Swing dancing

[dagibbs]

I'm learning a fair bit, but what I really need to do is actually dance it.

Anyone on my flist in Ottawa comfortable with dancing Swing from the follow position interested in coming over and doing an hour or two of Swing dancing some evening, or evenings?

I may also try and head out to one of the local Swing clubs, too. But, then I have to ask complete strangers to dance.

Comments

[horsetraveller.livejournal.com]

Complete strangers stop being complete after you've danced with them. :)

If I was in Ottawa I'd come over to volunteer. I like practising my follow skills.

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

I know they aren't complete strangers after I've danced with them, but that means I have to get past the asking a complete stranger, and wondering if I'll dance well enough, and all sorts of anxieties.

If you were in Ottawa, or if I were in KW. Sadly, it isn't so.

[horsetraveller.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to hear you have anxieties about dancing well enough.

When a guy asks me to dance, I don't judge how well he dances. What's important to me is that he asked me to dance, so I get to go out on the dance floor and have fun (can't do that as a follow if I don't have a lead). Hopefully he is having fun.

If I get kicked or injured accidentally, well that is all in good fun and then I get to update facebook about what a bloody sport dancing is.

The only thing that I can't stand is when the guy criticizes me for not doing the step correctly. It's always up to the guy, and if the girl doesn't follow, it's the guy's fault. He most likely gave a confusing lead signal so she didn't get what he wanted. In very rare cases, the guy did lead completely perfectly but she didn't follow because she didn't know the step. In that case it's the guy's problem, and either make it so simple and obvious a lead that she can do what he wants even though she's never done it before, or it's too advanced for her and he shouldn't lead it.

But never never never can a guy say, "you did it wrong, you are supposed to do x". He says, sorry, let's try that again, and laughs and everyone has a good time.

The only time I get really angry about being injured is after a guy was being such a jerk as to tell me what *I* was doing wrong (I being the follow with years of experience and he being the beginner) and then kicked me because his foot was in the wrong place, and then I was bleeding.
I didn't dance with him after that.

I don't think you are in any danger of making a girl quite that angry.

Go ahead, ask a pretty one to dance, tell her she's pretty and you were admiring how well she was dancing earlier (if she was), and say you don't know too many steps so you will be doing the same two steps that you know. That will be fine with her.

If not, then she is the rude one and there should be others to choose from.

Go have fun. Getting your shoes on and being at the dance is the first step! If that is all you can manage the first day, great, then go home and the second day you go out then ask someone to dance.

But if you stay home all the days, that is not progress.

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Sometimes I think it might be easier to just go out and follow. The problem that gets me, is that I'm leading, so I'm supposed to "be in charge" and that (internally) tells me I should know what I'm doing.

I did go out and dance last night. I did enjoy myself. I don't think I left anyone angry with me. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to make someone angry by telling them what they did wrong -- I had one woman say, "I'm sorry I don't follow very well", to which my response was, "actually, my lead probably wasn't clear enough".

I do plan to go back out though.

And, part of the problem is how I compare myself to others. I don't look at the people who aren't very good, and think, "I could do at least that well", I look at the really good ones, and think, "I'm nowhere near that good".

[horsetraveller.livejournal.com]

Hi, I'm glad to read that you did go out and dance.

I am sure you would not make anyone angry. I just mentioned that as a "worst case scenario" and how extreme it needs to be to really tick me off.

Look at the really good ones and think, hey with another two hundred hours of dancing under my belt, I could be that good.
There was a point that those guys were dancing the way you do now.

When you're leading, you get to call the shots! So if what you want to do is one step that you know really really well, then get out there and do it!
It takes a while to "get it" and while waiting for it to click, guys and girls should be very kind to each other and just go out and try.