Wednesday, October 3, 2012

The Long Awaited Night

So, hi.
It's Wednesday.
And Wednesdays from now all will mean Swing Kids.

Here's what I learned about life this evening at SK...
Lots of girls are interested in dancing but boys are always going to be persuaded by the statement, "There are lots of girls there." Seriously, at least two of the leads I talked to admitted to that being the reason they came. And I put no shame on them. SK needs leads; I don't care why leads come. Plus, their assumption that they'll get lots of attention is true.
Doing the beginner lesson is a lot of fun, even if you already have a foundation. I think that the beginner lesson is a really, really good way to get to know some new people as well as getting to know the leads. Yes, there's a difference even though people are leads. Getting to know people starts with "Hi, my name is...". Getting to know a lead starts when you step into position. It's almost comical how much you can tell about a person's experience just from the way they hold themselves and their partners. Another thing you can tell about leads from their stance/position is if they've done any other time of ballroom dancing. People who salsa like to work their shoulders and hips more than swing usually calls for, and their form is too stiff (the same generally holds true for people who waltz.)
When almost everyone in the room belongs to one of the two groups (Beginner or Advanced), it's hard to be an intermediate (which is where I'd place myself). It's also hard to be new. Most of the beginners seem to bond over that status, or they all met at the meeting I missed last week. There's less pressure for a beginner lead to dance with a beginner follow because neither of them has a very big vocabulary. The advanced people know each other already and have extensive vocabularies so they all dominate the dance floor. Basically, I learned that they best way to dance was to ask a lead if they wanted to dance, which isn't really a new phenomena. Still, I look forward to the day when the leads gain enough confidence to do most of the asking.

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