“Ecclesiastes assures us… that there is a time for every purpose under heaven. A time to laugh… and a time to weep. A time to mourn… and there is a time to dance. And there was a time for this law, but not anymore. See, this is our time to dance. It is our way of celebrating life. It’s the way it was in the beginning. It’s the way it’s always been. It’s the way it should be now.” Ren, Footlose (1984)

I could turn this into a diatribe about how ‘Dancing with the Stars’ is sort of a waste of everyone’s time, but I won’t go there. Instead, I’ll go back to reminding you of what else there is. There is more- so much more. Chances are its happening at this moment; around the corner from you in someone’s living room. People are somewhere dancing. Somewhere right now, someone is out falling in love with a song because that someone just became a slave to the beat. That song grabbed him/her without permission, opening one very unique door we all have. Dancing is for kids’ right? Wrong. Dancing is for us all- not just for teens and Kristi Yamaguchi. Around here we have to question people who are never moved enough to get up and dance a jig. We’ve known for some time that such people exist, but we still don’t get it and felt a need to address the issue. For a spark of motivation, we’ll show you some stuff that moved us from different parts of the world.

We won’t lie- the people in these clips are good. Very very good. But this isn’t about copying moves. This is about how many ways there are to do it. There are so many in fact that we couldn’t begin to cover them all here, but these few truly know what it means to be free. However brief, dancing is pure freedom, and we here are beyond into that. Whether or not you think you can “do it” is a sorry excuse not to. Everyone associated with this magazine dances regularly. We don’t all go to classrooms and get trained (some do- but that’s rare). We go to clubs, parties, a friend’s house, and we let it all hang out. It never fails. We have done no research on the subject, but through observation, we know enough to say that the people we meet who love to dance and do it regularly, are generally not the kind of people waging war or causing problems and panic for others. They are usually too busy living.

During this past presidential election night, I know of some people in a bar who used their anxiety, frustration and differences on that eve, to decide the best candidate by having a dance off. I’m not sure who won, or whose kick was so profound that their chosen candidate was clearly the most awesome, but by the end of the night, a lot of the dancers were too riddled with endorphins to hang their heads, even when their candidate wiped out. From the streets of Watts to the stages of New York, dancing is far more powerful and liberating than many people realize. It’s important not to pigeon hole what dancing is, and even more so to recognize the difference it makes.

Some time in the midst of growing up, we usually discover sex as the ultimate tension reliever. We go on doing it, despite the times we just had to “get off” and either found ourselves in bed next to coyote ugly, or a sexy cuckoo clock. But as a kid, sex was a non-issue. We naturally found that rush from simply getting together with friends to run, jump, and spin in circles; no plan, no pretense. Uh-huh, I know it does. Life gets more complicated than that. Work, money, sex, drugs, kids, moving, illness, marriage, school, parents, him, her, them, fuck, fuck, fuck…More often than not, with each year that passes, we get further and further from the simplicity of simple. Too often we forget the rush (not the act) that makes it all worth it. A lot of times we’re out creating “issues” when we should really just be spinning in circles.

You don’t dance? You DON’T DANCE?!?! For the sake of us all, please just GET UP AND DO IT. Just try it. Do it every chance you get. Even you. Yeah you! The one everybody always tells to sit down before you hurt yourself. We are officially telling you to go flail those arms like your life depends on it. Live dammit!  Ballroom, square, Spanish, clog, club, Elaine- it doesn’t really matter what kind. Just know that ‘Dancing with the Stars’ via remote no longer qualifies as your fix. Find the dance/s that work for you and live it up. It is clinically proven that men (and some women) even prefer a lap dance to a waterproof watch in regard to Christmas and birthday gifts, proving again that dance is much better/safer than the half assed, drunken, “let’s go crazy”, mattress dance alternative. Find out where dancing fits into your life, because no matter who you are, it does. Go crazy.

BTW- If anyone tells you that your moves are stupid, please have them call us. We have some judgmental sticks that fit neatly in an ass. In the meantime, watch these…

Last 3 posts by Carita Ellis-Espola

• Les Toil - December 31st, 2009
• The Latest Gossip! - December 29th, 2009
• Top 10 Reasons To Celebrate The New Year! - December 23rd, 2009