Rueda etiquette - is there such a thing

[sababa]

hi all,

a friend of mine told me that the following rules apply in clubs:

1) never join a rueda circle without a partner

2) ask permission before joining a circle that has 2 or 4 dancing couples

3) a leader may leave a rueda circle only if he leaves with a follower (and vice versa)

4) never join a rueda circle with someone who's dance level is lower than the other dancers.

is this standard? do these/other rules apply where you dance?

[squirrel]

Never heard of it... not in my country, at least. Isn't dancing supposed to be fun for all?

[Backstreet]

What is a rueda circle?

[sababa]

Originally Posted by squirrel

Isn't dancing supposed to be fun for all?

i agree with you 100%, but i guess other dancers may find it annoying if they're short one person, because maybe some moves can't be performed if there is a single follower/leader in the group without a partner.

Originally Posted by Backstreet

What is a rueda circle?

you know what they say, 1 clip = 1,000 pictures = 1,000,000 words

http://www.salsacasino.com/videos/SA..._final2004.wmv

[SalseraLaura]

i dont know about other countries but here all rules apart from number 2 would be normal. i ve never seen anyone ask permission to join rueda its a bit of a free for all although ppl do tend to get annoyed if the leader doesnt know the calls and the follow cant well...follow...i dont dance rueda that much anymore though

[Sagitta]

#1 Definitely

#3 Makes sense

#4 Depends. If you are a leader and are good it really doesn't matter too much what the follower knows. If she can follow..sometimes even a beginner, she can do rueda with good leaders.

[Gussie]

1) never join a rueda circle without a partner

2) ask permission before joining a circle that has 2 or 4 dancing couples

3) a leader may leave a rueda circle only if he leaves with a follower (and vice versa)

4) never join a rueda circle with someone who's dance level is lower than the other dancers.

1 and 3 are a must!

2 Never known anyone ask to join in before, people just kind of filter in.

4 Yes and no, as Sagitta says, a woman is fine long as the leads know what they are doing (I did my first rueda after a 15 min intro and it went just fine). A bloke on the other hand doesn't stand a cat in hells chance if he doesn't know the calls..

[Sagitta]

Originally Posted by SalseraLaura

...i dont dance rueda that much anymore though

Why not?

[Big10]

Originally Posted by Gussie

2 Never known anyone ask to join in before, people just kind of filter in.

For a rueda with a relatively small number of couples (4 or fewer), I would think it is more likely that the members might just be a group of friends wanting to dance with each other -- rather than a large rueda where "the more the merrier." For example, there's not much of a Rueda "scene" here in Houston, so the only times I've seen it danced socially in clubs is when a small number of friends get together and they all learned from the same place (at least I assumed they did) so that they can be confident that everyone understands their particular version of the calls. Under those circumstances, it makes sense to me that a new couple should ask permission before joining.

[SalseraLaura]

Originally Posted by Sagitta

Why not?

rueda has become clique-ish here so that only certain men know rueda and they will only ask certain women, i dont get asked and when i try to grab a man who isnt part of that group theyre too scared to join too...lol. there used to be a time when anyone could do it but i dunno its annoying now