Social Dancing: Why Dancing Off Time Is Important
Dave Vs. Social Dancing
Social dancers can have it rough sometimes, especially beginners when they start social dancing. The experience of a beginner usually goes like this: Dave develops a desire to learn how to swing dance or salsa. The novice Dave then goes to DanceHub.com to search for a local dance studio with beginner level classes and he attends a few of them. Once Dave realizes that social dancing offers a chance to practice and get better, a cloud of nerves and fears begin to roll in. What if no one wants to dance with me? What if I look stupid out there? But, hey, what the heck? So, dear, sweet Dave musters up courage and attends the social just to discover a crowd of experienced veterans making all the new kids look really, really dumb. Dave gets turned down so many times he feels completely let down and embarrassed. None of the better dancers will even give him a chance. He goes home and calls his mom crying about how everyone was so mean, unfriendly, snobby, and elitist? Not all of them, but most of them. Ok fine, maybe Dave didn’t really cry to his mom but he sure felt like it.
I am the kind of person that roots for the little guy and that is why I empathize with beginners like Dave. Over and over, I have seen tons of new people wanting to check out a dance scene just to be turned off by the lack of encouragement. Unfortunately, some of these newbies never come back. What if the next ballroom champion is the girl you will never ask to dance again after she made you “look bad out there”? I don’t speak from a place of ignorance. What happened to Dave has happened to me. One of the first times I ever went social dancing, a guy asked me to dance and as soon as he realized I had no idea what I was doing, he turned around and left me on the dance floor all by myself! This is one of the most embarrassing and rude acts I have experienced. I don’t care who you are. If you can’t act with politeness and integrity, there should be no place for you on the dance floor. I have heard horror stories like these repeatedly and I’d like to put my two cents in. Just because someone isn’t dancing “on time”, or turns left when you open up for a right, doesn’t mean that they don’t deserve respect as a human being. Being a great dancer doesn’t mean you get to belittle others and make them feel stupid. I am so sick of seeing experienced dancers turn their nose up to less experienced ones.
What the social dancing community must realize…
On the other hand, these pretentious jerks need to learn some valuable lessons. The social dancing community needs to realize that dance didn’t originate as a meticulously crafted choreography with perfectly spotted turns and impeccable styling. The perfect dancers and dance genres didn’t just poof into being. Dance began with a simple desire to move. It began as a passion that was not grounded on “triple-step, triple-step, back-step” but a spark and a happiness that soared as the body moved freely to the music. Think of African slaves stomping and waving their hands to their drums and their own melodious voices. I think of bharat natyam where exotic Indian women dance and unravel stories with their eyes. I think of Native American tribes that interpreted animals and worshipped the heavens with their bodies. To me, the origin of dance comes from the same place that Dave’s origin of dance comes from. It is a place inside of us that experiences bliss and delight like no other. When I dance, my body swarms with life. When I dance, I exist. It is a buoyancy I earnestly seek. I believe that everyone deserves the chance to feel that too. Those of us who get to have a “dancer’s high” every weekend should be joyfully and willingly helping others get there too. All that love dance, love it because of how it makes us feel.
What matters when it comes to social dancing.
There is a huge following for a social dancer in Puerto Rico that never had any classical training. Idanira didn’t go to ballet school. She doesn’t take ballroom classes and she sure doesn’t dance on the “one” but, to me, she represents the beginning of Latin dance and that is why I love to watch her. She represents all those people that have a raw, natural desire to dance and it doesn’t matter whether it’s “on time” or not. What matters is that from Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Colombia there were people that created a beautiful genre of music and dance that arose from their hearts and souls and traces back for centuries. We have these precious dances today and it’s not because someone was dancing on the “one” or on the “two”. It’s because someone had the courage to begin. So, next time you go social dancing, remember the beginners and give them a smile and a hand. It really does make a difference.
If you can, take them to the place I love and cherish so dearly. It’s the place where I realize I am dancing in my favorite club with all the regulars. It’s when I realize that this is my favorite song and I happen to be with my most favorite dancer. The lights are low and our bodies are sweaty. We are both excited to come together and move to the sounds of the live band. My feet hurt and I have work in the morning but this is what makes life worth living. I am smiling. I am happy. I am alive. Gosh, I think, everyone should know what this is like, even Dave.
For more information on dance lessons or to get involved with a dance studio in your area visit DanceHub. Discover dance studios, dance instructors, and dance classes near you.
