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Dance
Positions |
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| Two
Rules of the Road |
| by: Shawn Trautman |
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| There are two major rules in couples dancing that every dancer must have tattooed in his or her memory. |
| 1. Ladies are always right. |
| 2.
Men always get what is left. |
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| Ladies Are Always Right |
| The lady's first step in every dance will always
be taken with her right foot. Hence, ladies are always right. It is
not clear why this was initially established, but it has been opined
that the original inventors of the rules of dance decided that the
ladies were always right to compensate for the fact that the men were
the designated leaders of the dances. The rules of leading and following
will be discussed at further length later in this chapter, but in
the meantime, let it suffice that ladies are always right. Consequently,
the follower needs to become accustomed to waiting in ready position,
with her weight on her left foot, ready to take the first step with
the right. |
| Men Always Get What's Left |
| Speaking of the men, those of you who are learning
the leader's part of the dances need to remember that men always get
what is left. This means that you will always start a dance with your
left foot. So, when you are waiting in a ready position for a dance
to start, you will be standing with your weight on your right foot,
ready to take that first step with the left. |
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| The
practical aspect of these two rules is geared toward the prevention
of toe-smashing. This is easily demonstrated if you and your dance
partner stand facing each other, about 12 inches apart. Both men
and women stand in your ready position, as just described. On
the count of three, men will take one step forward and ladies
will take one step backward. One, two, three.... Were you successful
in toe-smashing avoidance? Hopefully you ended up with the man
having his left foot in front of his right and the lady with her
right foot behind her left. Had you both stepped with your right
or both stepped with your left, the lady’s toes most likely
would have been crushed, and that would have been the end of that
lesson or evening out! |
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| Remember—ladies are always right, and
men always get what's left. |
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