Same Drummer - Different Marchers

Andew Abrams
June 21, 2004

When I'm viewing a room full of dancers who are known to me, I am always entertained by the variety of types of people and the many different styles that are applied to the same music. I'm not surprised about the personalizing of dance movements because I have come to understand that my friends have different abilities, levels of experience, and reasons for dancing.

One of my favorite dancers is a fellow who frequents a local dinner/dance place. His movements on the dance floor are, to say the least, quite eccentric. The other oddities about this fellow are that his wardrobe is somewhat unusual and he has the habit of whistling to the music while he's dancing. I have always noticed that onlookers who don't know him are always snickering and giving him the critical eye.

My silly dancing friend is consistently the happiest dancer I have ever witnessed. One could say that he always seems to be in a blissful state. The next time you are thinking negative thoughts about another dancer's "incorrectness" please allow yourself to judge not their style, but recognize their right to enjoy themselves at any level of competency. If you do that you may enjoy your own dancing much more and really appreciate the antics of my totally blind friend who would never be able to criticize your performance - he can't see you; and he's just too busy being happy!

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Andrew Abrams is a New York Tri-state area social dance event producer. For information about Andrew's Circle of Friends social variety dance parties, Argentine tango milongas, and dance cruise vacations you can contact him at (201) 933 8098; email: info@cofparty.com; or go to www.cofparty.com. His events can often be found on the ExploreDance.com calendar.