SOCIAL DANCE CULTURE ETIQUETTE

In the Social Dance Culture there are many 'unspoken rules'  to ensure everyone has a good time while social dance. These are accepted customs that you will find in most dance environments.

Before The Dance
  1. Personal hygiene is essential for an enjoyable dancing experience.  Minimizing the use of cologne or perfume helps everyone breathe easier.
  2. Dress appropriately for the event. Show some Attitude and dress up a little, but dress comfortably and sensibly. Most importantly, do not forget your dance or leather soled shoes.
  3. Always ask for a dance in a polite manner. It is acceptable for a follower to initiate a dance offer.  It is also a nice touch to introduce your self.  The leader always escorts the follower onto and off the dance floor, regardless of who initiated the offer. Followers please do not lead him on to the dance floor. Stand back and let him lead you on to the dance floor.

During The Dance
  1. Take time to connect with your dance partner at the beginning of the dance, while listening to the music. Get the feel of the music    before you start dancing. Start with simple moves while you get the feel of each other.
  2. Respect your partner at all times during the dance. 
  3. Be sensitive to your partner’s comfort level with their personal space.
  4. Respect your partner’s level of dancing. If you are the more experienced dancer, dance to your partner's ability. Most social dancers are considered to be at a Beginner/Intermediate Level.
  5. Dancers speak with their energy, connection and movement, without having to use words. Save verbal conversations to those times in between songs or dance sets.
  6. Avoid teaching and/or offering suggestions during the dance.  If someone asks, find an area off to the side of the dance floor that does not obstruct the other dancers. 
  7. Teaching by intermediate level leaders is generally frowned upon because often the leader is not qualified and his "teaching" can be unwelcome and resented by followers. 
  8. Be conscientious and courteous to your fellow dancers. Keep your dance moves within your own space.
  9. Be aware of your surrounding to avoid bumping into other dancers.  If you do, apologize, slow down, and be more careful.
  10. Stationary dancers (e.g. Swing dancers) stay in the middle,  traveling dancers move on the boundary counter clockwise
  11. When you are not dancing step off the dance floor. Always leave your drink at your table.

After the Dance
  1. The leader always escorts the follower off the dance floor after the dance. Escort the follower back to the original point of rendezvous, extend your gratitude and walk away gracefully.
  2. Ask a variety of partners to dance. It’s proven that you will learn to dance  30% faster by dancing with a variety of partners.

SOCIAL DANCING TIPS

I found a great blog on the ifreestyle.ca website, a Latin Dance School in Toronto. They did such a great job with tips for Leaders & Followers I thought I'd just share the link http://www.ifreestyle.ca/blog/category/social-dancing. Although they are referencing Latin Dances these tips apply to all forms of social dancing. Enjoy!