Dance Etiquette
The Aloha Ballroom Dance Academy offers these guidelines and strongly encourages all students to follow them for the maximum comfort and enjoyment of all dancers.
- Respect and Communication. Everyone has unique personal boundaries and this should be respected in partnership dancing. Dancers are encouraged to communicate with their partner to establish a comfortable partnership. This communication is especially important when students are rotating or have different partners.
- Frame & Dance Hold. In general, it is the ladies choice of how close to stand to her partner. Men set their frame, then, the ladies set their frame and the partnership distance where they are comfortable. We use "social dance position" distance (space in between the couple, connected through the arms and hands only) for Latin dances. Smooth dances can be danced at the "social" distance or body-to-body if both people in the partnership choose. If the lady chooses to dance in a more open social frame, we ask the gentlemen to please respect that distance. Of course, if the man is uncomfortable with any frame, he should also communicate this to his partner.
- Connection. All connections with a dance partner should be in a "prayer-like" (very light pressure) hold. There is never any need to squeeze or grip your partner, or pull them in close or use a pushing action to "lead" them. A tight grip or pulling in of a partner can make many people feel uncomfortable or unsafe and can be harmful. All dance communication should be done with very light action.
During demonstrations or instruction of the dance, students do not need to hold onto their partner. It is a good idea to relax and stand apart, while each person focuses on the instruction given, until it is time to dance together again. - Rotation. Everyone is allowed the option to rotate partners if they wish. There is no need to pull a partner out of rotation. If this should happen to you and you wish to stay in rotation, please let the person know and step back into the line of rotation.
- Accepting a Dance. Everyone who is asked to dance has the option to say "yes" or "no, thank you" and their choice should be respected. It is polite to always answer courteously because an offer to dance is a gracious offer.
The Academy wishes to provide a fun and comfortable environment for everyone. We know this can sometimes be tricky in Ballroom and Latin dancing as partnership dancing is a "contact sport," so to speak. We hope that no one takes any choice made by another personally because it is simply each person's unique comfort level and acceptable boundaries.
***If for any reason, there is a concern that your communication is not working for you or is difficult for you to express, the Academy Officers and Instructors are here to help. Please feel free to talk to any of us. It is the Academy's practice to maintain confidentiality. Many individual and personal issues can arise when we partnership dance and the Academy will try to help so everyone is free to learn, dance and enjoy!***
Aloha Ballroom Dance Academy reserves the right to terminate student privileges at any time.
Mahalo for your kokua.
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