• Dance Discussions - Health & Safety - Social Dancing

    Envious Dancing

    April 20, 2024 - By 

    Dance can cause a lot of emotional responses. A lot of the time, we focus on the joy; sometimes we call these “dance highs”. But, every high has a low. One of those lows can be envy. What triggers envy? The triggers for envy can be subtle or obvious, and can look very different depending on the person. You might feel envy: This isn’t an exhaustive list; jealousy can take many, many forms. Sometimes, that envy can coexist with very real prejudices. For example, young women who are considered stereotypically attractive – especially if they are also a strong dancer…

  • 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 - Community Building - Dance Discussions - Etiquette - Health & Safety - Inspirational - Inspirational Stories - Social Dancing - Workshops & Classes

    10 Things I Learned in 10 Years of Dance

    September 26, 2019 - By 

    I turn 30 today. I started dancing when I was almost 20 (except for the ballet class I got kicked out of at age 5). That means that I’ve been dancing just over 10 years. From my infancy in Salsa to my current status as a Brazilian Zouk organizer and teacher, it’s been a long journey. In those 10 years, my dancing, my role, and my outlook has changed and evolved. Things I used to think were clear are shades of grey. This blog (started in 2013? 14?) is a living testament to that; my first few posts are very,…

  • Congresses & Travel - Dance Discussions - Health & Safety

    Dancers Behind the Wheel

    July 29, 2019 - By 

    I was in a car accident last night. We were hit on the drivers’ side by a person who ran a red light. By the time I noticed the all-black car at night, it was too late to swerve or stop. Both my passenger and I are physically fine, save for a possibly sprained wrist. My beloved Ginger (my first car) gave her life (she’s totalled) to keep us safe. But, this story could have ended very, very differently. If I had been going slightly faster, the impact would have been directly on my door – and it is unlikely…

  • Community Building - Dance Discussions - Health & Safety

    “Should they be banned?” Making Decisions About Bad Behaviour

    June 21, 2019 - By 

    Almost every scene has had a bad actor, ranging from lower-level he-said-she-said harassment to full, witnessed assault. Often, organizers and scene leaders are at a loss for an effective way to handle these issues. The default often goes one of three ways: The organizer does not want to deal with it and does not engage, resulting in no further action; The organizer takes the side of the alleged perpetrator because there isn’t enough “proof”; or, The organizer sides with the alleged victim(s), without careful consideration of the full story. I don’t think any of these directions is the appropriate way…

  • Community Building - Health & Safety - Social Dancing - Workshops & Classes

    5 things it’s OK to let yourself do as a dancer

    March 28, 2019 - By 

    For many of us, whether professional or amateur, dance is a passion that we devote a substantial amount of time, energy, and money to. We engage in training, travelling, and practising to make our dance closer to our perceived ‘ideal’. However, for some of us, we end up burning ourselves out because we push too hard too often. We start losing motivation (and then get mad at ourselves for that decreasing motivation), which can eventually cause some of us to depart from the scene entirely. One of the biggest contributors to this burnout is that many of us don’t permit ourselves…

  • Community Building - Etiquette - Health & Safety - Social Dancing

    Why Passive-Aggressive Feedback Doesn’t Work

    February 27, 2019 - By 

    Have you ever had an unpleasant dance? Maybe your partner squeezed your hand too hard. Maybe they were generally off-time and a bit rough. What did you do? Did you fix your face into an unsatisfied scowl to teach them a lesson? If you did, you have engaged in what I call passive-aggressive feedback. What is passive-aggressive feedback Passive-aggressive feedback is when a dancer uses body language (or, in extreme cases, even words) to indicate to their partner how unhappy they are with the present situation, but does not offer any constructive information as to what the issue is or…

  • 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…

  • Community Building - Dance Discussions - Health & Safety - Social Dancing

    Dance Predators

    August 31, 2018 - By 

    In social dance, we often exist in a bliss bubble. We are used to physical touch and trusting those around us. But, these conditions also make it easy for people who are predators to manipulate or prey on us, our friends, and community members. More often than not, the first allegation against someone won’t get a lot of traction unless there is substantial proof. But, in most cases, predators don’t commit a one-off assault. Rather, there’s a pattern of behaviour. One person may have experienced dance floor groping; another may have been kissed by force. Then, you may find out…

  • Health & Safety - Social Dancing

    Why the “Leg Clamp” is dangerous

    June 14, 2017 - By 

    Some dancers in close-hold dances like to do isolations with their hips and upper body. However, some dancers also use the “Leg Clamp” as a way of trying to connect and control the movements. The Leg Clamp is when a partner places their legs on either side of one of yours, and squeezes your leg. It can be found in many dances. Often, it’s used for one of two reasons: to immobilize the lower body in order to create upper body isolations (which is typically how it is used, when executed well). to maintain “connection” in the lower body, frequently…

  • Beginner-Friendly - Health & Safety - Social Dancing

    The Floorcraft Checklist

    November 7, 2016 - By 

    Floorcraft: the dance equivalent of driving. Most people are reasonable drivers – but sometimes you get the truck driver who decides doing a U-turn through a red light on a 6-lane road is a great idea (true story). Or, you could be a completely naive country girl driving for the first time in a big city that accidentally drives the wrong way into the underground streetcars-only lane (It was poorly marked, looked like a normal left turn, and this story is definitely not about me.) Floorcraft is the same. On any given floor, you have people who are: Good at it (normal, experienced people),…

  • Dance Discussions - Health & Safety - Social Dancing

    If Body Rolls are Hurting, Something’s Wrong

    September 26, 2016 - By 

    This is inspired by a conversation I recently had with a Dominican Bachata instructor, who has been relatively uninterested in the ‘Sensual Bachata’ trend. She had decided to come out and give Brazilian Zouk a try, partially to incorporate Zouk-like movements into routines. For example, off-axis turns. Or head movement. Or body rolls and upper body isolations. Like any true professional, she wanted to understand how to do the movements safely and properly before adding it to her work. After a while, she remarked that she wasn’t expecting the waves, head movement, and isolations to be so relaxing. She explained that…

  • Health & Safety - Leading - Social Dancing

    Love ’em or Hate ’em: 6 Polarizing Dance Moves

    August 17, 2016 - By 

    There are a few moves in any partner dance that inevitably divide follows right down the middle: they either love ’em, or hate ’em. So, what’s a lead to do? How do you tell whether you have a follow who absolutely adores dips – or wants you to never, ever, EVER do them? What clues are there that your follow is spin-happy, or spin adverse? What are the moves in partner dance that follows either love fiercely, or hate with a deep passion?

  • Beginner-Friendly - Etiquette - Health & Safety - Social Dancing

    Being Kind vs. Being Assertive

    July 25, 2016 - By 

    There are two truths I’ve learned in both dance and life about relating to people: Being assertive about your needs, wants, and rights is important; and, Being kind, polite and respectful is one of the best ways to deal with people. Several dance communities have recently been having a very important discussion of the role of consent, personal space, and our ‘rights’ as dancers. This is a long-overdue discussion – but I want to highlight one risk we run in our quest for assertiveness: We run the risk of becoming unnecessarily mean or rude.

  • Etiquette - Health & Safety - Social Dancing

    Good Intentions..?

    June 17, 2016 - By 

    Have you ever intentionally hurt or made someone uncomfortable while you were social dancing? (No? That’s what I thought) Now the trickier one… have you ever felt like someone intentionally hurt or made YOU uncomfortable while you were social dancing with them? What about, while not intentional, negligence (a lack of care) was responsible for the injury?