Social dance study

[VinceraVivere]

So I'm doing a project for my anthropology class on the social dance community. I'm trying to see if there is any specific social structure, and I haven't really been able to narrow my focus past that.

I think it's leaning towards whether a person's decision to attend a dance event is based on who else will be there - i.e., they won't go without their husband, their teacher was there so they decided to come, they will only go with their studio, etc.

So for those of you who regularly attend USABDAs or other social dance events, do you have any input? Who influences your decision to go or not? Do you notice people who always come together and never dance with each other? Do people sometimes only come if their teacher is there?

Just wondering, as I'm still trying to focus my project and I don't have that much information as of yet. Any input would be great.

Thanks!

Sarah

(If this needs to be moved, feel free. I wasn't sure where to put it.)

[pygmalion]

I'd be glad to answer, but I'm not sure what the question is. :?

[VinceraVivere]

Basically - if you go to social dance events, is your decision to go based on who else is going, or would you still feel comfortable being there if not with a "group?"

Sorry for the confused-ness...I'm still not sure exactly what the question is. >_<

[fascination]

A) let me remind you that one of the site admins has a phD in this
and B) my decision to go or not has nothing to do with being part of a group per se... but if I know that the men there are not likely to dance with anyone but their wives, I won't go...other than that, i could not possibly care less who is there of not there...I go based upon how badly I need to dance on that particular evening...btw, you will need to get more specific here and control for things like age etc...IMo...good luck

[pygmalion]

Thanks. That spells it out for me. (Maybe I'm too dense to get it. lol )

When going to social dances, two things are my primary decision-influencers. One. Is the dance convenient for me? (meaning in a reasonable location, reasonably-priced, and appealing in some way (more on that later.))

And two. Do I have a dance teacher who needs students to represent? If so, I'm there. If no, it's a lot less likely that I'll get up and go.

Appealing = dance class before or after that I think can add something to my repertoire.

(All this in the context of ballroom dance socials. Other socials dances are different, IMHO. )



I don't (never have -- I suspect I'm weird) seen social dances as places to go hang out with my dance clique. I see them as places to go improve my dancing and/or go meet some new dance folks who are on the same page as I.

[VinceraVivere]

Thanks for the replies. I think I'm narrowing my focus to how long a person has been dancing in relation to whether or not others affect their decision to attend: for example, a person who has been dancing for 20 years might be more likely to come alone than someone who's been dancing for a year.

BTW, who has a phD in this? o.0 I didn't know that at all.

And yes, this is ballroom dance socials.

[Spitfire]

Just the fact that it is a dance is my only influence.

[fascination]

Thanks for the replies. I think I'm narrowing my focus to how long a person has been dancing in relation to whether or not others affect their decision to attend: for example, a person who has been dancing for 20 years might be more likely to come alone than someone who's been dancing for a year.

BTW, who has a phD in this? o.0 I didn't know that at all.

And yes, this is ballroom dance socials.
SDsalsaguy...

[VinceraVivere]

Awesome, that could be a big help. Thanks for the advice!

[pygmalion]

Thanks for the replies. I think I'm narrowing my focus to how long a person has been dancing in relation to whether or not others affect their decision to attend: for example, a person who has been dancing for 20 years might be more likely to come alone than someone who's been dancing for a year.

BTW, who has a phD in this? o.0 I didn't know that at all.

And yes, this is ballroom dance socials.

Yepper. SDSalsaguy has a PhD in something akin to this -- understanding the social underpinnings of ballroom (and salsa) dance culture. :cool:

Coming to dances alone? Eh. Not sure that's related to dance. I've alway's been comfortable going places alone - restaurants, movies, you-name-it, long before I started dancing. So I go to dances, if I want, alone. No biggie.

OTOH, some people I know seriously don't want to eat lunch or even go to the bathroom alone. They see solitude as either loneliness and antisocial behavior. I see it as a normal, healthy part of being an interdependent human being in a social world. Some you. Some me. Some us. All of any of those is bad, IMO.

Short answer? I'm not sure that alone-ness versus affilation has anything to do with dance. Although it might. *shrug*

[hamstersphere]

In re social dancing ... My own experience and the stories of others kind of leads me to think that the newer you are at dancing, the (dramatically) more your decision to go or not to go to events depends on who's going to be there. In my case, it wasn't a solitude thing so much as it was a question of 'is there anyone there who I *know* I can dance with, or will I just end up getting tangled around people I don't know and then feel like an idiot?'

Then again, a lot of that has to do with the general nature of the social. Some places have an atmosphere where everyone dances with everyone else; at others, even if you were famously good, no one would step out of their group to dance with someone new ...

(And then again *again*, this is all based mainly on experiences in the UK. I don't really know yet how different it is here in the States!)

[reb]

SDsalsaguy...
We are all pawns in SD's study of human nature . . .

[VinceraVivere]

Thanks hamster - that's exactly the kind of thing that I was looking for. My hypothesis is that if you have been dancing longer, you might be more willing and less afraid to go by yourself, either because you're confident in your dancing or you know more people in the dance circle. So far, that's what my results have been pointing towards, which is good.

[fascination]

We are all pawns in SD's study of human nature . . .
I am most happy to be manipulated by him;)

[pygmalion]

lol. I guess I'm an outlier, since I couldn't have cared less who was gonna be there, from day one. :lol: Maybe I can be the exception that proves your hypothesis.

OTOH. Just a hypothetical question: What does your sample look like? Is it really a representative sample? Is it a cross section of people from various social backgrounds, age groups, etc. ? The reason I ask is that, when I was 19, it was a heck of a lot harder to go places alone than it is now. Now, I just go where I want to go when I want to go, regardless of whether somebody else is willing. Then, I wanted (but thought I needed) validation.

Just a thought. :cool:

[VinceraVivere]

The sample really did turn out rather biased, which I wasn't at all happy about.

I asked a lot of people to turn in the surveys, and only 20 of them actually did. The ones who were more likely to turn it in were people who I know, who are mostly younger. In our area, nearly everyone who attends the dances is at least 30+ years old. The survey was done at the youth dance (at the time, the only social I had access to because of transportation) and so lots of my friends my age were there, for the only time the whole year. So my sample was very inaccurate.

I'm going to another event this weekend which should be more normal - it's just a dance rather than a youth event. Hopefully more people should return the survey there, because the more I get, the more I can balance out the results and try to correct the inaccuracy.

But that's a good point, and one I'll definetely consider.

[DennisBeach]

Basically - if you go to social dance events, is your decision to go based on who else is going, or would you still feel comfortable being there if not with a "group?"
>_<

Different people will have different answers. I always go dancing with my wife. The biggest factors is the music, dance floor and general atmosphere. We go some places were we may not know anyone and others were we have got to know quite a few people.

Single dancers we know have these criteria plus will there be someone to dance with. Last one is their most important item.

There are some dancers who only seem to go out in groups.

[wooh]

I've always gone with my husband. Would I go without a default dance partner? Would depend on the dance. I prefer going where members of my primary clique will be, but I don't know if that's because they're there, or we're all there because we prefer the same dances? And the general "who is there" does influence where I'll go. I've got a primary studio where if they're having a social, I'm more than likely there. If my instructor or my instructor's partner are teaching at a USADance social, I try to make it. Otherwise, I have a second favorite studio, where I always feel pretty welcome. So I like going there, just not my first choice. Another studio that would actually be the most convenient (it's a good 15-25 minutes closer depending on traffic) is one I'll go to if my friends are going. But they're kind of closed to "outsiders" and only dance with each other, so if I don't have people with me, I'm not going to dance much.
Did any of that answer any of your questions?

[SDsalsaguy]

Yepper. SDSalsaguy has a PhD in something akin to this -- understanding the social underpinnings of ballroom (and salsa) dance culture. :cool:
Just for the record... my PhD is in sociocultural anthropology and the title of my dissertation was Dance as Self, Culture, and Community: The Construction of Personal and Collective Meaning and Identity in Competitive Ballroom and Salsa ;)

reb, all kidding aside, one person who joined DF and didn't see a public posting of who owned the site honestly thought that I had set the whole thing up as a social expeiment! :shock: :oops:

VinceraVivere, I'll email you when I get home later.

[Floyd]

I choose events to attend primarily based on whether there will be any people there who know how to dance. People who have taken dance lessons and know how to dance are usually polite and friendly and will dance with me, so if dancers are in attendance, bringing my own partner is unnecessary. If I don't think there will be anybody there who knows how to dance, I'll try to arrange a group of dancers to attend.

I started attending dance events alone after taking lessons for 6 weeks, and I attend alone 90% of the time. I don't think that is unusual because I see a lot of other people who come to events alone and freely mix with everyone.

But, I do know people who only attend dances at their studio. I never see them anywhere else, and some of them only want to dance with their teacher.

[tanya_the_dancer]

When we lived on Long Island, we've never been to a social where people would mix and dance with people they don't know. Everyone danced with people they came in with, so going there solo was more or less pointless. Around here is a different situation. People mix freely and if my husband cannot join me for a dance social, I go alone and still get a chance to dance.

[waltzgirl]

I almost always go to the dances at my studio. I started when I had been dancing just a couple months. It was kinda painful for quite a while. A lot of the dancers who come are advanced or, anyway, long-time dancers, not all of whom were thrilled to dance with a newbie. But I'm stubborn and I just kept going. I always go alone; probably 80% of the people there do. But the people, women especially, are very friendly. One took me under her wing the very first time I came and that really helped. By now, the studio is pretty much a second home for me. I have a bunch of dance buddies who also go to the socials and we sit together and chat between dances. And I always make a point to talk to the new ladies and dance with the new gentlemen.

My pro is almost always at the dance, for at least part of the time, so I get a couple dances with him. If I know he's not going to be there, it's a bit more likely that I might skip it if I'm really tired or something.

I occasionally go to the socials at other studios. Many people hit more than one studio for socials every week, so if I go to another studio, I can pretty much count on seeing a few people I know.

Would it work for your study to post your questionnaire here and people could pm you the answers?

[reb]

Just for the record... my PhD is in sociocultural anthropology and the title of my dissertation was Dance as Self, Culture, and Community: The Construction of Personal and Collective Meaning and Identity in Competitive Ballroom and Salsa ;)

reb, all kidding aside, one person who joined DF and didn't see a public posting of who owned the site honestly thought that I had set the whole thing up as a social expeiment! :shock: :oops:

VinceraVivere, I'll email you when I get home later.
. . . and I thought I was being funny! Good thing you posted.

[chachachacat]

I am in the (ahem) middle-aged category, not a senior. I will only go to a dance alone if my friends are there, at least some of them, to dance with.
When I was married to a great dancer, then we went together and didn't care who else would be there.

[tsb]

So I'm doing a project for my anthropology class on the social dance community. I'm trying to see if there is any specific social structure, and I haven't really been able to narrow my focus past that.

I think it's leaning towards whether a person's decision to attend a dance event is based on who else will be there - i.e., they won't go without their husband, their teacher was there so they decided to come, they will only go with their studio, etc.

So for those of you who regularly attend USABDAs or other social dance events, do you have any input? Who influences your decision to go or not? Do you notice people who always come together and never dance with each other? Do people sometimes only come if their teacher is there?

Just wondering, as I'm still trying to focus my project and I don't have that much information as of yet. Any input would be great.


Not knowing how much experience you have with dance, I think it would be helpful to point out that the phrase "social dance" has different meanings to different people within this forum.

At the extremes, social dance could consist of people gathering and quivering spastically to american top 40 (if the typical work holiday party is a good example) - or it could be something consisting entirely of called figures such as at a contra dance, which I could break down to freestyle dancing vs. sequence dancing.

If you wish to restrict yourself to ballroom dancing, that same kind of delineation exists. I quote internationally known dance historian Richard Powers of Stanford (a series of his essays can be found here at http://dance.stanford.edu/syllabi/musings.htm):


In the 19th century, most social dances were either turning couple dances (waltz, polka, schottische, etc.) or set dances (quadrilles, contradances, etc.). The set dances were memorized or prompted patterns, while the turning couple dances and their variations were usually improvised.

Then toward the end of the 19th century some dance masters began to compose sequences of waltz steps to be memorized and executed by dance academy students. Most of these were composed by English dance masters, like William Lamb who choreographed his St. George's Waltz sequence in 1896. This led to the creation of a Sequence Dance movement in London at the turn of the century, where hundreds of dancers would memorize sequence waltzes like Arthur Morris' Veleta (1900) and then non-waltzes like S. W. Painter's Eva Three-Step (1904), eventually embracing one-steps, two-steps, tangos and foxtrots (which the English preferred to call saunters).

Different populations of dancers had different preferences, and by 1910 there was a strong class division between those who preferred freestyle vs. sequence dances. The upper classes in London preferred freestyle dancing while the working class in the outskirts preferred the sequence dances, and would hold weekly balls where hundreds would gather to learn and perform a large and rapidly growing number of sequence dances.

The creation and standardization of these sequence dances was controlled by several organizations which appeared at this time, most notably the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) and the British Association of Teachers of Dancing (BATD). Today's "international" (a euphemism for British) competition ballroom dancing is overseen by the ISTD, which was founded in London in July 1904 for "The fraternal co-operation of properly qualified teachers of dancing in the British Empire and foreign countries for the safeguarding of our mutual interests." (Quoted from their charter)

A trademark of the working classes is upward mobility. The blue-collar work ethic embraced the mastery of sequence dances, which soon evolved into competition ballroom dancing, as a way to elevate one's social position through perseverance and hard work. These roots are still visible today. (italics mine)



The point - people dance for different reasons. And using examples such as a USABDA/USA Dance (whose charter seems to be geared towards dance as a sport) may give you a tainted population set, as those who dance primarily for achievement (competition?) may have different motivations to attend a dance compared to those who dance primarily for social interaction. So it might help to add a few questions to gauge each persons' motivation to dance, not to mention factors such as per capita income, etc. - or the average number of different people each person would dance with in a given evening.