Why Don’t We Dance?

One evening last week I went down a rabbit hole. It is so easy to do. I had one last message to send out before heading off to bed, so I went down to the office to the computer. I am not completely certain how I ended up exploring this particular rabbit hole. Patrick Swayze and his wife were the topic of interest for that moment. I have always loved the story of how they met in the dance school. To me, the most interesting thing about Patrick Swayze is that he studied ballet. It is not something that one would expect of a movie heart throb, when we live in a culture that tends to prefer males who pursue hockey, football, MMA, etc.

I ended up watching a couple of videos where Patrick Swayze and his wife, Lisa, were dancing. They moved together so beautifully. They were so in sync. I found myself rather disappointed that I did not find more videos of the pair dancing together.

I watched a couple of clips from Dirty Dancing. I loved that movie when I was growing up and I still love it now. I love the music and I really enjoy the dance scenes. It influenced my decision to take ballroom dance lessons very briefly, almost twenty-five years ago. I really enjoyed the dance lessons. However, I was unable to keep them up. Now, they are a distant memory. Recently, I have been taking bachata lessons, which have been quite fun.

I miss dancing. When I reflect on twenty year old me versus me today, I will say that I danced so much more when I was twenty. We were out on the town on the dance floors a couple of evenings a week. It was not uncommon for us to be the first ones on the dance floor and we would dance the night away.

Fast forward to today, and I look around at the various venues here in Fort McMurray, and even considering the venues in Summerside and Cavendish on PEI, I do not see the evidence that the average twenty year old is dancing the night away. I suspiciously wonder if the requirement to put down the smartphone would interfere with that?

A couple of years ago, one of the city blocks in Summerside, PEI was demolished, and what made it sad to me was that two of the places where we danced the night away on the long ago summer nights were part of the demolition - the Purple Parrot and the Regent.

I remember when the Purple Parrot was first opened. It had originally been a bank that had been converted to a nightclub. It seemed so posh as it had a bridge over the dance floor that allowed patrons to be able to look down on the dancers below. We had a few good nights of fun at the Parrot.

Around the corner from the Purple Parrot was the Regent. It was a much older establishment, and was sizable enough to have had several notable acts perform on its stage. The two that I remember are Lee Aaron and Honeymoon Suite. The Regent was two floors with the second floor having a balcony that overlooked the dance floor below. 

By the time I had turned 19, which was the legal drinking age on Prince Edward Island, I had already spent a few good nights at the Regent. It was not that I had managed to get a fake ID to let me in. On the contrary, the Regent used to hold “dry nights” for teens on the Sunday nights that were followed by a holiday Monday that had no school, such as Thanksgiving or Easter. On those nights, the Regent would be packed. You would have to start your way to the bathroom long before you needed to be there. The line-ups to the bar to get your soft drink of choice were pretty substantial. Those nights were better attended than any of our high school dances, but then those nights at the Regent did not just include students from one school, it included students from other schools in the area as well.

I was actually disappointed when I finally turned 19 and was now able to show up on a Friday or Saturday night. There were never as many people and it had a very different vibe. Shortly after I turned 19, the owners made the decision to convert it to a suite of bars, similar to the Liquor Dome in Halifax, that was popular at the time. It was renamed and called Summer Street Bars, but most everyone still referred to it as the Regent. Even as they tore the building down thirty years later, all the news articles still referred to it as the Regent.

If I was twenty again and wanted to go dancing, I look around and I do not see as many options for places to go dancing. Most of the drinking establishments that I see are all pub style, full of tables and chairs. Lots of space for patrons to sit and listen to a band, or to talk, but I don't see the space to dance and move your body with joy. What has happened? Do you no longer dance anymore as a society? Is this an unintended and unforeseen consequence of the rise of technology? Do younger people no longer go to the bar to dance the night away and to meet other people? Where do they go to “be seen”, to borrow the phrase from my brother and his friends?

It feels so good to move your body in time to the music. I think dancing should be a requirement for all musicians. It is one of the best ways to develop the feel of rhythms. Not only does dancing feel good, but it is a fun way to get some exercise in.

Now, I do know from speaking with the other ladies in my bachata classes that their husbands do not like to dance. I remember that there were usually more women than men on a dance floor, particularly in less urbanized areas. The men were more focused on drinking and watching, which was a little creepy. I always preferred the establishments where there was more of a mix of men and women on the dance floor. 

I honestly must say that outside of my bachata classes, I do not remember the last time I danced. When I go out with my friends now, we are at a restaurant or pub where we are eating and drinking, instead of being up and moving our bodies with joy.

Have we lost our joy? I don’t think I have. I may not have the energy to dance until 2 am, but I would definitely have the energy to dance for a couple of hours, at least.

So, why don’t we dance? Is it a side effect of technology? Have we gotten so sedentary that we do not have the physical conditioning, so we come up with reasons to stay sedentary on a night out? Have we, as a society, become so disconnected that we have forgotten how good it feels to come together as a community and to move with joy?

I know that there are numerous dance studios and classes here in Fort McMurray that offer formalized instruction. The teachers work hard to bring joy to their students who are fortunate enough to join their classes. But outside of those classes and studios, we are not doing enough to celebrate our lives and our physicality through movement.

We need to connect again through movement. There is no age limit for dancing. We should all be dancing.