Does Social Dancing affect your Competitive Dancing?

dancerman

dancerman

Active Member
Let's face it I love to dance. Give me a social event I'm out there in the middle of the floor. Point me towards someone not dancing and I'm asking them onto the floor. I really want to get back to competing and have so much to learn before I do. I have heard that social dancing is not good for establishing my competetive game. Any advice?
 
i approach social dancing as just that---to be social and have fun. I never expect a social dancer to be as precise or assertive as the man I compete with. With that said, I never dance socially 2 weeks before a competion.
 
we have many threads on this topic if you care to do a further search...in my view, if one practices enough on their own, social dancing isn't likely to ingrain any bad habits and there are a myriad of things that one can focus on in even the worst social circumstance that will improve one's dancing..IMO, it is all a matter of perspective and deliberateness...and beyond that sometimes a person ought to be able to do something just for fun...I think it is really a cop-out to think that social dancing is going to ruin anything...cultivating good habits is what is important...the only reason I might not social dance near an upcoming comp is to avoid injuries that have ensued by having someone fairly new try to make me move b/c he has had to make his follows move and isn't accustomed to the fact that I intend to do that on my own...and since that obviously doesn't happen on my lessons or at comps, it has occasionally caught me off guard and forced me to make some rapid adjustments that haven't been good for a knee or otherwise...but on the whole, social dancing keeps me in touch with dancing solely for the love of it...it keeps me grounded
 
I just find it reinforces some bad habits--I realized, for example, I was picking up a tendency to push with my right hand that was a defensive mechanism from social dancing. Too many of the social dance guys I've run into try to "lead" by dragging with that side and I'd started pushing so they couldn't. I was starting to do these bracing and keep-your-distance maneuvers all the time. Now I try to relax when social dancing, or limit myself to partners I know aren't going to hurt me (for example dancerman or cantskiforlife--though with the latter I'm more concerned about getting in his way!)
 
It totally wrecks your competitive dancing. Don't do it. It will make you suck just like all of us social dancers suck. Stay away from the social floor.
 
I've always thought social dancing is good for your competitive dancing.

- Social dancing helps you get really comfortable with steps. Yes, you might end up getting a little sloppy, but that can always be fixed. You just have to maintain a competitive-dancing mindset during lessons and practice.

- Social dancing forces you to have good frame and connection, instead of just sticking to a routine. Yes, social dancers often have a more "relaxed" frame than competitive dancers... but that doesn't mean you have to follow suit, and it doesn't mean their frame is always weaker, either.

- Social dancing also helps you feel out that all-important (imo) connection between partners, so you can both practice and experiment with lead/follow.

-Dancing with many partners forces you to fix things in your lead/follow or in certain steps that your competition partner might be compensating for.

-It helps with floorcraft, too. Nothing can teach you to navigate a crowded bronze floor like a crowded social floor! :)

I suppose I'm a little bias because, although I am competition-minded in the way I want to learn dances, I really enjoy social dancing. The perfect dance for me is essentially social dancing with "competitive" technique/steps/styling/etc.

On the negative side, yes, dancing with poor leads or follows can mess up your follow or lead. And that's why I go social dancing with my team and/or at social dances thrown by other teams. ;)
 
I find that I pick things up easily, both good AND bad. So with that in mind I cut down on how much I dance socially. I now do it once a month or so instead of every week.
 
This is so upsetting as a beginner who wants to compete one day. I mean ...

1. I can only afford so much in private instruction. Socials are an affordable option to meet other competitors and instructors. Even if briefly to get a tidbit here and there.
2. Outside of private instruction there is no real practice UNLESS I approach a pro/instructor to dance. (they have been some of the nicest people I have met!)
3. Didn't EVERYONE start somewhere? (unless of course you were born ballroom dancing ...)
4. I suck now but sheesh ..... isn't that kinda like a learning curve? I might not suck so bad in a few years from now. But shoot ... when I suck, I do it well with ALOT of apologies on the dance floor. ROTF!!!! (side note: not being crude, I promise!)

I thought if one goes to a social event, one should try to abide by some "rules" so to speak. IE: like if a gentleman asks me to dance and I turn him down, I do not dance with someone else until the next song. Right? So .....

I guess I just do not see the social aspect of it as harmful. I like it when a gentleman that is better than I (and let's face it, at this stage of my learning, EVERYONE is better than me, LOL) will be kind enough to help me with stance, whether I am pushing, pulling his arms, etc ... I have received some great feedback from these men. I find it very hurtful the men that do not dance with some of us because we are not "good" by their standards. How the hoohaa am I suppose to get better? Oh that's right .... my classes .... darn I forgot. (can we hear the sarcasm in my voice.....?)

Ah .... to each their own I guess. No harm no foul. LOL

and apologies for any of my spelling errors. :)
 
fascination said:
we have many threads on this topic if you care to do a further search...in my view, if one practices enough on their own, social dancing isn't likely to ingrain any bad habits and there are a myriad of things that one can focus on in even the worst social circumstance that will improve one's dancing..IMO, it is all a matter of perspective and deliberateness...and beyond that sometimes a person ought to be able to do something just for fun...I think it is really a cop-out to think that social dancing is going to ruin anything...cultivating good habits is what is important...the only reason I might not social dance near an upcoming comp is to avoid injuries that have ensued by having someone fairly new try to make me move b/c he has had to make his follows move and isn't accustomed to the fact that I intend to do that on my own...and since that obviously doesn't happen on my lessons or at comps, it has occasionally caught me off guard and forced me to make some rapid adjustments that haven't been good for a knee or otherwise...but on the whole, social dancing keeps me in touch with dancing solely for the love of it...it keeps me grounded
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Thanks Fascination. Those are great points. Bad habits follow you around, I guess. The trick for me may be that I have to break all the ones I already own. A year without competing I've picked up a lot. I'm curious though, how many weekly private lesson are necessary to really prepare to compete? I'm really only Bronze material currently and doing a single private per week.
 
emeralddancer said:
This is so upsetting as a beginner who wants to compete one day. I mean ...

1. I can only afford so much in private instruction. Socials are an affordable option to meet other competitors and instructors. Even if briefly to get a tidbit here and there.
2. Outside of private instruction there is no real practice UNLESS I approach a pro/instructor to dance. (they have been some of the nicest people I have met!)
3. Didn't EVERYONE start somewhere? (unless of course you were born ballroom dancing ...)
4. I suck now but sheesh ..... isn't that kinda like a learning curve? I might not suck so bad in a few years from now. But shoot ... when I suck, I do it well with ALOT of apologies on the dance floor. ROTF!!!! (side note: not being crude, I promise!)

I thought if one goes to a social event, one should try to abide by some "rules" so to speak. IE: like if a gentleman asks me to dance and I turn him down, I do not dance with someone else until the next song. Right? So .....

I guess I just do not see the social aspect of it as harmful. I like it when a gentleman that is better than I (and let's face it, at this stage of my learning, EVERYONE is better than me, LOL) will be kind enough to help me with stance, whether I am pushing, pulling his arms, etc ... I have received some great feedback from these men. I find it very hurtful the men that do not dance with some of us because we are not "good" by their standards. How the hoohaa am I suppose to get better? Oh that's right .... my classes .... darn I forgot. (can we hear the sarcasm in my voice.....?)

Ah .... to each their own I guess. No harm no foul. LOL

and apologies for any of my spelling errors. :)
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Don't give up your social dancng emerald dancer. I won't give it up for anything because it is a huge part of my life. I see many, many competetive dancers at the same social events I attend regularly, in fact I see some of the same ones all the time. And some of them are placing very well in their comps. I posed the quesiton because with me I lack the necessary discipline at the social events, and that is a habit I really need to break. So don't give it up, and don't give up your dream to compete. Their is nothing like it. I have given it up for over a year out of necessity and I miss it big time!!!
 
dancerman said:
Thanks Fascination. Those are great points. Bad habits follow you around, I guess. The trick for me may be that I have to break all the ones I already own. A year without competing I've picked up a lot. I'm curious though, how many weekly private lesson are necessary to really prepare to compete? I'm really only Bronze material currently and doing a single private per week.
Click to expand...
well thank you...and to further elaborate...one can always practice good foot pressure, having a good dance position and even subtle things socially... I have a couple things that I tend to do in my handhold that bother the new pro...social dancing is a great time for me to think "okay, keep that fleshy part down on the left hand and keep your fingers closed on the right"...minor things in a way, but things I have to fix just the same ...

as for how many lessons one must take...I take a similar position to that as I do to social dancing, whatever you do, make it work for you rather than against you...when I was dancing with my first pro (henceforth referred to as FP) his rate was reasonable he lived close by, I could take alot of lessons (5 doubles) a week...and it served me well...with the new pro (NP), he is very busy, more costly, and lives a good distance away...I try to do 2-4 lessons a day two days a week, but am currently suffering through a 2 1/2 week dry spell as he competes in other places...so I have to work on my own... yet another thing that is making me a better dancer in that it forces me to own my dancing and cultivate good practice skills...IMO, if you look at it as a glass half empty you'll just panic...I like the Tim Gunn approach; "make it work"
 
fascination said:
yes...based upon past posts...wooh is a social dancer...a good one...and this sort of concern tends to get her goat in my assessment (i will obviously be corrected if I have mis-spoken)
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Huh. Well, I guess we all have our sensitive points. Some more than others.

Anyway, I tend to view things similar to fasc. Social dancing is a delight, for the social aspect of it. And sometimes you connect with a gem of a social dancer, like wooh. But even dancing with beginners or the clumsy - with precaution - cultivates a generous spirit. And generosity is a big part of dancing, competitive or otherwise...

There is *always* something to work on. If you can maintain perfect balance throughout a social, you have probably transcended Baricchi's accomplishments.. And that is bound to show up in one's competitive dancing.
 
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