Why I like to dance with old men.

My girlfriends like to make fun. What they don’t understand is that time’s awastin’ and it won’t be long before all the dancing men are dead and gone. Well, obviously with the exception of the gays. And I suppose the Latins as well. It will be a sad day.

There was a time, (I will clarify RIGHT NOW this section is my romantic view of the world as it used to be. There is NO basis of actual fact, this is merely my assumption based on my own current experiences). Anyway, there was a time where men knew how to lead a woman on the dance floor and actually DANCE with her. He would ask a woman to dance, and he would take the lead and guide her through steps, twirls, dips. The girl would need to be able to read his cues, the nuances of the hand positioning, the gentle taps on the shoulder or side, and in this manner the two would connect. As opposed to grinding up against each other in a form of “dance” I call foreplay. Not that I don’t mind dancing this way once in awhile. Okay, let’s be honest. I actually enjoy it at times. But have you ever watched the faces of a man and woman who are actually dancing?

I doubt that you have. We all get annoyed at the bar when some older couple goes out on the tiny floor and monopolizes all the space. They have no regard for the people around them. It is typically our opinion that they are rude and have no right. Frankly, we are rude for wanting to deny them this opportunity to actually enjoy each other and the music. So what if we can’t jump up and down, or make sure all the boys are watching while we girls grind up against each other. This couple doesn’t have much time left! His hips are going to go out. Or his knees. Or the arthritis in his shoulder will make leading impossible. I say, LET THEM DANCE.

For just one moment, think about the skill this requires of him. The time he has spent learning how to lead the woman. Making sure he catches her when she stumbles a little (that would be me, btw), or that he communicates to her what’s next. He has to THINK. It’s his gift to her to let her just enjoy the music and the closeness and roll with the rhythm.

As a society we are letting this ritual get away from us. Oh, sure, we have the groom learn ahead of the wedding one dance so he doesn’t make an ass out of himself, but that’s about the extent of it. The women are forgetting how to listen to the man (okay this applies in a very broad spectrum) and what it’s like to enjoy being lead.

So. I dance with old men. I stand at the edge of the dance floor and watch the frustration on his face as he takes one girl after another onto the floor that cannot read his lead. Then I ask HIM to dance. I receive the gift of his generation, and treasure those three minutes with a total stranger. Where he talks to me without words. AND I LISTEN.