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	**  A PERSONAL ESSAY ON SOCIAL BALLROOM DANCE  **
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{"Music Has Charms to Soothe the Savage Beast" - William Congreve} 

Ballroom Dancing Does It Better! "Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow."
Walk into any dance school and you're likely to hear these words
coming from one of the studios. They're the basis for a beginner's
tango lesson.  One evening six years ago, when I didn't know the
tango from the mambo, I was invited to a restaurant that had real
dancing -- you know, the kind in which the man puts his arm around 
your waist and your hand rests on his shoulder.  It was clear that 
the couples gliding across the floor to the music of Frank Sinatra, 
Tito Puente and Count Basie were having a lot more fun than those 
of us watching from the sidelines.  That evening changed my life; 
by the time I got home, I was determined to learn how to dance and
become a part of the euphoria I saw on the faces of those dancers. 
After a quick search of the Yellow Pages I soon found myself in a 
Manhattan dance studio with 20 other novices, all of us terrified 
of making fools of ourselves. Since that day, I've taken countless 
classes and spent lots of time practicing, and like a modern-day 
version of "The Red Shoes," I haven't stopped.  I am now an 
accomplished dancer with two distinct sets of friends: non-dancers 
(we go to the movies) and people who are also captivated by this 
graceful, civilized sport. Some become so passionate about it that 
they're out doing their thing seven nights a week.  One man I know 
doesn't even own a television. "What for?" he asks, "I dance every 
night." Others not quite so obsessed, dance only one or two nights 
a week while continuing to take lessons	to improve their skills. 
Either way, anyone who succumbs to the allure of dancing will tell 
you it's Prozac without side effects and superb exercise without the 
mindless boredom of those dratted machines.  Social, exhilarating 
and fun -- and it's one of the few "interactive" activities that 
doesn't require a modem!  Recently I asked a friend why he enjoys 
dancing so much.  He responded, half in jest "In what other activity 
could I approach an attractive stranger, spend the next four minutes 
with her body pressed to mine, and when the music ends, feel confident 
that she would smile and thank me for the experience?"  Dancing is 
safe sex set to music!  We've all heard that the best way to meet 
someone is by doing something we enjoy.  Now I confess, at the dance 
schools and ballrooms in New York and across the country, the object 
is not necessarily meeting the love of your life, but romance is often 
a natural outgrowth of an activity that involves active cooperation 
between two people and a certain amount of polite intimacy.  When my 
male friends lament that they don't know how to meet nice, attractive 
women, I say "learn to dance; you will have more women than you can 
handle." The New York Times recently illustrated the point by featuring 
in the Sunday Weddings section, a couple who met and fell in love while 
doing the tango. The minister who married them is a devoted tango dancer 
himself, and has founded a number of New York's tango groups.  The wedding 
reception was a nuptial tango salon.  If you don't think there is an 
enormous following for dancing, stroll over to Lincoln Center one evening 
during "Midsummer Night's Swing."  The dance floor is packed and hundreds 
of people fill the plaza trying to catch a glimpse of the dancers.  One 
evening a friend and I were doing a mambo along with about 150 other 
people. Out of the crowd of spectators someone plaintively called out 
to us "I want to dance like that."  Later, I happened to see our admirer 
on the plaza. We chatted and I suggested that she try a few lessons and 
then spend some time practicing.  If she decided to take my advice, I'll 
bet she returns to Lincoln Center next July, but this time she will be on 
the dance floor under the stars with the rest of us. Take it from someone 
who got hooked six years ago, once you experience the exhilaration of 
gliding across the floor humming "Let's Face the Music and Dance," you'll 
be tempted to join the growing number of people who readily admit they 
have an addiction, but wouldn't even consider a 12-step program!  
-- Jeanne Silvers

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