Physical contact without getting your face slapped
9th of 20 reasons why dancing is great for your well-being. Here's the full list.
What other activity enables me to have a beautiful** woman I have just met accept my open arms and allow me to hold her in that dance frame for 3 - 5mins at a time? Right from the beginning my partner is in full control. She determines how closely we hold. The mutual respect and trust ensures that the contact is both appropriate and welcomed.
Greeting friends and even mere acquaintances with an embrace can be acceptable and welcomed, but it lasts nano seconds in comparison with the 3-5 minutes of a dance. Far from a slap across the face, there is a strong likelihood that she accepts the invitation to do it again. How good does that make a guy feel?
** I have already defined 'beautiful' in the last paragraph of an earlier blog entry here. Every dance partner is beautiful, regardless of age, size or skill level. I genuinely enjoy dancing with women who are as old as my mother, as well as those who are a lot younger. When it's all about the dance, age doesn't matter and some of the older women who danced in their youth have still not lost it.
Beauty and good looks are not synonymous. The beauty of a physically attractive woman who cannot dance is only skin deep. Size can also be deceptive. A petite woman is not necessarily a dancer. I have danced with some larger framed women who have much more grace and style than some slimmer woman. Many dance images focus on slimmer dancers. That is not necessarily an accurate reflection of reality. 
This picture of Beatrice Faumuina, NZ's much loved Olympian who almost won Dancing with the Stars in 2006 reminds us that beauty is not directly related to size.
Similarly, skill level is not necessarily a pre-requisite for a 'beautiful' dancer. If my partner can feel the rhythm that I feel and go with the dance rather than resist or be oblivious to my lead, she is also a beautiful woman.
There are plenty of links with a comment on the physical closeness of dance. This one relates to Tango and this one to Lindy Hop. Look at 'The Lindy and Society" for an historical perspective.
A quote from a compilation of Tom Parsons, used with permission http://www.dancer.com/tom-parsons/quotes.html
I was a ballerina. I had to quit after I injured a groin muscle. It wasn't mine.
--Rita Rudner
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Chris Mitchell
www.dancetours.co.nz
As a postscript, I have eventually found how to insert photos in this blog, It's so easy when you know how! - A bit like dancing! Beatrice and Brian are the first image and there will now be more in 2007!
Wonderful to see some photos in your blog. Now we wait with bated breath for you to put your own photo on the profile! Photos definitely make the blog more interesting and colourful to read.
Keep up the good work, I hope your travel tours are a success and that 2007 is fun and happy year for you. Talia (Comment this)
You keep on pushing me. I had a huge resistance to setting up a blog in the first place but have since enjoyed writing it. The thought of posting a photo of me is quite anathema. It's not about me.. its about the sharing of a passion for dance..blah..blah.
So I'll throw a challenge out to those with whom I dance regularly. If anyone that I dance with happens to bring a camera with them, I will agree to a photo which I will publish. There are a few conditions around this which I will discuss with the camera owner. Is there a hint there? I will discuss with the camera owner, not the photographer.
Taliia, your breath may remain bated for some time but thanks for pushing me and for your inspiration. All the best to you for 2007 and beyond. (Comment this)