Riot and Frolic

Episode 7 : Practice Makes Practice... Or, At Least, Better

 

 

This episode is based on the post from October 22, 2011.

The floorcraft blog is here: How to Floorcraft

The Toothbrush Exercises are here on the blog and here on YouTube (horrifying, horrifying YouTube).

Episode 6 : Blogiversary (ie, Why This Podcast Exists)

 

This episode is based on the post from April 27, 2021.

If you'd like to catch up on the Social Etiquette series, check this out.

If you'd like to ask me a specific question or add to the "terrific vs. terrible social dance stories" post, email me at riotandfrolic@gmail.com.

Here's a hot guy for me... er, you:

Social Dance Etiquette : What to Do

Whether you're new to the social dance scene, or you're a little rusty, or MAYBE YOU JUST NEED A REMINDER, here we go:

Before You Go

Hygiene

Steer clear of the onions, garlic, and spicy, delicious sausages for the 12 hour period before you hit the dance scene, hit the shower, wear some trustworthy deodorant and clean clothes, bring a towel or change of shirts if you're the "glowy" type, and regardless of your meals that day, pop a mint in your mouth.  

[And guess what? I've already written a post about hygiene.]

When You Get There

Ask someone to dance

You didn't go to a dance to not dance, so gather your gumption and walk up to a potential dance parter,

LOOK THEM IN THE EYE

SMILE

and say,

"Would you like to dance?"

Bold.  I know.

10 extra points if you offer your hand [men, palm up; ladies, palm down; yes, it's all very Bridgerton.]

NO POINTS ARE AWARDED WITHOUT EYE CONTACT, SMILING, AND WORDS FIRST.

Start the Dance

There's no "prom dancing" at ballroom events.  Or "Y dancing" for you Fred Astaire peeps. [Do they still do that? With the "Y dance when you can RUMBA?!" joke? IT IS SUCH A GOOD ONE.]

ANYHOW, once you have a partner, no matter who asked who, the gentleman escorts the lady to his favorite spot on the dance floor and does his best impression of regular ol' dance frame.  It doesn't have to be amazing, but it does have to exist.  (If you're sketchy on what constitutes "dance frame", please get thee to a professional.) Leads, you should swiftly offer your left hand to the follow to make it clear that you're going to start the dance. If you're doing a nightclub dance (Swing, Salsa, West Coast Swing, the like), feel free to offer two hand hold.

Generally at social dances, you can leave any thoughts of practicing your topline and phenomenal connection the door.  Or even outside the door.  MOST people go to social dances to [gasp] socialize with their dancing friends and acquaintances through shared movement to music, not to practice their shaping.

Dropping your elbows (and giving your partner subtle A-OK signs) is usually acceptable, especially on a crowded dance floor, as seen below.

Follow Line of Dance

Again, if you're sketchy on this term, call your local professional, but "follow the crowd" is a pretty good interpretation.  

Traveling dances always move counter-clockwise around the ballroom.  Strangely, the "fast lane" is on the outside of the floor, so if you're less than confident in your moving steps, stick to the corners, or shoot into the middle of the floor. (The same applies when you'd like to do Swing during a Quickstep or Foxtrot aaaand good luck if you're trying vice versa.)

Spot dances stay on a ... spot ... so choose a nice one.  Slot dances are usually danced parallel to the long side of the room.  

[Again, I have a pre-existing post on floorcraft, aka going line of dance.]

Dance the Entire Song

Unless you're square dancing, you should plan to spend the ENTIRE TWO MINUTES dancing with your chosen partner.  

Ballroom social dances might play their songs up to three minutes, but that's pretty Crazytown.  1:30 is usual and 2:00 is generally the longest.  

You can do it.  Wait for that fade out or the MC to signal the song is over.

(If you're dancing to a live band, all bets are off and I try to take the floor about halfway into a song so I don't die, but that's just me.  [Thank you, Jazz Band, for teaching me when "halfway" through a song is.])

[This post is related to social dancing, as well.]

Do the Dance

MEN, start with the basic, then add on a few foundation steps until you get a feel for your partner.  The point of a social dancing is to enjoyably share movement to a song, not to make her feel bad for not following your obscure lead of a pattern you kind of know. 

LADIES, do your best.  Go along with their timing (even if it doesn't exist) and see if you can add joy to the shared movement.

Laugh and smile if a mistake happens because you are DANCING.

DANCING IS FUN. 

DAMMIT.

Finish the Dance

When the dance is over, reverse the order of how you got on the floor:

ESCORT YOUR PARTNER OFF THE FLOOR.

Say, "Thank you for the dance."

SMILE.

MAKE EYE CONTACT.

10 extra points for a rollout at the end of the dance, but that is super extra and must be practiced a lot beforehand.  

NO POINTS WILL BE AWARDED WITHOUT EYE CONTACT, SMILING, AND WORDS.

After the Dance

You did it!  You went dancing and left a good impression on your partners and set a great example for other dancers.

Now, go do it again.

Disclaimers disclaimers disclaimers: I'm no Emily Post, but I do hear an earload from dancers when people get this stuff wrong.  Some of it is implicit (hopefully now explicit) and some of it is old-fashioned, but most of it is showing respect and courtesy to others.  Also, I generally use "gentlemen" for leads and "ladies" for follows, so deal with it. 

You better believe "What NOT to Do" is coming next.

 

Episode 5 : Social vs. Competition Dancing

 

 

This episode is based on the ancient blog post from July 20, 2012.

Feel free to use the internet to look up "social dance etiquette"... or look here on Saturday.

And when I said "us" in this episode, I meant "you".  

LOVE YOU.

Episode 4 : Why: Tanning for Ballroom Dance Competitions

 

 

This episode is based on the blog post from April 18, 2019.

The articles I mention from SK Dancesport are here: pros and cons of fake tanning products

And here: the perfect tan

GUYS. ALL MY FAVORITE TANNERS HAVE BEEN DISCONTINUED. 

But honestly, self-tanners have come a long way, so pick anything and try it out BEFORE YOUR EVENT.

Here's the highlighter/under-brow color I recommend : Nylon by MAC

Here's Boyko.

Here's DanceVision.

And here's my sources if you want to get nerdy:

https://www.ald.org.uk/blog/203395/lighting-skin-tones-in-theatre

https://www.iar.unicamp.br/lab/luz/ld/Diversos/maquiagem/Lights28.pdf

http://www.usailighting.com/stuff/contentmgr/files/1/54341a94e6953fb3afa22ed6800823de/misc/differentlightcolorsaffectskinandmakeup_xovain.pdf