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Dance Etiquette
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| Dance Partner Etiquette for Any
Situation |
| by: Shawn
Trautman |
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| Partner etiquette is integral to a
lasting and enjoyable career on the social dance floor.
When you are dancing, the two most important people on
the dance floor are yourself and your dance partner.The
following rules will make your joint dancing
experience, especially during the learning period, much
more enjoyable. |
| Do Not Give
Unsolicited Advice |
| Unsolicited advice is arsenic to
your newly formed dance partnership. In the great big
world outside of the realm of dance, know-it-alls are
unwelcome, and on the dance floor the same rule
applies. Leave your an expert at home when you come to learn how to dance. The
only exclusion to this rule is when you are the paid
instructor. By paying the fee and attending the class,
the student(s) have waived their rights to give
unsolicited advice. They have designated the instructor
as the expert, and it is then the instructor's
job to give advice and correct problems as he or she
sees them—with tact and aplomb on every
occasion. |
| Trust Your
Partner |
| Always trust that your partner
will do the correct action as soon as he or she
possibly can. At least eight times out of ten, if your
partner is not executing a step or move correctly, it
is because his or her arms or legs aren't
quite getting the message from the brain yet, not
because your partner didn't understand the
move. Social dance was created as a leisure activity,
and by nature should be pleasurable to the
participants. Though the intentions are usually pure,
the results are often disastrous when beginning dancers
violate rules one and two of partner etiquette.
Remembering the old adage about removing the log from
your own eye prior to pointing out the splinter in your
dance partner's can salvage a difficult dance
session. |
| Thank Your
Partner |
| Miss Manners would be proud if all
dancers remembered this simple rule. Please be polite
on the social dance floor and thank your partner for
the dance. Even if it is through gritted teeth due to
painful smashed toes, a simple Thank you for the
dance goes a long way. |
| Always Introduce
Yourself |
| This final rule of partner dance
etiquette is probably the most frequently overlooked in
the social dance world. People attend dances and go out
to nightclubs in order to dance and meet other people,
but they often forget the simple step of introducing
themselves to a new dance partner in their zeal to show
off their spiffy moves. Remember, dancing is a social
event, and it is socially astute to at least learn
someone's name before invading his or her
personal space by assuming dance position! |
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