Unfortunately for me, I am a guy who does not like to dance. I am bad at it (at best). So I try to shy away from circumstances where I would be asked by someone to dance.
But there are times when that it is relatively unavoidable, like at a wedding. I was at an event that I attended alone, and people were dancing to good music. A woman came up to me and asked me if I wanted to dance. The awkwardness I felt is hard to put into words, since I felt my refusing would hurt her feelings. And what made it worse is that I really would have enjoyed spending time with her both at this event, and even afterwards. I have been wondering ever since what I could have done to make it work better for both of us.
So how does one refuse to dance with a woman who is just trying to be nice, but without hurting her feelings?