I guess you wouldn't guess what I've done. I went to a dance tonight and did (or pretended to do) all the folk dance stuff. I was invited (taken) by one of my friends from high school, who is actually a Mrs. now. She has a liking for such folk things, she's been studying folklore for a year now. So she asked me out and I said why not and there we went.
Unfortunately, I have never received any kind of formal dance education, except for the school leaving ball Wiener waltz; though I've always wanted to learn Latin dances and all those nice sexy movements. Folk music and folk dance are not my particular favourites, being an urban good-for-nothing I cannot relate to them. Back at primary school I used to have music lessons (solfeggio) and we sang lots of Hungarian folk songs and I liked them in general, but you would never see me turning on the radio to listen to the folk program.
I was reading about a turn-of-the-century Hungarian rural community the other day, and there was a dance scene, and that was when I started to think about how much this meant to people back then. That was the legalized way of eyeing and touching each other, even to talk to each other. I guess the guy who could dance like hell surely was the king of the village. From a matrimonial perspective at least.
For me dance is an urge in the blood, a true outburst of spiritual energies. So one of the reasons I went was that I'd been longing for basically any form and opportunity of dancing. Secondly, through my readings I started to get interested in the village. The used-to-be of our culture. Wasn't it better to get together, talk and sing and dance, than the nowadays habit of lying before the TV as zombies? And I have to admit that my last motive was to find out what I'd be worth on the market, so to say. Not that I've ever been considered on any market. But especially not in the last three years and five months of being "reserved" (or shall I say "out of order"?)
Our dance was a bit different from how I'd imagine the traditional one, in the sense that the participants weren't the youth exclusively. There were some fifty plus guys, looking-for-love ladies, nerd-look-likes, young married couples... Maybe some young and "normal" singletons too. I've diagnosed three main reasons for coming: 1) nostalgia or traditionalism, 2) pressure by spouse, and in the case of young single males 3) the urge to get around women. Just think of it. Any man can come and ask for a dance, and surely you won't be so rude as to say a direct no, so there you are, led by your shoulder, pushed at your shoulder-blade, spinning around the hall, busily trying to catch the rhythm, your balance, and your breath.
My index is this. I've danced with two guys. The first one a cruel, sweating senior spinning and hurrying me around the hall, explaining 1-2-3, 1-2-3 as if to a toddler. The second came up to me just when we were about to leave. A guy at about 30, with black hair and beard, in a mustard shirt, giving an Indian impression. Plus he smelled of wine or something. Like the first man, he also held me strongly by the shoulder-blade and moved me around firmly but I started to feel a sort of security and harmony. I even started to regret avoiding his eyes all the way through. Yeah, he was kind of nice and I was just a regular you-can-move-me-around-but-that's-all puppet.
I wonder why chance made me dance the spinning dances, for all the other pair dances were much easier. Nevertheless, my friend said I seemed to know the dance and moved "gracefully." Conclusion: My dear young lady, what do you expect on the market if you are conceited and prejudiced, don't know your steps, and hide in the corner? Besides, why do you care?
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