Men Are Dancing

At some point after the second world war, men in the English speaking countries began to consider dancing a non-masculine thing. Men in other cultures don’t even question whether they should dance or not.

“The tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal.

The tragedy lies in having no goals to reach.” 

In the great Indian civilizations in the Americas, only men danced. So Latins have been accustomed to dance for centuries. Unfortunately, they had as many as 3000 different dances, (they were professionals.) But in this environment we got into the bad habit of not even trying to dance.
 
The gingerbread is not necessary to dance but rhythm and timing are crucial. Most teachers understand that most people will move their bodies, legs, arms, head and feet in the most natural way. I believe HBDA is leading the way in having more line dancers. And West Oahu is thriving on good line dancing and they develop their own styling and avoid the cloning.

"You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" by Righteous Brothers

In night clubs many men went just to have a few drinks with their friends. But it sucks to just watch from the sidelines and it slowly dawns on them that doing anything from the sidelines is a waste of time. Why even go to a dance club to sit and stare at people having fun?  Even if you’re lucky enough to not come across as creepy, women are going to think you’re boring -- if they even notice you at all.

Free Salsa classes in night clubs have helped an awful lot. The ratios of men and women in Salsa dancing has been getting more equal. Of course, there is an increasing push from dance teachers to teach "correct" footwork for men. And "correct:" styling for women. Does anyone detect a slight decrease in Salsa dancing? Perhaps it is only my imagination. But then Bachata is coming up pretty strong.