Go out dancing with your friends
You won’t regret it, trust me
By AMBER DUHS — alduhs@ucdavis.edu
My first year of university has been marked by an unrelenting effort to explore every club, hobby and side-quest I could fill my time with. From swimming at the recreation pool to getting an on-campus job, all of my ventures have been exceptionally fulfilling — and yet, one in particular stands out. In an unforeseen turn of events, I have become an ardent country swing and line dancer.
My first time line dancing, I was invited by an eager friend who had constantly proclaimed her adoration for the hobby — often marking the all-too-familiar dance steps whilst we chatted. I was, of course, intrigued and excited at the prospect of spending my evening dancing and effectively pretending to be a cowboy. But little did I know that it would become one of my favorite pastimes: a constantly engaging practice and a way to destress and connect with new friends.
The thing they don’t tell you about spending all your time dancing is that it’s physically impossible not to smile while yelling Pitbull lyrics with your best friends, or while being spun about a slippery wooden dance floor. You become immediately introduced to an entire community of people who, for some reason, also love spending their time sweating it out to a pre-choreographed Charlie Wilson song. Whether you end up dancing with a 60-year-old who’s patiently teaching new dancers a two-step or find another college student who still trips over themselves on the advanced dances, you’re united by this peculiar love.
My love letter to line dancing begins at the excitement that courses through you each time a song you know (or, even better, just learned) plays at the bar and you finally get the opportunity to show it off. It includes a love for the bright string lights and stomping of cowboy boots that fill the room each time you enter, a care for the small relationships that build over time with people you would’ve never met otherwise and a nostalgia for nights where I don’t check my phone once: enthralled by the lottery system that are line-dancing DJs.
My love letter to line dancing isn’t even necessarily unique to line dancing itself — though I’d argue the community is one of the most accepting, patient and rewarding I've come across — it is to the effects of dancing with your friends. Even if country dancing isn’t your thing (and trust me, I understand it takes a certain type of person to take your cowboy boots to the dance floor), there are endless opportunities for you to do essentially the same thing: to connect with friends and strangers through music and movement.
The benefits of spending your time dancing — investing in a physical craft that you will exponentially improve upon over time — are genuinely incredible. Not only is it obviously physically good for you to spend a few hours running and jumping around, but it’s overlooked as a hobby that can vastly benefit your mental health — something to constantly work toward that has tangible and almost immediate results. You don’t need to be a hard-core competitive dancer to go out and enjoy the way the music lets your body move, or spend time investing in a skill that will be a great party trick come 15 years from now.
I talk about the community I’ve found through line dancing, but I’d argue that most recreational dancing spaces will prove to be just the same, with everyone there for the pure reason of meeting new people and having fun. Put yourself out there, even if it means embarrassing yourself a little when you trip over a swing dance move and have to catch yourself on your lead's arms (it’s happened to me at least three times).
Practice your favorite moves alone in your living room or with the accompaniment of a tried-and-true YouTube video, and celebrate when it works out on the dance floor. Don’t count yourself out of an exciting dance opportunity because you’ve “never danced before” or “don’t know how to” — these excuses are unacceptable.
I don’t love country dancing because I feel a little prideful when acquaintances find out that I can do the exciting princess dip, or when they’re surprised that every single song has its own line dance. I love country dancing because of the fullness it brings to my heart and the closeness I feel with my favorite group of dancers. Each time someone pauses on the floor to help me with a dance I don’t know or teach me a new move, I’m reminded of how caring and welcoming people can be when you look in the right places.
We’re all just looking for a place to find people, to find a carefree community that will bring laughter and joy and whimsy into our lives — let dancing spaces be those spaces.
Written by Amber Duhs — alduhs@ucdavis.edu
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