Do You Dance?

How does this type of picture come about?; beats me, but I had to laugh. Once I wrote a musing about dancing that you might enjoy reading and it may, in fact, bring back a memory or two if you had folks that loved to dance, or maybe you did a bit of dancing yourselves.

"When I was young, a very long time ago, I had a friend who pulled out the extra leaf of a dining table and placed it on the floor so we could tap dance. He showed me how to shuffle, shuffle, tap, tap and I thought I knew how to tap dance. Then I saw Bo Jangles dance with Shirley Temple in a movie and knew I had two left feet.

In high school, every October, there was a special festival and each class was assigned a song and dance theme. Our class did "Alice Blue Gown" and we wore long blue dresses and carried round hat boxes which we put down beside us and then did a little dance around them. We thought we were fabulous until we went to the movies and saw " Ziegfeld's Follies."

As a young teenager when jitter bug was in, we girls taught the boys all the steps and had a lot of fun. We listened to the Big Bands on the radio and knew all of the words of the songs by heart. We used to sing cowboy songs but when the boogie-woogie came to town our taste in music took on the beat and we bought the records which had the words written on the jackets and learned them all by heart. Strange not one of us had a voice, but it didn't bother us a bit.

As a young married lady, my husband and I attended a dinner dance or two, and we enjoyed a dance called "The Paul Jones." The men formed a circle around the ladies and the band started to play, then stopped . . . to find ourselves with a different dance partner. It was always such fun as we circled around the room when the music started up again.

We danced the polka, the waltz; the fox trot; jitter bug; boogie woogie; then a huge change came about as The Beach Boys, Elvis and many others introduced us to 'the swim'; 'the twist'; and to the beat of 'Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog." The dancers didn't dance together anymore, but separately, standing before each other doing their own steps.

I'm not sure what is the dance of today. On television they have dancers doing the tango and other dances, reminding me of acrobatics. Some are beautiful to watch and some are ridiculous.

I always thought ballet was boring until I actually went to a theater and sat through a performance and it changed my mind and my heart for a world that is different and quiet, and beautiful. The Nutcracker has been playing for many years and signals Christmas is near. The story and the dancers are special.

I have seen folks do the Irish Jig; The Jewish Hora; The Greek Handkerchief dance, and I'm sure that every country has a dance of its own. The Russian kick dance is a familiar one. I wish I could think of more dance to add to my musing . . ."Do you dance?" . . . I hope so.



So today, plot and plan a weekend and go where there is music you can dance to. Get out there on the floor and dance, dance, dance. What a way to spend an evening. Granddaughter Erin will teach you how to Salsa dance, all you have to do is ask. So, as I two step out of your lives this morning, know I am thinking of you and hoping that all is right in your world today. Enjoy the seconds. Hugs to all.