the dance crush

spontaneously clicking with a new dance partner is an incredible experience

With another big event rapidly approaching, one of the things that I'm really hoping to experience again is a 'dance crush'.

In each of the three weekenders I've been to so far I've had at least one social dance with someone that can be described as such and in each case that usually ends up as one of the highlights of that weekend.

To start with, this is not a crush in the conventional boy-meets-girl sense of the word where eyes meet across a crowded dance floor... hearts flutter... and daft declarations are made. Instead, a dance crush is someone who, though you may never have even met before let alone danced together, just gets your lead, can read and match all of the idiosyncratic nuances in your dancing style, and ends up feeling like an extension of your own body. 

It. Is. Incredible.

And this is of course a two-way thing so just as many follows bounce off the floor after having had a telepathic connection with their lead where they could sense a move coming before their partner had barely intimated anything (definitely not to be confused with back-leading) and they had absolutely nailed every move their lead attempted.

I could get a little Byronic with my description, but one way I can think of portraying it is like being able to turn an artistic thought into a perfect reality.

Whether it was in school or it still occurs on a daily basis I imagine most folk have at some stage picked up a paint brush or a camera with creative intent and the work of a master as inspiration, only to later concede that they were unable to translate the artwork that had been etched on their mental canvas into a satisfying realisation.

With a dance crush, however, the movements of the girl at the far end of your arms are just as you'd envisaged and she is a veritable Mona Lisa with a whiff more eyebrow.

Before anyone misinterprets what I am saying I need to stress that this has nothing to do with the ability of the lead or the follow but everything to do with just the chance meeting of two dancers with perfectly complementary styles. I've had dance crushes where I was the weak link and others where I was perhaps the more experienced half but in each case our dancing styles just clicked and the outcome was amazing fun.

We all have our own style that has been influenced by one factor or another - for example, if you are a recent convert from salsa chances are you dance slightly differently to someone who is a reformed ballroom dancer - and it is these subtle differences that make each of us look different on the dancefloor.

Add in that you can't really tell if someone else's style is going to blend with yours so perfectly adds to the unpredictability and rarity of the experience and ensures, if you are so fortunate to experience a dance crush, that is becomes one of the abiding experiences of the weekend.