• Etiquette - Inspirational - Social Dancing

    The Selfless Dance

    March 31, 2016 - By 

    When you receive a selfless dance, it is magical. It can make you feel like you are on top of the world. At a minimum, it makes you feel happy and peaceful. It can lift your spirits or mend your mood, because the selfless dance is exactly what you needed in that moment. It can rescue your mood after a bad dance. It can make you forget about your daytime troubles. It can create a magical memory to take home. It can make you fall in love with the dance. But, the Selfless Dance should not be about you.

  • Congresses & Travel - Health & Safety - Social Dancing

    A note on ‘Dance Queues’

    March 23, 2016 - By 

    I’ve seen a lot on Facebook for months about ‘dance queues’, where follows (or leads, in some situations) line up for a particular pro. Sometimes, these lines can be as long as 20 or more dancers… or basically, around an hour wait time. Usually, this happens when there’s a big lead/follow imbalance at a big event – but not always. It’s also *usually* female follows waiting for a big-name male lead.

  • Congresses & Travel - Etiquette - Health & Safety - Social Dancing

    Your Drinking is NOT Helping your Dancing

    March 14, 2016 - By 

    Note: Drinking can be a problem for both leads and follows at congresses or events. This article is written from the perspective of a follow, but should be applied equally to both leads AND follows. Congresses are fun. Many are fun not only for dancing, but for partying with friends. At these parties, some people tend to drink a lot. Some of the people that drink think that it makes them a better dancer. It doesn’t. Maybe 1 or 2 drinks makes you more ‘creative’ and less inhibited; 5 or 6 do not. As for 10+, deeeefinitely not.

  • Etiquette - Social Dancing

    The Risk of Trashing your Partner’s Dancing

    March 11, 2016 - By 

    “Well, if she could ACTUALLY follow, then…” “He didn’t give me what I wanted. So, I let him know that.” “God, she’s always off time. It’s impossible to dance with her.” “He’s so boring. Can’t he just do something interesting once in a while?” “I didn’t have any good dances because my partners sucked.” “I lost that competition because my partner messed up.” I’ve heard just about every iteration of these thoughts from social dancers. Some more often than others.  But, should we be saying these things?

  • Leading - Social Dancing

    Your Follower is not Fragile

    March 9, 2016 - By 

    Every time I write an article on taking care of your partner on the dancefloor, I get a response that goes something like this: “When I dance with a lady, I take care of her. It is a man’s job to take care of a lady, because she is the fairer sex. On a dance floor, I must therefore make her safe and comfortable, because I am responsible for protecting this fragile gender.”

  • Beginner-Friendly - Workshops & Classes

    The Myth of ‘Right’ and ‘Wrong’

    March 8, 2016 - By 

    Have you ever written an essay? Maybe in high school, university, or college? I have. I have never gotten 100% on an essay. I did get a 95% once in the 8 years of post-secondary schooling that I’ve done. Once. On a topic I loved. It never happened again. I am pretty sure you didn’t automatically assume that I am a poor student or writer. This is probably because it seems reasonable to you that I’ve never had a ‘perfect’ score on an essay. Even if I got 75% regularly, you probably would still  think I was a pretty O.K. student.

  • Etiquette - Performance & Competition

    Jack n’ Jills: Do people ‘deserve’ better partners?

    March 2, 2016 - By 

    I remember my first-ever Jack n’ Jill competition in West Coast Swing. I was competing in Newcomer, but I had several years of dance experience before WCS. So, I had an ‘advantage’ over some of the people in the category. I ended up making it to finals. I drew this sweet, older gentleman as a partner. He was very, very nervous. We competed, and in the end I think we came 5th. Not shabby. Then, after the results, he came up to me and apologized for drawing me in competition. I don’t remember the exact wording, but it was something along the…

  • Leading - Social Dancing

    Basics vs. Creative Complexity: What Follows Really Want

    February 29, 2016 - By 

    Many leads I’ve met are frustrated by a paradox they see in the dance world. It can often seem that follows say “I want a guy who leads solid, connected basics – not advanced patterns”. Yet, the same follow is completely smitten by a lead with really, really cool moves that challenge the follower. Obviously, this can lead to a fair amount of frustration. Leads *really really* want to be a great partner dancer and give their follow an amazing time. They want to look good on the floor, and be that lead that the follows can’t wait to dance with.

  • Following - Health & Safety - Social Dancing

    Backleading

    February 22, 2016 - By 

    Every lead has encountered the Backleader. Very much the follow version of a Pinball Lead, the Backleader goes where he or she wants – without regard to the partner. It doesn’t matter if the lead has another idea or if the music has a specific accent to hit – the follow is on autopilot, driving without a map – but convinced that they know where they are going.

  • Leading - Social Dancing

    Are you a Pinball Lead?

    February 16, 2016 - By 

    Pinball Lead: a lead who does not let the follow finish a movement before launching into the next one. I have come across many Pinball Leads in my time. They can be a newer or older dancer, outgoing or shy, kind or snobby, and many other things. The unifying factor: they usually think that they’re doing the movement really well while they are pinballing me around.