Article: RHYTHM'S GONNA GET YOU; Pulsing music at American Folk Festival draws dancing enthusiast Maria Baeza

Latin dancing, for women, is about following. Grasping lightly his shoulder and hand. Focusing on his rhythm - back and forth. Intuiting his step - left, right, left. Trusting his lead.

Maria Baeza, a 56-year-old therapist with curly, dark hair and coffee-colored skin, says those are the rules.

"I'm assertive. Single. Everything's on me; it's all on my back. And I'm fine with it," she said recently from her office in Bangor. "But when I am on that dance floor, I don't do anything but follow."

For Baeza, who grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., and whose roots stretch to Puerto Rico, following a dance partner is more than minding a cultural rule. It's about learning how to follow on a more spiritual ...

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