18. CONCLUSION

After you have mastered the steps in this book and have become a com­petent dancer in all phases of social dancing, keep in mind that the dance reveals a part of your personality that can be revealed in no other manner. Each step that you do reflects you. You should not attempt to dance exactly like anyone else, any more than you should attempt to speak or think exactly like anyone else.

You should remember that while you are like everyone else in the world, para­doxically you are different from everyone else. Being like others, enables you to understand them, being different from others makes you interesting and enables you to contribute something to everyone you meet.

Practice each step until it becomes such a part of you that you can do it without consciously thinking about it. Only then can you use the dance as a medium of expression of your inner self and inner feelings. Your various shades of rhythm, the way you combine the different steps, the way you hold your partner are as character­istic of you as your own handwriting.

As the years pass, new dances will be developed that will capture the fancy of the dancing public and sweep the nation on a wave of popularity. It is impossible to say what the exact nature of these new dances will be. However, you can be sure that the dances developed in the future will all be based on the same basic principles as presented here in this book. As long as we have only two feet, we can move them only in the directions designated in the chart at the beginning of the book. Without another dimension in time or space, you can be sure that the rhythm of these dances will be based on the same fundamental principles of rhythm as described here. Actually there are no new dances. What we call a NEW dance is really the old steps combined in a new way.

So whatever the future of the dance holds, if you learn thoroughly the basic principles described in this book, you will have no difficulty in readily learning any new dance that may be introduced.

Dancing is a door that leads to a whole new world of happiness for you. Regard this book as the key that opens that door for you. As a competent dancer, there is a wealth of happiness in store for you. It is a pleasant pastime, a means of meeting new people, of strengthening old friendships.

Three thing? should be kept in mind:

1. Dancing is a pleasure you must share with others.
2. Your dancing should reveal YOU.
3. Dancing is an art and an accomplishment, but should  never be regarded as a too-serious accomplishment. In other words, if you make a mistake, or your partner makes a mistake—laugh it off and try again.

If you keep these three things in mind, learning to dance can be fun. In fact, DANCING IS FUN!