Your dance. Your place. Your schedule.
We've done our share of talking over how you can make a good impression at a dance social, so you can start building up dancers who know and like you. But none of that matters much if you don't put them first on the dance floor.
Continue reading "Boost Your Social Dance Popularity, Part Four: Entertain Your Partner"
"The only limitations are those you place upon yourself". That's the quote Joy of Dance student Agnieszka Kopka lives by, and a big part of how she overcame her initial shyness of dancing with others at socials.
Everybody wants to dance with the regulars at the ballroom dance hall - the really good dancers that make every dance look simply amazing. But getting on their radar is no easy feat. It takes persistence, experience... And most importantly, some knowledge of how dance socials work.
Continue reading "Boosting Your Social Dance Popularity, Part Two: Joining the In-Crowd"
So often I see students spend hours learning to dance, yet never actually going out and using it at a salsa club or ballroom dance hall. They’d like to go, but feel afraid to put their skills to the test.
I feel for you, I do. Despite what a lot of people say about dance instructors, we weren't born with some special ability that lets us dance anywhere without a care in the world. We all had to face that fear at some point.
Here is how I faced mine. Continue reading "Facing Your Fears: My First Salsa Club Night"
Dating a dancer can carry plenty of misunderstandings. Without an understanding of the social norms of the ballroom dance world, it’s hardly surprising that, when you see your beau enfolded in the arms of another, smiling as they move together, your first impulse is to grab your partner’s arm pull them off the floor.
Part of dating a dancer means accepting that ballroom dancing follows different rules from your standard bump n’ grind club. So how do you know what’s acceptable and what isn’t? Continue reading "Dealing with Jealousy when Dating a Dancer"
In our perfectionist society, we’ve been trained to see mistakes as some terrible defection of character, something to avoid at all costs. In the world of ballroom dance however, missteps are simply another form of growth. And good thing too, because you will make many, many mistakes while dancing. Therefore, you and your partner have no choice but to get used each other’s mistakes. And in the social ballroom scene, some well-timed dance humour is the best way to keep calm and dance on. Continue reading "20 Dance Humour Gems for Laughing At Mistakes"
The magic of the dance floor brings together people of all ages, careers, and creeds, as long as they have the steps, and the smile to back it up. So naturally, it’s a great place for finding love, even if you’re normally nervous as a fainting goat anywhere else. Continue reading "5 Tips For Finding Love at the Dance Social"
Wrapping up our theme on getting more dances and dance partners when social dancing, it’s time to take a look at what actually happens during the dance itself. If you score an awesome dance partner, you’ll want to get more dances from your new friend, right? Then here’s the secret: make sure they have as much fun as you do. Continue reading "Scoring More Social Dances From the Same Partner"
Last time, we looked at how to make yourself more approachable and more direct when social dancing, scoring yourself more dance partners in the process. Now I’m looking at you, ladies. You know this is the age of equality, and that you can unashamedly ask a gent to dance without getting cut-eye from his friends. Continue reading "Social Dancing Popularity: Get Asked More"
Going social dancing can feel like a crap-shoot, when it comes to whether it will be a ‘good dance night’. After all, who hasn’t had to endure a string of ladies who all had ‘headaches’, or men who seemed to ask all your friends but you? The key to increasing your social dance popularity isn’t simply learning more dance steps - or wearing less clothes. Continue reading "Increasing Your Social Dancing Popularity"