晚饭过后，一些中老年人便会三五成群来到离住所不远的花园或是街边的一大块空地。在这里，他们有一个并未约定的聚会——跳交谊舞。
         跳舞，跳交谊舞，原本在大学中是很流行的。但现在，高校的学生及年轻人更多的喜欢街舞等快节奏快的舞蹈，很少有会跳这种节奏舒缓的、两人相拥、绅士淑女样的舞蹈了。但不知从何时起，跳交谊舞却成了中老年人的休闲活动。
        这些舞者多是住在同一小区，有时也有路人。起初，他们或互不相识，或只是很小范围，有人带着录音机用来播放舞曲，自发地娱乐，互相切磋，互相学习。不久，加入的人越来越多，有时候你会看近百人一起翩翩起舞，三步、四步、华尔兹、伦巴......引得旁人驻足欣赏。
        他们中间有的年轻时就喜欢舞蹈，但一直没机会学习，小区中的这种自发的跳舞活动给他们提供了圆梦的机会；而有的人则是在校园时跳过但工作后因为忙碌并且养育子女而没有时间继续舞蹈，而今退休了，孩子成年了，他们又可以享受这份舞蹈的愉悦。他们在这里似乎又找回了青春。
        看着他们舞蹈，是一种快乐，只要你愿意，随时都可以加入他们。

Streetside Ballroom Dancing

After dinner, some middle aged and older people will gather in small groups in gardens not far from their homes, or in open spaces by the street side.  Here, they come together for an impromptu activity – ballroom dancing.
Dancing or ballroom dancing in particular, used to be very popular among universities.  But now, university students and youth tend to prefer faster paced dancing like hip hop, and rarely engage in the kind of slow dance where two partners hold one another like a lady and gentleman.  We don't know when it happened, but ballroom dancing has since become a recreational activity for the middle aged and elderly.
The dancers mostly live in the same community, but sometimes there are also passersby.  When they begin, they may not know each other, or perhaps only to a small degree, but when someone brings a stereo and puts on music, people start having a good time, and learning from one another.
Some of these people have enjoyed dancing since they were young, but never had a chance to learn, and these spontaneous gatherings give them a chance to achieve their dream.  Others used to dance when they were in school, but became too busy with work or family to have time to keep dancing.  But since they have retired and their children have grown up, they can enjoy the pleasure of dancing once more.  They can reclaim their adolescence again.
It is a joy to watch them dance.  As long as you are willing, you can join them whenever you like.

• rarely [´reəli]   ad.难得；非凡地   (初中英语单词)
• mostly [´məustli]   ad.主要地；多半；通常   (初中英语单词)
• learning [´lə:niŋ]   n.学习；学问；知识   (初中英语单词)
• achieve [ə´tʃi:v]   vt.完成；达到；获得   (初中英语单词)
• willing [´wiliŋ]   a.情愿的，乐意的   (初中英语单词)
• whenever [wen´evə]   conj.&ad.无论何时   (初中英语单词)
• community [kə´mju:niti]   n.团体；社区；公众   (高中英语单词)
• spontaneous [spɔn´teiniəs]   a.自发的；自然的   (英语六级单词)
• retired [ri´taiəd]   a.退休的；通职的   (英语六级单词)