Contra Dancing and Dating
Ken Davis
I teach several adult education classes for singles and ever since I
discovered contra dancing (2 years ago) I have been recommending it to
my students as an excellent activity for meeting people to date. I also
recommend it as a good place for learning and practicing flirting. I
would be interested hearing dancer's ideas, opinions, and experiences
with meeting people and dating in the contra dance community. Thanks. -
Ken
Alan Winston - SSRL Admin Cmptg Mgr
Ken --
I think you have to be really careful in steering people to contras as a place
to meet people to date. The following are of course only my opinions; some
are personal crotchets and I think some have broad applicability.
First, I've always thought it was best to go do something you enjoyed doing
and, with luck, you'd meet someone who also enjoyed it and could perhaps start
a relationship. Going to do things for the purpose of meeting people to date
has always seemed to me like a vaguely desperate and unappealing activity.
(But that's just me.) I wouldn't go to a singles bar.
* You'd better go because you think you'd enjoy the dancing, because that's all
you're guaranteed to get. If you don't enjoy the dancing, you're not going to
have a good time, and if you don't have a good time, you're probably not going
to be very appealing.
* A lot of the dancers aren't there to meet people to date. Some are married
or in permanent/ongoing relationships, some just aren't interested or available
at present. It isn't safe to assume that you'll find anyone who's even
available, whether or not they're interested in you.
* If you go with the idea of finding someone to date, you may restrict your
attentions, including dancing, to those you find sexually attractive and
determine are available. This can really restrict the amount of dancing you
do, and leave you very disappointed -- "there was nobody there!" when there
were plenty of good dancers and opportunity for fun.
* There was some discussion here a while back about a guy who attempted to
practice the canonical pickup at a contra -- the one where you dance with a
woman, have a good time, and ask her if she wants to blow this joint and go
somewhere [quieter, more private, hipper, where they have alcohol]. This would
be perfectly normal behavior at a club, but it's jawdroppingly out of place at
a contra.
* Around here, at least, contras tend to be much more about dancing than about
socializing. I find it difficult to get to know people who I only see at
contra dances, even if I see them regularly. ["get to know" isn't a euphemism
here.]
To summarize the points above, I think it's a generally ineffective strategy to
go to contras if you think they're going to be like dance clubs and if you hope
to pick people up. Further, I think unleashing a whole flock of singles-scene
types on contras could easily disrupt the community feeling and the perception
of the dance as a 'safe space'.
That said, I think contras can be excellent in offering entry-level social
interaction for the shy, and as a safe place to practice flirting, provided you
know what it is and what it means. [I've had somebody tell me that he doesn't
like English Country dance because you can't flirt. To him, apparently,
flirting was a hands-on activity, and soulful eye contact didn't count. You
also have to not be misled by soulful eye contact, which can be completely
meaningless.]
So if your students can go contra dance for the sake of contradancing, dance
with whoever's free, adopt the local mores, they can have a good time and may
eventually meet somebody. If they go with the sole intention of picking
somebody up, I think it unlikely to work and potentially disruptive to the
community.
-- Alan
===============================================================================
Alan Winston --- WIN...@SLAC.STANFORD.EDU
Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: 415/926-3056
Physical mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 69, PO BOX 4349, STANFORD, CA 94309-0210
===============================================================================
Adam Carlson
After reading some of the "dancing w/spouse" turned "silly argument over bad
joke" thread, I was reminded of threads that appear in this group occasionally
to the effect that contra dancing is being negatively effected by people
(usually men) who see the dance as a pick-up scene. I've heard statements
that fewer women are dancing because they don't like the meat-market the scene
has turned into. etc. I think this varies greatly from community to community
(and, I believe, depending on how urban the setting is) and there's no way to
generalize. However, the lesson I would take home is that, if you are telling
people to go to contra dances as an opportunity to meet people for dating, I
would also make it _very_ clear that there are several reasons people go
contra dancing. Some go to dance, some go to socialize and some go to pick up
women/men, and if your students are going for this last reason, they need to
be aware of and sensitive to the others. They also need to be aware that many
people love contra dancing as a venue for "safe" flirting, that is, flirting
that is understood to not imply anything else. I think it is incumbent on
people going to dances for the express purpose of finding romantic partners to
be extra sensitive to those who are just there to dance, and happen to dance
flirtily.
BTW, I happen to think swing dancing is a much better venue for finding
romantic partners.
Adam
Denys Proteau
Hey, i think people are starting to knock contra's as a place to meet
people of the opposite sex. I'll say this: it's a physical, recreational
activity that involves roughly 50% men and 50% women, who really mix alot
throughout the evening.
(If you shouldn't fraternize with people at work, in school, or
in volunteer organizations, what's left other than church and recreational
activities? Disclaimer: It's not that I think church and recreational
activities should become "meet/meat markets", but face it, you've gotta
meet people somewhere now that matchmakers and arranged marriages are
passe!)
denys
Christopher Booth
Speaking from 30 years of contra dancing and dating (figure out which
category that puts me into), there is a very long history of dancing and
dating. Many, many, many couples have met each other over that time.
Many of these relationships lead to marriage, kids (the full
catastrophe) and many don't. You even have the syndrome of dancers who
do both international and contra and when they break up one gets one and
the other the other so that they don't have to run into each other.
Contra dancing is very non-committal - you get to spend ten minutes very
close to someone then can freely move on (though that is frequently the
last thing in the world you want to do at that moment). I remember
becoming friends with Susan who swore she would never marry and danced
with her for years then bam she met someone at a contra dance and
married him.
I'm trying not to be too specific, but I find lots of dancers who just
want to dance - they love to socialize and meet new people, but a
relationship is not something they are looking for. But even then you
never know. There is a small singles seen, but it is very tiny, and no
hint of a meet market atmosphere - how could there be with such an age
mix and with half the pop in steady relationships? But if you are
looking for a relationship, I can't think of a better place to go than a
contra dance. No where else can you meet such nice people or have so
much fun whether or not anything clicks.
Deborah Clover
'Tis true that it's a good way to meet people to date. Where I live,
however, I've heard it said that it would be nice to, just once, be able
to look down the contra line and not see so many ex-lovers. <Sigh>
Deb
Nancy Baiter
Where do you live? That makes a lot of difference, I suspect. I live in
Westchester, the northern suburbs of NYC. The _only_ contra dance
available to me is close by in Greenwich CT, *monthly*. There seems to
be no meeting, let alone dating, because it is so crowded that you don't
pick a partner, you take the first person of the opposite sex you make
eye contact with - unless something is going on that i miss seeing. The
moves are so fast, that there is no time to talk, and i'm not always
certain afterward who my partner was! I am not young, and that may make
a difference.
Many of the dancers at this place really live north of there, and go
other weekends northward to New Haven, too far for me to wish to drive.
Others, more intrepid than myself, drive to the weekly dances in
Greenwich Village.
Don't have a lot of experience - only 6 or 7 dances over 10 months, but
i have met maybe 3,4 people to say hello to, is all - and I am neither
bad-looking nor a poor dancer (though i do have trouble remembering some
patterns when the caller shuts up). But it's still a wonderful activity
for *fit* singles - You get to dance all night, and as someone else
commented, "hugs without committment"!
LOve to know what area of the country you're talking of.
Keep up the good work -
NancyB
mc...@vms.cis.pitt.edu
> discovered contra dancing (2 years ago) I have been recommending it to
> my students as an excellent activity for meeting people to date. I also
> recommend it as a good place for learning and practicing flirting. I
> would be interested hearing dancer's ideas, opinions, and experiences
> with meeting people and dating in the contra dance community. Thanks. -
> Ken
That depends on what a person means by meeting someone to date.
If you mean meeting people where some of them would be appropriate partners,
but there is not pressure to immediately couple...
If you mean meeting people who you would like even if you don't date them...
If you mean meeting people who will still like you if you go out on a date or
two, but never become a couple...
If you mean an activity where you will have fun even if you don't meet that
"special someone"...
If you mean meeting people that if you date for a while, then if you break up,
you will still talk to and maybe even be freinds...
...then contra is GREAT for meeting people.
If you mean some activity where you can say (to someone you just met) "let's
cut out of here and go to my place"...
If you mean a place where when someone talks to you, your only concern is
whether you want to be romanticly (or sexually) involved with them.
If you mean an activity where when the romance dies, you want the person to
stay the h* out of your life, "It's over DAMMIT!"...
If you get a kick out of being being guilty (ie powerful) after a relationship
and saying, "I was so mean to her/him..."
If you want to meet a partner that you can NOT take home to meet your mother...
...then contra is pretty marginal for meeting people to date (you're better off
in church ;)
There used to be a couple of women that would argue with me about this. I
would say that contra is a stylized courtship ritual (meaning safe flirting,
making invitations, accepting or declining invitations, etc). They claimed
that dance had NOTHING to do with courtship.
They did, however, STOP dancing when they found significant others....
Michael Young
Pittsburgh, PA
Jim Mork
> There used to be a couple of women that would argue with me about this. I
> would say that contra is a stylized courtship ritual (meaning safe flirting,
> making invitations, accepting or declining invitations, etc). They claimed
> that dance had NOTHING to do with courtship.
>
> They did, however, STOP dancing when they found significant others....
>
I think to say dancing has nothing to do with courtship is preposterous
and wouldnt stand up to any kind of historical study. I think couple
dancing in more traditional societies was probably an integral part of
the more established courtship rites. This society feels a much reduced
need for marriage at all, so we're starting to get confused and
attribute our own values to dancing, as though we invented it.
To sort out the confusion, we just have to take a breath and realize
that at dances where most people are strangers, there's no guarantee
that anyone will be either a date or a mate. Yet, just as the middle of
the street is the best place to get run down by a car, the middle of the
dance floor is better than a lot of other places to tempt fate a little
and perhaps meet a compatible someone. Compared, say, to your basement
in front of the TV. If you want to make money in the stock market, you
gotta put some money IN there. And you can't meet a potential mates
unless you go somewhere that has candidates. I happen to feel, as most
people writing to this newsgroup do, that the people at a traditional
dance, have better values, on average, than the other playgrounds. So,
that's where I'd go dancing in the hopes of getting lucky (which is
exactly what happened to me!)
Sukey Moncure
Hi, I have been dancing for 17 years off and on, both with and without a
s.o. I find contra dancing a good substitute for formal dating. There is
interaction with the opposite sex, eye contact and then the "Gypsy"
After losing my mate, I find conta a good way to feel alive and feminine
again. None of the uncomfortable first conversations and I always leave
a dance feeling "touched. Here in the NC area tho most seem to have
mates but who knows who they are.Maybe for a guy it is sanctioned
flirting, not a bad thing if it is only on the dance floor! Sukey
Ken Davis
mc...@vms.cis.pitt.edu wrote:
>
> That depends on what a person means by meeting someone to date.
>
> If you mean meeting people where some of them would be appropriate partners,
> but there is not pressure to immediately couple...
>
> If you mean meeting people who you would like even if you don't date them...
>
> If you mean meeting people who will still like you if you go out on a date or
> two, but never become a couple...
>
> If you mean an activity where you will have fun even if you don't meet that
> "special someone"...
>
> If you mean meeting people that if you date for a while, then if you break up,
> you will still talk to and maybe even be freinds...
>
> ...then contra is GREAT for meeting people.
Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Indeed, I meant those things mentioned
above. In the class I teach, I recommend viewing dating as a process of
building a circle of acquaintances and friends that you see over a
period of time. I recommend dating more than one person (maybe 5) at a
time and keeping dates casual. When I talk about places to meet people,
I suggest finding places where you can become a "regular" and build
relationships slowly over time. As you observe, contra dancing is well
suited to this.
- Ken
W R Potter
My wife and I met at a Contra dance. Needless to say we both think it
is a fine place to meet people to date.
Bill Potter
wrp9...@uconnvm.uconn.edu
Peter Renzland
Deborah Clover <dcl...@light.lightlink.com> wrote:
>'Tis true that it's a good way to meet people to date. Where I live,
>however, I've heard it said that it would be nice to, just once, be able
>to look down the contra line and not see so many ex-lovers. <Sigh>
Yeah, I've heard that too -- would that there be more future ex-lovers.
Where did Deb say she lives? I'll be there in two weeks, but won't even
be contra dancing. :-)
Seriously (seriously?) though, my town doesn't have this "problem". It
also doesn't have nearly as good a social dance scene as Deb's town.
Wonder if the two are related? (I think they are, by common cause, but
I digress.)
--
Peter Renzland Pe...@Dancing.Org Lindy-Hop Waltz Polka _@_ {)/'
Toronto Traditional Social Dance Zwiefach Scandi Irish /\ /\_._,<_/
Calendar: Tor...@Dancing.Org Cajun Zydeco Vintage ' \ /_\
HogTown HepCats WWW.Dancing.Org Contra SCD ECD Tango /> /<
Nancy Mamlin
I've been avoiding this thread, but can no longer resist. Sorry. Really, I
was out of town, and then got back to a computer that wasn't happy and too
many meetings that kept me out of my office....
Anyway:
On Mon, 31 Mar 1997, Alan Winston - SSRL Admin Cmptg Mgr wrote:
>
> I think you have to be really careful in steering people to contras as a place
> to meet people to date. The following are of course only my opinions; some
> are personal crotchets and I think some have broad applicability.
Overall, Allen,
I agree with you wholeheartedly. I remember two incidents that make me
really feel that contra/square dances are not the way to meet your
significant other (never mind my own personal experience- that's beside
the point!).
One- Ann Landers or her sister or someone like that kept suggesting that
"folk dancing" was a great lonleyhearts solution. Eventually, the folk
community wrote and asked her to quit sending all the backward geeks
(sorry if I offend) to their dances...
Two- there was unfortunately quoted in the Washington Post about ten
years ago a dancer who said "Where else can you put your hands on 100
women in one evening?" Let me say that that brought out more riff-raff
than Ann.
Anyway- it's not a singles club.
> * Around here, at least, contras tend to be much more about dancing than
> about socializing. I find it difficult to get to know people who I only
> see at contra dances, even if I see them regularly. ["get to know"
> isn't a euphemism here.]
And while I wish there was _more_ socializing at dances- that's yet
another reason why you don't go looking at dances...
> To summarize the points above, I think it's a generally ineffective
> strategy to go to contras if you think they're going to be like dance
> clubs and if you hope to pick people up. Further, I think unleashing a
> whole flock of singles-scene types on contras could easily disrupt the
> community feeling and the perception of the dance as a 'safe space'.
'Xactly.
Anyway- back to my own experiences... I met my husband through the
music/dance scene. Really more the festival scene. When we go to dances,
usually one or both of us has been hired to be there. On the RARE
ocassions that we get to a dance as _dancers_ we dance nearly every dance
together, since it's a treat- and we like dancing together. I don't feel
bad, snobbish, or guilty. Also, it's _not_ something we could "stay home
and do". Our cats can't even circle up four with us!
Byeeee.....
Nancy Mamlin
Alan S Moore
In <Pine.PMDF.3.95.9704022...@conrad.appstate.edu> Nancy
Mamlin <maml...@conrad.appstate.edu> writes:
<snip>
>On Mon, 31 Mar 1997, Alan Winston - SSRL Admin Cmptg Mgr wrote:
>>
>> I think you have to be really careful in steering people to contras as a
place
>> to meet people to date. The following are of course only my opinions; some
>> are personal crotchets and I think some have broad applicability.
>
>Overall, Allen,
>
>I agree with you wholeheartedly. I remember two incidents that make me
>really feel that contra/square dances are not the way to meet your
>significant other (never mind my own personal experience- that's beside
>the point!).
>
>One- Ann Landers or her sister or someone like that kept suggesting that
>"folk dancing" was a great lonleyhearts solution. Eventually, the folk
>community wrote and asked her to quit sending all the backward geeks
>(sorry if I offend) to their dances...
1) Folk dancing has really dropped off in numbers, could this be the reason?
Ann quit sending the geeks!!! I knew it, I just knew it.
2) I've married two geeks (serially, not simulataneously) and yes I met both
FOLK DANCING...
>
>Two- there was unfortunately quoted in the Washington Post about ten
>years ago a dancer who said "Where else can you put your hands on 100
>women in one evening?" Let me say that that brought out more riff-raff
>than Ann.
>
>Anyway- it's not a singles club.
Wanna bet? I've met my best husbands dancing. Got to meet somewhere, you know.
Even the Amish marry and have a social life, no crime in that kids.
>
>> * Around here, at least, contras tend to be much more about dancing
than
>> about socializing.
Maybe that's why I go Balkan dancing, I do ballet when I want a
challenge, folk stuff is too easy to be anything but social. In fact
the Balkan stuff (ala Micheal Herman orchestra) was really (I mean
really, really) a Commie plot in the early part of the century to help
young socialist geeks meet and BREED! I guess it did not work out
though, I mean Reagan did get elected...and redness is genetic.
<snip>
>Anyway- back to my own experiences... I met my husband through the
>music/dance scene. Really more the festival scene. When we go to
dances,
>usually one or both of us has been hired to be there. On the RARE
>ocassions that we get to a dance as _dancers_ we dance nearly every
dance
>together, since it's a treat- and we like dancing together. I don't
feel
>bad, snobbish, or guilty. Also, it's _not_ something we could "stay
home
>and do". Our cats can't even circle up four with us!
>
See...
Ginny Snyder
>Byeeee.....
>
>Nancy Mamlin
>
Eric Praetzel
In article <rav9133...@trillium.cs.washington.edu> Adam Carlson <car...@cs.washington.edu> writes:
>to the effect that contra dancing is being negatively effected by people
>(usually men) who see the dance as a pick-up scene. I've heard statements
they are automatically hitting on every woman who they go talk to. Most
women I know believe that; then again I'm in an atmosphere where we are
now upto 10% female. It used to be 2%. I would never even bother
approaching women because they'd always have this cloud of guys around
them.
>fewer women are dancing because they don't like the meat-market the scene
>has turned into. etc. I think this varies greatly from community to
That would be unfortunate. As I've pointed out on some newsgroups; guys
have to learn how far they can push. Flirt to hard and you're going to
drive people away. I've done it and really learned the lesson when someone
did it to me. It was not fun wanting to dance; but not wanting to run
into a certain person.
I've met women who dance/play instruments in gay bars because that way
they can avoid men who constantly hit on them.
Quite a few women I've talked to admit that they will never respond to a
guy until he has shown a lot of interest. I have some cards with
contact info and I've pretty well given up handing them out to women;
because they never call; even if I just trying to be a source for dance
info or offer rides and I have not been flirting with them. Of course,
I never hear from the ones that I was flirting with anyways.
For that reason I believe that the "meat market" is going to exist until
women change their ways. Any guy who doesn't function under the old
rules of making the first [and second, and third and ...] move is never
going to get a date so men have every reason to pretend that the old
sex-roles still exist.
>. However, the lesson I would take home is that, if you are telling
>people to go to contra dances as an opportunity to meet people for dating, I
>would also make it _very_ clear that there are several reasons people go
>contra dancing.
You bet. Demographically there are not that many singles; not that many
people in their 20's and the single women seem to be from the divorced
and-he-never-danced-but-I'm-going-to scene. I've met numerous women
who would dance but their husband doesn't; in contrast to couples where
both dance; but almost always at different types of dance!
Hopefully I'm not taring everyone with the same brush. Contras definately
are not a meet market but they are a good place to learn some social
skills [unfortunately it is the men who are always doing the learning
and the women who get burned].
The contras have seem to me as a civilized way to have fun. Every now and
then there will be some guy who thinks that a swing is when you swing
the woman off of her feet; but luckily that is very rare. We don't have
people coming to dances drunk; or to get drunk; or be rough. We just
have this funny crowd where everyone can sweat together and have fun.
>people love contra dancing as a venue for "safe" flirting, that is,
he he he. Yea. We've been debating that on another newsgroup. There
are the guys who hate flirting; who hate any sort of game playing. But
in the end we are all attractive to other people; and it is nice to see
that and be able to show that and not mean anything else by it [unless
they want it to mean something else]. It is just that guys have to at
some point learn the limits. We've gone thru a phase when no really
means yes; where the guys have had to initiate and push to get into
relationships. We can see the wreckage from that just by talking to
most any woman over 25.
The dancing groups that I know are very much a closed society within
themselves. People do things that they would never do at other "social"
functions. It is a group that has some different laws about what is
normal and accepted. I'd say that it is one of the healthiest
[emotionally, socially] groups that I know of. Perhaps that is why its
followers are a bit fanatical :)
Eric Praetzel, http://ece.uwaterloo.ca/~praetzel
David Glick
For what it's worth, I think contra dancing or folk dancing is a great place to meet someone...IF THAT IS NOT
THE REASON YOU GO THERE!! Dancing is a great social activity, and where else are you going to meet someone who
loves to dance as much as you do? I realize that as a married man, whose wife had to drag him to the dances to
get him started, I am not in a postion to tell people where to meet other singles. However, if you are
folk-dancing because you love to folk-dance, you WILL meet other people with the same interest, and dating may
be a natural process
Nancy Mamlin wrote:
>
snip
> One- Ann Landers or her sister or someone like that kept suggesting that
> "folk dancing" was a great lonleyhearts solution. Eventually, the folk
> community wrote and asked her to quit sending all the backward geeks
> (sorry if I offend) to their dances...
>
> Two- there was unfortunately quoted in the Washington Post about ten
> years ago a dancer who said "Where else can you put your hands on 100
> women in one evening?" Let me say that that brought out more riff-raff
> than Ann.
>
> Anyway- it's not a singles club.
BIG snip
Jim Mork
> Contras definately
> are not a meet market
Love this pun.....
Jim Mork
> Every now and
> then there will be some guy who thinks that a swing is when you swing
> the woman off of her feet; but luckily that is very rare.
Interesting, though, how dance style begins to tell you something about
another person. Smart women are paying attention. Does the guy balance
you and sense the difference between dancing hard for fun and
self-centered fun? If you don't look like you're having fun, does he
notice? That's why I think dancing is great. You can do something you
like, and if someone looks interesting, you can also learn something
about him without some of the embarrassing risks that other activities
have.
Eric Praetzel
>> making invitations, accepting or declining invitations, etc). They claimed
>> that dance had NOTHING to do with courtship.
>> They did, however, STOP dancing when they found significant others....
The Orchesographie, instructive as it is as a dance manual, is a social
document as well. Arbeau never hesitates to place the dance in context as
one of the arts that keep society on an even keel: "Naturally the male
and female seek one another and nothing does more to stimulate a man to
acts of courtesy, honor and generosity than love. And if you desire to
marry you must realize that a mistress is won by the good temper and
grace displayed while dancing, because ladies do not like to be present
at fencing or tennis, lest a splintered sword or a blow from a tennis
ball should cause them injury ... and there is more to it than this,
for dancing is practiced to reveal whether lovers are in good health and
sound of limb, after which they are permitted to kiss their mistresses
in order that they may touch and savor one another, thus to ascertain
if they are shapely or emit an unpleasant odor as of bad meat. Therefore,
from this standpoint, quite apart from the many other advantages to be
derived from dancing, it ibecomes an essential in a well-ordered society."
Thoinot Arbeau, 1589
[Furthermore, I like the Chomsky idea (which he got in trouble for)
that the best way to deal with dumb ideology is not to crack down
on them, but to allow the speakers to have their piece and then
calmly explain why it's a problem. -pardo
It is no solution to define words as violence or prejudice as oppression,
and then by cracking down on words or thoughts pretend that we are doing
something about violence and oppression. No doubt it is easier to pass a
speech code or hate-crimes law and proclaim the streets safer than actually
to make the streets safer, but the one must never be confused with the
other... Indeed, equating "verbal violence" with physical violence is a
treacherous, mischievous business.
-- Jonathon Rauch, in an essay in _Harper's_Magazine_, May 1995
[From Meta's net.quotes at `http://www.domino.org/~meta/quotes/']
You catch more flies with honey than you do with napalm -- but the
napalm really gets people's attention.
- Meredith Tanner <me...@crl.com>
Egles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
- John Benfield <jo...@attcan.UUCP>
AFTER A WHILE
After a while you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and
chaining a soul. And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning and company
doesn't always mean security. And you begin to learn that kisses aren't
contracts and presents aren't promises. And you begin to accept you defeats
with your head up and your eyes ahead, with the grace of a woman not the
grief of a child. And you learn to build all your roads on today because
tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans and futures have a way of
falling down in mid-flight. After a while you learn that even sunshine
burns if you get too much. So you plant your own garden and decorate your
own soul instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure, that you really are strong, and you
really do have worth.
And you learn,
and you learn,
with every goodbye
you learn.
Veronica Stahl
Jim Mork
> thus to ascertain
> if they are shapely or emit an unpleasant odor as of bad meat
Hmmm. Well, that's pretty candid, but it is something you will find out
after an hour of vigorous dancing. Probably is a good idea to shower
pretty close to a good dance.
> Therefore,
> from this standpoint, quite apart from the many other advantages to be
> derived from dancing, it ibecomes an essential in a well-ordered society
Indeed. There's a guy who understands.
Rick Carter
Jim Mork wrote:
...
> after an hour of vigorous dancing. Probably is a good idea to shower
> pretty close to a good dance.
I'm not sure about that; the spray might make the dance floor too
slippery.
(ducking...)
--
Rick Carter System Administrator, Physics Department
The University of Michigan Voice: (313) 764-3348
"The avalanche has started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote."
- Kosh, _Babylon 5_
Jim Mork
> (ducking...)
For an oyster?
------------------
"I think that if advanced beings WERE visiting earth,
we'd know it by their laughter."
---Paige Fox
Rick Carter
Jim Mork wrote:
>
> > (ducking...)
>
> For an oyster?
>
Well, depending, you'd either have to get out of the shower and dance,
or be taking a bath for that one....