D is for Dancing...or is that Dating?

D is for Dancing or is that Dating?  The Perfect 3-Minute Relationship!

Have you heard that dance is the vertical representation of horizontal passion.  I certainly hope that isn’t always true ‘cause I have danced more than a few dances that were much closer to a horror story than a steamy romance novel!  But than, what dancer hasn’t?

But if dance is a date than consider it a 3-minute relationship – and what’s not to love about the dancing relationship?  It’s acceptable, actually expected to dance in public, even if you are not married to the person you are dancing.  Either a man or woman can ask for a dance.  Many, sometimes hundreds of people group dance in the same room.  Swapping partners is expected, often required.  Politeness is usually the norm on a dance.  The dance can be fast-paced/exciting, relaxed/casual, or sultry/sensual, depending on the mood.  Eyes meet, bodies touch and move together to the music, each striving to make the experience better for their partner than for themselves.  When the dance is good, it is very, very good…breathe deep and smoke the imaginary cigarette good.  When it is not so good, well it still isn’t so bad that I wouldn’t accept another dance….it is just that I am very thankful that all I am committing to is about 3 minutes…not the rest of my life!

Dance of the Day:  Disco                                           

While which song started the disco phenomena, it is generally agreed that that it was sung in about 1972 and that it, like all Disco music, had funk, soul and Latin influences.  Disco’s driving, all accented (every beat is equally as strong as the next and all of them are very strong) structure originally attracted club-goers in New York and Philadelphia who were interested in a bit of rebellion against the mainstream rock music of the time.  This counterculture danced “freestyle” dances such as the “Bump”, “Penguin” (and I thought that movement was reserved for a badly executed chaine turn!), “Boogaloo”, “Watergate”, the “Robot”, and of course….the “Hustle”.  In 1973, “touch” dancing found it’s way into the Disco scene and oh my, oh MY!  the partnered version of the Hustle (which is really just a syncopated 4-count swing) became the rage by 1977…thank you Saturday Night Fever!   By the way, even though Disco is danced to 4/4 music, Hustle is my favorite dance to do to an intermediate tempo waltz!  Yup…think about it….Hustle is usually counted “& 1 2 3”, a waltz basic is counted “1 2 3”....try it sometime!