Why Women Shouldn't Settle for a Man Who Can't Dance

I was browsing through the personal ads on Craigslist out of boredom and ran across a clever one that actually piqued my interest. (That's probably 1 in 100 at best.) The ad requested a short essay for any interested party, so for fun I went ahead and wrote the following. I meant it playfully, but, I also mean every word. I believe everyone who can should learn how to dance.

Ultimately, an essay on why a woman shouldn't settle for a man who can't dance would be an extremely long one that explores in-depth all the benefits of dance, of learning to do so if one doesn't know how, and the rest of the topic, but a research paper's quota of words might not make for the best means to reel in a lady's imagination.

There are many reasons a woman should hold in her list of standards a man who either dances already or is willing to learn. First, the obvious: she'll never miss a turn around the dance floor at a wedding, or any other such more formal function. Equally, having a man willing to dance provides a woman with many more excuses to wear that dress that has been collecting dust in the closet than any woman with a lesser model. Also among the more pleasant benefits is that he's likely to have better manners than most men, more respect for women, and he's probably not inclined to spend all his time on a couch.

Then there are the more subtle reasons, arguably more important. A man who dances should, if he's a good dancer, be skilled at connecting and communicating in a partnership. Any dance is a conversation. A language all its own - the ultimate body language. Each dance has its own rhetoric. It also involves frequent physical contact that can be more intimate than any a pair of lovers have ever experienced. There's a good reason that dances such as Argentine tango are used as tools for couples therapy.

One might put forward that dancing together is one of the most beneficial activities any couple can engage in. The list of pros is nigh endless, and far outweighs any cons. With so many advantages to dating a dancer, it's hard to imagine why any woman who enjoys dancing herself (and it seems most do), would choose to settle for one who doesn't.