Thursday, July 9, 2026

It’s time for another edition of the Global Writing Challenge and this month the theme is dance! Last month we talked about sunshine (as you can see from the graphic above) and mine is here if you want to go back and read!

Little Amy as a dancing mouse?:

My dance history…

I took dance lessons as a child and participated in the recitals with the cute costumes. I think all women of my age probably did so! I think I took lessons for about 3 years when it was determined I wasn’t going to be a dance prodigy or apply to any ballet companies. I kind of think my mom probably called me “Grace” because I didn’t have any.

I am the third one from the front:

I was a cheerleader in 6th-12th grades with the exception of junior year when I decided to swim on the swim team and we did dances in addition to our cheers. I wasn’t the best, but I could hold my own. I wasn’t DCC (Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader) material! Thunder!

I loved getting dressed up for all the dances. We had prom, a Christmas dance, and I was involved in Rainbow Girls, which was part of the Masonic organizations, and we had some formal dances. That was more about the outfit than the dancing, I think!

Am I “good”?

I can follow a beat and I have rhythm, but I wouldn’t say I’m necessarily a good dancer. What I lack in grace, I make up for in showmanship and unique dance moves.

Tom (my husband) is actually a better dancer than I am. Tom gets up during Pitch Perfect (secretly his favorite movie) and does some dance moves – don’t tell him I told you! We took a couple of dance lessons before our wedding, but I couldn’t tell you what we danced to, and it wasn’t a fancy choreographed number like the young ones do today.

I can’t sit still if a song that I like is on. I really like to snap along to music and my kids hated it. They would yell at me for snapping in the car. I love to snap and I’m a really loud snapper. I bet you don’t hear people brag about snapping very often?

My thoughts on dancing:

“Americans” don’t dance enough! What I mean is that people in the US don’t dance enough. Maybe that would help our politicians? They should have dance breaks during their sessions.

Dancing in the Latino culture is a big thing and we always talked about this in my classes. I was a high school Spanish teacher, if you are new around here.

I thought back to the times in my life when I danced the most…

Our high school had a casual dance after every home basketball and football game and they were so fun! We were in the hot small gym (not the large gym) and all the boys took their shirts off and tucked them in the back of their jeans. They also had a comb in their back pocket to keep their mullet in check. You danced to fast songs and prayed for slow songs to come on for you to get to dance with your crush.

In college and in the single years after, I danced so much! We went to bars and dance clubs at least twice a week. I probably should not admit this, but my signature move was the splits on the dance floor, but only when appropriate. I could also do “the worm” if a situation called for it. I liked to do the dance move where you grab your ankle and move the whole leg back and forth, too.

After the single years, I danced at weddings and with my kids. My kids would dance a lot after their bathtime and I loved those clean baby in diaper moments. They continued to do this until elementary school. For some reason I sang, “let’s get naked and run around the garden” which was an original song (I think) that someone sang in one of the bars I frequented in college. My twins would literally be in diapers and running around the house during this song.

Some favorite quotes about dancing:

“Dance like no one is watching” – This is about life in general. Don’t worry about who is watching you. Live your life.

“We dance for laughter, we dance for tears, we dance for madness, we dance for fears, we dance for hopes, we dance for screams, we are the dancers, we create the dreams.” – I just liked this one.

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” – Friedrich Nietzsche, highlighting the freedom and individuality in dance – I love this one. Someone else can’t “hear” your music and you need to dance anyway.

This has been a favorite song for a long time…

I hope you dance by Leanne Womack

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty-handed

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me that you’ll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance (dance)
I hope you dance (dance)

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Livin’ might mean takin’ chances, but they’re worth takin’
Lovin’ might be a mistake, but it’s worth makin’

Don’t let some hell bent heart leave you bitter
When you come close to sellin’ out, reconsider
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance (time is a wheel in constant motion)
I hope you dance (always rolling us along)
I hope you dance (tell me who wants to look back on their years)
I hope you dance (and wonder where those years have gone)

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me that you’ll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

Dance, I hope you dance (dance)
I hope you dance (time is a wheel in constant motion)
I hope you dance (always rolling us along)
I hope you dance (tell me who wants to look back on their years)
I hope you dance (and wonder where those years have gone)

Tell me who wants to look back on their years (dance)
And wonder where those years have gone (dance)

The older I get, the more these lyrics speak to me.

We all took a chance by starting a blog. That’s not nothing!

What would you say about any of my dance adjacent topics today?

Amy

22 thoughts on “I hope you dance…”

  1. Amy, this is such a lovely post! Your photos are brilliant, and the memories that go along with them, even more so. I’m shocked that anyone could do the splits while dancing (I could never do the splits full stop lol). Your husband sounds like fun, getting up and dancing during Pitch Perfect. Mine would never do something like that lol!

    I hope you’re still dancing!
    Big hugs

    Suzy xx

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    1. Thank you! It was fun to write. I am looking forward to reading yours and the others’ posts. Haha – I can’t anymore! He is an introvert so this is kind of shocking!
      I need to dance more!

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  2. I loved reading this! Your gloves with the prom dresses are FIRE. I love nostalgic pictures! I loved going to prom, but you’re right about it being more about the clothes than anything else. I think we should dance more in life, and care less about what people may think. That’s why I loved it when Chris mentioned dancing outside in the rain…who cares if anyone saw us and thought we were crazy?! I need to dance more in life! He’s a better dancer than me, too…he has some moves. I don’t have “moves”, but I can dance enough to keep up with the beat. Thanks for sharing today!

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    1. Thank you! It was fun to write. I didn’t know where I was going at first! I think the gloves are Madonna-ish! We all need to take spontaneous moments to dance in the rain and wherever else we want to! Yes!

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  3. Awwww, Abby was a mouse in her first dance recital, too. I put her in dance for the cute costumes and imagined a once a year dance recital. HA- 127 dance competitions later- it was all good- dance became the defining “thing” of her through high school so mama wantin’ to see her little girl in a tutu worked out :). Love the pictures and learning that your husband can dance! The song “I Hope You Dance” got so overplayed but the lyrics are really wonderful!

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  4. I love it that you share all those pictures! You were a real beauty! (And still are! <3)

    For me, dance is so much about music! When I went to clubs in my younger years I was always on the dance floor! Now? Not much. Mainly goofing around with family… And I can give my students a move here and there… 😀

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  5. My older sister, mom, and I all ended up taking some dance classes when I was in high school and I think I kept those up through my first year or so of college. I HATED getting up on stage though and refused to participate in our first recital, cried all through the second one, and then sort of made peace with it by the end. Luckily we had some pretty decent costumes though as I joined the adult beginners class and we had some matronly ladies so our costumes were very modest. I’ve always loved dancing though and don’t think we get the chance to nearly enough. I can’t remember the last wedding we’ve attended and that was for sure the last time we’ve ever danced.

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  6. This was fun to read! I should dig up my prom picture. My girls say it looks like I was getting married : ) The fashion has for sure changed! We love to dance and my hubs is definitely the better of the two of us. He’s a great dancer and makes me better. He has a lot of natural rhythm that I seem to lack. But I love to dance!

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  8. Now, why am I not surprised you were a cheerleader? I am sure you were so much better than you give yourself credit for! I mean…splits and the worm? You were a dancing queen! I didn’t know you were in Rainbow Girls. I was in Job’s Daughters. I don’t think there were any Rainbow Girls chapters around me. I love those quotes…especially by Nietzsche as well as the song.

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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  9. I loved everything about this post. You have my heart swooning. Dance has been such a big part of my life and my girls’ lives in various seasons. The dance lessons- the shows- dancing in cheer- the dances at school- the proms- you name it. You are so right. We don’t dance enough. I love to dance with my friends at a party. I love the statement of “Dance Like No One Is Watching” and I love love love that song and even put it in Diana’s graduation video- thank you Amy 🙂

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  10. I had dance lessons when I was a kid too but I wasn’t great. lol Fab photos! Dance seems a much bigger thing in the US. There were no cheerleaders, proms or formal dances here when I was growing up. I love a good dance now in the kitchen while cooking tea or out at a bar. That did make me chuckle about Tom dancing during Pitch Perfect, you doing the splits and the worm, I am impressed!

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  11. I think dancing is different here. I can’t think of one single dance at school, that just wasn’t done. The only dancing I can remember is at the carnival fests (and I didn’t participate on the floor … because crowd! Not for me).
    This was very fun to read, dance on!

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  13. I loved reading this post! You are so fun (& so funny!) Travis is a “snapper” too 😂
    I took dance for quite a while…through my elementary school years. Love the dance quotes.

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  15. Well, I loved reading this about dancing! You know I love dancing too and had a lesson this week actually! Dancing has been a part of my life, even though I am not the best, I certainly enjoy it. Keep dancing friend!

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  16. “I Hope You Dance” has been a long time favorite song of mine. Rereading the lyrics and thinking about dying with regrets makes me realize I need to lighten up some. Thank you for that reminder.

    You sound like quite the accomplished dancer. And so confident to actually do the moves many of us only tried in our bedroom. Bravo!! I am sure those years were lots of fun. I really missed out on the whole clubbing scene. Thought I needed to be married instead. There’s another regret.

    How fun that you are a big snapper. I have really never heard of that. Of course, I have heard of snapping but usually only when my dad was trying to get my attention before he started counting to three. I am a big whistler. To a fault, most would say.

    I was in Y-teens, which I think was probably similar to Rainbow Girls. We had a Christmas formal every year.

    Love that your hubby dances to Pitch Perfect. Mine will only dance in the car or after a few beers and he rarely drinks any more. Need to spike his Pepsi.

    Leslie at https://onceuponatimehappilyeverafteragain.blogspot.com/

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