One day this past week—or was it the week before?—a ceremony for handing out diplomas to students who had completed their language studies at the Centro de Idiomas was held at the school. After the diplomas were given out, the festivities began. A large band from the Universidad de Veracruz, assembled at the front of the largest salon in the school, began playing salsa music for the assembled students, teachers, and administrators.

I had been invited to attend, but I ducked into the faculty computer room to finish some work. I had a sneaking suspicion that if I went to hear the music, I would be invited to dance, something I have been hesitant to do here because I don’t know the dance steps to salsa and other kinds of Latin music. But I was curious to see what was going on in the salon, and the music was great. So I stepped inside and took a chair near the door.

There must have been about ten members of the band, two of them women who danced and sang. No one in the audience was dancing until a couple of teachers pushed back some chairs to make room, and they began to dance, some pressing students to dance with them and get the ball rolling. And sure enough, in no time, another teacher asked me to dance. I tried to resist, but there was none of that. Everyone at the school seems to want to make sure I have the full experience of Mexico, and that definitely includes dancing.

So I danced with several other teachers, thinking all the while, “Would that I had been so popular back in dear old Clayton High School!” back in the 'sixties. The music was fast and loud, easy to dance to (in my fashion), and I even enjoyed it. But after about fifteen minutes, I left the salon and went back to work. Still, I was glad I’d danced, recalling the advice from a song my daughter Shelley gave me a few years back:

When you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance
[Hear the song and see the video on YouTube.]

Have I mentioned before that most Mexicans love to dance? I’ve seen them dance on the sidewalk as they pass by a store with music blaring from speakers pointed streetward. I’ve seen them hum to themselves in offices and hallways to accompany their spontaneous urges to dance. I’ve seen them dance in the city parks and plazas and at home. Young and old dance here, and dancing seems to erupt whenever music does.