How can I keep from dancing?
When I was in high school, the strict Mennonite Brethren church my family attended didn’t allow dancing. There were no wedding dances or high school proms allowed in my teenage years.
Sunday worship at my Mennonite Church always started with the congregation singing two hymns with the choir before the pastor read the scripture. Standing with my family to sing, I was surrounded by soprano, alto, tenor and bass voices, and I learned how to sing in harmony at a very young age. Singing in harmony with a large Mennonite congregation is a magnificent experience, and you feel it in your soul. But we didn’t move with the music. Nope. Well, maybe some toe tapping to keep the correct time. But that was it.
As a youth, I was immersed in music: choirs, choruses, concerts, and piano lessons. Every Wednesday night, all the elementary school students had youth choir practice after Bible study. My mom was an accomplished piano player and teacher. I learned to appreciate music.
In high school, I had a little battery run transistor radio next to my bed. My bedroom was on the second floor and with the door closed no one could hear my radio. On Sunday nights, if I dialed the knob back and forth, I could find a faint signal from Chicago. I would listen to Casey Kasem’s top 40 hits on WLS. It wasn’t the best connection, but I could hear Roberta Flack, The Carpenters, Carole King, Jimmy Cliff, The Bee Gees among others. This Mennonite girl went to Chicago every Sunday night.
A few times, when I was alone, I tried a few dance moves in front of a mirror. It felt awkward and uncomfortable. There wasn’t anyone to show me how to dance.
When I went to my Mennonite Brethren College, I had to sign a statement that I would not dance “while representing the school.” Hmmmm… what about dancing where no one knows me? And that’s how I justified going along with friends one night to dance in Wichita, 60 miles from campus. I felt a lot of guilt about sneaking out, and I had to keep it a secret. My friends and I couldn’t talk about our fun the next day back on campus.
Finally, out on a dance floor in Wichita, Kansas, I fell in love with dancing. I watched the other dancers closely and copied them. I danced all night never taking a break and never stopping for a drink. In fact, I didn’t drink. I was only interested in dancing. This was the beginning of the disco era, so I felt quite comfortable dancing with or without a partner or in a group.
It’s 50 years later, and I still have dancing in my bones. Last week, my husband Bob and I danced at a parish event. It’s amazing to me that I moved to Chicago from Kansas almost 50 years ago. The day after I graduated from my Mennonite College, I followed that faint radio signal all the way to Chicago, and I have lived here ever since. What is the first thing I did when I moved here? This Mennonite girl went dancing.
Take it or leave it suggestion #13: Go dancing
I went to Chicago every Sunday night listening to the radio.
My Mennonite background is always there.