Today's high temperature in the 60s, the bright sunny skies, and all-around pleasant weather reminds me that summer is only a few weeks away. Sure summer in New York can be hot, hazy, and humid; but I still prefer that over the cold, dreary, and snowy winters. People are outside enjoying street festivals, baseball games, picnics and bar-be-cues. I've already mentioned the free summer concerts on the Great Lawn in Central Park. But right up there among my favorite summer-time activities is the annual Midsummer Night Swing at Lincoln Center. Throughout high school and college, I attended those dances fairly regularly.

So as the temperature rises, my thoughts inevitably wander to those starry night tangoes on the Josie Robertson Plaza. My body moves to the pulsing rhythms of salsa, merengue, and swing. The night air is thick with humidity and swaying bodies. The music is intoxicating. However, I am without a partner. Then, all of a sudden, the crowds will part and I'll see her across the dance floor. I'll collect my wits, walk up to her, and ask, "Would you like to dance?"

[Tonight, I rented from my local video store the 2005 documentary, Mad Hot Ballroom. This is a great film! For more information about American Ballroom Theater's Dancing Classroom, the program that provides instruction in ballroom dance at over sixty public schools in New York City, click here.]