Day 161 of 365 - I Hope You'll Dance
My parents used to watch musical programs on television, like Don Messer's Jubilee (a Canadian program from the Maritimes) and The Tommy Hunter Show. These shows often featured couples or a small troupe of dancers who would perform along with the band or singer. As children, my sisters and I would sometimes try to imitate the dancers.
The first structured dance lessons I attended were held at our local recreation center. We learned square dancing, polka and probably basics like the waltz. In the later phase of elementary school, a bit of dancing was introduced in physical education classes, probably to help us develop our social skills. Very short after school dances were sometimes held in the gym. Most of my early dancing was done with girls. My first memory of dancing with a boy at one of these school events, was with a boy from class called Martin. The main memory I have of that is his very sweaty hands! The poor boy was so nervous!
In high school there were some more lessons in gym class, in the form of folk dancing, not something to readily apply to the social scene, but I enjoyed them. For social dancing, there were the occasional high school dances, with live bands, and also church youth group dances which played music from popular records. For both these types of events, there was a lot of standing around, boys on one side of the room and girls on the other, waiting for someone to get up the courage to invite a partner to dance. Girls who tired of waiting would dance in pairs or groups.
In adulthood, my husband and I actually took a series of lessons through the city recreation program and also at a dance studio. One series of classes was ballroom, and another was disco, which had become a craze. We had the opportunity to practice some of our skills mainly at church dances, which were held seasonally as a way to socialize.
I can remember having a lot of fun at those dances. One of my favorite dancing memories is of doing the polka, of all things. I loved when the music sped up and with a good partner you could just keep spinning around the floor! There was not a lot of call for dancing something like the tango. Also, it turned out that we did not remember our disco moves very well, so could only do a few basic steps.
Now, opportunities for couples and social dancing for me are very infrequent, just the occasional wedding. Even at those, it's mainly back to group dancing again, which is maybe more of the social norm now. My primary dance experience nowadays is at my NIA dance classes, and I continue to be very grateful for that opportunity.
It turns out that there are many benefits for seniors who continue to dance. Aside from the socialization aspect, dance is great for maintaining balance, endurance and strength. It can improve your sense of well being and maintain your connection to a community. I've spoken in more detail in other posts about the particular benefits of the NIA classes which I attend.
I know dancing is not everyone's cup of tea, but it's been a very important theme in my life. So, if it appeals to you at all, yes, I hope you will continue to dance into your senior years.
The first structured dance lessons I attended were held at our local recreation center. We learned square dancing, polka and probably basics like the waltz. In the later phase of elementary school, a bit of dancing was introduced in physical education classes, probably to help us develop our social skills. Very short after school dances were sometimes held in the gym. Most of my early dancing was done with girls. My first memory of dancing with a boy at one of these school events, was with a boy from class called Martin. The main memory I have of that is his very sweaty hands! The poor boy was so nervous!
In high school there were some more lessons in gym class, in the form of folk dancing, not something to readily apply to the social scene, but I enjoyed them. For social dancing, there were the occasional high school dances, with live bands, and also church youth group dances which played music from popular records. For both these types of events, there was a lot of standing around, boys on one side of the room and girls on the other, waiting for someone to get up the courage to invite a partner to dance. Girls who tired of waiting would dance in pairs or groups.
In adulthood, my husband and I actually took a series of lessons through the city recreation program and also at a dance studio. One series of classes was ballroom, and another was disco, which had become a craze. We had the opportunity to practice some of our skills mainly at church dances, which were held seasonally as a way to socialize.
I can remember having a lot of fun at those dances. One of my favorite dancing memories is of doing the polka, of all things. I loved when the music sped up and with a good partner you could just keep spinning around the floor! There was not a lot of call for dancing something like the tango. Also, it turned out that we did not remember our disco moves very well, so could only do a few basic steps.
Now, opportunities for couples and social dancing for me are very infrequent, just the occasional wedding. Even at those, it's mainly back to group dancing again, which is maybe more of the social norm now. My primary dance experience nowadays is at my NIA dance classes, and I continue to be very grateful for that opportunity.
It turns out that there are many benefits for seniors who continue to dance. Aside from the socialization aspect, dance is great for maintaining balance, endurance and strength. It can improve your sense of well being and maintain your connection to a community. I've spoken in more detail in other posts about the particular benefits of the NIA classes which I attend.
I know dancing is not everyone's cup of tea, but it's been a very important theme in my life. So, if it appeals to you at all, yes, I hope you will continue to dance into your senior years.
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