A birthday vals. Secretly quite liked, though protested against, by the birthday celebrant. Always a sweet moment. Sometimes slightly resented, especially if the chosen vals is one that we all want to dance to. And the star of the show, the birthday boy or birthday girl. Not necessarily always the one to be the centre of attention. But this is their moment on their day. A whirlwind of partners who have maybe fifteen seconds each in which to fulfil their purpose. Their purpose: to make the star shine, look good, feel good.
When you have 23 people in a room, there's a 50% chance that two of them will share the same birthday.
I think the tradition of birthday valses is a very stupid thing to do in a milonga. I avoid dancing with the birthday men because I don't like being the centre of attention. And I imagine it must be much worse even to be the birthday girl myself and thus be forced to change partners every other moment and not to be able to adjust to my partner and to choose myself who I want to dance with. How can anyone enjoy such a dance?
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