Dancing at Home

Plenty of people cringe at the thought of dancing. But this dancing date doesn't require you to embarrass yourself in public. It's a date where you can dance or learn to dance in the privacy of your own home, and it's a great excuse for the two of you get physical without having to take a single thing off. This is also a fine at-home date for after the kids go to bed.

Decide what kind of dancing you and your date might like to learn and order the video that teaches you how. These dance tapes will teach you the right steps and provide the music to practice by. You may also want to buy a CD or cassette with your favorite dance music on it. Check with the company you order the tape from to find out if it includes extra dance music.

COST

From totally free if you have the music and get the how-to dance video from the library, to $35 if you purchase everything.

THE EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE SALSA

It's a good idea to order the tape well in advance of your date. Practice might not make perfect, but it can help to tame the klutz in all of us. Practicing before the date will help you feel more at ease when you are actually together; "It's the first time I've done this. Really!"

RESOURCES

Ballroom Dancing
The Ballroom Dance Group offers a tape that teaches the waltz, fox trot and swing. The tape costs $19.95 or you can order an extra CD of dance music with it for $29.95. Phone them at (916) 444-9070 or let your mouse rhumba over to www.dancetv.com.

Bring Back the Romance of Dance: Instruction Series Overview (1997); $17.99. Includes instruction on the fox trot, swing, rhumba, tango, waltz and cha-cha. It has received excellent reviews. Get it from www.amazon.com.

Country Western Dancing
Western dancing tip: If you want to stand and talk, don't do it around the outer edge of a country western dance floor. With other kinds of dance, the hot action is often in the center of the floor. But with Country-Western, the part that's nearest the outer rail is actually the fast lane. (Thanks to Janet Ratzloff at www.cowgirls.com.)

There are probably more how-to videos and books for Country- Western dancing than there are prairie dogs in Texas. Two-step over to www.activevideos.com.

Salsa & Merengue Dancing
Try www.salsafortheworld.com or phone (800) 449-6550 for how-to videos on salsa and merengue dancing.

Other Types of Dancing
Whether you want to learn club dancing, belly dancing, funk, ballet, folk dancing or whatever, just enter the name of the dance in your internet search engine and you'll find sites with instructional videos for sale.

LOW COST ALTERNATIVES

Don't want to buy a tape or CD? Why not check with your local library? Or try www.centralhome.com for every kind of dance video from clogging and Country-Western to ballroom and belly dancing. Most tapes are $19.95.