If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving. Doctrine and Covenants 136:28
And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. 2 Samuel 6:14
Let them praise his name in the dance . . . For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people . . . Psalm 149:3-4
We walked into the YSA dance and saw three young men dancing. Later, we saw a circle of young women dancing. Still later, we saw the whole room full of people dancing with no one in particular. It was a group do-your-own thing on the dance floor. I realize things had moved in this direction in the U.S., so it isn't just a U.K. thing, yet the complaint is the young singles are having too much fun having fun and few seem to want to become seriously interested in anyone of the opposite sex and eventually find someone to marry.
Back in the olden days people danced with a partner. We females craved the slow dance because that was when there was an opportunity to feel the arms of a nice young man around you--to hold hands and wonder if this was "the one." The slow dance offered the young men the opportunity to feel his partners hair and smell her sweet fragrance. It was a chance to say sweet nothings in the ear (now you'd never hear anything with the music so loud). Even in the fast dances, we could at least flirt face-to-face and look into our partner's eyes . . .
Whose stupid idea was it to get rid of slow dancing and partner dancing? I know some people decided the slow dances were too risky as people became, ah, a little too close. Then, it was decided the fast dances were too provocative (which, in some cases, I agree), but why is being close to someone in a slow dance a problem with adults of marriageable age? Obviously, most people are appropriate on the dance floor at Church events anyway.
How do the young adults these days get to know someone well enough to know if that person would be a good eternal companion? There are lovely individuals wanting marriage. Everyone is afraid to date or pair off because they will be pronounced a couple before they have a chance to know if that is want they want to be. The young adults are great at mingling and having a good time together, but they may as well be brothers and sisters for all the romance they are getting out of some of their activities. I'm glad I'm not their age with the way their generation is dealing with single dating--not doing it. When I went to a dance a hundred years ago (as it seems to the present generation), I still remember the anticipation of being asked to dance by someone who picked me out of the bunch. Let us all mourn the death of romance at the dance.
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