The oldies were swinging with the oldies!

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Last night was an oldies’ dance. For those who don’t know what that is, it’s music from roughly 1958 to 1985-ish — the music is old, not necessarily the dancers. It was held at a volunteer fire company’s social hall. We have some good friends who find these events and they are always fun. For $17 a person we got dinner with a choice of four entrees, all the beer or soda you could drink and music from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. How fun is that?

Walking in, I immediately realized that the average age of the group was 55 to maybe 75 with a few young whippersnappers thrown in. Hey, I fit in those demographics so I figured this would be interesting and it was.

The first difference between a dance with older folks and young people is that older folks don’t fool around. The music started and there were 70 people out on the dance floor. Heck, they don’t have a lot of time left so they are not going to waste it being coy or waiting until their friends get out there or maybe letting alcohol help their inhibitions.

Older folks don’t have inhibitions! They lost them somewhere along the way. I saw sights that are forever etched in my retina that I wish I could forget. Like the woman without teeth who was doing some funky robotic dance steps that I have never seen before. Can’t say that they looked too professional but she was having a helluva good time. She looked like she was 80 but her husband looked 60-ish. It’s really hard to tell someone’s age when they don’t have teeth as their whole face caves in. She looked like she fell off the turnip truck. Kudos to her for getting out there! Oh, she had a man’s white tee-shirt on with jeans and sneakers. I only wish I had a picture!

Then there was the Arthur Murray couple. They obviously took dance lessons. Their dancing was wonderful and intricate and they didn’t trip each other up. The beloved husband and I took dance lessons…twice. Let me just say that you couldn’t tell watching us dance.

There was a young smoochy couple. You know the type, young and horny. (Can you remember when you were like that? Me neither!) They couldn’t keep their hands off each other. All I have to say is “Get a room!”

There were so many old-timers dancing it was wonderful to watch. Some of the guys must have been cool in their day…when they had hair and a flat stomach. They remembered the jive moves and their partners looked at them the same dreamy way they did 50 years ago. It was heartwarming.

We had a great time. I got tired much sooner than I used to. We were home and in bed by 10:30 p.m. Well, party on!

 

 

21 thoughts on “The oldies were swinging with the oldies!”

  1. Pingback: Put your dancing boots on! | Views and Mews by Coffee Kat

  2. I used to be very fond of the afternoon Tea Dances at the London Waldorf Hotel. On the terrace that is wrapped around a modest dance floor is where the tables are. On which is fine cutlery and plates populated with sliver thin sandwiches the size postage stamps, delicous cakes and pastries and copious pots of top notch tea. A quartet or quintet would be playing in the corner and couples waltzed away the late afternoon. I took many people there. Always good for a grand mother, girl friemnd, auntie, niece or a visiting student from the Univeristy of Butan. A particularly eligant aged couple would always be the first on the floor. On the next dance, they would each invite someone onto the floor. Once I talked with them and it turned out they were employed by the hotel to “get things going”. It was their passion.

    I rang one day to book only to find the hotel had changed hands and they no longer did the Tea Dances. Why ever not I asked? It no longer suits our brand came the corporate b###t answer.
    They have since re-instated them at 5 times the price. (suits their brand now!)

    Shere heaven to slip and slide around that dance floor. Thanks for the nice story. 🙂

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  4. This sounds like so much fun to me! My husband and I took a few months of Arthur Murray lessons about six years ago and we loved it! We still weren’t the couple you’d admire, but it was helpful because we were pretty deficient! 🙂 Moving to music and enjoying the company of others is a real mood elevator! 🙂

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  8. I like the woman without teeth who was doing the robotic dance moves! She sounds like my type of person! I awwwed at “and their partners looked at them the same dreamy way they did 50 years ago”, so sweet

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  10. This is a hilarious post! But Lucky I wasn’t there! I tried to take Arthur Murray lessons eons ago but the instructor told me to “forget it – you have no rhythm and no balance.” Talk about an ego booster. Remember when we could “party on” until 3 in the morning? Well, everybody else could anyway. Sounds like you had a good time in spite of the lady with no teeth and the robotic moves. Love it!

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