Sunday, October 09, 2005

post the fifth

Homecoming is upon us. The football team returns to us and plays against Colorado State, and signs go up all over campus reminding us to find a date for the homecoming dance.

Barring something extremely unexpected, I will not be attending any sort of homecoming dance. I haven't been to a dance that I've enjoyed since high school. I just don't see the allure of the dance. I'm not an especially talented dancer. If I were, I suspect I would have a better time. I don't like standing around in a dark room with cheesy music playing and walking in a circle with a girl. I know I'm overgeneralizing here. I understand. It's just that I don't like dances. If I'm going to spend time getting to know a girl, I can think of a better forum to do so than by screaming in her ear while dancing. You know the drill:

Me: WHAT'S YOUR NAME?
Girl: WHAT?
Me: WHAT?
Girl: NO, I HAVEN'T!
Me: WAIT, WITH WHO?
Girl: YEAH, I KNOW!

You get the idea. If I want to spend time with a girl, then I'm going to go somewhere where I can do so. I don't mean to imply that all dances are bad things; I just mean to imply that dances are not my thing. I'd prefer to spend a quiet evening talking. That's just me.

That, and I just don't have the guts to ask a girl out right now. I'm just a pansy, and that's that. Maybe someday I can find a girl who doesn't mind spending time with me who wouldn't mind going to a dance with me. Then again, if I found that girl, I'd probably just as soon ask her to chill at my apartment with me and play some sort of word game.

- Optimistic.

4 comments:

Redoubt said...

I abhor dances except under the following conditions:

1. I'm with someone who will actually dance with me, because otherwise I will wallflower the whole time and that's depressing.
2. There is actual dancing involved. I mean REAL dances. Preferably swing, but I can also waltz if the music calls for it.
3. There is no Latin dancing or line dancing. I hate them both for various, differing reasons.
4. There is NO competition. I hate dance competitions like I hate . . . hmm, well I can't think of anything strong enough right now. Let's just say if there's a dance competition going on, I would rather go outside and beat my head against a brick wall.
5. None of this country, pop, rap, etc. crap to which one can't dance. Or rather, to which two can't dance.

I used to feel the same way as you do about dances, but then for a few months I had a boyfriend who would actually take me dancing.

Thirdmango said...

The best dance I ever went to was my freshman year of college. It was a girls ask and my date had gotten her ankle sprained a week before. So she couldn't dance. We went to the dance and requested Stairway to Heaven, they didn't have it, so we went back to my place to get the cd, went back to the dance and then gave it to him and he played it all and it was grand, everyone was cheering at the end, we saved the dance from being lame.

eleka nahmen said...

I love dancing, but the style depends on the situation.

If one doesn't know the person one is dancing with very well, then ideally said dance should be "style dancing," so to speak - Latin (which I love, incidentally), swing, etc. Merely because one can enjoy the dancing even if one doesn't so much enjoy the person.

Club dancing (only done at certain venues) can just as easily be done with a person one knows very well (which, in my opinion, is the best way to do things-you can get away with a lot more without giving said individual ideas), someone one only knows a little, or someone random that one doesn't know at all (each of the latter very fun in their own way.)

Slow dancing, of the type you mentioned, (in my opinion) should ideally take place with someone that one already knows and loves. There are few places one can feel as secure and loved as when dancing in the arms of one's significant other. Ever seen Vettriano's work entitled "Dance me to the end of love"? Just like that.

Unknown said...

Emily - yes, it does imply that the dance to which you are referring was less enjoyable than some other activity might have been. I had a perfectly good time, but I imagine I might have had a better time had we played Scrabble or something. Then again, I'm probably imposing my current personality on myself four years ago.

Good to see you on here, m'dear.