I’ve heard that Elephants can tap dance, but if you watch them lumber along, you would never think so. It’s hard to even think of them as graceful. But Lou Gerstner, who brought IBM back from the brink of insolvency, claims otherwise in his book “Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance.”

And what about buildings? Some of them look sophisticated, elegant; you might even say, light and airy. Some have even been known to shake and shimmy — during an earthquake. But dance? No, they are rooted in place. I don’t think so.

And me, I’ve taken dance lessons with my wife; but what we do, you would never really call that dancing. We stumble around in circles, counting the cadence saying “T.A.N.G.O.” as we try not to step on each other’s toes, or worse, run over other couples on the dance floor.

Of course, I do look good when the dance instructor is in my arms, and we are tangoing around the room; my partner moves, and I just react. In the end, she gracefully pushes, cajoles, and leads me around the room, and I look like I know what I am doing. But dancing — not to save my life.

My daughter, though, loves to dance. She is light on her feet, and when the spirit moves her, she will dance around the kitchen with verve and delight. She, too, has perfected the skill of making her dance partner look elegant and graceful. She loves to dance with partners who have no right feet; well, actually, no feet at all; and does it with finesse and creativity. She makes them look nimble and graceful. I’m impressed, and I’m sure they would win any dance competition… as long as it is not held in the summer.

One thought on “Dancing”

  1. Love your text and that fantastic picture! The two of them are obviously dancers! And the builder of the snowman is an artist!

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