Murder on the Dancefloor

[DaveD]

No not the Sophie Ellis Bextor song, but a question about dips, flailing arms etc. Why do some guys insist on doing flamboyant dips in the middle of a crowded dance floor? I try to keep away from the wilder types to avoid any collisions!

One of the untaught "skills" must be being aware of what's going on around you and tailoring the moves to the space available.

What do the girls think of dips / drops?

Dave

[Franck]

Originally posted by DaveD
No not the Sophie Ellis Bextor song, but a question about dips, flailing arms etc. Why do some guys insist on doing flamboyant dips in the middle of a crowded dance floor? I try to keep away from the wilder types to avoid any collisions!

One of the untaught "skills" must be being aware of what's going on around you and tailoring the moves to the space available.

What do the girls think of dips / drops?

Dave

Hi Dave,

Welcome to the forum.
I agree with you, that a lot of moves simply become inappropriate (and sometimes dangerous) on a busy dance floor. It is not even easy to keep away from the "wilder types" as you put it, as they tend to travel across the floor as well (
See thread on travelling moves ).
Most dips / jumps / etc... will be taught with safety in mind and always with caution in mind, but unfortunately, those moves tend to be passed on directly to friends without the proper safety information, resulting on some dangerous dancing on the dance floor
Safety should be at the top of your priorities when dancing, I always try to check behind me before leading my partner into even a catapult or half-windmill, just to check there is enough free space, and we regularly mention dance floor awareness when teaching beginners moves (the Pushspin and catapult come to mind). Workshops (especially Beginners workshops) are also great as you can spend more time on each move and explain the basics in more detail.

Cheers and safe dancing,

Franck.

[SwingSwingSwing]

I think part of the problem here is that , as DaveD said, it's mainly an "untaught" skill. I know that safety is mentioned when teaching dips and drops, but I don't think it's stressed enough. This also applies to dance space awareness. I would like to see more dance ettiquette being taught. There have been a number of times when I've left the floor because of the sheer number of collisions. Marco's seems to be worse for this.

Some guys adapt their styling and moves to the available space. Some guys don't. I wonder if they are aware of the danger they are putting their partner in when doing dips on a busy floor.

Personal Peeves on a Busy Floor:-

• People doing Dips and drops
• People doing Arials
• People keeping their moves "large"
• People rushing onto the dancefloor to grab a space that isn't really a space
• People not apologising when they have caused a collision.

Happy dancin'

SwingSwingSwing

[Stuart M]

Originally posted by SwingSwingSwing
I know that safety is mentioned when teaching dips and drops, but I don't think it's stressed enough. This also applies to dance space awareness. I would like to see more dance ettiquette being taught.

Maybe it would be a good idea to have a standard reminder of the safety issue after the intermediate classes? A sort of ÒLetÕs be careful out thereÓÉthe thing is, by definition itÕs the more experienced dancers who do the throws/dips/travelling, and some of them only appear after the classes.

Originally posted by SwingSwingSwing
Personal Peeves on a Busy Floor:-[*]People not apologising when they have caused a collision.

With the Glasgow Wednesday night getting very busy now collisions are becoming more of a problem Ð judging by the increasing number of apologies IÕm offering.. :sorry (although I usually apologise after any collision - it's hard to tell who's at fault much of the time)

SWM

[Franck]

Originally posted by Stuart M

Maybe it would be a good idea to have a standard reminder of the safety issue after the intermediate classes? A sort of ÒLetÕs be careful out thereÓÉthe thing is, by definition itÕs the more experienced dancers who do the throws/dips/travelling, and some of them only appear after the classes.

Yes, that would be a possibility, though, I have already noticed that very few people hear / listen to announcements at the end of a class

With the Glasgow Wednesday night getting very busy now collisions are becoming more of a problem Ð judging by the increasing number of apologies IÕm offering.. :sorry (although I usually apologise after any collision - it's hard to tell who's at fault much of the time)

Yes the Wednesday nights are very busy at the moment, a lot of new members have joined after Christmas... I would recommend that anyone struggling on a Wednesday, try the Monday night, as we have a large dance floor and the night is nowhere near as busy, allowing for more expression on the dance floor...

Franck.