My niece S is in a Polish folk ensemble in Michigan known as Mala Polska. Their annual program is a spectacular event that always sells out the venue and leaves the audience cheering in awe and delight.
S has been dancing with the ensemble for years. It is a huge commitment. Practice is long and hard, week after week throughout the school year, plus some work in the summers. I don't know how she can remember all the steps!
As I watched her dance in the program last spring, it occurred to me why it was worth all that work and time and practice...it is impossible to be unhappy while you are polka dancing. Even watching other people dance the polka is enough to lighten the darkest mood.
Most dancing is like that. I think God gave us dancing as a way to express our joy at being alive, even if we are not feeling particularly joyous before the music starts. Dancing is a way to smile and laugh with your whole body!
It always seems such a shame to me when I see people (adults and teens alike) sitting on the sidelines at a dance. Maybe they are afraid because they think they will look silly. Or maybe they are just not "in the mood" to dance. Let me tell you, nothing puts you in the mood to dance faster than...dancing!
And as for looking silly...no group in history ever looked sillier in retrospect than my friends and I during our last years in high school, when DISCO was the rage. Think Saturday Night Fever.
There's a story I like that makes the email rounds every once in a while which ends with this good advice - work like you don't need the money, love like you're never going to get hurt, and dance like nobody is watching.
Oh, and that Lee Ann Womack song I mentioned yesterday? You've already figured out that it's not really about dancing. More on that tomorrow.
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