we were both music theater majors at Syracuse University) was the surprise guest star on the Atlantis Mediterranean Cruise. It was a fantastic bonus surprise to get to spend 3-4 days with Vanessa. Usually I see her for a few hours at a time after one of her concerts or Broadway shows.

The day of her concerts (she did two in one night as the theater only held about 1,200 and there were 5,000 gay men on the cruise), hubby Michael and I dropped by her sound check. As she went through her set, she mentioned she was doing a song by Oscar winning composer Jimmy Van Heusen. She and I had performed together in college in a JVH revue. Off the cuff, she asked if I'd get up during the concert and dance while she sang.

I was flattered, but I'm usually one to plan out every detail when I perform. My natural instinct is to try and be "perfect." But there was no time or space to rehearse anything with the concert happening in 3 hours.

However, it's not in me to say 'no' to V. So, I said 'yes.' She then added she'd be doing a different song in that slot in her 2nd concert that night - would I dance to that, too? Different song meant different steps (at least in my head). Of course, I said 'Yes.'

So, I recorded V and her band sound checking the two songs, and spent the next few hours just listening with head phones on and brainstorming steps in my head. There was never space for me to actually dance "full out," so it was going to be what it was going to be.

But I knew V and I would have fun. And we did. In front of 2,000+ gay men :)

This was clip is from the second concert of the evening where I came up to dance along to V singing "Zaz Zuh Zaz." In the first show, I improvised my way through "Come Dance with Me."

Notice how fantastic Vanessa is joining in and dancing with me. Completely unrehearsed.

In the end, I'm sharing this because it was really a fantastic lesson in not making decisions out of fear. I had a most fun time dancing with V - something I would have missed out on if I had said 'no' out of fear. I'm so glad I did.

It was like being back at Syracuse U. working on an acting scene or dance project together again, trusting each other to be there. Only this time in front of 3,000 people LOL.

Seriously - face the fear and do it anyway. Or - "Always say 'yes' and dance it out."