I was scrolling and saw this video of people dancing, showing different moves throughout the years, including recent ones. I know people “dance,” like, generally move to a beat, but, like, having moves and stuff, where do you do that? Is the idea to ease the moves into your own dance “repertoire?” As in, do you expect to see people milly rock, like unprompted?
Some unsolicited advice from a former too shy to dance person, who somehow also manage to get my too shy to dance partner dancing, the key for me is knowing that I’ll look like an idiot.
I haven’t really done any classes. My SO’s favourite “move” of mine is me absolutely making a fool of myself involving me stiffly bobbing my whole body to the beat kind of like a pogo stick. Once you’ve accepted that you’re corny and you are born on the cob you just gotta move to the beat. You taking dance lessons already make you a better dancer than 90% of us out there.
This isn’t far from how I sort of broke out was a wedding dancer. I don’t mean professionally, I just mean not being too afraid to even stand on the dance floor and knowing I’ll probably rank somewhere in the top half of “trying their best” and top 10% of “having the most fun”. It always takes alcohol to loosen me up, but it took a series of events to break out the first time.
How? One year, I had 7 weddings to go to. The first was close family that was a bore for me. The second was friends of friends, about 95% of which I’d never see again in my life… And it clicked. I will probably never see 50+% at any wedding again, so why not just be a goof? Turns out, if you’re shy about dancing but surrounded by equally terrible dancers, they can’t really tell if you’re bad. Or I can’t tell the difference when inebriated. Either one, doesn’t matter, you’ll never see them again (you keep telling yourself). The following 5 weddings were better than any prior in my life.
After that, I started watching the people I admired as stars of the dance floor. I tried copying them. It’s not so much about having a library of moves so much as it is having a general body move, some arm flair, maybe leg flair for drops and choruses. And rhythm. Having timing is a big part. I’m pretty sure I don’t. From what I can tell, once I start bopping, my internal metronome takes over and runs 5% off tempo. But whatever, I’ll never see these people again.
That and getting a Halloween costume I can use year round for in-character bullshit. Just be who you want to be. The majority of people you meet don’t know the real you, so just do it. They don’t know you’re lying.
Anyway, this led me to an amusing sobriety test of sorts. It goes a little past just the dissociating nerves feeling. If I still think dancing is a good idea, it is NOT time for me to drive.
I don’t know if this rambling will help anyone, especially because I tend to sense a strong anti-alcohol vibe in these social activity posts. Especially because I realize part of this lowering of inhibitions comes from getting older. But it happened to me and it can happen to you’s