Dancing
Dancing is one of the four things that changed my life the most in the last decades. (The other three being percussion and my girlfriend / wife and my son in chronological order.) I really like dancing Salsa and Tango Argentino. Read on, if you want to know why I like them and how I came to learn dancing. A little surprising for a computer scientist, isn't it? You might also want to jump to some links.
What are Salsa and Tango?
Those dances are partner dances with very different expressions. Salsa is a very lifely dance full of joy and flirting with your partner. You can go through a lot of quick turns, tying and untying impossible knots in your arms and the arms of your partner, sporting a big grin. On the other hand, Tango is a very beautiful and sensual dance. Both partners form a close unity, floating over the dancefloor. It seems the main topic in the texts of both is - what could it be - love and heartache.
Something I really appreciate about those dances is that you can just go to the dance locations without a partner, and dance with whoever is there. It is very common to change partners. What can I say - I met my wife at a Salsa place.
Why dance?
A couple of years ago a friend took me to a Tango ball at some place in our town, and I was completely fascinated. Someone said that it is a Good Thing(tm) to do something completely new once in a while, and I thought Tango Argentino was at least five of those things. :-) You get to express feelings very sensibly, and have to lead a women. (That seems a big issue for both the european women and men!) And, last not least, you get a chance to meet and talk to many women. :-)
Of course, not having a girlfriend at that time, the last reason was one of the most attractive reasons to learn dancing at that time. I immediately new that this was the way to overcome my shyness. That knowledge also helped me very much to get over the pains that wait for the beginner. (And: it works! I would never have met my wife without Salsa! :-) Of course, I like to move and dances are a good compensation to having to sit in front of a computer and think all the time, and, being a passionate [percussionist](percussion.html">), I enjoy the rythm as well.