Get your groove on

Anyone and everyone can dance. Jennifer Lopez does it in her videos. Usher does it on stage. And you can dance, too. With that said, that doesn't mean you should quit school or your job and shimmy over to Broadway or hit the road with Missy Elliot as a backup dancer, but you can cut a rug at a party this weekend.\nBeing in the African American Dance Company, I can never understand why so many people are afraid to dance. At a party I attended during the weekend, the host, who had spent hours choosing the perfect dance songs for the occasion, had to practically pull teeth just to get more people to bust a move. Unless it is against your religion to partake in such activities, you really have no excuse (lack of skill or rhythm doesn't count). \nWhen dancing at a club or a party, it isn't about how impressively you can do "the robot" or how fly you look doing "the running man," it is only about enjoying yourself in that moment. And yes, I know that the aforementioned dances are played out and anachronistic, but you have to start somewhere. Even the most timid dancer can make a bold statement simply by bobbing his or her head to the song being played. \nIt doesn't take much to find your groove and express yourself through dance. I have seen countless lackluster parties brought to life with nothing more than a "Soul Train" line and some imagination. \nTake Ellen DeGeneres for example. Every day on her show she delights her audience with a 60-second dance performance. The more you dance, the more comfortable you will become doing so. And maybe I am wrong, maybe not everyone wants to dance, but I find that hard to believe. The film industry has convinced me that deep down inside, everyone has the desire to "bring it on" the dance floor. \nSince the 1970s there have been countless movies about teens breaking out of their shells to show the world what they were workin' with. John Travolta donned a questionable white suit and boogied down in "Saturday Night Fever," Patrick Swayze transformed a shy girl into a dancing queen in "Dirty Dancing" and Julia Stiles danced in circles all the way to Juilliard in "Save the Last Dance." \nOf course, these actors had weeks of training and coaching from professional choreographers and the story lines were about achieving the nearly impossible, but don't let that discourage you. Remember, you aren't trying to win a contest to be crowned Lord of the Dance. Michael Flatley has already claimed that position (sorry to crush your dream); rather, dancing is a great source of entertainment and exercise. This probably explains why Richard Simmons, with his ever-curly afro, made a killing on those "Sweatin' to the Oldies" workout videos, despite the content. Whether it's for fame, fun or fat reduction, dancing is an important part of my life, and I think you should try it. If all else fails, look at it this way: If Kevin Bacon could do it in "Footloose," anyone can.