Question of the Day | 01/28/2009 11:00 pm

The First Couple's first dance made us wonder: When was the last time you really danced? Who were you with?

Liz Smith | 01/28/2009 11:00 pm

Liz Smith Is a Lucky Lady

I am dancing constantly because I have the world’s greatest boyfriend, one Mr. Peter Rogers, who is a whiz at everything from the Foxtrot on. I had brothers who taught me to dance when I was 14 and I have hardly sat one out since. But even fabulous men can’t seem to dance anymore, so I know how lucky I am to have my Peter.

Click here on this text to read my New York Post column.

1 Comment

Joan Ganz Cooney | 01/28/2009 11:00 pm

Why Joan Ganz Cooney Doesn't Dance Much

I danced with my husband a year ago at a party. He is marvelous dancer. Me? Not so much. But I’m sure we will dance again the next time the music is right. Our kind of music does not happen at most parties, anymore.

0 Comments

Judith Martin | 01/28/2009 11:00 pm

How Judith Martin 'Danced' With Barack Obama

If you count hopping around to keep your toes from being numb, then I danced with 1.8 million people that very morning, on the Mall.

1 Comment

Candice Bergen | 01/28/2009 11:00 pm

Candice Bergen: Barack Obama Has No Rhythm

The last time I danced was a few weeks ago with my handsome hub who is not a great dancer, but neither am I. What I love is the intimacy of it and the romance and the definite gender difference. And I like that he leads. What I love about the First Couple is that their attraction and their commitment to each other is so electric. They are totally focused on the other. Oblivious to hundreds of cameras and there is no self-consciousness or hint of performance. I also love that she makes a gesture to the crowd about his white side surfacing when he dances. Well, I am putting "the White Side" in but it is the singular white thing about him. The guy — whom we all love — has no rhythm.

4 Comments

Cynthia McFadden | 01/28/2009 11:00 pm

Cynthia McFadden's Little Dance Partner

I danced last week with my ten-year-old in the kitchen after his first dancing school class. He was demonstrating the intricacies of the salsa — or was it the rumba? I couldn’t keep up.

0 Comments

Marlo Thomas | 01/28/2009 11:00 pm

Marlo Thomas's Last Dance With 'Smooth' Phil

I’m married to a very smooth dancer. Good thing because I need a leader in this position. One of my favorite pictures of him is at tap dancing school when he was 13. Last time we danced was August at a party. It was so nice.

3 Comments

Joan Juliet Buck | 01/28/2009 11:00 pm

Joan Juliet Buck on Dancing: 'Good Bipartisan Politics'

I dance with anyone who’ll dance. With strangers in Union Square on Election Night. With friends on Inauguration night, in a great apartment on Central Park West. As the Obamas danced on TV, the guests danced in two big rooms. I danced with the host, and finally took up a position on a pair of steps so that my friend Daphna and I could do a kind of synchronized go-go routine that was pure joy. There’s nothing like people dancing in time to the same tune to make everyone happy, dancers and watchers. It’s the arms going right, left, right, left, right, left, while hips go left, right, left, right, left, right, that sets up an irresistible beat that’s maybe the diastole and systole of the heart, maybe simply good bipartisan politics.

0 Comments

Julia Reed | 01/29/2009 1:15 pm

Julia Reed: If You're Dancing Alone …

The last time I really, really danced was alone in my kitchen very late at night after a few glasses of wine. It was years ago, to a song by Del Amitri called "Roll to Me," which is impossible not to move around to. I remember it so clearly because it put me in such a good mood. When I married my husband five and a half years ago, we did the first dance thing to "The Way You Look Tonight," but since all eyes were upon us, I was totally self-conscious — as I almost always am when doing anything that requires a modicum of coordination and grace.

When my mother, a truly great dancer, was growing up in Nashville, TN, she went to the Fortnightly Dance Cotillion, where she learned all the dance steps and had multiple partners who filled out her dance cards. I looked at them so often in her scrapbook when I was little that I can still remember the boys’ names. I figured the same thing would happen to me, but by the time I was in the seventh grade, dancing involved throwing your arms around a boy’s neck and vaguely swaying to bad pop music. I decided early on that I was not remotely interested in that kind of dancing or in 13-year-old boys, and moved (perhaps a tad too quickly) on to more, um, sophisticated pursuits.

The end result is that I am doomed to dance by myself in my kitchen, as my husband was too busy being the lead singer in a rock-and-roll band to learn to dance well himself. If you are like me and dance best alone, I highly recommend "Roll to Me" — it’s a good workout. Somebody gave me one of those New Agey, life advice refrigerator magnets once that included the line, "Dance as though no one were watching." I get that, but I will stick to doing it when no one actually is watching, except maybe Henry the beagle, who I doubt will be interested enough to open both eyes.

4 Comments

51 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Lynne, What a sweet response. Your words brought back memories for me. My father was a Preacher and used to have a radio Program in the very early 40’s….. Sometime I was asked to sing on the radio…….for a little 10 year old girl that was thrilling. I’ve always had a nice voice and loved singing. I thought when I was a teenager I would like to be a professional singer. I took voice lessons. I also realized I had a lovely voice but not of Professional quality. My studies were for serious Opera singing….perhaps with all the electronic things they have today I might have been good enough……….who knows, It’s just fun to have a little fantacy. Thanks for your nice comments. Another part of your words brought back a sweet memory. My husband loved the song You are my Sunshine. He would sit all our grandchildren on his lap when they were very little and teach them to sing that song. He died in 2001…..for his Funeral I made copies of the words to the song and handed them out to everyone there. I had all the grandchildren accompanied by his oldest granddaughter playing the violin sing ‘You are my Sunshine’ and asked the audience to join them It was awesome. Music and laughter seems to be the one thing all of us have in common……..no matter the lauguage barrier or loss of mental capabilities. I love what you did with your Mother………I call that Soul sharing..

By Dona Howlett on 01/30/2009 10:54 pm

e-mail alert

Just yesterday afternoon with my sweetheart. We both love to dance and so we do.

By f p on 01/29/2009 7:07 am

e-mail alert

I dance with my daughter every night/day and my husband when he is home…If were not dancing to The Wiggles or Barney then we dance just to our own music. But our last “official” dance was at our Wedding this past October.

By C Hardy on 01/29/2009 7:14 am

e-mail alert

I dance with my two boys most everyday…we love to put music on loud and start dancing. The two doggies even join in.

By thatsoutherngirl k on 01/29/2009 7:46 am

e-mail alert

GOOD, GOOD, GOOD for you !!! Boys/men need to be taught early or they never get it … keep it up !

By EKA - on 01/29/2009 12:35 pm

e-mail alert

With Patti LaBelle, January 2, 2009. She on the stage, me on the floor. ‘Gitchee, gitchee, ya, ya……………Lady Marmalade When my husband and I chaperoned the middle school dances, we would dance much to the delight of the students, shocked that we actually had lives outside the classroom. What fun; they would oooh and ahh as though we may start ‘going out’, a term often used in middle school, meaning walking down the hall together. My daughter and I can do a mean jitterbug, taught her when she was five. My mom taught me truckin’, which I still do on occasion, and frequently ask people around my mother’s age if they are familiar with ‘Truckin”. I’ll always remember the day my mom broke out into that dance. Who knew those moves were inside June Cleaver? Peace and grace

By beth willis on 01/29/2009 9:08 am

e-mail alert

My husband can’t get around very well anymore so the last time I really danced was at a wedding reception. First time was when I was 5 and my teenage aunt taught me the jitterbug, I have been dancing ever since, my “boyfriend” and I won the twist contests in Jr. High because he could twist down to the ground and back up. When I was married to my ex who was so tall, he felt people were looking at us when we danced so I did a lot of dancing with other partners. Had one fellow who always asked the bands to play the old song “Wipe-Out” and he would move around like crazy. One night he was going so fast he threw his knee out of joint!! I kept dancing for a moment or 2, didn’t quite know what was going on. Had to call an ambulance.

By Sandbee (FB) 54 on 01/29/2009 9:45 am

e-mail alert

I love to dance and eat! :-) We danced on Saturday night at my niece’s wedding — it was so fun! I danced with my husband, son, daughter, cousins, brother, nephews, nieces — it was a blast and I felt very happy and uplifted at the end of the night! We need another wedding to get my husband to dance!

By Lucinda Herbert on 01/29/2009 10:57 am

e-mail alert

Boy, a topic close to my heart !! As Dona says ” I’d rather dance than eat ” I was so lucky to grow up in the 50/60s when EVERYBODY danced. It was the heyday of ballroom dancing lessons ( OUT by the end of the 60s ! ) where all my friends went, boys & girls. Started out with the white glove waltz box step routine, and I know the 13 year old boys HATED it, but as we got up to High school years they allowed fast dancing and boy was it fun !! Plus my girlfriends and I would practice every chance we could get in her basement, dancing to “Sea Cruze ” and “Do you love Me” by the Contours, we did the mashed potato,the twist, the fly OMG, Im sure you all remember them ! … then Shindig and Hullabaloo, who didn’t want to BE Goldie Hawn in the cage on Laugh-in ??? And the boys all danced ! we would spend HOURS in someone’s basement and after we were exhausted Johnny Mathis would come on and the slow dancing would begin. I’ve said to my kids ” How can you grow up without Johnny Mathis singing Heavenly and Misty, and Chances Are ?? … of course they don’t get it, they call him the “Christmas Guy “. Enter my husband, the most wonderful man, and he never learned to dance ( except to Johnny Mathis ) but he has the most beautiful voice and great ear, so over the years, I admit I’ve had to do the leading, but at 64 years old, he’s learned to dance !! And at our age we have 3 or 4 weddings a year to go to and we are having a ball … I don’t even need to ask him ! When did we dance last ? Saturday night at the Children’s Charity Ball ! I have a “dance” playlist on my iPod and bring it with me when we visit friends for a weekend and after a beer, or 2, I drag everyone up and we relive all the fun … and live on advil for the next week ! But my sons ….. dance lessons are out of style, I regret I never grabbed them to dance around the kitchen !! … they don’t dance :-( …. and they’re musicians ! ( they tell me “Mom, we PLAY the music” ) but I feel sorry for them, they missed out on the fun …. but then again, I walked 5 miles to school, in the snow, uphill….. in my day…. 1000 years ago….. yada, yada

By EKA - on 01/29/2009 1:16 pm

e-mail alert

WHAT THE HELL? OBAMA IS AN IDIOT, BEING USED BY A BUNCH OF SOUTHERN WHITE TRASH!!!!! THE GUY IS A VBULBRICK!

By CHARLENE SHERMAN on 01/29/2009 1:29 pm

e-mail alert

At the last company Christmas party they had a great band with wonderful, involved, entertainers and we danced and danced and danced. Co-workers are still telling me what a great couple we are and how much fun we have together. It’s really a great boost.

By Mah Porter on 01/29/2009 1:31 pm

e-mail alert

The last time I danced was two weeks ago. My husband was out of town and about seven of my best girl friends came over. We put Beyonce on the big screen and tried to dance the routine. It was very hilarious! We all laughed and danced to “Single Ladies”! I’m sure we looked a mess, but it was the most fun dancing I have had in a long time!

By DeVonna Pittman on 01/29/2009 1:59 pm

e-mail alert

I love to fast dance—alone usually, which I prefer. The last time I danced a real slow dance (not the moving hug kids do today) was with my father. He is a wonderful dancer—no special name for the dance he does, but he is a strong leading man and very rhythmic. I think we danced at least 4 years ago at my second wedding. My husband is a good dancer but rarely do we ever really dance. I love to watch good dancers, not the overly rehearsed Arthur Murray-types, but people with natural finesse and style like my father and couples from the big-band era.

By Anna Bucy on 01/29/2009 7:33 pm

e-mail alert

It wasn’t the last time we danced, but one of the more memorable. I was baking cookies in the kitchen with all the kids waiting for them at the table, nibbling on the batter (and my fingers full of batter), Elvis on the radio when my husband came home and just grabbed me. There we were, me in my “at homes” full of flour and chocolate chips, dancing to “Love Me Tender”. I’m smiling even now.

By Andy C on 01/29/2009 7:41 pm

e-mail alert

I would say the last time I “really” danced was a year ago at a party my husband and I had. it was just a party to see all the people we missed. friends that got busy. that type of thing. about 30 people came. all people I love and feel close to. we hired a dj and since I was paying… I got to pick the songs. so i danced all night. sometimes iwth my husband, sometimes with friends, sometimes by myself. I bet i danced a couple hours and burned a 1000 calories lol! it was awesome. that only comes around once a year or once every couple years. it’s one of my favorite things. sometimes i I wonder what it will be like if I don’t get to dance anymmore.

By Chrome Toe on 01/29/2009 9:05 pm