Shut Up and Dance!: The Joy of Letting Go of the Lead-On the Dance Floor and Off

At forty-five, Jamie Rose was an independent, take-charge woman whose career as an actor was going nicely, with frequent roles on hit television shows and in films. But there was one area of her life that wasn't working: her love life. Although she was ready to get married, her boyfriend wasn't. His reason? They fought too much--and unfortunately, he was right. But something magical happened when she signed up for tango lessons: she began to understand that letting someone else take the lead from time to time wasn't giving up, but rather, "letting go." In this wise and funny book, Rose shares with readers the life lessons she's learned from tango and other great partner dance traditions.

Dance changed Rose's life, and she discovered that she wasn't the only one. Over and over, the women she encountered at dance halls--women from age twenty to ninety_three--told her how falling in love with dance helped them fall in love with life again. The secret? Whereas before they may have worried that if they let go of their grip on things for a moment, everything would fall apart, now they knew that sometimes letting go of the lead is the best way to keep things together"--especially in a relationship. For anyone who has ever marveled at Fred and Ginger up on the silver screen (how could they be so in sync?), SHUT UP AND DANCE shows how to dance their way into a happier, sexier life--even if they never step onto a dance floor.

EXCERPT:

What we all discovered is that "following" isn't what we thought it was; it isn't having no opinion--being a doormat. Rather, it's an equal and necessary part of being a couple--on the dance floor and off. And we don't have to always follow just because we're women, but by never spending time in that role, we're missing out on a really wonderful possibility.