I have an upcoming formal party and I would like to dance with my wife to the tune of Leonard Cohan (Dance with me) . Here is the youtube video of the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_PIadFsvDk

I do not know how to dance , and I need your help to first figure out what kind of ballroom dancing matches this song (Waltz, Tango.. ?) and possibly if you can direct me to a sample dance that can be viewed on youtube best matching this song. I really do appreciate your comments. Thank for your help.

I just need to do a few correct steps.

This is a very complex, polyrhytmic piece of music. There are lots of options, but if you've not danced your choices are limited to Modern Jive or Discofox

Rex. It is 4/4 music at 32 bpm. This is Foxtrot Tempo. If you are a none dancer you would be advised to learn what is called a Social Foxtrot which is not hard to learn. It can be done in a confined space or a crowded floor.The beats if you care to count are 1234 1234 and so on.

What's complicated about it, after it comes into rhythm?

The trouble is, if you have to ask whether it could be danced as a Waltz (Triple time) or a Tango (Duple time), you obviously have either cloth ears, or can't dance at all. How many months do you have?

I would suggest Argentine Tango, myself, although I don't really think much of it as a 'dance' track.

I have about 2 months, and guests are not critics . 95% of them are in the same category as I am (can't dance and have cloth ears).

I know 1 or 2 waltz step. Is there no ballroom dance style to remotly match the song ?

this song is our favorite song and I'd like to use Leonard Cohen's version.

I listened to it and it is not a waltz. Some sort of swing perhaps, west coast, might work. Again, I suggest you find a more 'ballroom' version of the song.

I would suggest you look up Madeleine Peyroux's version of this song. It is a perfect foxtrot. American foxtrot is something that is manageable for a beginner dancer.

American foxtrot, or what we call in the UK 'social rhythm' foxtrot is probably your best bet.

One dance that sprang to mind when I heard the music was the Balmoral Blues. an English classical sequence dance which you should be able to find on youtube.
The only problem is that the Balmoral Blues is choreographed to music broken into 16 bar phrases, and this version only settles into that pattern for the last 64 bars. Earlier, after the introduction section, there are some mixed 16, 8 and 4 bar phrases that could perhaps be edited to suit.

On the other hand, if you are not a dancer and do not 'feel' the phrasing it may not be a problem for you.

Thank you for your introducing Foxtrot. I think I feel comfortable doing it with this song and it looks and feels right.

Foxtrot it is.