Scariest Dance Moment

[pygmalion]

This thread is dedicated to my friend, L., who had to overcome a major phobia just to do her first dance exhibition. She did it, shaking all the while, but she did it. Way to go, L!

Anyway. So here's a question, for you. What was your absolute scariest dance moment? How did you handle it? What was the outcome?

Mine? My very first dance lesson. :oops: :lol:

[Sagitta]

I have scary/excitable dance moments all the time. The problem is that everything becomes 100 miles/hour for me. So if I'm dancing I need a fast song... What really helps is having a slow song and just listening to the music. Once I focus on the beat my heart automatically slows down and I'm on my way. :)

[danceguy]

While my first lesson was definitely scary, honestly one of the worst happened just a few weeks ago.

I was out with a friend at a local club that just started doing Salsa nights and has a very, very small crowd. As such the few people that go to the lessons don't know how to dance Salsa and tend to be a bit liquored up as well.

So the lesson is going ok and we're doing some fairly complicated patterns, and this one lady I'm dancing with just can't seem to keep her balance. She goes to spin and suddenly she nearly pulls me over onto the floor with her, and I have to continually support her so she doesn't go careening into a nearby wall. I'm not sure how much she had been drinking, but suffice to say it was quite challenging to even do the basic with her.

As it was her first Salsa lesson I was very understanding, but every time she'd lose her balance and I would try to steady her or prevent her from falling over, her breasts would rub against me or brush against my hands! :doh:

I want to assure the ladies here that I have never groped a woman on the dance floor...I am a gentleman, tried and true. But I have written about the "boober gals" I've met who like to do this to guys on purpose. At first I thought it was merely an accident with this lady, but after a few times I realized that she may have been doing it on purpose! :shock: :oops:

Its one thing to dance with a beginner...but add a drunk one who is either unaware of where her body parts or going, or thinks its funny to sleaze on you a bit, and you've got a situation that isn't a lot of fun to be in. :?

Eventually the teacher said "hey, you don't have to follow the patterns, just do some basics instead."

Thank heavens most lessons only last an hour... :roll: :x

SG

[Sabor]

when i was dancing and got a little too exited and ripped the backside of my pants big time!! :shock: .. this happened TWICE so far :shock: :shock: .. as for my reaction.. hehe .. i'm not tellin :tongue:

[pygmalion]

SG,

Your experience sounds like a total nightmare. :x :(

[dr daffy]

my scariest dance moment... the first time i danced solo in front of a really large audience


that was really scary... lol

[DWise1]

I want to assure the ladies here that I have never groped a woman on the dance floor...I am a gentleman, tried and true. But I have written about the "boober gals" I've met who like to do this to guys on purpose. At first I thought it was merely an accident with this lady, but after a few times I realized that she may have been doing it on purpose! :shock: :oops:
And all this time I thought I was the only one that has been done to.

I feel so used!

(but seriously, it was no fun for me when it happened)

[DWise1]

For me, the scariest moment had repeated many times. It was getting up the nerve to go out for open dancing. Our teacher had a Saturday night venue going and several of the people attending would be from class so I would already know them. It literally took several weeks for me to start to go.

I still go through that every time I get ready to go to a venue I haven't been to before. When that Saturday night venue closed and he started a Wed night one at a local restaurant/bar, it again took me months to get up the nerve to go there. But I'm getting better; for the most recent new venue it only took me two or three weeks.

One woman I know from WCS class has one of the strongest (and still nice) personalities I've seen. I don't believe she could be afraid of anything. And yet she says that after her divorce when she went out dancing the first time, she couldn't even build up the nerve to get out of the car.

[squirrel]

my scariest dance moment...

the moment I came back to the disco after 3 months' break...

I'd had some personal problems I won't discuss here (sorry... but it's too personal :oops: ) and took a break... Gosh, I thought I had forgotten everything... I was trembling all over (I also had other reasons to be afraid)... and then... some friend asked me to dance! And I forgot the fear!

(I'm still wondering how I could stay away from Salsa for sooooo long!)

[NeoDevin]

Since the first time for almost everything dance related happened when I was 3 years old, I don't remember what was scary and what wasn't.

[dancin_feet]

My first group dance class when I started back 12 months ago. The initial dance evaluation lesson was fine, but the first group was exciting and terrifying all at once!

That would have to be quickly followed by my first mini comp within the studio. I was fine until they called my name to take my place with my instructor. We were waiting in dance position for the music to start and I blanked and said to him "what are we doing again?". He just grinned and said "waltz". My legs were like jelly and I completely missed the first underarm turn he led me through! :shock: Needless to say the rest of the dance was done in closed position because he was supporting my body weight! :lol: We had foxtrot straight after that and I was a little better, could turn on my own, but still couldn't feel my legs because they felt like jelly!

Have gotten much better since. :wink:

[salsachinita]

I've felt intimidated a number of times, not sure about scary though :? ....

Feeling the butterflies of being out of comfort zone happens so often, it feels almost like second nature for me to deal with, I don't think twice about it.

If I really have to name one example, I guess it would have to be my official return to the salsa scene, after my five-year break.

Dancing wasn't even the issues there, really. How I felt about the whole deal was.

[Genesius Redux]

I want to assure the ladies here that I have never groped a woman on the dance floor...I am a gentleman, tried and true. But I have written about the "boober gals" I've met who like to do this to guys on purpose. At first I thought it was merely an accident with this lady, but after a few times I realized that she may have been doing it on purpose! :shock: :oops:
And all this time I thought I was the only one that has been done to.

I feel so used!

(but seriously, it was no fun for me when it happened)

Oh, man, you know it!

There was this one woman I'd sometimes dance with, and she'd just--in the middle of a dance--start to ignore what she was doing and be all up against you. And I got to the point where I was just doing basic Bronze Foxtrot with her (she'd been dancing for years), and she would be, "Oh, what are we doing now?" [rub rub] #&*^ing nightmare!

Luckily, I only recently learned that after this woman left the studio she'd been dancing at, she wouldn't take lessons from a very qualified teacher and super nice guy, friend of mine, because he's gay (this she admitted privately to a mutual acquaintance, not publically of course--because that wouldn't be polite, proper, and southern). So now I can take the moral high ground in never dancing with her again (which I haven't since I found out about her attitude).

[Vince A]

Mine are both "competition related."

The first, was the very first time my Pro - not me - forgot the routine, and I had to resort to lead and follow. I'm sure the judges noticed the"deer-in-the-headlights look on me! Fifth place overall!

The second, when there were 37 couples competing in a WCS, and each are called out randomly in heats of five - because there are only five cameras to record each of the competitors if each want their own copy.

So, we kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Finally, after the seventh heat . . . and I wasn't keeping track of how many had already gone . . . I heard my name called. And that was it! We had to perform in front of about 3,000 people - the only couple on the floor . . . I even felt my Pro go somewhat stiff. I made her giggle though, telling her that I had the situation in hand, and if she forget any of the routine, I would be there for her. I reversed what she usually says to me, and made us both relax. Although scary . . . I loved every one of those 90 seconds!

We danced, and we did well. I took a First Overall in my division.

[pygmalion]

Oh my goodness. Surely they could have split up one of the previous heats and not given you a unexpected solo. Eeek! Terrifying.

[Waltz Lover]

I've felt intimidated a number of times, not sure about scary though :? ....

I love performance, so going out on the dance floor isn't usually scary. However, when it comes to West Coast Swing . . . I first started learning it because it was a challenge. Now it's too much of a challenge. I get really nervous when a WCS comes on. I've heard repeatedly that what the dance studios teach is outdated (i.e. coaster step instead of anchor step). It really doesn't help that this one guy will actually stop dancing with me on the dance floor, ask me where I've learned to dance (studio), then proceed to give me a lesson on the floor! Although his tips are helpful, everything I've heard about ballroom dance is that you never correct someone while social dancing. Correct me if I'm wrong - I've only been dancing 1 year.

So with WCS I definitely feel intimidated and like I'm not a very good dancer :roll:

Once I got a really good WCS'er and he's now my favorite - it was a slow WCS and he realized quickly I was tense and nervous. He stopped and somehow completely put me at ease - I followed so much better and could actually enjoy it then!

[Lita_rulez]

My scariest dance moment ever ?

My very first class... as a teacher !!

I am not a instructor at all. I Like teaching, I have been training the girl teams in varsity for a litle over 3 years, I have been teaching some computer related stuff to many friends, writing tutorials, I used to teach math to my younger brother...

Passing on the knowledge you have is a wonderfull experience for me, though very time consuming so I hardly ever do it anymore.

Now my first salsa instructor became a good friend of mine. I would often go to attend his beginner classes because they lacked leads, and we would then grab somthing to eat and end up at his place working on his new (and very first) computer or at my place watching a movie (or sometimes, believe it or not, dancing ;) )

One thursday, he calls me up and asks me if I could replace him for the lesson he had to give on saturday afternoon, because he had been booked for a gala for the week end, and had to leave much earlier than scheduled and could not make the class. He told me it was just another beginner class like I had attended so many, and by now I new his beginner gig by heart so it could not be such a big deal.

So I said yes, sure, why not...

The only thing I did'nt know, was that while all the classes I had gone to with him were small classes ( 20 - 30 people tops) that one was in a gym way out in the suburbs... actually, more than a gym, a health complex, one of the biggest (and most expensive) that side of paris.

I arrived there 2 minutes before the class was scheduled to start to discover that huge set of buildings (tennis courses, swiming pool and all).
The guy shook my hand, gave me a small briefcase (what the hell..?) and said led me through the coridors.

I ended up in a very big room, a hundred and some people all looking at me, the briefcase (an HF mick because you do not teach a class to over 50 people just with your regular voice if you intend to speak during the next days), 2 CDs, and absolutely no idea about what to say, do, show, think...

One of the times in life when you truly feel like you actually ARE alone in this universe...

[PunkDancer]

Mine was my very first performance. They had me do a solo and I had just started dancing so I didn't have all that much experience. I was scared out of my mind. I didn't stop shaking till a few hours after. I didn't forget anything or fall-that was the good thing....however I did look stupid(my face expression, I was stiff, and never smiled). you could tell I was nervous. I still look back on that and can't believe how much I must have imbarrassed my self. :oops:

[Purr]

Oh my goodness. Surely they could have split up one of the previous heats and not given you a unexpected solo. Eeek! Terrifying.

Sometimes that happens at competition, that you're out there by your lonesome on the dance floor with no other couples, not even another couple in another division. It happened to me at my last competition, with Ladies A intermediate bronze paso doble. We got a first. :D

[ShyDancer]

!

That would have to be quickly followed by my first mini comp within the studio. I was fine until they called my name to take my place with my instructor. We were waiting in dance position for the music to start and I blanked and said to him "what are we doing again?". He just grinned and said "waltz". My legs were like jelly and I completely missed the first underarm turn he led me through! :shock: Needless to say the rest of the dance was done in closed position because he was supporting my body weight! :lol: We had foxtrot straight after that and I was a little better, could turn on my own, but still couldn't feel my legs because they felt like jelly!

Have gotten much better since. :wink:


Mine is very similar!
It would have to be my first honor dance in front of 200+ ppl. I have never been so tempted to sprint in heels before. I was so nervous I was almost sick.
I was the first person up. I heard my name called and wanted to hide, my teacher (fortunantly) had my hand and pulled me out onto the floor. I totally stuffed up a basic fan in cha cha but managed to save myself by doing 2 quick locks. I was mortified, thank goodness the rest of the dance went well and I wasnt afraid to come out for my next 2!

[Sagitta]

Cam't think of a scariest dance moment. I have scary dance moments every time I do something in public. My heart beats like crazy, I almost faint, yet I do it. As small as in front of 6 people in a class! :oops: It only fades away when I focus on the task at hand. Then I shine!

[pygmalion]

[It would have to be my first honor dance in front of 200+ ppl. I have never been so tempted to sprint in heels before. I was so nervous I was almost sick.
I was the first person up. I heard my name called and wanted to hide, my teacher (fortunantly) had my hand and pulled me out onto the floor.

Sounds absolutely terrifying. :? It also sounds like you did just fine, though. 8) :D

[Adwiz]

As someone who can get up to speak in front of an audience of 10,000 or more people without a moment's hesitation, I thought my first dance competition would be like that, a piece of cake. Instead, it proved to be definitely my scariest thing ever.

Getting out in front of an audience of more than 700 people for the first heat of my first competition, all I could think about was that I didn't feel ready and it completely blew up my mental preparation. My mouth felt like it was full of cotton, my jaw was frozen in position, my legs were shaking. I forgot my routine and didn't know what to do about it. I couldn't even find the beat for the first 10 seconds or so which felt like the whole song to me. It was a nightmare. Taught me a lot about myself too, and humbled me which is always a good thing.

Now that I've won a few gold medals I'm much more comfortable, but still surprised at how nervous I can be for the first couple of heats.

[swinginstyle]

My most recent intimidating experience was doing spotlight division in Novice WCS Finals at the PHX July 4 comp. I didn't realize I had to do spotlight until finals were almost upon me. Talk about not enough warning.

[pygmalion]

Spotlight? Does that mean a solo/exhibition with your partner?