I really love to dance for dance's sake; I am one of those people who cannot resist dancing when a good song comes on. However, I also love dance because it did wonders for my social skills and confidence when I was a teen. I actually credit it for bringing me out of depression. I learned to interact with people I didn't know and who came from all walks of life. I also learned to not be afraid of making mistakes and looking silly (everyone who has ever danced has done both). Even though I was not a beautiful person, I became a beautiful dancer, was recognized for it, and sought after as a dance partner because of it. (If you become a good dancer, I promise that you will be too, FA men. Leaders are often in short supply and good leaders are especially desired.) Even if you aren't like me, and don't intrinsically love to dance, dance can hugely benefit you.

There are so many dance communities out there and the vast majority are very friendly to beginners. Swing dancing is a great choice; it's relatively easily to get the basic step down, the music is fun, the crowd is often youthful (20-30's). As in many partner dance lessons, in swing lessons, instructors will often have the followers rotate from leader to leader throughout the lesson, so you don't have to come with anyone, you get to meet a lot of people, and you aren't stuck with anyone for too long if you don't like them.

Contra dancing is a decent bet too, especially if you're a little odd and are okay with dancing with other somewhat odd people. The contra dancing community is definitely the most accepting I've ever seen, though strangely enough, consists mostly of college kids and middle aged people with very few people in between. The learning curve is initially steep, but flattens out quickly. Once you learn a few calls, you're good to go. You also dance with everyone during that actual dance, in addition to your partner, who accompanies you throughout, so asking someone to be your partner for any particular dance is low pressure. This might not be the best dance community to meet sexy young ladies in, but it's a good community to start dancing in if you are feeling a lot of anxiety about learning to dance, and especially if you come across as socially awkward.

To succeed socially in dance you have to ask people to dance. Ask tons of people to dance, even if you suck. Ask people to dance, even if they often say no. Ask people to dance even if you don't want to sleep with them. Short of actually assaulting someone, the quickest way to get labeled a creep in most dance communities is to make it all about sex; to reduce dancing to an opportunity to hit on someone or touch someone. Also, you will never get good at dancing if you do not practice dancing with a lot of different people, and the better the dancer you are, the more people will want to dance with you.

PM me if you want more info.