Dance Dip Ettiquette

Last evening some students in group class decided to go out an use what they have been learning. Exciting!  They had a great time together.  The ladies were telling us there was one gentleman who was dipping every partner that he danced with,  and were asking they best way to let this gentleman know they did not want to dance with him if he insisted on dipping them.

He may have mistakenly believed every lady enjoys a dip, we will give grace and assume good intentions.

When you go from class to a night out 'in the wild' where anything can happen and you encounter new partners there are recommendations...

When you are dancing with a partner for the first time, assume they are a beginner!  You don't know what they know or what physical injuries are in their past.  It's important for safety and courtesy to connect with them and then connect with the music.  Enjoy some foundational movements while you feel the partnership before deciding to go further.

If you partnership connection feels light and responsive, and turns are balanced and compact, then try some intermediate patterns.  If you had a sports car, you would not start the engine and shift to 5th gear so don't pull out your advance moves with every partner or too soon.

Ladies who have not been trained in off axis movements like dips can feel like they are falling.  No one wants to fall, especially in public - it's embarassing...so don't put your partner in that position.  

Gentlemen who are new to dipping might not understand proper lowering and put their bodyweight over their partner causing both to topple onto the dancefloor in a most ungraceful manner.  

Men who attempt to dip may find their untrained partner throwing their body weight and momentum upon them, disconnecting their feet from the floor and unknowingly risking a fall and injury to themselves and their partner.

There was a time as a student dancer I attended a large weekly social dance, and every week I saw someone falling to the floor.  It's physics, not just physical fitness.  Your muscles will lose to physics time and time again.

There are some tricks that are not appropriate for social dance floors...use them when you are performing and you are the only couple on the floor and you have rehearsed these moves together in advance.

Treat every dance partner well, leave them better than you found them, wanting another dance and not dreading it.