I have not danced for over two years. That has not diminished my love for dance and I constantly seek happening about dance all over the country. I and we hope to get back to dancing by the fall of this year. We do not expect to ‘fall’ down when we finally go back to dancing. Dancing is like bike riding, they say you never forget it. I certainly hope so. We have not danced because we were in a horrendous auto accident over two years ago in June 2008 due to a man texting and not watching where he was going. He hit us and the car and we are progressing health wise and the car is gone.

My little almost three year old granddaughter Ava likes to move her darling body to music played on a toy that gives out the most adorable music to her. She moves her hips and body as if she was a ballroom dancer. Even her grammie (me) never moved that way and with such intense joy. The minute we arrive to see her every three weeks from our home over eighty miles away, she puts on that music and I always say "many ballroom lady dancers would give anything to move that way."

However, whatever way we move at any age and many of us are seniors or getting to be seniors, we always wish we could move better than we do. It really does not matter as long as you are doing it and trying to do it. The effort is more than half of the result. The result is amazing and anything you accomplish is truly worthwhile.

Shakespeare in Sonnet 126 –"oh my lovely, who is thy power?" What he meant is that

we have power over time and we are immune to its capacity to cut it down. You and I have only grown more beautiful as we aged. Those words are the interpreter of his sonnets in a book called No Fear Shakespeare published by Thomas Thorpe

So we must continue to try to dance and even persons like me who have setbacks in their dancing must strive to never really give it up for longer than we have to due to setbacks such as accidents, illness or financial problems. It is something that stays with us forever and I look at my many dance photos from way back when I competed in competitions with my various teachers and I see me as young, vibrant and ever so happy. I cannot be young again but I can strive to be vibrant and happy trying to still ballroom dance even at this later age.

There is an expression that says springtime of love and therefore we can amend it and say that all times are times of love for ballroom dance. You can say goodbye to yesterday and say hello to today and tomorrow. Maybe today you cannot dance for some reason be it health, finances or no time, but yes tomorrow is the there to make it happen.

There are lots of advertisements about getting rid of pests around or in your home. That is not a really pleasant thing to contemplate but we can also get rid of pests that trouble us in our life. Perhaps there are people who annoy us with their comments that are not so nice. There are people who try to tread on our toes (no pun intended) by putting us down verbally. There are sales people who irritate us in person or on the phone and yes there are relatives and friends who aggravate us too.

Just smile at them when they do and that can irritate them even more than they do to us.

My uncle Julius (mom’s brother) did that well. When he and his wife Aunt Adele got into a spat, he would walk out the door, take a walk around the block and then come in, smile at her and go upstairs. If he had answered her back, the arguments would have continued and she would have won. He won because he resolved it in his own quiet manner. I am sure psychologists would say to answer back, to clear it up and etc. However, for Uncle Julius this was his way of making and keeping peace. I myself would rather answer back and let no one get the best of me especially a pest of a person. Many people try to be pests when talking about you and your love for ballroom dancing. They do not want to participate in it and therefore do not want you to do it either because they feel in their heart you are accomplishing something they cannot or will not want to do. Do not let them get in your way of attaining this special and beloved hobby.

Go out and ballroom dance and do it at your own speed, time and financial ability and enjoy it and like little and beautiful Ava move your hips, body and mind to happiness with the music.

As Shakespeare said we have power over time and do not let time have power over you.

Elita Sohmer Clayman
Baltimore, Maryland

July 2010

WE WENT TO A DANCE