dancing fool

I signed up to take Jazz classes through the town learning center here. We meet for eight sessions total but I missed the first two because I was in Wales. I went last night for the first time and felt like a fool. They had already learned part of a routine that the teacher wants everyone to dance in front of an audience (!!!) on Oct. 31st. Some of the people seemed to catch on really quickly while others (like me) did not. Putting aside all of the basic dance abilities (rhythm, flexibility, coordination, expressiveness etc.) that I'm pretty sure I lack, I don't understand why memorizing simple steps is so difficult for me. I have to see something many times before "getting" it. I have a really good memory when it comes to text, equations, conversations etc. Maybe it is my total lack of coordination? I have the same problem with names but not with faces..... Anyway, missing those two classes really added onto my initial handicap and now I just stand there totally clueless. Hooray for equations!