A Three-Minute Stand: The Life of the Social Dancer.
How short was your shortest relationship? A week? Two Days? What about three minutes?
That’s the life of a social-dancer; whether it’s tango, waltz, salsa, bachata, or kizomba, social dancing requires that you create a relationship with your partner for the few minutes that a song plays.
It’s a relationship because social dancing is not just two people dancing together; it's more than the sum of its parts. 1+1=3. And, it’s not the performance result of two dancers who have practiced a choreographed piece time and time again, perfecting its elements. It’s a spontaneous combination of movement. Two phenomenal salsa dancers can come together and carry out an uncooperative, resentful relationship for three excruciating minutes, full of too-tight-grips, and silent arguments over who, in fact, is leading. On the other side of the dance floor, two beginners foster a sweet three-minute relationship, smiling and blushing when one or the other fumbles, giving each other space to make mistakes. Two bachata pros who have never even met before might develop, in three minutes, an all-out amazing to watch, genuinely fun, sexy, exciting relationship, while in the other corner, a married couple might create a comforting relationship for three minutes through their simple, but loving all-basic dance.
My point is, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been dancing, or how good your moves are. In fact, only half of this three-minute stand depends on you anyway. You’ve got your other half contributing too. And, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve known your other half, whether you they’re hot or not, or how good their moves are, for that matter. What matters, in the end, is the way your movements interact; the relationship that forms. You will never have complete control of this relationship, and neither will your partner. Social dancing is fun because it flirts with the unknown and the unpredictable.
Some relationships start out awkwardly and blossom into warm, smiling eyes. Some start out thrilling, but then hit too many potholes along the way to recover. Some happen with the same person over and over again in one night. Some are truly one time flings. Some are exhilarating. Some are caring. Some are polite. Some are downright obnoxious. Some are a natural high and others are complete boredom.
Whatever it is, it’s over in three minutes, whether you like it or not.
Article written by Hannah Lorenzo.
