Dancing the Night Away

My goal is to try to participate in a physical fitness activity each day of the week.  However, I sometimes have days when I just don't feel like going to the gym, or exercising in a formal way. That day always seems to fall on Saturdays - Saturday is often my exercise day of rest. And yet, Saturday night is when I like to go dancing, as a lot of bars and restaurants seem to have live music or dance music on the weekends.  And I am actually getting a little exercise, although that is not why I dance on Saturday nights.  Dancing is just good for my soul!

A couple of weeks ago, I went line dancing with my female dance friends at a local establishment.   Line dancing is popular with many folks because you don't have to have a partner.  An instructor was available to teach us about 5 different line dances. This type of dancing is most often  associated with country western music, and this was the case at this place.  We did our boot scootin' to Vince Gill, among other country greats.  But a Maroon 5 song was thrown in for good measure for those who want more music variety.  I had line danced many years ago when I lived in Atlanta, and used to go out with my single girlfriends, but realized quickly that I was pretty rusty with country steps like "coaster" and "sailor step", not to mention all of the turns that are required in line dancing.  But it was fun to dance in a group like that - no partners, but just dancing in a group, all learning some new dances.  After the formal class, the line dancing continued, and I observed many "regulars" showing off their steps.  It was impressive to see people of all ages having such fun moving to the music!

Since I love dancing so much, I feel very fortunate to have a spouse who also likes it.  I know many women that want to go dancing, but their husbands refuse to go. I think a lot of it has to do with feeling like they will not do well, or look silly on the dance floor.  What they don't realize is that most people are not looking at you!  Rich and I have been doing swing and Latin dancing for years. I like to think that we have grown to be better dancers through the years.  We certainly know how to dance with each other!  But it really doesn't matter how good or bad we are - it is a special activity that we enjoy together.

If you love music and have always wanted to try partner dancing, do it!  You can take group lessons, which are not very expensive.  This is also a good way to find other people to dance with, as often there is dancing after the lesson.  For singles, Latin dancing is good because the music is great and
most folks go there just to dance. We have noticed that at most of the Latin clubs, many different people dance with one another - it is not just married couples like us who are out on the dance floor. Swing dancing is very adaptable to many different kinds of music, such as rhythm and blues, pop music, and jazz. And it is relatively easy compared to most of the traditional ballroom dances, like foxtrot, waltz, and rumba.

All I can say is that my life would be a lot less lively without weekend dancing.  I love music and movement, so dancing is a perfect outlet for me.

 As I like to say to myself:  "Life is dancing: all the rest is just details!"