What inspired you to dance?

[MissAlyssa]

Did any one event in your life inspire you to dance? Did you see a great ballroom movie? Did you get caught up in the swing comeback? Have you danced since you were little? Let us know how/why you started to dance. :)

[Spitfire]

I started out in country swing after seeing Urban Cowboy which gave it a boost in popularity at the time. As I progressed with this I took an interest in the other dance styles as well. I was in my late 20's at the time.

I was active with dancing for about two years and stopped when I no longer had the money for more private lessons and group class options did not exist with the studios here at that time. I got back into it eight years ago when I learned that one could just go to group classes rather then private lessons, but I did take some privates as well.

Glad I came back. :D

[youngsta]

I've danced since I was little. My Mom and Dad are great dancers. I remember my mom showing me all the dances she did growing up. I swear we danced in the house at least 4-5 nights a week. I was a pretty shy teenager...except on the dancefloor. I owned it! Friends that saw me dance for the first time were always like :shock: The shy kid that lost all inhibitions once the music came on.

Growing up during the birth of hip-hop I was heavily into the culture. I was on dance crews and the whole nine. Then when I went to college I was introduce to House music and started heavily into the club scene. Again I was one of the best dancers out there.

I didn't start partner dancing until a year ago. I'm not sure exactly what made me step foot into the studio. Maybe it was just a subconscious thing. Anyway once I started I was hooked--especially all the Latin dances. It's the music, it just calls to me.

[MissAlyssa]

wow, that's really cool! I have always been into dancing. I remember watching Michael Jackson when I was little (I had a bit of a crush) and was in awe. I loved watching music videos with hip hop dancing and started dancing making up routines with my friends and showing them off in a "talent show" to our parents/friends/neighbors. When I was in high school I joined the dance team. By senior year I was the team captain. After high school I didn't have any time to dance but one day I was looking through the local newspaper for a new job and came across an ad seeking dance instructors. I applied and became employed by Fred Astaire Dance Studios. That's where my ballroom dancing started. I'm still there and learning!

[pygmalion]

The first time I ever saw partner dancing of any kind was when I was about three years old. The movie, "The King and I," came on television, and when it got to the "Shall We Dance" scene, where Anna and the King are doing a polka, I thought it was magic! I twirled around the livingroom floor, pretending I had on one of those big swirly skirts.

Years later, when I was in life-transition mode, I decided to go to a dance studio, to treat myself to something special. A couple years later, here I am.

By the way, last year, I got to participate in a polka formation choreographed to the song, "Shall We Dance". It was great!

[Phil Owl]

Oddly enough, it was the original Dance Fever TV show that got me to take ballroom lessons and learn to dance (this is mid 1980's). Wasn't long after that that ballroom dancing started to get popular again.

I had always been fascinated by partner dancing long before that but just didn't have the confidence to try.

Here's a webpage I wrote that tells more of the story:

www.geocities.com/theowlwatches/owldances.html

[DanceMentor]

I was a REALLY shy guy. When I was around a girl that I liked, I could never speak comfortably and I always felt stupid. Dancing really brought me out of my shell. Thanks, Dancing!

[d nice]

The first half of Youngsta's post is pretty much me as well, substitute grand parents for parents (though I have since learned most of their dances as well).

I was six watching a Tex Avery cartoon with Little Red Riding Hood. She was singing "The Five O'Clock Whistle". When the cartoon was over I started singing it as I was called for breakfast at my grandparents house.

My grandmother, hearing the song, asked me if I knew what the song was about. In my innocence I took the song at face value. Assured that I hadn't been "corrupted" at such a young age, she promised to show me how they used to dance to that song when she was young.

I ended learning a number of partner and solo jazz/swing dances from my grandparents.

Hip-hop started developing, and I was right there as the culture sprang out of the funk scene. I became a B-Boy and stuck with it until the more generic form of hip-hop dance started to evolve, mixing b-boying with funk, and a bit of vernacular jazz. I started doing that too. From there I started formal training in street (vernacular) jazz, hip-hop, ballet, and additional ballet technique classes. I joined a dance team that was street jazz based. I ended up getting into Renaissance Faires which led me to English Country and Morris dancing, Scottish and Irish dancing (step, reel, jig etc.). A short hop to Victorian Social Ballroom (focusing mostly on Viennese Waltz). A short hop again to social ballroom dance (ECS, cha-cha, foxtrot, salsa etc.) which was short lived... because not long after I was introduced to swing dancing as a stand alone dance (rather than something that was played at dances for 1 out of 7 or 8 songs).

It brough back all the fun and memories of time with my grandparents (my grandfather had since passed away). I was hooked. It wasn't long that I graduated from the six count based street style of East Coast Swing, to the eight count Lindy Hop. Shortly after I realized it was a dance I had seen and joined in on with the older family members at all of our gatherings and reunions.

I had relatives who danced regularly at the world famous Savoy Ballroom in NYC. Competitors, Champions, and some professional performers. I had discovered a piece of my families history quite by accident. I dedicated myself to discovering everything I could about Lindy Hop and the jazz dances of the time that my family had done.

I'm still doing it. Originally the purpose was curiosity, then professional, now it is a mix of the two as I research my families involvement with jazz music and dance for a book... sort of my own jazz focused version of Roots.

[dancergal]

We had music in our house since we were small and we used to watch American Band Stand as kids and try to imitate the dancers. Then my sister took me to a nightclub when I was 21 and I thought that was the coolest thing ever to be able to get out there and dance with a band playing. But it wasn't until after my oldest daughter was got married (in my 40s) and she dragged me kicking and screaming to a CW nightclub to learn line dancing (I didn't like country music). I fell in love with line dancing and then country 2-step. Two years ago I met my current boyfriend who introduced me to WCS, cha cha, hustle and NC2-step. I was amazed at all the cool couples dancing. He'd been dancing at least 5 yrs. and he helped me practice when I started taking class lessons. We are now starting to take private lessons together and now we're dancing fools. We dance at least 4 to 6 nights a week. :D

[pygmalion]

But it wasn't until after my oldest daughter was got married and she dragged me kicking and screaming to a CW nightclub to learn line dancing (I didn't like country music). I fell in love with line dancing and then country 2-step.



Yay for you! You got up, went out, and at least tried it, even though you "didn't like" country music. Amazing how that happens, isn't it? When you're not looking, that's when you fall in love! :D

[MissAlyssa]

that's what happened to me. I never gave country dancing a chance because I didn't like the music...now I go around singing at the top of my lungs to every country song I know that we play at the studio. :lol: :oops:

[Vince A]

And some of those C&W partner dances are downright difficult to do. Not to mention those 110 step line-dances!

The 2 Step, as easy as it sounds, is very difficult to get smooth . . . not to mention flying in a 2 Step then you "break" and then right back into it. Continuous moves are really challenging!

Enter the Triple Step, or Polka . . . talk about a flying dance, skipping backwards and staying on beat . . . yea, Ballroom dancers don't stand a chance!

Hey, try Waltzing to Shania Twain . . . it ain't easy!

Try a Cha Cha to a tear-dropping-beer-drinking-yer-Momma-drives-an-18-wheeler song!

C&W does get the "knocks," but it's darn fun!

And those tight Wranglers on them cowgirls :tongue:

[pygmalion]

Yup. C&W dancing is tough, especially when you consider the fact that virtually no one uses any recognizable syllabus figures, at least in bars. :lol:

[MissAlyssa]

I was talking earlier last month about starting a I love wrangler butts fan club :lol:

[Vince A]

I'm all for it . . . those jeans make it so hard to dance :wink:

[MissAlyssa]

haha, when you wear wranglers you can almost hear a squeeking sound when you walk. :shock: :? :lol:

[Vince A]

Yea!!! I've heard that squeaking sound before.

What's squeaking???

[MissAlyssa]

The world may never know... :lol:

[Swing Kitten]

For me it was the music of Swing.

I don't remember a time when I did not like like the sound of Big Bands. My mother never understood how my favorite music can be older than her favorite music... she thought that was funny. I first heard it in cartoons and in some movies (Singin' in the Rain was an early influence). When I finally saw the way the music was danced to I knew I was interested but I didn't really expect that I would learn how to do that!! I was in my early teens before I saw real life (present day) folks dancing Lindy! This was very exciting! Other people were playing and dancing to my favorite music! (I had grown accustomed to people not really liking what I listened to... or at least not REALLY enjoying it)

A little after that I had learned a little ECS when my friend's older brother opened a club-- just the sort of quick before the dance lesson so yeah I could move but I couldn't dance. I didn't learn to dance until my first year of grad school out here in CT. I haven't been at it long but I've been enjoying it... it has helped me grow in many ways.

[pygmalion]

Swing Kitten,

Thanks for sharing your story. Isn't it cool to tap into something that other people just don't get?

My experience with swing is just the opposite of yours. My mom and dad are 30's-40's era swing people (Dad's a WWII vet), and I was raised with big band music always playing, but swing just didn't appeal. It wasn't until years later, after I started taking dance lessons, that I saw anything good about swing. I had to be pushed, pulled, cajoled, basically forced to even try it. Now, I really love it. What an idiot I was.

[Swing Kitten]

HAHAHA that's wonderful Pygmalion!
Thank you for sharing that. My parents were boomers but have a history of supporting my stronger interests... even theater because I worked very hard for it. I didn't realize how rare this was until my undergrad and heard of peoples' parents not "allowing" them to be theater majors and would threaten to cut them off finacially. Coincidentally, most of these were folks who didn't seem to have an overtly strong dedication to it. This has an application to dance and makes me wonder which comes first.

Does dedication come with support or does support come with dedication? Or perhaps it takes a little dedication which leads to a little support which leads to more decication and so on and so forth???

What do you think?

I still don't find many people who's favorite music is Big Band Swing!

[pygmalion]

I'm not sure which one comes first -- support, or dedication. I was very lucky. I started with violin and voice lessons when I was seven years old, and from then, all the way through college, I had unqualified parental support for everything I ever wanted to do. They were there, making the financial sacrifices to buy my instruments, pay for my lessons, take me to countless rehearsals. I was truly blessed. And as my love of music grew, their support grew, too (probably because it had to :) )


And now that I'm dancing, even though they're retired, they support me in that too. My eighty-year-old Dad drove 800 miles roundtrip one weekend, just to see my dance exhibitions.


I think I'm just one of the lucky ones. :D

[Swing Kitten]

That's really awsome!!

[Vince A]

My experience with swing is just the opposite of yours. My mom and dad are 30's-40's era swing people (Dad's a WWII vet), and I was raised with big band music always playing, but swing just didn't appeal. It wasn't until years later, after I started taking dance lessons, that I saw anything good about swing. I had to be pushed, pulled, cajoled, basically forced to even try it. Now, I really love it. What an idiot I was.
It's amazing how similar our stories are . . . my Mom and Dad both of the 30s/40s era, Dad a WWII vet, Mom is a Swing dancer and NY State Jitterbug Champion two years in a row. I too was raised with the Big Band sound.

I did the dance of times - the ones that the kids all did, but was a natural at any dance I tried . . . my Mom's genes, maybe??? . . .

It was many years later that I too took to Swing dance . . . and I had to be "pushed" away from R&R and C&W dancing.

I am now an addict to Swing and most other dances.

Ditto on the idiot for me!

[SDsalsaguy]

How did I get started? Well, here's the story... (http://www.geocities.com/_ynot_/SocialScience.html)

[MissAlyssa]

How did I get started? Well, here's the story... (http://www.geocities.com/_ynot_/SocialScience.html)


for those of us too lazy to follow the link:

Dance As A Social Science

Reprinted from Dance Notes (http://www.dancenotes.com), Sept./Oct. 2002

Who’s that guy in the ballroom with the long dark hair and the camera? And why is he taking all those notes? It’s Jonathan Marion, and he’s researching the ballroom dance community for his doctoral thesis. We see him everywhere… Canada, England, Germany and all over the United States. He’s completely content to stay in the background and observe the ordinary dynamics of the competition and dance school environment. With so many notebooks brimming with his thoughts and audiotapes filled with interviews, Jonathan is not only interested in the most influential people in the dance world, but also the beginning dance students and teachers.

He gladly accepts input from anyone who wants to add to his research. If you have any stories or insights email to _Ynot_@yahoo.com, or send to Jonathan S. Marion, University of California, San Diego, Department of Anthropology, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0532. Tax-deductible donations can also be made to help fund this worthwhile project. Make checks payable to “UC Regents,” the memo should read “Anthropology-Dance Research” and mailed to: Division of Social Sciences, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0502

Why did you decide to write your paper on the ballroom dance community?
When I entered graduate school at San Diego State, I was studying something else entirely, and had never taken a step of any type of dance in my life. I had no interest in it. You probably would have had to put a gun to my head to try it. I happened to be at a conference where I met someone and fell in love, and dancing was something they were into. I decided I needed to dance to impress her. So I went into a studio to learn salsa, because that’s what she did. Through that, I got exposed to the whole thing and it just snowballed. As time went on, I became more and more obsessed. I became sort of torn, because I had my other academic project, but it wasn’t really where my interest was. I was very lucky that a scholar who was very prominent within my own academic field was visiting the school. I told him about my original project, but also told him I had this inkling in the back of my mind that I’d like to do something on dance. I really didn’t think that the academic community would go for it; that it would be perceived as a little too fluffy. But this guy got really excited. That convinced me that this was something that maybe had teeth to it as far as the academic community was concerned. So I went back to the drawing board and started doing some background research in social science and social theory. I really found a lot of material, some very rich background. I presented it to my advisor, and he said that it looked good. What it basically comes down to is that I started dancing myself, at least in my conception of it, too late and with too little ability to actually be able to spend my life around this world based on dancing alone. So it serves two purposes simultaneously... it lets me spend my time and live amongst dancers and dancing, which I love. It also gives me a chance to say, “Look, this is such a concentrated social arena, that yes, my project is on dance, but if you think that it is only about dance, you’re missing something, because people who dance aren’t just dancing. There’s so many other things involved.” It’s a very concentrated and focused arena in which a lot of different social dynamics and variables can be considered. Very theoretically illuminating, I think.


When you talked to your committee about this, did they have any idea that this kind of world even existed?
Of course, they’ve all seen the dancing on PBS. They know it’s out there somewhere, but didn’t really know much about it. I have one committee member who’s actually in the ethnic studies department, and he does know a lot about the salsa research that’s been done. But, aside from that, they knew it was out there, but really didn’t know a lot about it.

What is the title of your paper?

The title of my dissertation, at least as it was proposed and defended as a proposal, is Dance As Self, Culture and Community and then the sub-title is Meaning and the Construction of Personal and Collective Identity in Ballroom and Salsa Dance.

What is your major?

I’m getting my PhD. in socio-cultural anthropology. More specifically, my sub-field is psychological anthropology, which really looks at the permeable border between personality and culture… how personalities contribute to the cultural system and how the culture shapes personality. I think that’s very much in evidence within the dance community. Twenty years ago an anthropologist would have gone to some island and lived with a tribe for a year or two. The tribe I’m looking at are dancers.

What are you finding in the dance community?

That’s a good question, and as a rule of good social research, I don’t want to comment on it until I’m done. I don’t want to bias anything that’s out there. A lot of people ask me, “What are you looking at?” And I don’t want to come across as an idiot saying, “Well, I don’t know.” I have ideas. But I’ve been hanging around the dance community seriously for about a year now, and it’s ludicrous to claim that I really know what’s going on yet. The deeper I dig, the more time I spend and the more people I meet, I realize there’s layers and layers and it’s so complex. So if I say, “This is what I’m looking at,” then someone might very helpfully, and thinking they’re answering exactly what I want, tell me just that. And maybe that wasn’t what was really even going on. Maybe there’s another thing I didn’t even know to ask about. So I’m trying to reserve my judgment for the time being. Of course, I have my ideas and impressions.

Has this ever been done before?

Not on this scale, and not in exactly the same way. There’s been good research done on dance, but for ballroom I found it to be mostly historical in nature. Because I got involved in dance myself through salsa, I am also focusing on that a little. It’s closely related, but it is different. There’s been some really good contemporary sociological and anthropological research on salsa, but it tends to focus on South America. I don’t think anything yet has said, “Here’s the entire institutional culture and system, as it is in the U.S.” Japan and Australia have different systems. I’m not going to be able to get to them and include them in this, but I’m going to expand this one out to Europe.

When you finish your thesis, do you have plans on what you’re going to do with it?

Absolutely. The dissertation project itself, when it’s done, will probably be four or five hundred pages. Some of the material that’s getting worked up for that might come out as Journal articles along the way. And then, as is traditional within Academia, the dissertation usually serves as the basis for your first published book. And so the idea is that the four hundred page dissertation gets chopped down, and a lot of the overly theoretical and technical references get chopped out, and what’s left will be a 200 - 300 page book. I’ll have to see how the material unfolds. I’m currently thinking that it might make more sense to actually split it into two books. One geared more to the social science and theory, and the other one geared more towards dancers, or lay populace who are interested in dance.

Do you also work?

I work as a teaching assistant at the University for one of the undergraduate general education and writing programs, and I’m salaried at 20 hours a week. For the past four years that’s what I’ve been doing to pay the bills.

How have you been able to get the money for all the traveling you need to do?

One of the real big problems I’m having is that as interesting as this project is, it doesn’t really fall within traditional academic parameters. And as far as doing different grant proposals and things like that, it’s been really hard, and I’ve been hitting my head against the ceiling, pretty much. Event organizers, for the most part, have been fantastic as far as providing me with passes and access to their events. But just hotel bills and air-fares are exorbitant. It’s sort of a funny thing where you lose track of scales. Some days I get sort of freaked out… I’m looking at $800 air fares, and the next day I realize $10.00 is going to buy me four more tapes and the batteries to do that many more hours of interviewing. I’ve been fortunate to set up, through my University, that donations can be made to the University for the purpose of this research. And they’re tax deductible.

Do you still take dance lessons?

Yes. I take salsa, which to me is more of a club dance. That’s my social dancing; you make it up as you go, you have fun. UCSD has a formation team, which I was on for two years and was actually one of the co-captains of last year. This year I’ve been much more serious about my amateur competition. I have one partner that I dance rhythm and Latin with, then I picked up another partner for standard and smooth. Not that I have a lot of aptitude in all of these, not that I have any aptitude! I do it for personal interest. I wanted to learn, and also it feels different to dance the different styles… how it feels to be on the floor, how it feels to be with your partner, it really is a different thing. I felt that for my research, it really wasn’t appropriate for me to turn around and say, “This is what it’s like” if I’m only taking in second-hand information. Granted, the level I’m dancing at is very different from most of the people who I end up talking to. We’re talking a completely different scale. I can’t authoritatively say, “Well, when you’re standing on deck, it feels like this,” or “When you’re expected to win, you’re not happy when you do, it’s a relief,” or “You never thought you even had a chance and you get it, and it’s ecstasy,” if I haven’t experienced it. It’s one thing to say that because someone told me, it’s another to have had that experience. So, at least at my given level, I could cover the spectrum and really be able to at least relate a little bit. I do make a steadfast point though. I don’t dance at events where I am also conducting interviews with the organizers or judges, because I don’t want there to be the appearance of impropriety.

Are you still involved with the girl who got you started in this?

I never actually ended up with her! I fell in love with her, but it never turned into anything romantically. We’re still very good friends, but things work in very interesting ways. It’s amazing to me. Before I met her… the whole dance thing… not in a million years! And now it’s really so much of my life.

[dancersdreamland]

I just love reading how everyone got started in the world of dance...everyone's story is so unique and inspiring. I can't help but add mine...

I've been dancing for as long as I can remember through cheerleading routines in grade school and high school. When I went away to college (a technical school), there wasn't a cheerleading squad to join so I just gave it up and with it, the only dance I'd ever known.

Then, the movie Center Stage came out. I saw it and knew all I wanted to do was dance and I have been ever since. I explore all kinds of classes from ballroom, Latin and swing to tap and jazz, to belly and Irish to line and square. I've done ballet and hula by tape and I am hopping to someday take hip hop and breakdancing.

I am by no means perfect at any of the dances and would probably excel much more if I would just take one, but I like trying them all and learning from each of the dances. I figure, the more, the merrier!

One more point...just wanted to let everyone know, line dancing does not have to be done to country music. There are TONS of dances done to oldies, pop and hip hop. You just have to find the right dance club and dancers. :D

[salsachinita]

Ok, guys, I know this is an older thread. I'm still catching up on my readings :oops: (wow.....so much to read :shock: !)

For those who shared their stories :notworth: :notworth: :notworth:!

If I may, I'd like to share mine, too :wink: !

Unlike many of you, I grew up in a family where all the members have two left feet :shock: ! (we are musical, though. Mum is a music teacher and my brother plays heavy metal)

Like all the women in my family, I was born with severly flat feet (arch replaced by extra bones/tissue) which tend to deform with age.

That aside, I must have been one of the biggest hams you've met :P ! I love showbiz.....acting, dancing etc. So I started ballet, as most little girls from respectable families would. However, being a larger, awkward (picture a St. Bernard puppy amongst all Jack Russell puppies!) kid, with Yeti feet, I got kicked out of ballet school & got told I could never dance.

So I persued my future in art & design, with a bit of acting. But dancing remained one of my burning passions (and salsa WAS in my soul before I consciously knew it exists).

For some reason I had a real liking for all things 'latin' (ie. sung in Spanish) I grew up with some Latino kids in high school, and through their families, I found out more about salsa. This was at about the same time the movies 'Dirty Dancing' and 'Salsa' came out. (I had the BIGGEST crush on Robby Rosa :oops: ) Up until then salsa wasn't considered 'cool' at all by the Latino kids ("the music my parents listen to!")!

Then I found out one of the mainstream clubs in the city was giving some free dance classes on 'Latin' dancing (to promote Lambada! :roll: ) so I turned up. There I met some of the people that would go on to play major roles in building the salsa scene.

How much lambada can you teach....? Before long we were learning salsa.

Unlike some of you, my involvement in dancing received NO support from my family (nearly got disowned!), as they did not think it was a 'proper' (read: ballroom & ballet) dance for a respectable girl :roll: ! I persisted (partly because I was DYING to show them that I COULD dance, given half a chance) and eventually they gave in. To these days, they are merely ACCEPTING the idea that salsa is the lifestyle I chosed to live. The support may never be there. Oh well *shrug*.

Funny enough, at the time when I first turned up the the free classes, I was aspired to become a Latin DJ 8) . My best friend WAS the dancer (she was a shy kid until you see her on the dance floor) ! As kids, we used to make up little routines & dream about doing shows/competitions in secret. I wanted to be a DJ so I could play cool music for her :wink: . Unfortunately her parents were far more stricter than mine.....so I promised to go and learn it for both of us :P .

The rest, as they say, is history 8) .

[Salsero_AT]

I was a REALLY shy guy. When I was around a girl that I liked, I could never speak comfortably and I always felt stupid. Dancing really brought me out of my shell. Thanks, Dancing!

Same goes with me. It is as if dancing has awakend me. I am much more happy with my life.... everyone should try it :)

[peachexploration]

I have been a dancing and singing all my life. But not formally (studiowise) until I was and Adult. My mom loved to dance and my dad was a musician so music and rhythm burns in my soul. What really got me going and caused me to spend eight to tens hours a day in my room dancing was the movie "Flashdance". I know, leg warms and all. :D

[AnnieMarie]

Well I have always liked to dance. I took ballet when I was younger..but it wasn't quite my cup of tea. I like swing dancing before it was a trendy thing and everyone laughed at me. Look, now lots of people are swing dancing and they love it.

But my real love was line dancing. I thought it looked like so much fun. I used to watch the shows on the now defunct TNN. I also liked all the couples dancing. I said, someday I am going to learn this stuff.

It took me until I graduated college but I took a line dance class through a communit ed program...and haven't looked back. It's been so much fun. So much fun in fact that this year I really started studying two-step and WCS and am taking privates and hope to do my first Pro/AM competition some time next year. Maybe I will run into Vince at a UCWDC event.

Now I dance 4 or 5 nights a week. Never enough dancing for me.

[jon]

I wanted to meet women, so I took the campus social dance course after a fellow grad student said there were lots of extra follows.

Of course, ballroom and swing dancing is next to useless as a way to meet people to date, but turned out to be fun on its own merits, so I stayed with it.

Unlike many people in this thread, I didn't dance in any fashion as a child, and didn't listen to music other than classical until starting to dance.

[Dancegal]

As a child, I remember New Year's Eve family parties where the adults danced (salsa/merengue) and us kids played. Then in Jr High, I remember my cousin got turned on to Disco (it was the late 70's) and he and his sister would "hustle" and I joined in. It was fun! Us kids rebelled against the Latin stuff, but deep down it is in the blood (probably too sexy for us Jr. High kids - ha!)! It seemed like partner dancing (other than slow dancing, which I really enjoyed :wink: ) was not at all popular through high school and college, but vividly remember avoiding a college country western party thinking - I don't know how to C&W dance - and I like to know what I'm doing when dancing! Took C&W lessons after college since it became popular to do so. Don't care for a lot of the music, but came to love Western Swing. Then that love paled in comparison many years later when I took up salsa & merengue, followed by 6-count, WCS and Lindy. Nowadays when I visit my local C&W dance hall I save my energy for when they play the string of 3-4 WCS songs! And enjoy when non-WCS dancers watch :P 8)!

[Sagitta]

Of course, ballroom and swing dancing is next to useless as a way to meet people to date, but turned out to be fun on its own merits, so I stayed with it.

I wouldn't say that. You meet many interesting people...I like cooking, so through dance I've got together with a couple people, cooked, hung out, and being that we love to danced also danced...It's not necessarily dancing that gets you the people but socializing betwen dances as well. Then at dance class I've met other people, one with whom I practice latin dancing occassionally, and we often sit and talk about stuff in general, or sometimes go out to a movie. Then there are a couple others who like going to the theater, see plays. And of course it's not just see the play and go home...often a coffee at either mine/her place...

I'm not sure what you would consider a date. But these could be dates... however there is noting serious here as I am just out to have a good time.

Now the funny thing is I just got inspired to dance as I wanted to be able to. I loved the music. I felt the music in my body! But my feet and hands couldn't move right....I went to a dance and was sitting admiring the people dancing and sort of moving my body to the music where I was sitting, got asked to dance, thought hey why not give it a shot, and made a fool of myself as I couldn't do much as a leader!!!:oops: Anyway that was one of my motivating factors.

Also a fun way to exercise. I was getting tired of just running, swimming, weightlifting....My body was complaining.

Also, the thought of eating all sorts of junk food without any consequence crossed my mind. (In this American society I live in weight has to be an issue...it's so pervasive and insidious...seeping into our unconciousness without us opening the door to let it in... :) ) This last inspiration is me being facetious! I just couldn't resist.. I'm in such a good mood... :bouncy:

I've not gone to this latin club for a couple months, went and just had a blast!!! I even danced overly dramatic swing to merengue, just doing turns, as there was this lady who thought merengue was boring, but liked doing showy moves with an edge to them. That was fun as I don't go swing dancing anymore!! :( Need to focus on latin and ballroom next couple months...