I hope you dance

I love dancing.  Now, I may or may not be a good dancer.  That's up to you to decide.  But regardless of my skill level, I love it.  Dancing unites people.  It brings generations together.  It ties the past to the present.  It liberates.  It brings smiles to faces.  It calms and relaxes.  It creates a glimmer of hope.  

I am reminded of the following quote from a song made famous by Lee Ann Womack:

"And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.  I hope you dance.  I hope you dance...

Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along.  

Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder where those years have gone."

This past month was a bit stressful.  Dancing made it better for me and I know it was a fun diversion from the normal routine for others as well.  When I get the chance, I like to go out dancing.  Salsa dancing is one of my favorities, but of course there is always music for other types too, like merengue, cumbia and regatón.  Sometimes  I just put on music in my apartment and dance in between my work.  Some say that's crazy, but I believe it's freeing.

As I mentioned in my last post, the youth group in Chosica del Norte had the oportunity to learn some breakdancing (and so did I).  I'm readily willing to admit that I'm not good at it, but I did enjoy it.  One Monday, I went to Monsefu (a nearby town) where I watched a little bit of a Marinera contest.  Marinera is a traditional dance typical to Northern, Peru.  Wearing traditional costumes and performing the dance, links children to their ancestral roots and customs.  The dance is lovely among all ages and is sometimes performed with horses as well.  Below is a photograph of a few children performing Marinera Norteña.

Finally, to leave you with a quote from Voltaire:

"Let us read, and let us dance;

these two amusments will never do any harm to the world."

I hope you dance.  Don't worry about the opinions of others.  

Just dance and be carefree for a short while.