Save the last dance for me.

"Darling, save the last dance for me."

"It might be me, but the way I see it, the whole wide world has gone crazy, so baby why don't we just dance?" 

"When we dance you have a way with me, stay with me, sway with me. "

"Just dance." 

There are probably a million other excellent examples of songs that talk about dancing. Whenever I hear such a song, a song about letting loose or holding someone close or forgetting about the world and just moving with the music, I am always drawn to that song. Why? Well, because I have been so blessed as to have such excellent experiences, and have them as often as I possibly can. 

While clearly I am not opposed to sit for hours and tap away at a keyboard, or while the way a day reading, I will never ever ever refuse a dance when I can manage it. When I am faced with the dilemma to dance or not to dance, my answer will always and forever be to dance. 

Sometimes I even think it's cooler than English. 

I know. That's super shocking, and I will understand if I am heretofore ostracized from the literary community. But let me explain first. 

I have loved dancing for as long as I can remember.When I was little I loved watching dancing, since I couldn't do it myself. Movies like Shall We Dance and Love and Dancing and a conglomeration of musicals were something I avidly sought out.  Finally, in high school, I had some friends who were also excited by the possibility of dancing something other than the jerky and somewhat seizure-like movements of high school activities. So, we found a dance club. Specifically, the Lancaster County Swing Dance Club. 

For those of you who don't know what swing dancing is, let me explain: it's awesome. Haha, actually there are two different types of Swing: East Coast(also known as the Jitterbug and has the variation of Charleston and Lindy Hop), and West Coast. I am well versed in the intricacies of the East, and am presently learning the movements of the west.

Actually, here. I'll let my good friend Brendan Fraser explain my first love, East Coast Swing :

Completely fantastic, right? I know. So. Freaking. Cool. It's even more fun to do than to watch, too. 

Here's some west coast, too. :) This is an actual competition, and these are some of the best dancers in the world. 

This dance, too, is pretty awesome. In actuality, though, most people's feet stay on the ground for the majority of the dance. 

Anyway, I was talking to a friend, way back before I could dance worth anything, and was saying how I'd love to learn all these different dances. What he told me was, "If you want to do it, then go do it!" And so I did. I learned off of youtube tutorials, people at LSDC who knew what they were doing, went to more dances, tried out new ones when they were available. 

That was about three years ago, and I've completely fallen in love with moving my body to the music. I've learned the at least basic step for both Argentine and Ballroom Tango, Cha-cha, Samba, Salsa, Mamba, Meringue, Waltz, Contra, Polka, Blues, and East and West Coast Swing. And I still do enjoy normal-two-step-slow dancing and the seizure-like jerking of today's pop culture. I'm pretty much game for anything. Proof:  I've worn through three pairs of dance shoes. I actually just got a new pair of East Coast shoes for Christmas, actually, to replace my most recently desecrated dance shoes: 

(Aren't they beautiful????  : D They make me so happy.) 

Unless you've actually experienced the exhilaration of these dances, it's pretty hard to explain, but I'll try. When I'm dancing to a fast song, it's as if the rhythm has infected my veins and there's just no way not to dance. I can't help it; I have to move. It's like when you're writing and your character takes over for you, and you feel like you cease to have control over the words that are somehow making their way onto the page. It's like that, except in the end you suddenly find yourself more sweaty than you were a couple of minutes before. For slower dances, it's like your partner and you find yourselves in a sort of fog. All you know is the music that's playing and what movements your and their body are making, how it flows together. For me, I feel almost as though I'm in a sort of trance. It's all about feeling the song. 

Now, that all probably sounds overly sentimental, but there's not much else to say to describe it. When I'm  dancing, nothing else matters. My schoolwork or social life or the love-hate relationship I have with BBC television show writers (Steven Moffat and writers of Downton Abbey, I am talking to you), all of it, no longer exists. Often, it is more healing to my body and soul than even a nap after a long day can be. 

It's also an incredible way to express yourself. I personally know that actually speaking isn't my strongest form of communication, writing is, and dancing is another way to express one's self. 

Take it away, Prince Eric (skip to about 3:00): 

I'm sorry. Couldn't resist bringing some Disney, albeit Broadway-style into this. 

Anyway, I could probably rant about dancing and why I love it and why you and everyone else should do it too, all day long. And I could also show you a million more fantastic videos of dancing- I have a Youtube playlist of them about 130-something videos long. It's a beautiful form of expression, it's a stress-reliever, it's exercise, and it's SO MUCH FUN. Also, I know about five couples who have gotten together through dancing. Just saying , it's like an unofficial dating service. I love dancing SO much and I am so blessed to have it and all of the people I've met through it in my life. I seriously recommend it.

 So, with that, I will leave you. Well, I'll leave you after showing you another video. You can't talk about dancing without mentioning Patrick Swayze. Enjoy and then, seriously, go out and dance. : )