• Dance Discussions - Social Dancing

    Dance in the time of COVID: Vaccines and Variants

    June 7, 2021 - By 

    You likely love to dance. I do too. Like you, I am eager to get back to social dancing – but first we need to talk about deciding when to start dancing again that factors in vaccination and variants. Let’s talk about suggestions for organizers that can help minimize infection risks for attendees. Some of the strategies we will examine include requiring vaccination, holding events outdoors, improving ventilation, and symptom screening or rapid-testing. Acknowledgement First and foremost, I want to acknowledge the privilege of having access to vaccines. Many communities around the world, particularly in the global south, may not…

  • Congresses & Travel - Dance Discussions - Health & Safety

    Dance in the time of Corona: A primer and suggestions on the novel Coronavirus and social dancing

    March 6, 2020 - By 

    A FOLLOW-UP TO THIS ARTICLE IS NOW PUBLISHED WITH REVISED INFORMATION BASED ON THE SITUATION AS OF MARCH 12, 2020 Note from The Dancing Grapevine: The Author, Dr. Hsu, is a physician actively practicing in both community and acute care hospital settings. She has spoken extensively with a Public Health specialist physician about this matter, particularly how the Novel Coronavirus will interact with our dance communities.  Novel Coronavirus: An Unexpected Reality Is this real life? Yes, it is. But, social media posts from your friends are not the best source of information. Instead, you should look for information from the…

  • Beginner-Friendly - Congresses & Travel - Health & Safety - Performance & Competition - Social Dancing - Workshops & Classes

    Guest Article: The Importance of Warm-Ups

    January 21, 2019 - By 

    A Note from Laura: Sydney is a lifelong dancer who holds a Masters degree in dance and has substantial experience in both solo and partnered styles. She is currently travelling around the world to better understand the history, culture, and technique of Brazilian Zouk. Given her extensive classical training, she seemed like a great person to author a piece on the importance of a full warm-up and cool-down in the context of partnered dancing – an aspect many social dancers neglect. We hope you enjoy her debut piece on TDG.  Injuries: One Potential Culprit Social dancers often don’t think about dance…

  • Etiquette - Social Dancing

    Guest Article: A Plea for Verbal Communication

    February 6, 2017 - By 

    “Words are inadequate, this is why we dance” – Unknown Ah, partner dancing: the communication between two bodies to music. It transcends the individual and words. I really dislike talking while dancing. It prevents me from hearing the music and takes me out of the moment. I don’t even really like talking before or after dancing. Those 10-second chit-chats in between dances drain my energy. I’d much rather have a deep conversation with two friends over dinner than talk about the next workshop before the next dance starts. Even so, I’m here to encourage you to talk more. I think…