The Marriage Dance

How are Dance and Marriage Alike?

Dance and Marriage are alike – they’re both contact sports!

Ballroom Dancing and Marriage share a lot in common. Here’s a brief list of some of the common elements:

Both are “contact sports”

Fortunately, dancing isn’t the kind of sport where the partners are crashing into each other, but it is definitely a sport that involves contact. Marriage too, but that goes without saying

Leadership

Marriages and Dancing both require leadership. Somebody has to “take the lead” in order to get anything done, to make any progress toward the goal. Mind you, leadership doesn’t necessarily mean a superior or more valuable role, but a necessary one

Followership

Trust, cooperation,leadership, followership, all of these and more!If someone is leading, then someone has to be following. Willing, faithful following is important, and if you decide the leadership is in error, it needs to be resolved amicably. Followership is not a lesser role than leading – it’s a necessary role; leading and following go together. Frankly, I think following is often a tougher role than leading

Trust

In ballroom dancing, the partners must trust each other, they must be predictable and understanding. So it is in marriage – husband and wife must trust each other completely.

 Both are expensive

and spending a lot of money is no guarantee of success

Cooperation is necessary

Cooperation between dancers is clearly necessary for a beautiful, flowing dance. In marriage, cooperation is even more important, even though it may be less visible to the outsiders.

Co-creation

Co-creation by the man and woman make the results so much better. When both partners turn loose their creativity, it can get really good and very interesting.

Investment

Both dance and marriage require an investment of time, effort, and emotion in order to turn out right. As the old saying goes, “nothing ventured, nothing gained”

Both should highlight the woman

It is well known in the ballroom dance world, that the man dances for the woman and tries to make her shine. But it’s also true in marriage – make your wife feel like she’s the best in the world!

Synergy

When everything is working together, it’s great, and the whole is much greater than the sum of the parts!

My Opinion

Of all these similarities, I like Synergy the best. No matter how talented each of us are for dancing, or what our faults (or attributes) are in marriage, when we’re working together as we should, the result far surpasses what we are individually. It is God’s blessing that such a thing can happen, and that it provides a satisfaction and happiness unlike any other.