On Marriage And Dancing As Fast As You Can

Dear Friends, I thought you all might get a kick out of this: PopEater (AOL's pop culture site) yesterday published my story "How Dancing With The Stars Almost Ruined My Marriage" to coincide with the season finale of Dancing With The Stars. My husband and I are devotees of the show for all sorts of reasons (some of you might remember I'm a former dancer), not the least of which is that it takes two people who have no idea what it means to move in exact synchronization, chest-to-chest, and teaches them not only how to survive the encounter, but fly. Music and a good instructor can do that for you. Even sometimes, in my husband's and my case, after something has gone terribly wrong between you:

Here's the thing: You can be married to someone for two decades and still completely screw up. Make mistakes so profound it's like you've never even met before . . . But Alejandro taught us how to walk, side by side. Then he taught us how to walk facing each other. He taught us how to stretch, how to glide our legs a little more, so that we were walking a little farther, a little more powerfully than we thought we could . . . All we had to do was hold each other, and listen . . .

I hope you enjoy not only the story of our salvaged tango, but the chances you get, with your partner, to laugh, cry, fail, fume, recover, and finally, if you're lucky, step out.

The floor waits. Grab someone you love, and find the beat!

--MD

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Comment by Mylene Dressler on May 25, 2011 at 4:08pm: Get those CDs out, Gerry! Tango, even solo, is good for the SOUL! Walk, flick, turn . . .

Comment by Gerry Miller on May 25, 2011 at 3:39pm: Beautifully written, Mylene. The music is magic and I love to dance (alone) when no one is watching. Oh, for a partner! You will have me searching for my old tango CDs.

Comment by Mylene Dressler on May 25, 2011 at 11:22am: Glad it moved you, Cathy. I'm buoyed by the experience still . . . and so is my husband.

Comment by Cathy Kozak on May 25, 2011 at 10:41am: Clarissa Estes Pinkola talks about this dancing as fast as you can in her commentary on the age old tale of the Red Shoes. Whose song are we dancing to?

Mylene, I am truly buoyed by your promise that this insatiable dancing dancing dancing can be slowed down, that our steps can become decisive and true, that we can move side by side, look one another in the face on purpose, stretch, glide, hold, listen. Lovely...