Victoria and I are close in age and we have almost always been single or had boyfriends at the same times over the years. I will never forget when we were in our late 20’s I asked her if she wanted to go dancing with me, and she said “I don’t dance with strangers.” I don’t think I have laughed so hard. “Well who do you dance with?” I asked. She said she only danced and hung out with people she knew or that she was introduced to. Okay, so, she may have danced with a stranger, but someone else knew him, so it was okay. We were young; we had rules, thoughts, ideas and a detailed road map for our lives.
This past Friday night Victoria didn’t come with us, but we went country dancing as you probably know from earlier posts on facebook or twitter. The group I was with found our table and staked out our territory, scoped out the scene on the dance floor and just moments later, some good looking cowboy asked one of the “Single and Sexy in Denver” ladies to dance. He saw us walk in, had his eye on her from the get go, I was watching him. It was still early and the band playing wasn’t the headliner, so about half of the dance floor was open and everyone had plenty of room to really swing. They looked like they were having fun! I haven’t danced to country music in 10+ years, I just kept telling myself it was similar enough to salsa which I have done all my life, I would be fine if anyone asked me to dance. I was busy though, we had people at the front door trying to get in, a few others at the back door hoping to get in, but I didn’t have a confirmation from them the day before so I didn’t buy tickets early from them (lesson learned) and so by the time I got back to our table, the headliner came on. Several men danced by with their girls in tow flirty and having fun. We were near an isle so there was plenty of swaying, clapping, singing, constant movement since we decided not to sit.
The cowboy came from behind, he was a real cowboy, not an urban cowboy, about 24ish who had his share of beer. I was having so much fun at our table I didn’t really want to dance but Cowboy didn’t ask. He just grabbed me by the waist and then next thing I knew, we were on the floor.
It took me a few beats… right, right, left… right, right left… right, right…and then he saw his opening and it was spin, spin, twirl, twist and spin, spin, wrap around and around and around… yee haw! Yep the salsa (merenge? Cha-cha?) kicked in and I was just fine. Dips finished each song, and as the third song came on, so did the people, the dance floor was crazy packed. Somehow during this song and all the fun spins, my bracelets attached to the gal next to us, our partners kept moving. She and I were laughing and trying to detach, and then somehow, we were on opposite sides of the floor again just in time for the most dramatic dip of the entire evening. I was just inches from the floor, but he had a tight hold of my wrists, he held me there for a moment and on the way back up my head hit legs, arms, purses, elbows maybe another head and suddenly I was upright again. Whew!
Today, Victoria asked about our night and she mentioned…maybe if she danced with strangers her life would be different than it is now. I don’t know if it would be but what I do know is that it is never too late to dance with strangers.
Living, 