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When I am presented with the opportunity to dance at a social event, you can bet I am the first (and sometimes only) one on the dance floor — you may know me as that girl at Murphy’s. It isn’t often that I step out of my dance-happy body to simply enjoy watching other people move. This week I have tested my ability to observe dance in a variety of atmospheres — from watching drunk twentysomethings groove to the ear-pounding beats of dubstep to watching folks young and old circle dance to the culturally diverse sounds of Abraham, Inc. — and I have re-realized the spiritual power of communal dance.

I am not one to preach religion, so please don’t misunderstand my intent. I simply find that the potential for emotional and kinesthetic expression in community dance is unparalleled in other embodied experiences. Getting lost in a sea of moving bodies, pulsing to the beat of a throbbing baseline; holding the hand of your grandfather on one side and your youngest cousin on the other, dancing the horah; feeding off of the energy of your peers in a harshly physical dance movement accumulation — there is nothing like that feeling in the world.

Though I did not participate in both of the events I attended last week (I would be lying if I said I didn’t dance to dubstep), I found that both inspired a similar feeling of emotional and kinesthetic release within my body. I can now sympathize with those who attend dance performances and leave feeling as though they had danced themselves. Notably, I have never left an actual dance performance feeling this way; it took events that centered on music to evoke this synesthesia in me. It was important for me, I suspect, to remove the hypocritical lens through which I typically view dance before I could tap into its less technical pleasures.

In this week of new music buzz, I encourage my readers to approach something they love with fresh eyes (or ears). Maybe that weirdo dancing by the jukebox at Murphy’s, perhaps?