For the joy of dance

In my everyday life I can be scattered, clumsy and downright hazardous to myself. Not so with dance. It is like someone else lives in my body, perhaps that wild, free part of me that wants to take over now and again to just be. I’ve seen more of her out here on the road, free of all the obligations and responsibilities, children, grandchildren, single handedly starting not one, but two, households – things I’ve labored under for so many years. I want more time with her, the real me. It is time.

I dance at home daily in my sticks and bricks place. I’ve missed that out on the road. I didn’t think to look for a rig with a dance space 🤣

The memory is still present of being scolded in ninth grade for daring to dance in public without a partner at a school dance. I’ve loved dancing since I can remember. But back in those days a single female dancer, or a group of us, was still taboo. Nice girls didn’t do that. And I was a nice girl.

As I rang in 2020 in a group setting, something I’ve not done in over a decade, that same feeling ran over me -the joy of dance. Young, old, male, female, it is all about the movement and freedom. In a group of primarily partnered people, and in a place where the ratio of men to women was terribly out of whack, the dance groups were mostly female. That no longer bothers me like it did when my behavior was labeled as’bad’. There is nothing inherently bad about dancing.

I had fun with a group of much younger women, showing them that age doesn’t impact abilities, and then left them to their performance. There are some forms of dancing best left to smaller, more intimate audiences of say, two.

The ladies group was all varying ages, ethnicities and skill sets, but we all danced because we love it. There were long time couples that moved about the floor in such beautiful partnership, knowing each other’s bodies and rhythm so well that it was an art form and a true pleasure to watch.

About two thirds through the night I had a male partner dancer. He was a strong lead, so easy to follow. He also sang the songs with gusto as we danced. A music lover, as is usually the case with dancers. After a few dances, I graciously relinquished him to the waiting hordes, lol. One shouldn’t be greedy! Spread the love of dance around.

As the night ended with raucous party favor noise and the band played their last two fast songs, the dance floor filled, the music played and everything else fell away. Dancing isn’t about people or propriety (always), it is about those moments when all things come together in fluidity.

There are few sensual things that can be done in public without repercussion. Dancing is one of those things. And so, I danced.

To all the lovers of dance out there, may there always be music for your soul.

-SE from the road