Care To Dance??

[$ally]

I Lindy whenever I get the chance.

 

[Ben]

Dancing is great and I do it whenever I get the chance.

You can dance holding an old fashioned, it just takes practice.

My wife and I took dance lessons for about a year before our wedding and about a year after. We went with Arthur Murray, and while it was expensive, it was worth it.

I can now dance in several styles, and I learned how to hear music as a dancer as well as just a listener. The other good thing was that we learned that you can dance all kinds of dances to all kinds of music. You can swing to AC/DC as well as you can to big band music. I only wish I had done it sooner.

The expense was an issue, but there were some advantages. Arthur Murray was kind of like joining a gymn, how much it was worth depended on how much you put into it. You paid for private lessons, but could attend most of the classes for free. That meant you could get a lot of dancing in each week.

The other advantage was that the cost helped to filter out some of the 'creepy guy' factor. Not any one was able to just walk in off the street.

Still, the costs in time and money and the constant upsell got to us eventually and we stopped taking lessons.

But I think dancing is something everyone should learn to do, especially men. After I learned to dance, I became the cool guy at weddings because I can and will dance.

Now, most of our dancing is at bars or at the Chicago Sumer Dance in the park. The city sponsors a free dance lesson and free live music in the park. It is a great time.

 

[Paisley]

Speaking of cost, a few years ago there was a singles club called "Dance Card" that cost $50 per night. At that time, the couple who became the national lindy champs were offering $3 classes, and you could go to the dance for $4, and the dancing was terrific.

Maybe I'm lucky, or maybe, as a 38-year-old woman, I don't have much problem giving someone the brush-off, but in five years I've encountered only two creepy guys.

 

[Miss Sis]

Sporadically we go to dances but we have had some private lessons with a dance teacher friend as the BF gets a bit flustered learning round others.

I've danced nearly all my life but each new style takes some getting used to. We had a lesson Saturday in ballroom and learnt a few new steps.

Funnily enough I am not overall as interested in dancing as I used to be but I enjoy being able to if I want to.

 

[Edward]

File me under "I wish I could." Part of the reason I don't danced is because it seems to have been a skill that was never passed down to generation X. At least, where I was from boys were never encouraged to dance anyhow, it was entirely a girl thing. I don't think I'm too bad at picking up steps (I don't generally seem to have a problem picking up new variations on the TimeWarp when they bring Rocky out on the road, anyhow), but it's shyness that kills me. An ex girlfriend years ago talked me into lindy hop lessons (back before I was as into the retro scene as I am now), and we went for a few weeks. In the end she lost interest before I did, though I think maybe I embarassed her because i was so bad at it. It was one of those set ups where they made you dance with everyone else in the class, which I hated as a way to learn - made me very uncomfortable so I took nothing in. Even if i was a world class dancer, the idea of dancing with a stranger would be a complete no-no, so it really didn't help learning. I used to be fine when they got us to walk out the steps, but as soon as they put the music on I'd lose it - I could remember individual moves, but I could never remember what was supposed to be coming next. I've not gone back since. I did belatedly discover a few months ago a friend was great at it all, but only a week or so before she went back to Canada. I'd like to learn eventually, but not so long as they're going to make me dance with strangers.

 

[Smithy]

I dance when at parties. My fianc?©e is a very good swing dancer and I've been lucky enough to learn from her. I'm by no means brilliant but I can cut a bit of a dash and I enjoy it hugely.