Gareth & Jeryl
Rock 'n' Roll is:
- easy to learn. Most people can do it -
- extremely versatile. It suits a large range of modern and older popular music -
- a great social activity for meeting new friends and partners -
- inexpensive. Anywhere there is suitable music you can dance -
- suitable for young and old -
- well established. Its practised around the world -
- very suitable for amateurs as well as pro dancers. You don't need to be perfect for fear of being laughed at -
- a great fitness activity -
- a socially acceptable way for ladies to show their knickers in public (but gentlemen don't notice!) -
Sandra trusts Trevor
to have a firm grip on things
James and Ann
dance with color and style
Sandy and Annette
strut their stuff!
No butterfingers here!
Hands up those who
love to dance!
George & Sue can step
with the best of them
Sandy & Annette have a
laid back approach
Gareth & Jeryl
What time is it? Time to dance!
Dancing Doubles
Heather, Rod & Leslie
reported by Gareth
It is better to leave a dance floor by perambulation than per ambulance. While I'm not aware of any actual instances I've seen a few people come perilously close to performing the latter feat. 'Stretcher' isn't a good dance move.
With the possibility of public liability lawsuits, safety is a key issue for all concerned nowadays, but that's far from the only reason for behaving in a sensible and conscientious way. None of us want to get hurt. Most of us would be stricken with guilt if we accidentally injured another person.
On one occasion a very large woman who must have weighed upwards of 100 kilograms took a huge step backward and speared my ankle with her stiletto heel. It was bruised and sore for weeks. On another occasion I looked around to see a pair of female shoe soles at my eye level. Admittedly they and their occupant landed a reasonable distance away from me but she and her partner were definitely too close to other dancers to be performing somersaults.
Tea-leaves and talcum powder get placed on dance floors occasionally. In some instances it may help but its a dangerous practice, best discarded. Recently, at a venue with a particularly sticky dance floor, someone sprinkled salt around making the surface so slippery it had to be swept before we could continue dancing. It is wise to remember that one person's shoes may be a lot more slippery than someone else's before upping the floor speed. I know a beginner who was advised to put shoe polish on the bottom of her shoes by a more experienced dancer. Fortunately she had been an ice skater in her younger years. She needed those skills. She left the dance floor in disgust.
Many years ago when learning Rock n Roll dance I gripped a woman's hands so hard that I hurt them, causing her to have to return home for the evening. After that, I learned to hold women's hands lightly. I know a woman with a middle knuckle on one hand that is permanently enlarged through being crushed by a man. Male thumbs don't belong on top of female knuckles during energetic dancing.
We all know that drinks on dance-floors are dangerous. Drunks don't belong on dance floors either, though we have to contend with them at a lot of public venues.
Rough dancers who fling their weight wildly outwards run a risk of letting go of each other, sending the woman crashing into other dancers. I have seen some people who are fairly sizeable do this and it isn't nice to be the 'crash barrier'. Having to play Dodgem Dancers is unpleasant and shouldn't be necessary.
In the most dangerous incident I have witnessed, a man dancing far too roughly wound up with his partner prostrate on the on the dance floor for several minutes after hitting her head on it. To a fast song, he spun her too quickly and forcefully in one direction, then completely failed to notice that she had lost her balance and hurriedly placed her left foot down crossed over the right in a desperate attempt to steady herself. He immediately attempted to spin her in the reverse direction, a total impossibility with her feet crossed over! She went down like a skittle, crashing heavily. The lesson to be learned here is plain. Men, watch your partner intensely and protect her at all times against all things!
We must all be diligent to watch out for the safety of ourselves, our partners and others around us. Dancing is unlikely to be fatal to anyone, but the emergence of injury lawsuits will be fatal for dancing.