A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do. ~ Bob Dylan

We started talking about this the other week in class.

On the dance floor, the man and the lady, each have responsibilities.

One of the man's jobs is to drive, position the couple on the floor, keep even spacing with other couples, and avoid traffic accidents. The man steers, controls the accelerator and the brake, determines how fast the couple moves and where the couple goes.

In this regard, the lady's job is to be in the passenger seat, stay in the passenger seat when the couple is together, and get back to the passenger seat after patterns where the couple separates.

In case you are a lady and you do not know where the passenger seat is, the passenger seat is next to your man, wherever he happens to be. Do not make the man chase you all over the dance floor. It is your job to get yourself back to your man, have your hands out where he can take hold of them if he needs to, and have your body properly positioned so the man can put you in ballroom position, or walking position, or whatever position is needed.

Ladies, you can ride shotgun, watch the man's back and keep him from crashing into someone in his blind spot. This is not only acceptable, it is advisable, just avoid crossing the line into being a back seat driver.

Ladies, what do you do if your man is a lousy driver? Take some dramamine and try not to get car sick. Maintaining good posture, good frame, good balance and good timing, will help stabalize your man.

Ladies, what do you do if your man does not know how to drive? If your man acknowledges he does not know how to drive, you can help him to drive, by giving pointers, but try not to drive for him. Think of yourself as the driver's ed instructor in a training vehicle, who might have an emergency steering wheel and brake, but only uses them to avoid crashes, and mostly just offers instruction and encouragement.

By Andrew Weitzen 1/11/2006