mybat and also to jothar- if you read my postings, you will see that I do NOT insist that women should dance. Quite the contrary, I specifically said that I do not take any sides on this. All I said was that HALACHACALLY, there is ABSOLUTELY no issur for a woman -at any time, even during her time- to touch (or read) a sefer torah. This is EXPLICIT in the gemoro, the rambam and the shulchan aruch. AND= on that se’if (joreh deah 282) no one argues and there is no “hagohoh’ from the Remo. This clearly indicates that-HALACHACALLY- it is “muttar” and everything else is a ‘minhag”.
I am not minimizing minhagim but there is a world of difference beteen a “halcha’ and a “minhag”