Just get into the groove, girl

While I don’t doubt Teresa Strasser’s dancing ability [“I’ll Sit This One Out,” Sept. 29], I think her education may be incomplete.

There are two major manifestations of dance. The first is careful, precise execution of a choreography within a known dance. I would liken this to oil painting, in which deviations are considered mistakes.

The second, which her friends attempt to inflict upon her, is the visceral expression of the beat, using one’s body as a conduit. Self is lost, and ecstasy is the result. I would liken this to finger-painting.

As any parent with a refrigerator knows, finger-painting is not ugly. It is simply different.

I urge Ms. Strasser to trust her friends and give in to their proddings. We live in a region that is so image-conscious, we don’t realize how much of our freedom, and even our souls, we surrender every day.

If I see a woman who is matching my frog-in-a-blender, dithyrambic spasms, I know that is someone who is comfortable with herself.

TOM RODEN

Irvine