Stopping in the middle of a dance?

Is there any way to do this gracefully without getting a bad reputation or really hurting feelings?
Last night during a mixer, this man stubbed my toes no less than 50 times. And he was wearing street shoes, that had those big thick hard soles that stick out, so it wasn't his toes stubbing me, it was giant hard shoe soles. And for a mixer round, it lasted forever, because he was taking little steps and lingering in places. Nothing I could do protected my toes. He had me in this weird AT like hold, and I kept trying to push back to give myself space, but to no avail. I kept my toes way far back, no luck. I've managed to protect myself from the worst beginner feet, going so far as to put myself all the way to the guys side, but I couldn't escape this guys feet of doom. He had no sense of rhythm, didn't change feet everytime he stepped, so there was just absolutely NO predicting what shoe was coming for me!
Point being, I've been in some BAD dances, but no matter what, I suffer through, make it through the 3 minutes and go on with life. Heck, a creepy guy, I'll suffer through and just see it as a challenge to keep his hands off my boobs. But even though it was only a mixer round, I wanted desperately to make it stop, my toes hurt and I had to perform later with my bruised toes! But I couldn't figure out what do I do to make it a graceful exit instead of a disgraceful exit. Don't want to hurt the guys feelings, don't want to get a bad rep, but my poor toes were suffering!!
So any tips? Is there a way? Or is it suffer no matter what?

"Would you mind escorting me to my seat? I'm not feeling well and I have to sit down."

You might even ask him to bring you a glass of water, to keep him out of the mixer for other girls' sakes!

You_are_hurting_me. Sometimes you just have to tell it like it is. You can't be responsible for how he feels once you tell him; life is too short to suffer through it!

Just overreact to an injury and go sit down.

I used this once to get out of a really awkward dance with a creepy guy. Someone else did step on my foot, and it did hurt - but if I'd been having a nice time I would have gotten over the momentary pain and gone on enjoying the dance. Instead I yelped, "Ow! Ow-ow-ow!" and limped over to the side, rubbing my foot.

If he's the guy stepping on your toes this is an even more appropriate approach (doesn't he know that he's doing it? or doesn't he care?). Just act really injured, with luck he will apologize abjectly and be more careful thereafter. At the very least you can save yourself three more minutes of pain.

waltzgirl said:

"Would you mind escorting me to my seat? I'm not feeling well and I have to sit down."

You might even ask him to bring you a glass of water, to keep him out of the mixer for other girls' sakes!

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I think that I like this one the best. I think if it were me, I'd say something similar. It wouldn't matter if it were his fault if I were desperate enough to get away from him. So, I'd put the blame on me if I would have to. And sometimes people don't feel well if they do certain moves like turning to much or what have you, so to me, I like this one.

trip and fall, and act in pain.

waltzgirl said:

"Would you mind escorting me to my seat? I'm not feeling well and I have to sit down."

You might even ask him to bring you a glass of water, to keep him out of the mixer for other girls' sakes!

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Now THAT is good! Especially the keeping him out of the mixer part!

How about counting out loud every time he mashes your toes? You could increase your tally by two or three depending on how many toes he gets per mash.

waltzgirl said:

"Would you mind escorting me to my seat? I'm not feeling well and I have to sit down."

You might even ask him to bring you a glass of water, to keep him out of the mixer for other girls' sakes!

Click to expand...

If he's too clumsy to stay off your toes, is it wise to be combining him and water near you?

noobster said:

Just overreact to an injury and go sit down.

I used this once to get out of a really awkward dance with a creepy guy. Someone else did step on my foot, and it did hurt - but if I'd been having a nice time I would have gotten over the momentary pain and gone on enjoying the dance. Instead I yelped, "Ow! Ow-ow-ow!" and limped over to the side, rubbing my foot.

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Brilliant idea. Dont know why I never thought of it before....but it is an absolutely perfect way to 1) get yourself away from him, and 2) let him know what he's doing(in case he's too stupid to figure it out on his own!)

Oh, man, Wooh, you gotta do this next time. Only problem will be me trying not to laugh as you do so. Hee hee!

I would tell him he needs to provide more distance, until he can avoid stubbing toes. Particularily with street shoes. If he is doing this to everyone, pretty soon nobody well dance with him. So you would be doing him a favor.

:evil::evil: Nah, put on your stilletos, position one over the centre of his foot and do a spin. :evil::evil:

Then HE will ask to stop dancing. Works every time - and is a social service.

quixotedlm said:

trip and fall, and act in pain.

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I don't think any acting would be needed if he kept stubbing her toes.

wooh said:

Last night during a mixer, this man stubbed my toes no less than 50 times. And he was wearing street shoes, that had those big thick hard soles that stick out, so it wasn't his toes stubbing me, it was giant hard shoe soles.

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i know this guy... mr. frankenfooter! i've encountered him at three studios so far... now he's showing up at your gig... man, he gets around...

am wondering why i never just stop "stop the show"... makes sense to me. i am no masochist... hopefully there won't be a next time to stop, tho...

I only walked away from a guy twice. In a salsa club, I'd never danced with him before, I was new to salsa, it was crowded. He was repeatedly doing these fancy drops and dips, but in a way that was really really hurting my shoulder and arm. Every time he did it, I yelled "Ouch!" as loud as I could and as soon as I stook up, I yanked my hand back for a second and told him that it hurt. Then we'd start dancing again, and he'd do it again.

After the third time, I just walked away.

The second guy I walked away from was also at a salsa club. He was so into himself . . . oy. Barely touched me while dancing, spent most of the time doing shines and not even looking my direction. When I walked away, he didn't notice for a good 15 seconds. I didn't feel bad about it since he wasn't dancing with me anyway.


But if you're being hurt, just yell "ouch" and walk off the floor. Nobody would blame you - usually not even the guy. (the above cases were rare and examples of real jerks).