“Would you like to dance?”
“Yes!”
I offer my hand to my dance partner of the next 3 minutes. She rests her hand in mine and the connection is made. For the next 3 minutes I am not alone. I am connected… connected more than a touch. We’ve started a conversation of our bodies. The first words of my body spoke just as the words of my mouth: I extend my hand… would you like to dance. Her first response mirrored the words of her mouth: she placed her hand in mine… I accept! From this point on we won’t use words of the mouth.
“Let’s move out on the dance floor.” I say by gently moving towards the center of the floor, taking my hand with me. Her hand, resting in mine, follows, “I would like to” and her body follows her hand. We move together.
A smooth stop of my body – transfered into my arm and then my hand and then her hand – tells her: this is the spot. A little more motion backwards tells her, “How about a spin to bring us around to face each other.” We face each other… for a moment time stands still. We exchange a look. I smile. She curls one side of her mouth, “I can tell you can dance. Let’s see what you’ve got!”
Every step we take is as if we are one body.
“Spin to your right here.”
“Okay, watch how I extend my leg and sweep around.”
“I like that, here goes my leg to mirror your sweep… do you hear that? The music is going to hit a break. Let’s jump and land knees bent and legs apart!”
“Got it! Now watch this… that sax solo screams for me to roll my body to the right.”
We feel connected. We feel the music. Nothing else matters. Nothing else exists. We are in the flow of this moment. A magical, beautiful flow of motion across the dance floor.
What was that!? Did I lead that? Did she back lead that?
We move to closed position. Our bodies are close… they are one. “Big step to your left and drag that right foot a long for a slick slide.”
“How much fun… here’s a foot flick to top it off….”
“I got it! I’ll mirror your foot flick.” How can I possibly mirror what she’s doing without a moments hesitation!?
Our faces beam the joy of this connection and flow. Our attention moves from the music to our connection to the expression of joy on our faces. She feels how I feel. I feel how she feels. We are intimately connected.
Whoa! I can’t believe we just did that. Where did that come from!?
Time has lost all meaning. The source of our motion is no longer a lead and a follow. We are one.
We say, “The end is coming. We feel a spin working into a slow body roll. Let’s lock at the end in an extended and open pose. … and … stop! … hold it hold it… good.”
The reality outside dance begins to return. Our mouths open to make some sounds, almost strange to our ears. “Thanks for the dance.”
“You, too.”
We turn our separate ways. Nothing happened.
I walk outside and sit for a while. That reality… was it real? That was amazing. There must be something more to this life. Is this some experience limited to dancing? Why hasn’t anyone told me about this? This is amazing. The blinds have been opened and I see a whole new world!