Why I Dance

I love dancing. Ever since I was a child, I have been into the arts, including music and dancing. I took ballet lessons when I was younger. This was never my thing because I lacked the flexibility and my body wasn't a ballet dancer's body. But I grew up loving music. Because I love music, I learned the joy of rhythm, beat, and mood. These lend themselves naturally to dancing. When I sing along to music, my body naturally starts to move. I hear a song, and suddenly I am intense, or whimsical, or passionate, or whatever mood the music creates in me.

My sisters and I used to play music on the record player or 8-track player and dance along in the dining room. The favorite selections were either Neil Diamond records or music from film musicals. Then, in school, I joined choir, and we had to dance as we sang. There were school dances, of course, in which we merely bopped up and own, making weird gestures we had seen in music videos. At these dances, I was always a comedian and would make my friends laugh at my stylings. I was never afraid to put myself out there. I have never been shy.

Then a few years ago, some friends of mine started taking ballroom dancing lessons. I had always wanted to do that. I know I have the natural understanding of music to make it work. I won't ever be able to do a lot of tricks, but I just love moving to music. I took swing dancing lessons and started attending Sunday night social dances. Then this past year, I attended salsa lessons and started attending the salsa socials. Salsa is a great dance. It is fun, flirty, and fairly easy to learn. Once you have the basics, you just have to add your own flavor.

Dancing has so many great benefits. Number one, it is great exercise. It is great aerobic exercise. Number, two, it reduces stress. You release all of the tension you are carrying in your body (unless you decide to keep it inside during dancing, which is definitely going to chase away partners). For the time you are dancing, you can forget about work, money, and things that just aren't going right. Dancing is also a great social outlet. You can meet so many people of all ethnicities and walks of life.

Dancing is also a way to get in touch with who you are inside. The way you dance says so much about you. There is nothing sexier than a person who is comfortable in their own body. Dancing allows you to use your entire body as an expression of your human spirit. You become more comfortable as yourself.

Dancing is life. Get out on that dance floor.