As you may have seen in the article “Two arts providers to shut down near Overture Center” in the Local section of the Wisconsin State Journal from Thursday, 06 September 2007, I am not renewing the lease at the present studio’s location.

However, I will not cease business operations, as implied by the article. Sarah and I will both continue teaching in and around Madison. Independent ballroom dance teachers frequently rent space from other desirable facilities - health clubs and other dance spaces in particular - for running their group classes and private lessons.

Over the four years of operating the studio and teaching dance, I have cultivated my joy of dancing into an overwhelming passion. I cross-train in other forms of dance and movement, including Jazz Dance, Modern Dance, and Ice Skating. Sarah and I spend many hours each week with our Coach and in other dance classes taught by other fabulous instructors. We devote many more hours to practicing dance, to developing strength, and to enhancing body awareness, styling, connection, and flexibility.

The decision to stop running my own studio space has been difficult. I enjoy the ease of running group classes and private lessons out of my own facility. Operating out of the State Street area is attractive and central to everywhere in the city, but it comes with the high rent and parking hassles of any desirable urban environment.

A “perfect storm” of factors has brought me to the decision to not renew the lease, including the vacancies in my building (limiting foot traffic and exposure), the ongoing construction projects (also limiting foot traffic / exposure), parking complaints from numerous clients, and my own desire to devote more energy to professional competitions. Since my lease will expire at the end of September, I weighed these factors and decided not to renew.

The studio itself is more active and more popular than it ever has been. More people are enrolled in group classes. More people are taking private lessons and refining their skills as dancers. More people are interested in attending and participating in Competitions.

I genuinely enjoy teaching dance and seeing confidence, courage, skill, pride, and self-respect develop in so many people. I appreciate all the support and encouragement so many people have provided both recently and in the last four years.

Sarah and I will both continue teaching! The Art of Dance will continue to operate, just not out of its own studio. It will operate as a ballroom dance school without one specific physical location.

I have space committed for two Salsa classes (New Dancer Salsa and Intermediate LA-Style Salsa) beginning in October at the MAC Sports Center in Verona. (See the links for details and to commit to attending.)

We are finalizing plans regarding the use of other facilities as well. Potential locations include Downtown, the Near East Side, the North Side, Fitchburg, and or course in Verona.

Sarah will be teaching group classes, too. A “Swing Sampler” class - including East Coast Swing, West Coast Swing, and Lindy - is on the horizon! Contact Sarah to express your interest.

The Art of Dance website will continue to exist. Please keep the site bookmarked and use the Calendar to find our classes and events as well as other dance events in and around Madison.

Finally, I encourage everyone to Post a Comment (below) regarding your experiences at the studio in the past or regarding the kinds of classes, events, and workshops you would like to see in the future.

Thank you,

Darrell

Every social environment has a set of rules - some written and some unwritten. For people new to attending social ballroom dances, this article will attempt to capture those rules (and write down the unwritten rules, perhaps adding a few along the way.)

You do not need to be an expert dancer to have fun at a social dance. People who have excellent interpersonal skills, instead, often have the most fun. Being confident enough to ask other people to dance and to respectfully decline invitations to dance go a long way to making you a desirable dance partner. Conveniently, attending social dances is a great way to continually develop your interpersonal skills. Becoming skilled at dancing also is a great confidence booster.

Attending a ballroom dance is primarily a social activity. You should expect making small talk and connecting with a variety of people of different ages and wonderfully different backgrounds. If you are willing to network with the people who attend dances, you will make many new friends.

Additionally, ballroom dancers socialize by dancing with each other. With friends. With colleagues. With neighbors. With the romantic partners of their friends, colleagues, and neighbors. This topic is the focus of the remainder of this article.

You do not need a date/partner to attend a dance
Despite the intrigue, romance, and sometimes sex appeal you see on the social dance floor, it is just dancing! Dancers are just having a good time on the dance floor. Occasionally, the people you see dancing are romantic partners, and the romance also takes place off the dance floor. Most of the time, however, you will see people simply getting into the character of dancing and having a good time with it.

Correcting the dancing of other people
I believe that people go to social dances to have fun interacting with other people while dancing, not to have someone correct their dancing or to be bombarded with new figures or new concepts. (That is what workshops, classes, and organized practice sessions are for.) Correcting your dance partner while at social dances is the most common transgression of the “rules” I have seen.

Dancers of all levels, including new dancers, attend social dances all the time and should be welcomed (not intimidated). Instead of trying to address nuances of posture, Cuban motion, rise and fall, etc, keep the dancing simple. Do a basic / a box / a turn and enjoy a three-to-four-minute conversation while you are meeting someone new and perhaps making a new friend.

People do remember the first dance they attend and the first people with whom they dance. Make a pleasant memory for someone new to dancing and show that you are a gracious partner to dancers of all levels.

People justifibly have a long memory regarding the people who make them feel uncomfortable or ackward.

My only exception to correcting your partner on the dance floor is if that person is hurting you or is making you feel uncomforable in a creepy way. Twisted fingers, hands dug into shoulders and back, yanked arms, “accidental” brushing or rubbing, etc. are never tolerable from anyone. You should never accept being injured or, for lack of a more pleasant-sounding word, groped as part of dancing.

The people who injure other people should be told so they can take steps to address those issues (take dance classes, practice with a partner sometime, spend some time with a coach, etc). Remember the people who are unwilling or (for whatever reason) unable to stop injuring you and decline their invitations to dance in the future.

Who should ask?
Ladies and gentlemen are equally encouraged to ask other people to dance. Skilled dancers and new dancers are equally encouraged to ask other people to dance. It may take several evenings out social dancing for new dancers to develop the confidence to ask others to dance. When at a social dance, it is always appropriate for anyone to ask anyone else to dance, regardless of experience level.

What if I don’t know what the dance is?
If you are asking someone to dance and you do not know how to do the dance that goes with the music that is playing, let your partner know by saying something like “I don’t know how to do this one - will you show me the basic?” Gracious partners will happily do just that, keeping it simple and enjoyable for you.

If you ask someone to dance who tells you, “I don’t know this one - will you show me the basic,” it is your duty to graciously do just that. Keep it simple and enjoyable for the other person. It is rude to ask someone to dance and then withdraw your invitation. It is rude to accept an invitation to dance and then withdraw your acceptance.

If neither one of you knows the dance, just wing it, or have a conversation instead, or meet the people standing nearby and wait for the next one.

What if people are not gracious with new dancers?
How can you tell who the good dancers are?
These questions are directly related. The good dancers do not necessarily have the flashiest moves or the best presence on the floor. Instead, the good dancers at social dances are the people who remember what it was like when they, too, were new. The good dancers are the people who are consistently gracious to dancers of all skill levels.

If someone treats you with a lack of consideration or is grumpy (or worse) to you if you say “I don’t know how to do this one,” by my definition, that person is not a good dancer.

What if people say “No”
Every person has the option of accepting or declining an invitation to dance for any reason whatsoever. If you hear no, it may mean the person you asked is tired, sweaty, needs to get some water, or otherwise wants to sit one out.

Some dancers follow the convention that if you decline a dance with a person, it is your responsibility to seek that person out and ask that person to dance later.

If you decline a dance and then someone else immediately asks you to dance, it is considered good etiquette to decline the second person as well. For the remainder of the song, you will sit out. Otherwise, it looks like you were waiting for a better offer to come along, and you are not being very considerate (or social) regarding the first person who asked. Maybe the second person is someone with whom you have danced many times and you know would be a good partner for the song. Too bad! This is a social dance. You are obligated to respect the dance rules or risk being considered rude.

What if I consistently hear “No”
Maybe something is unsavory about your dancing or your hygene. Yes, your hygene is important! This seems so common sense, but enough people fail to recognize obvious problems. Dirty hands, sweaty clothes, bad breath, onions or garlic for dinner, body odor, dirty clothes, amoung countless other things, always work against your desirabilty as a dance partner. People sometimes bring spare shirts or spare pants if they know they often sweat heavily. Sweating is not bad. Having a sweat-drenched shirt and expecting someone else to put a hand on you is! Plan accordingly.

If it is not your hygene that is unsavory, then it may be your dancing. Do you pinch fingers or yank arms? Do you injure people or make them sore after dancing with you? Do you make people uncomfortable by insisting on very close contact dance positions? To you correct people on the dance floor or attempt to teach new moves? You need to candidly talk with the organizers of the dance you attend and discover what other people might be saying about you.

Yes, people talk about other dancers. I have this discussion with the participants in my group classes. If someone is unsavory, tell your friends. I do not mean gossip about everything. I mean discuss the injuries, bad vibes, and creepy feelings caused by specific people. Do not let your friends find out the hard way. If you are one of those people about whom others warn their friends, you are making other people unhappy at the dances you attend. You need to address your problesm.

What if it is not my hygene, I do not injure people, and I still hear “No”
Are you interested in dancing and learning to be a better dancer, or are you trying to find a date? In general, the people at dances tend to have a low tolerance for people who are not actually into dancing. People at social dances are there to dance with other people who like to dance. If you enjoy dancing, however, a social dance is a remarkably wonderful social environment for meeting a lot of people.

How come no one asks me to dance?
Let us assume that hygene, injuries, and attitude toward dance are not the issues, as described above. Are you sitting or standing? Are you close to the dance floor or far from it? Are there other people near you or are you on an isolated side of the floor or in an isolated area?

Where are the people who are being asked to dance located and what are they doing? Are they looking down or up? Are they smiling and looking happy? Do they look like they welcome invitations to dance or do they look involved with other thoughts or conversations? Are they behind a table or in front of one (or nowhere near one).

Remember, this is a social environment. If you want social interaction, you need to make yourself approachable. Retreating to a distant part of the room, sitting behind a table, and remaining in a conversation all night with your back to the dance floor do not make you approachable.

Instead, stand near the floor with all the other people. Engage in small talk. Make eye contact with people leaving the dance floor. If waiting for an invitation to dance is taking too long, then you should ask someone to dance already!

How do I ask someone to dance?
Walk up to the person, make eye contact, and say, “Would you like to dance?” If the person is involved in a conversation say, “Excuse me / Pardon me, would you like to dance?” Interrupting a conversation is definitely permitted.

Remember, people may say “No” for any reason whatsoever. In invitation to dance is not an obligation to dance.

How should I not ask someone to dance?
Thrusting an open hand in the direction of someone you are attempting to ask to dance is not an invitation to dance. That is a demand, and it looks terrible.

Grabbing someone’s arm and walking toward the dance floor is a demand. Placing your body between two people having a conversation is a demand. Sitting on someone’s lap is a demand. Lifting someone off the ground and carrying them unexpectedly onto the floor is a demand.

Remember, respectful people ask other people to dance. You may hear “No” as a result of asking. You have given the choice to the other person whether to accept your invitation. The fact that you give the choice already makes you a more desirable dance partner.

What do I wear?
Your choice of attire depends on the event. Some events may be formal - tuxedo and gown. These events tend to happen around the winter holiday times. Many events are casual. You can wear jeans and a tee-shirt, though it is easy to be casual in something more comfortable for dancing than jeans. Some events are semi-formal. Dress shirt and a tie for gentlemen. Coctail dress for ladies. Contact the event organizer in advance if you are not certain.

What shoes should I wear?
Please see the separate article on Dance Shoes.

One person asks me to dance every dance?
It is rude to prevent a dancer from accepting invitations from other people by always asking that person first. If you really enjoy dancing with a person, be gracious and allow that person some time away from you. I hear about this as a complaint regularly. Remember, dances are social events and people attend to be social with other people - usually many other people. If you are interferring in their social activity by not allowing the other person time with everyone else, you are rude. Doing this is labeled “stalker-ish.” There is a not-so-fine line between flattery and appearing obsessed when asking someone to dance frequently in one evening.

My spouse / romantic partner dances with other people?
Well of course! I have written it many times in this article that dances are social events. People attend for the purpose of dancing with other people. You do not have to dance with other people, but almost everyone at a dance - even romantic couples - are willing and excited to dance with other people. I have seen people reserve certain dances exclusively for their romantic partner - all the Boleros or all the Viennese Waltzes, for instance - but dance other types of dances with other people. This is okay. This is why we go to dances.

How do I know what dance to do?
Recognizing the music to which each of the genres of ballroom dance are danced can take some time. Some dance organizers will prepare set lists of music in advance and print a sheet for each table having the name and artist of the song along with the corresponding dance genre.

However, even that is open to interpretation. You could dance a Swing or Fox Trot to many of the same songs. You could dance Lindy and Quickstep to many of the same songs. West Coast Swing and Cha Cha. Merengue or Hustle. Ultimately, it is up to the dancers to decide what to dance. You will develop the skill to recognize what to dance to each song played.

Final Words
This article probably does not capture everything about going to dances, but it gives you a good idea of what kinds of things to consider. Realize that eveyone involved in ballroom dance was a beginner at one time. Most people remember what that was like and help acclimate others to the environment.

Please post your comments below - additional things to think about or annecdotes, etc.

There are two main styles of shoes - Latin and Smooth. Latin shoes for men have a 1.5″ (or slightly more) heel that is relatively narrow compared to an off-the-shelf pair of dress shoes for men. Latin shoes for women have and open-toe design and come in a variety of heel sizes - 2.5″ is a common heel height.

Smooth shoes for men have a lower and wider heel, much more comparable to an off-the-shelf pair of dress shoes for men. Smooth shoes for women have a closed-toe design and come in a variety of heel sizes.

You do not need special shoes to begin dancing, but you will find that the proper footwear really enhances the activity. Discount shoes can be found online starting at around $60/pair (men / women). A good pair starts at about $100 and goes up from there. The build quality and materials tend to be much better the more money you spend. A good pair of dance shoes can last an avid social dancer five years or more. Even a discount pair of shoes will last a long time if proper care is given to them.

If you dance a lot or attend a lot of dance classes, get a good pair of shoes. Otherwise, the discount shoes will wear out and you will need to purchase another pair. This dual-purchase will ultimately cost more than just buying one good pair in the first place.

Ballroom dance shoes are great for facilities with hardwood floors and a policy of having attendees remove their Street Shoes prior to dancing. For places with other floor coverings or for dancing at clubs where people will likely spill beverages on the floor, your dance shoes will either be very uncomfortable or very trashed.

I enjoy wearing dance sneakers to social dances. They come in a variety of styles and colors for both men and women and tend to have more cushioning than suede-bottom ballroom dance shoes. They have a special rubber sole that does not leave marks and that allows you to turn and spin almost like suede-bottom shoes. They wear out quickly if worn outside on sidewalks, but they will last a long time if used exclusively indoors, even at nightclubs. They will not be ruined by liquids on the floor.

Regular sneakers or cross-trainers are a bad choice for dancing! The are designed to provide maximum grip, which will eventually lead to a twisted ankle when you dance because the shoe stays anchored to the floor, but your leg and whole body try to turn. For your own safety, wear something other than sneakers.

Dress shoes with a hard plastic sole or hard leather sole are also a bad choice as they provide too little grip. Plastic soles with some kind of “tread pattern” are better, and well-scuffed hard leather sole shoes are okay but not good. For example, new wedding shoes for women often have a hard leather sole. Those shoes work better when a stiff wire brush is taken to the bottom of the shoe to rough up the leather and provide some texture.

For men and women, shoes should fit snugly. Men’s shoes almost always have shoe laces and can be tightened properly so it is not possible to accidentally step out of the shoe. Many styles of women’s shoes have some kind of ankle strap to ensure the shoe stays on the foot.

The numbers add up quickly when entering a competiton. The studio’s prices are quite competitive. Where other studios and dance teachers add a sizable surcharge per dance for each pro/am event, I do not. I want you out there dancing! I want to dance with you. I know money is a consideration for most people, and I would like your dollars to get you as much time on the dance floor as possible.

In addition to the per-dance surcharge I just described, other instructors often charge “lost time” for attending (and traveling to) competitions - four to eight hours of private lesson time per day the teacher is at the comp dancing with students. At first glance, that may seem unreasonable, but economic pressures play a role - the teacher could have stayed home and booked private lessons instead of participating in the comp with the amateur. (Teachers have bills to pay and businesses to operate, of course.)

The teacher also has hotel, meal, transportation, and admissions costs to cover related to attending the comp. Those costs are split between all competitors entering the comp with the teacher. (So if the teacher enters with 10 students, those costs are divided by 10 or somehow prorated between those students. Having more students means each student is responsible for a smaller share of that cost.)

If you are dancing with Darrell or Amanda, also expect to pay a portion of the hotel, meal, transportation, and admission costs for Darrell or Amanda. Having more competitors means less teacher cost per competitor.

In the past, I have absorbed the cost of hotel snafus, my admission charges, fuel, etc. It is not practical for me to do that into the future. Though I need to watch the bottom line, I am still dedicated to introducing you to as much delight in your dancing as I possibly can!

Since the studio opened its doors over three years ago, subscribers to the mailing list have always been able to unsubscribe themselves by following the instructions at the bottom of each message sent to the list.

Unsubscribing involves visiting the page for the Announcements mailing list, providing your email address, and pressing enter. This is much easier than the manual steps required for me to unsubscribe the people who request it by email.

Sending an email message to announcements-request@artofdancemadison.com with the word “unsubscribe” in the message body (no quotes) will also work. Be certain to send the message from the address at which you receive the studio’s announcements.

Each method may result in the system sending you an “are you sure” type of message, but after that, you are done! I’m sad to see you leave the list, but I hope that you are now empowered to manage your own mailing list subscription.

In addition to the new look and feel, you will notice an improved Calendar system (with more enhancements still coming), the “Upcoming…” area in the sidebar of the main page, a smarter “News Flash” area, an improved way to send email inquiries to the studio, and a number of new ways to interact with the website - including leaving comments!

Specific people at the studio have voluntered to help me (Darrell Dieringer - studio owner) to keep information on the site up to date. Many social dance opportunities in and around Madison will appear on the Calendar.

In 2007, the studio will take more Road Trips to social dance events. We will attend and participate in more Competitions.

I encourage everyone to Leave Feedback about your experiences at the studio, about taking classes, about your private lessons, or about dancing in general.

If you have questions or comments about using the new website, please Contact the Studio