- Dance Etiquette
- Intimidation
- What is Swing Dancing?
- Live Music
- Thanks for 20 years
| Dance Etiquette
by Roger Weiss With apologies to the people I've unintentionally offended while dancing,
I'd like to offer 12 points of etiquette that will help make you more
charming on the dance floor.  2. Asking people to dance/being asked to dance: If there's someone you want to dance with, go up to him/her, excuse yourself (if necessary) and ask him/her to dance. Body signals are often not enough of a cue. If you're not comfortable doing the asking, try standing (not sitting) on the side of the dance floor, moving to the music, acting involved, making eye contact, and smiling. 3. Turning people down: If you must turn someone down, be sure to thank him/her and ask if you can dance later. Then make every attempt to do so. If you don't ever want to dance with that person, either say, "No, Thank you", or tell him/her why. Try to be as pleasant as possible. 4. Booking ahead: This is extremely dangerous and very often rude, as some people spend an inordinate amount of time lining up enough partners, instead of talking to their current ones. Needless to say, people often forget whom their next dance is with. 5. Interrupting people who are talking to ask one of them to dance: A lot of people feel that if you're not dancing, you're available to be asked to dance. Often, they'll interrupt a conversation between people standing on the side of the hall, or between people who have just finished dancing. This is rude, on the one hand, but accepted behavior on the other. We need some rules. I submit that if you want to talk to someone, you should sit down and maintain eye contact or leave the dance area. As the asker, be sure to excuse yourself before asking someone to dance. Remember, you're the intruder here, and you need to be sensitive to the situation. While Dancing 6. Teaching while dancing: Unless requested to do so, don't do it. 7. Dancing at your partner's level: In couple dancing, the goal is to make your partner look good, not to show off! 8. Bumping into other dancers: Be sensitive to the amount of space around you and adjust your dancing accordingly. If space is tight, take smaller steps and don't do all of your hot moves (on other people's feet). Always apologize if you bump into someone or step on their feet. 9. Apologizing to your partner: Usually unnecessary. Don't worry about blowing a lead or not following perfectly. Enjoy yourself and try it again. Relax, it's only dancing! 10. Dancing close: This is usually determined by the woman (follower). The man (leader) needs to hold and guide the woman, and she will determine how close she feels comfortable dancing. People have different spatial requirement, and these need to be respected. After the dance 11. Appreciating the band: When the band finishes a song, be sure to applaud and show them you like what they're doing. A happy band will usually provide you with better music. 12. What to say and do at the end of a dance: Thank your partner for the dance and perhaps, compliment him/her. Then either ask for the next dance or walk each other off the dance floor. Copyright Roger Weiss, ©1990 All rights reserved by the author. Duplication or use in any other medium, including but not limited to print publication, another web site, or downloading to a storage medium on CD, floppy disk, hard drive, zip drive, or tape, without the written permission of the author is prohibited. |
| Intimidation on the Dance Floor
by Roger Weiss As a local dance teacher and producer, I've heard a lot of comments from dancers about feeling uncomfortable or inhibited on the dance floor. Beginning dancers sometimes feel uncomfortable because they don't know many people and it seems that everybody else at a dance knows each other. Try attending the lesson before the dance, if there is one. The lesson is a good way both to warm up and to get to know people, especially because everyone is usually encouraged to switch partners. By the time the dance starts, you've shared a common experience with anywhere from twenty to a hundred people, and you may even have several prospective dance partners. Beginning (and even not-so-beginning) dancers also worry that they can't dance as well as the other people in the room. Often , a man is hesitant to ask a woman to dance if he feels that she's a much better dancer than he is. But remember that a lot of the enjoyment of dancing comes more from the feeling you get dancing with your partner than from doing fancy moves. If, as a leader, you feel unsure about your dancing, here are a few suggestions: stick to moves you know, listen to the music, talk to your partner, and smile. Followers should try to relax and connect with their partners. It's your partner's responsibility to make you feel comfortable. A good lead will always dance to your level of experience, and will never show off. Couple dancing is not about how well you can dance, but how well the two of you can dance together. Many people hesitate to ask the more experienced dancers to dance because they see them as "dance snobs" - dancers who dance only with other good dancers. Keep in mind that a lot of experienced dancers have been dancing with one another for years and have become friends. Experienced dancers, however, could benefit the whole dance community by making the effort to dance with newcomers to make them feel welcome. If a newcomer has at least one good dance experience, he or she is more likely to come back and perhaps tell friends about the experience. Without a constant influx of new people, the dance scene would eventually dry up. Remember, we're dancing to have fun. Taking it too seriously and feeling intimidated wastes a lot of time. Don't worry about learning every new move; time will take care of that. Listen to and dance with the music. When you do what you can to make your partner enjoy dancing with you, the pleasure will be returned manyfold. Copyright Roger Weiss, ©1990 All rights reserved by the author. Duplication or use in any other medium, including but not limited to print publication, another web site, or downloading to a storage medium on CD, floppy disk, hard drive, zip drive, or tape, without the written permission of the author is prohibited. |
| What is Swing Dancing?
by Roger Weiss There seems to be a lot of controversy over what swing dancing is.
I don't believe in getting all caught up in the semantics of what
each style has to be called, it's just not that important to me.
But, for new people (and some experienced ones I know),
I'd like to offer my perspective on the different swing dance
terms being tossed around. Swing Dancing is a general term which at the very least, means
dancing to swing music.
Swing music can be from the swing era (thirties-forties) all the
way to current day. The main characteristic of swing music is that
it swings.
How can you tell if a song swings? Tough question. Some things can't be put into
words, it's all in the feel. All I know is, when the music's swinging,
I can't stand still!
Copyright Roger Weiss, © 1998. All rights reserved by the author. Duplication or use in any other medium, including but not limited to print publication, another web site, or downloading to a storage medium on CD, floppy disk, hard drive, zip drive, or tape, without the written permission of the author is prohibited.
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| Dancing to Live Music
by Roger Weiss OK, I admit it; I prefer dancing to live music. Not that I have anything against dancing to recorded music, it’s just that when given the choice, a good live band always wins. I should add that I’m not writing this because I run a live-music dance; I run a live-music dance because I believe in live music and would like to encourage others to support it as well. If dance communities don’t support live music, bands will break up or stop traveling outside their immediate area. If they break up, there’ll be no new recorded music! I’ve been concerned about this trend for some time, and have spoken to others about their thoughts. Below, are some opinions from dancers, teachers, and musicians. Dancer/teacher Teri Calderone says, “There is an energy that exists with good live music that cannot be duplicated with CDs.” Larry Edelman, a dancer/caller from Colorado says, “There is a wonderfully responsive feedback loop between dancers and musicians. Live music energizes dancers to dance better (than they would have with recorded music) and enjoy it more. The dancers' enthusiastic response sparks the band to play even better and with increased energy, which is passed back to the dancers, who have an even better time. This dynamic interplay between dancers and musicians makes for a powerful dance experience that can't be matched with recorded music.” Hop to the Beat dance teacher Aurelie Tye says: “It doesn’t always happen, but when you feel the energy in a room as the band and dancers feed off each other, it can’t be beat! Each band has its own style and feel, and with live music comes a certain level of unpredictability, all of which can inspire new, fresh dance possibilities.” O-Tones musician, Mary Witt says: "With live music, you don't have the predictability of canned music...performers and dancers respond to the moment through music and movement tailored to what's happening right then". In his autobiography, Frankie Manning, Ambassador of Lindy Hop, co-written by Cynthia R. Millman, Frankie talks about the connection between the dancers It is true that you are sometimes gambling on whether a band will be good and/or danceable, but when the band and dancers are in sync, and “talking” to each other, the dancing is great, and the energy a dancer can get from a good, live band is unbeatable. So, if having the opportunity to dance to live music is important to you, support it now to keep it around for years to come. (Full disclosure: I've been running the monthly Boston Swing Dance Network dances (www.bostonswingdance.com) for over twenty years, where we feature a different band every month.) Copyright Roger Weiss, ©2003, 2007. All rights reserved by the author. Duplication or use in any other medium, including but not limited to print publication, another web site, or downloading to a storage medium on CD, floppy disk, hard drive, zip drive, or tape, without the written permission of the author is prohibited. |
and the band when he describes a dance competition he won, in which he introduced the first air step. “I flung that girl so far across the floor that we almost took up the whole ballroom! This was one time when we really danced to the music, and it seemed like the band was catching everything we were doing. Every time I kicked my leg out, Chick [Webb] would say, “DJBOOM!” If I did a little a little swing-out, Taft Jordon would play, “BEOOOOWWW!” Frieda [Washington] had one of the greatest twists of any of the girls, and she could really show it off. When she was twisting around me, Chick Webb was playing “CHEEE-CHI-CHI, CHEEE-CHI-CHI” on the cymbals keeping time with her…I swung her out and did a jump turn over her head while Chick said, “SHUUMMP!” Then I jumped so we were back to back and flipped her. While she was going over, he played “CHI-CHI-CHI-CHI-CHI-CHI-CHOO.” And when she hit the floor right on the beat… “BOOMP!” They won the dance contest, and no one could deny the interaction between them and the band was a tremendous help.|
Thanks for Swinging with us for 20 Years
by Roger Weiss
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