Learning the Dance

... "Maybe she's been naughty in life, and is trying to bribe the God in death. What do you think?"...

Christy listened as Gloria poured her a glass of wine and explained that things were very different in the tribal cultures of Africa than they were in America. Many tribal cultures still believed in animism, or spirit worship. They worship of the divine spirit in all living things, plants, animals, people.

Christy listened to Gloria's soft voice, as she explained that in some cultures the tribes would praise the gods through dance and song, and the women's undulating bodies, stomping feet, and ululating cries, were all a prayer to the tribe's ancestor gods. Sometimes the spirits of the gods would fill the bodies of the men, and women. No longer man, or woman, but an embodied animal-god, excited by the beauty of the women, and the frenzy of the dance would mate with as many of the women as possible.

Christy blushed fiercely, at Gloria's comment. Sex was a taboo subject in their household. It was never discussed, and Gloria's easy description about a lustful group orgy made her both uncomfortable and excited. She hoped Gloria couldn't see her blush in the dim light of the candles.

"People dance, I dance," commented Gloria, "in honor of my spirit ancestors." Christy shivered as she watched her friend's eyes look her up and down, appraising her. "I enjoyed dancing with you tonight, you know—I think you enjoyed dancing with me too..."

"Yes, I did," replied Christy. "I think I drank too much though, I'm feeling rather lightheaded."

"Perhaps you should sit down," said Gloria. "Come sit by me."

Christy set the statuette of the dog-headed god down and went to sit on the couch next to Gloria who just smiled at her and continued her story.

"Throughout the ages," she began, "From the beginning of time, before all of recorded history, our people have danced. I say 'our people' because really, you and I are from the same place. All human life is descended from the same 'family' of people. Scientists have studied mitochondrial DNA—the DNA passed down by women from generation to generation, and there is strong evidence to believe that all of us, we are all related. We date back to a common "EVE" a family of related women."

Mesmerized by the melodious sound of Gloria's voice, Christy listened—enraptured by the excitement of Gloria's dissertation on the evolution of women.

"It is commonly believed that we're all descended from peoples who came of the lands between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Some stayed in the area—some peoples migrated to other places. Inbreeding and geographic differences caused mutations in the genomes, and lightness and darkness of skin color evolved."

"But," Christy interrupted, "If we are all descended from the same family, wouldn't that make us sisters?"

"Yes," Gloria said, as she rose from the couch and walked around the room lighting the many candles. "You and I are sisters, as you are sisters with all women, through all the world. Isn't that wonderful?"

Christy nodded. An only child, Christy never knew the joy of sisterhood. She thought back on her loneliness growing up, how she'd always wished to have a sister to confide in, and with whom she could share her triumphs and fears.

"My people celebrate with song, and with dances," Gloria said, quietly, watching Christy's reactions, reading her body language, sensing her excitement. "They dance, for all sorts of reasons-- to ask for rain, they dance their dead into the afterlife, they dance to celebrate marriages, and births, and they dance for fertility—not just for their own fertility, but also for the fertility of the whole village, and for all the crops they grew and animals they hunt."

"But there were other dances," said Gloria, her voice low and husky. "Secret dances, special dances, where the women danced together, without the men." Christy gazed at beautiful Gloria, entranced by her smile, and the flicker of the candlelight. "The priestesses would dance secret dances with the unmarried virgins, teaching them the women's ways."

Christy chuckled as she imagined Gloria as priestess, with her wide hips and large breasts swaying to the beat of conga drums, and a small group of thin, flat, but pert, chested, giggling girls imitating her movements.

"By learning the secret dances that only women dance, they unlocked the secrets of their sensuality. They used the dance to attract a husband, to show they were strong, healthy, women capable bearing strong, healthy babies... They entered the dance girls, they exited, women." Somewhere, deep in the back of her mind,

Christy realized the meaning of Gloria's words. Gloria wanted to dance with HER.

"I don't know how to dance," Christy commented softly, looking down and shuffling her feet.

" I will teach you a special dance, sister." Gloria responded gently. "It's a special dance, a secret dance. It's a dance that only women-sisters can dance, as only women understand the steps."

Christy slowly sipped her wine, letting the warmth spread from her tummy out to the tips of her tingly fingers, and marveled at how Gloria's deep brown eyes sparkled and reflected the flicker of yellow candlelight as she passionately described ancient dances, of her people, of their people.

"Watch, sister," Gloria said, as she stood and turned up the music. Christy obeyed.

Gloria began slowly dancing to the deep booms of the music playing on the stereo. Effortlessly, she gyrated her hips from side to side, flexing her large, firm, buttocks and thighs stepped with the music

Riveted, Christy watched as her friend danced in the center of the room, Gloria flung her head forward and backward, and her long black braids lashed against the smooth, dark, skin on her back, exposed shoulders, and breasts.

The tempo increased, and Christy could see Gloria's unfettered breasts bounce and sway as she threw back her shoulders, and arched her back to the rhythmic beat of the tribal music. Occasionally, her breasts would bounce higher than the top of Gloria's nightgown, and Christy was surprised to see a silver ring protruding from each tiny brown nut of Gloria's nipple.

Gloria's face was flushed, a burgundy blush to her cheeks and lips. Christy wondered what those lips would feel like, pressed against hers. The tingle that had started in her fingertips and toes spread inward, upward. She touched her lips and realized they were throbbing, swollen, as were her own nipples. Her heart, and her crotch, throbbed with each beat of the drum, each step of her friend.

Unconsciously, Christy shifted her weight, flexing her buttocks and thighs to the music as she watched Gloria dance. She felt very, very hot, her bra felt uncomfortably tight, and her panties unusually moist inside her pants. Christy downed her glass of wine. It hit the bottom of her stomach and made her head spin.

Gloria smiled at her as she extended her hand. "Dance with me,"