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Implementing Your Code of Conduct

Rachel Cassandra
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Implementing Your Code of Conduct

However important writing up a code of conduct is, it’s even more important that your community buys into it and that you have protocols in place to support its implementation. The right words aren’t enough – people have to know about them, feel invested, and have confidence that you will act on them. So let’s take a look at how to get people on board, educate newcomers, train up some support, handle feedback, and make the tough calls that will occasionally be needed.

Bringing the Scene Together

Bring together the core members of your scene to have a discussion about your code of conduct. That could be registered members of your club, people who have been attending classes for at least a year, or simply everyone who is interested in the health of the scene. Do make sure the group is sufficiently diverse to represent your scene (including all genders, people of color, different age groups, etc.)

Send the drafted or current code of conduct out by e-mail or post it online and ask that everyone read it beforehand. Then they can bring questions and comments to the meeting.

The whole concept of a code of conduct feels uncomfortable for many people, like a set of unwanted rules or a public declaration that dance venues might be dangerous places. You’ll want to try to help them feel less uncomfortable with the idea of protecting your community’s dancers and values. “Nobody likes to be told what they are doing wrong. They will resist having to deal with shame…” explains Rowen Dawson, founder of ACSS. “Instead of highlighting whats wrong we want to focus on what we can do to achieve [our desired] culture.”

At the meeting, explain the reasons for the various points included, ask for feedback, and discuss possible changes. You aren’t likely to get unanimous agreement on everything, of course, and there may be some points you will need to argue for, but you can seek understanding and compromise. At the end, consider having a referendum on whether the revised code of conduct is acceptable to the scene as a whole.

When a large number of scene members have been part of the process of creating the code of conduct, you’ll have included more perspectives in the end policy, plus the group will feel more invested in it. It becomes a kind of social contract with shared responsibility.

Newcomer Education

When you welcome beginners and people new to your scene, introduce them to the expectations of your community. As Rowen Dawson points out: “That will set the tone and set the parameters for what the event is supposed to be like. Instead of just throwing an event together with some music and a space, think about what kind of space are you creating and how can you make it a space for everyone.”

Try a combination of some of the following:

  • Post the code of conduct on your website and link to it when you make Facebook events.
  • If you have people sign a waiver before class or complete a registration form for your event, ask them to read and agree to the code of conduct.
  • Put signs up at your social or event with some key points. I’ve seen signs that say:
    “Ask before: dancing, hugging, dipping, or lifting.”
    “We celebrate dancers of every size, shape, color, gender, religion, and ideology. Please help us make everyone feel welcome.”
    “Here are 30 reasons someone might say “No” to dancing with you.”
  • Have your instructors teach the most important elements of consent and etiquette. Check out my articles on teaching both nonverbal consent and verbal consent for some tips. It makes a huge difference when people are specifically taught how to set their own boundaries and make sure they aren’t making their partners uncomfortable.
  • Ask the DJ to occasionally offer reminders over the mic.
    “The dance floor is for dancing. Please head to the bar for drinks and conversation.”
    “Remember, communication is both verbal and nonverbal. Please use your words if something is unclear.”
  • Talk about the code of conduct during the event introduction or evening announcements. Max Pogonowski, a director of Swingin’ the Blues, advises: “Do it in a serious way but not a scary way; a ‘We care about you’ way. Be matter of fact: ‘We have our code of conduct over there, it’s for your safety,’ not threatening, like ‘you must obey!’”

Volunteer Support

Ask for a pool of volunteers to be community support staff during your socials or dance event. Teachers and organizers already have so many roles to fill in these spaces; it’s important to have others designated to help make sure your scene’s values are being respected and to help dancers with questions, feedback, and complaints.

Consider who might be able to fill that role in your scene, how they will take turns doing it, and how people will find them. Many scenes have their volunteers wear hats, pins, a glowing bracelet, or a similar item to make them easily recognizable.

Include people of different ages, colors and genders as volunteers at each event. “Potential reporters are more likely to share their discomfort if they identify with the staff members,” Jeemin Kim of Latin Dancers for Consent & Safety explains. “Having a diverse group of volunteers can help with talking to the reportee as well – for example chronic male abusers tend to respond right away instead of shrugging it off if a tall/muscular staff member comes over for the ‘chat.’”

It can also help to have a comment box where people can leave written feedback. Sometimes it’s more comfortable for individuals to write anonymously or ask to be contacted privately for follow-up.

It’s essential to get those volunteers and all your leadership some training in listening to complaints and reports of misconduct. There are many kinds of training workshops and online training available, but I’ll just touch on a few key points here:

1. Be welcoming and available. People need to be able to find you and feel they can approach you easily, without feeling like a nuisance. Even better, walk around and check in with people, especially newcomers and beginners. “How’s the evening going? I’m here if you have any questions or feedback.”

2. Listen. Never minimize their experience. It’s hard to make a report, so take them seriously and make them feel heard. This is particularly true for cases of sexual assault – I have encountered huge reluctance from people who’ve confided in me to even share their stories about sexual assault anonymously on my site, let alone making a personal accusation to their scene’s leaders.

3. Support them. Coming forward is a sign of trust, and it’s often an opportunity to nip potential problems in the bud. Especially in cases related to physical breaches of consent, don’t jump right into investigative mode, searching for the facts. “Certainly at some point you’ll want to figure out the details of what happened and what sort of response is right,” says Kate Molski, a DC blues dancer and advocate. “But your first instinct should be to support that person because it’s a really vulnerable position.”

If they feel their report matters to you, they’re more likely to stay in the scene, and it will help encourage others to feel comfortable coming to you as well. You might be surprised what you discover.

4. Check your biases. Are you able to consider that your friends could be responsible for derogatory comments to a person of color? Does it matter to you that a lesbian couple could feel unwelcome in your scene? Do you find it hard to believe that a man could be a victim of sexual assault?

Small Interventions

For most small breaches of your code of conduct, a brief intervention that includes a reminder of the relevant part of the code of conduct can suffice.
“You really can’t wear stilettos on this floor.”
“Please don’t take photos without asking people’s permission.”

Occasionally a warning or clarification of the policy might be needed.
“We don’t allow aerial steps at our social dances. It’s too easy for people to get injured and we can’t afford the liability.”
“In our scene, everyone is allowed to choose the dance role they would like. Please don’t assume someone’s role based on their apparent gender. Just ask, ‘Would you prefer to lead or follow?’”

Action Protocols

For more serious issues, it is extremely helpful to discuss responses and consequences in advance. When do you need to bring someone away from the dance floor and have a conversation with them about their behavior? What would result in someone being asked to leave for the night? When would you call the police? What actions would result in a dancer being banned? What can a dancer do to make amends and return to the scene? Who has the authority to decide?

Most dance scenes don’t include all such procedures in their published code of conduct. Instead, write up a separate “Action Protocols” document that takes local legislation and liability concerns into consideration. It will make it much easier for you to respond when that stressful moment comes. This is particularly important for the emotionally charged incidents like accusations of racial discrimination or sexual assault.

Many dance organizations use some variation of a three-strike policy. Perhaps the first time there is a breach of consent or a racist comment, the person responsible is taken aside for a conversation about the community’s views on that kind of behavior. The second time they may be asked to leave for the night. The third infraction can result in a ban from that event or scene.

Nevertheless, every situation is unique and many require nuanced thinking. Sometimes an action will be so blatantly offensive that an immediate ban is necessary. In other cases additional education might seem suitable. Kate Molski shares, “I think it can be really appealing to have a concrete rule so you can say ‘The process happens, so this happens. I never had to make a judgment call so I can’t be held accountable.’ Even though it’s scary, it’s better to make the judgment call. Give yourself the leeway because it’s always going to be complicated.”

Max Pogonowski admits, “I’m sure a lot of the scene leaders, like myself, have been (or still are) hesitant to ban someone for the “low end” of unacceptable behavior for a variety of reasons – perhaps to give people a chance to change, because the punishment seems disproportionate to the offense, or perhaps because we did something similar in the past. Regardless of the discomfort, it’s important to take action.”

One protocol that can be very helpful is documenting complaints. Kate Molski clarifies: “Some things don’t seem so serious in just one instance…but if this person has ‘accidentally’ groped someone’s breast 8 times, then it’s probably not an accident! If you keep track of it, you can see that pattern.”

I also recommend Safer Dance’s excellent page “Dealing with an Incident,” which explores possibilities for restorative justice as an alternative to punitive justice.

Whatever action protocols you decide on, definitely have your volunteers and staff practice role playing these types of situations and responding accordingly. Try to have enough volunteers that you always have people ready for different roles: welcoming chats with beginners, taking reports of various kinds, gentle clarification of policies after small breaches, stern rebukes, or enforcing someone’s departure.

Position and Power

Of course everyone is against sexual assault…in theory. But it can be difficult to take action when someone you respect or consider a friend is accused. “When it’s people with higher social power, or in the case of dancing, people who’ve been in the dance longer and people who are better at dancing, it costs you something to take the side of a victim. That’s how a lot of people see it – it costs them their friendship or their ability to dance with them,” says Kate Molski.

It’s particularly difficult when the perpetrators are influential people like instructors and DJs. It takes a lot of social capital to go up against such a person as an advocate or organizer, particularly since, as Billy Myles of Kizomba Harmony points out, “the system is heavily skewed towards protecting alleged victimizers, not victims.” So he makes it a point to talk to the instructors for their KHADE festival. “We set the tone by telling them, ‘If you do anything that makes someone not want to come back next year, you’re not coming back next year. This is not your free-for-all….If you’re doing a private lesson, that’s not a come-on. No privates in hotel rooms.’”

I could go on at length, but instead I’ll hand you over to my fellow contributor Tanya Newton’s “A Dance Event Organiser’s Guide to Sexual Harassment and Assault,” which explores a myriad of practical considerations.

Call to Action

“How do we change the culture of people feeling unsafe to report their discomfort,” asks Jeemin Kim, “into one that can empower marginalized people?”

In the end, what matters is the sum of all the actions we take. Every incremental improvement we make towards making our scenes safe and welcoming is valuable.

As a community, we can come together and decide what kind of culture we want to create in our scene. As organizers, we can stay informed and refuse to hire problematic instructors. As volunteers, we can check in with people, listen, and take action to support each other. As dancers, we can be considerate and respectful of every member of scene.

Leave us a comment to say what action you will take for your scene!

Thank you to all those I interviewed who agreed to be quoted. Special thanks to Jeemin Kim for her additional contributions to the shape of this article.

What Should You Practice In Your Dancing?

Leon Turetsky
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What Should You Practice In Your Dancing?

As a Ballroom and Latin dance instructor, I’m always surprised to hear my students’ response to “did you practice last week?”

Too often they answer something like: “Well, I didn’t really know what to practice… so no”.

See, in my mind, we just had a lesson where we worked on a bunch of stuff like:

  • How to hold certain Cha Cha steps a little longer.
  • How to keep the right posture through out the Rumba dance.
  • How to use stronger foot pressure into the floor.
  • Etc…

So, logically speaking, my expectation was for them was to just practice what we worked on.

Too many dance students think they need to invent something to practice, but actually if they just practiced exactly what they worked on last time with their teachers, they’d continuously improve and make their teachers happy too in the process.

Let’s just point out a few of the reasons why you should practice what you worked on in your lessons:

  1. Assuming you have a good instructor, they must have had a good reason to work with you on XYZ. They probably saw that you needed specific work on that leg action, hip movement, spin technique, whatever it is… In other words, it must be something that is a weakness of yours that needs to be improved.
  2. You need a lot of repetition. The key to becoming a great dancer is to get to a point where your muscles remember exactly how to do a specific movement (muscle memory). Having just learned something new in your lesson is often not enough to get your body to really internalize that information.
  3. So that can follow up with any questions you might have. Through practice you might notice that you’re not exactly sure of how to achieve those things you worked on. Or maybe you find yourself confused about a particular technique element, and need further clarification. As you practice you can write down the questions that pop up – to discuss in your next lesson.

So now you might say something like: “Leon, I do practice, but just other stuff, is that wrong?”

I have no problem with you practicing anything else you want, as long as you also incorporate the lesson material as well.

Here’s what a typical practice session could like like:

10 -15 min – Warm Up
15-25 min – Go over your routines
15-25 min – Go over what you did in your last lesson
25-35 min – Work on whatever you want

The above is just a simplified example, and not meant to be a thorough practice plan. But as you can see in that example you get the best of both worlds… You get to practice your own stuff and your teacher’s stuff.

Lastly, make your teacher happy!

Dance teachers are human too and just like everyone else they want to feel like they’re being heard and respected in regards to what they teach. They would really love to see you actually execute or at least try to execute the things they teach you.

In fact, it would probably make their day.

I know I’m always happy when I see my students really try to incorporate what I had taught them.

Watch my video about this very thing:

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Dance Code of Conduct Questionnaire

Rachel Cassandra
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Dance Code of Conduct Questionnaire

I am enthusiastic about dance scenes creating their own codes of conduct, tailored to their dance style and community. This article will take you through some questions that can help you write your own! Then next month we’ll look at ways of integrating it into your scene.

What is a code of conduct?

A code of conduct is basically just a message from the organizers or leaders of a dance community to the people who are coming to take part in the scene. It describes the expectations and norms of your dance community.

Codes of conduct can take many forms. Some people create scene “philosophies” or “value statements,” that focus on big ideas and values, while others have “policies” that might include much more specific details and procedures.

Why bother?

Well it doesn’t actually take all that much effort to write a code of conduct, plus it offers some clear benefits. So really, why not?

Here are some of the many reasons to encourage your scene to create one. Codes of conduct:

– formalize what your scene stands for, which can help provide continuity in scenes that might see a lot of turnover.

– improve member retention, as a community coalesces around shared values.

– make clear for newcomers what the basic do’s and don’ts of the scene are. That can remove a lot of stress from beginners that are just trying to fit into the new culture. It also helps avoid undesirable situations by deterring unwanted behaviors. Max Pogonowski in Sydney points out, “People who might have done something might think again because they just maybe think about it from someone else’s perspective.”

– can limit the liability of the organizers when problems do occur. It can also provide guidelines for resolving issues.

– can also signal to newcomers that your scene might be a place they want to stay. After all, one particular individual might be responsible for a bad interaction, but a value statement could show that your scene doesn’t condone such behavior.

– might even serve to attract dancers to your scene. Some people, for example transgender folks or survivors of sexual assault, might not even risk attending once, unless they see some evidence in advance that your scene will be a safe, welcoming place.

As Miguel Zaragoza, organizer of San Francisco’s Hot Bachata Nights, says “You have to be sure that you’re catering to people’s safety – they have to know they are safe to have success at your event”

What kinds of scenes should have a code of conduct?

Codes of conduct are for everybody. Every dance scene has norms and values, and communicating them explicitly makes life easier for everybody. It’s tough to be the person guessing at unspoken rules!

I get excited about attending an event that expresses values in line with my own. I wrote this article while attending Vienna Sugar Blues. Their code of conduct includes such gems as “We invite you to clearly express which role you want to dance when you ask someone for a dance” and “It is okay to say no to a dance when asked. Please be respectful and accept a ‘No’ when asking for a dance and equally be kind when you decline a dance.”

I also seek out inclusive scenes which include a statement like Embodied Dance’s “This environment is for everyone regardless of race, age, level of dance, sexual orientation, gender/gender identity, disability, physical appearance, religion, or anything else.”

That said, having a code of conduct can also help if you are part of a very traditional dance community. If your scene has strict gender roles, specific rules about who can invite others to dance, a dress code, or even ties to particular religious beliefs, you can let people know that from the outset. That way you’ll save people with dramatically different outlooks and identities (and yourselves) from some uncomfortable situations.

Isn’t writing a code of conduct a lot of work?

No! In fact, you don’t even have to write anything. Capital Blues created their policy under a Creative Commons Zero license, which means you can just copy, paste, and change the name of the group. Done! Many other groups (like Mobtown Ballroom) give permission for you to adapt theirs as long as you give credit, which is basically how I’ve created every code of conduct I’ve ever written. That’s why I’ll be giving you plenty of links to check out.

How can my community write one?

If you’re the main organizer of a scene, you could consider sitting down and writing one by yourself. However, I recommend inviting a group of key people from your scene to help. Go through the questions below and decide together which points you feel are important to communicate.

What kind of document are we trying to create?

Do you want to communicate a general philosophy or include specific policies? Are you describing normal etiquette or also hoping to create a safer space? Are you focusing on your values or trying to limit liability?

You might write “we” statements describing community norms and expectations like Mile High Blues. You could instead write “I” statements that you are asking members of the scene to agree to, like the Fusion Exchange. Some scenes use “you” statements, addressing dancers directly like Dance Jam Productions. Studios often use third person passive to lay out rules, like Salsabor. You could also choose a question-and-answer format like Blues Dance New York.

How much detail do we want to include?

At a minimum, your code of conduct should convey your scene’s core expectations. Maybe you want to have some main ideas in bold and then details fleshed out, to facilitate easy reading. It can be nice to have specifics written out for socially anxious beginners, or if you’re ever in a situation where you need to confront someone for their inappropriate behavior. On the other hand, a briefer document can be easier both to create and to read. For the Love of Bachata has made a great short policy; Fredericton Swing’s document is impressively comprehensive.

What are the norms for hygiene in our scene?

Of course nearly every social dance scene agrees that showers and clean clothes are desirable, but many other ideas vary. Should people use deodorant? Should long hair be tied back? Should dancers avoid wearing fragrances?

Do we have a dress code?

More formal dance scenes have specific expectations about clothing. Many dance studios require certain kinds of shoes or forbid others. For most dance styles, there are at least some types of clothes or jewelry that should be avoided for safety reasons.

How do we handle invitations to dance?

Should there be a verbal invitation? Is an outstretched hand normal? Do we need to wait for prolonged eye contact? Are there gender norms that should be respected? Is it all right to say “no,” and if so, how should it be done?

What is never allowed in our dance?

Is it okay to talk while we dance? What holds are inappropriate? What moves are unsafe? What kinds of language or touching are impermissible?

What should we ask permission about before doing?

Plus, how do we check for our partner’s consent? Many scenes now encourage people to ask (verbally or nonverbally) before doing dips, dancing in close embrace, or trying a trick that puts one’s partner off balance. Some venues don’t allow aerial steps except when cleared in advance for performances. Consider the particularities of your dance style and location.

What responsibilities do we have toward the venue?

Are there rules for the space that need to be respected? Should your dancers help with cleaning duties? Where is smoking permitted? What concerns might there be from the neighbors?

What is our policy regarding photography and/or social media?

Will you be taking photos to use in promotional materials? Are dancers allowed to post photos or videos they take in class or at parties? I offer more questions to consider and possible policies here.

How can dancers bring feedback or problems to us?

Having a code of conduct doesn’t help much if there is no connection to what happens on the dance floor. Many scenes designate certain individuals to whom people can bring comments or complaints. Others also have boxes where dancers can drop in suggestions or concerns anonymously.

In short, people need to feel heard if they are going to keep coming back. Next month I will go into detail about choosing and training people to respond, as well as establishing procedures for addressing people engaging in unacceptable behavior.

What else?

Sometimes people are reluctant to create a code of conduct because it would be tantamount to a public admission that there are issues that have to be addressed in the scene. Yet creating a code of conduct can be an energizing and affirming activity as you reflect together on your scene’s values and the kind of community you want to create. Sharing it with your dancers should also be positive, focusing on what it means to your community rather than framing it as killjoy directives (again, more on this next month).

Furthermore, inviting people to give feedback or express concerns safely will give you a much better chance of improving your member retention and dealing with issues while they are still minor. That’s nothing to be ashamed of! “Our dance scenes reflect the struggles of the society we live in, and unfortunately, we still have work to do around issues of consent, sexual assault and safe spaces,” as Lior Vered of Triangle Zouk put it.

Just in case you want a little more help during the writing process, check out Safer Dance’s “How to Write a Code of Conduct” and these resources from Safety Dance.

If you do create your own code of conduct after reading this, I’d love to hear about it!

Thanks to my first readers, Jeemin Kim and David Hendershot.

Dancing With a Weird (But Fairly Mild) Injury

Georgia Grace
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Dancing With a Weird (But Fairly Mild) Injury

I once sliced the tip of my left index finger off with a bread knife. Luckily, it wasn’t serious and didn’t require stitches or anything, but it hurt (and still hurts) with any kind of pressure.

While great for getting me out of chores like washing dishes, missing a fingertip makes social dancing a little bit difficult.

It was interesting because it forced me to really communicate with my partners and set boundaries.

I don’t condone dancing if you’re seriously injured and need to rest and recover (check out Brielle’s amazing article about what to do if you’re injured for that conversation). But some injuries or hurts won’t stop you from dancing completely. A few years ago, my good friend fractured her knuckle from getting kicked in the hand and was in a hard cast for a couple of weeks. She was still able to dance because the hand was immobilized, but she had to be clear and firm about what she could and couldn’t do.

Here are a few things I’m implementing through this somewhat bizarre and fortunately fairly mild injury.

Set boundaries

Be clear up front about what you can and want to do.

When someone asks me to dance, I say “Yes, I hurt my finger though so I can’t use my left middle and index finger.” And I show them. Then I make sure when they take my hand that I don’t touch them with my hurt fingers to reinforce the idea.

My friend is four months pregnant right now (I know that’s not a weird injury!) and she’s doing the same thing. When people ask her to dance, she says “Yes, but I’m pregnant so please don’t do multiple spins because I’ll get dizzy.”

Setting boundaries is super important for a safe and successful dance. Rachel goes into more detail about this in her article on how to teach consent.  

Take a knee

Sitting out is fine. It’s okay to say no. I was social dancing the other night and I danced with someone who kept squeezing my hands. I tried to explain to him the situation and keep my injured fingers out of the dance, but to no avail.

So the next time he asked, I just said no.

I think it’s important to reiterate over and over again that it’s ok to gracefully say no if you don’t want to dance a particular dance at any point. I injured my back last year and really couldn’t dance, but I still went to social functions because I was running them or just wanted to go and hang out. Because of that, I got really good at saying no and not feeling badly about it.

I used to feel so guilty every time I said no to a dance, even when I was injured. I know a lot of people, leads and follows, who feel that way and will say yes even when they don’t want to or can’t  dance. So I’ll say it again, it’s okay to say no and it’s okay to get told no, especially when there’s an injury involved.

Use it as a way to improve your following or leading

My friend with the knuckle injury said that being in a hard cast actually improved her following. Since she couldn’t really feel any of the signals through the cast, she had to rely on other senses to follow.  She said it made her pay closer to attention to what leads were doing and really watch them to see what step was next.

Besides improving her following, she said it also made her more aware of what she was doing with her arms, especially when transitioning to closed position. She didn’t want to bash her lead’s arm with the cast, so she made sure she was really staying in her lane.

Leading or following, having a hand semi out-of-commission is forcing me to be more creative with my movements and try to find more moves that I can do with just one hand.

https://www.facebook.com/MagnaGopalPublic/videos/10155190444956571/

I tried dancing with no hands, but I’m not there yet with my following skills…

 

 

 

 

 

Five Choreographic Tips To Mix Up Your Social Dancing

Georgia Grace
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Five Choreographic Tips To Mix Up Your Social Dancing

People often gravitate toward social dance because it doesn’t rely on set choreography and has a more spontaneous and improvisational nature. However, that doesn’t mean that principles of choreography can’t be used to mix up your social dancing and make it more interesting and meaningful.

I recently took a workshop with Kristin Alexander, the director of Annex Dance Company, a modern dance company in my area. She taught different choreographic techniques for creating sequences and phrases of movement. After the workshop, I started looking for ways to implement these ideas in my social dancing.

Try some of these out to mix up your dancing or identify ones that you already use.

Speed: Fast v. Slow

Although many social dances work within a prescribed timing, playing with the timing creates infinite variations of the same step. For example, in a Bachata, a lead may bring a follow into a sit dip in one count and then take seven counts to get out of it, or do the same movement in just two counts.You also can see this in a step like a rond de jambe—a circle of the leg—that shows up in Salsa, Zouk, Cha-Cha and many other dances. Sometimes the leg whips around in the circle in a count or two and sometimes it’s drawn out over multiple counts for effect.

Percussive versus Sustained Movement

Dancers often choose how they move based on the music. Heavy drumbeats ask for more percussive, sharp movements and gentler strings ask for smoother, more elegant movements. Being intentional about how you move creates a deeper, more interesting dance. Notice if you always do the same movement on different hits of the music or if you have a variety. The same step or move can be executed strong and hard or smooth and soft and it completely changes the look and feel of it. Think about a body roll or body wave. You could do it smooth and continuous all the way through or you could pop your chest out and then move sustained into the rest of the roll. This ties in with fast versus slow but focuses more on the quality of the movement than the speed.

Levels

Dance does not exist on just one plane. You can dance on multiple dimensions and in multiple directions. Your knees can bend, taking you lower. You can rise up on the balls of your feet, moving you higher. You can arch your back and dip or hinge or you can stretch down into a lunge. Level changes also help express different feelings with the movement and help accent different parts of the music or movement.

Transposition

Taking one movement and executing it using different parts of your body increases your arsenal of moves. Many dancers may do this without even thinking about it. Take a circular roll—you can roll your hips. You can roll your shoulders. You can roll your head. You can roll your wrists. You’re taking the same action and moving it up and down your body.

Stillness

So much can be conveyed with nothing. Sometimes just taking a pause can charge your steps with so much tension and emotion. There may be a break in the music that you choose to wait out or maybe the time just feels right to stop and breathe for a few counts before moving on. Or maybe you hold a shape or step for just a moment to highlight it before moving on. Don’t be afraid of stillness—it’s beautiful and powerful.

Are you already using these ideas in your dancing? Did you realize you were doing these things or did they develop naturally? Is there one you want to try to implement? Have fun! Mix it up.

Advice For Dancing In Heels

Brielle Friedman
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Advice For Dancing In Heels

Learning to dance in heels was one of the most frustrating parts of my early salsa journey.

The first pair of salsa shoes I bought didn’t grip my foot the right way. The straps didn’t provide enough support and I felt like I was going to tip over every time I took a step.

The second pair didn’t fit correctly either; my pinky and ring toes poked through the front straps in a weird way and made me feel like I was walking with one of those pedicure toe separators on my feet, the way I imagine a duck feels as it waddles along.

The third pair was a complete disaster. Each time I took a step, my narrow heel slipped out of the back of the shoe and created a bouncing sensation––up down, up down, up down–– that  drove me crazy and turned my skin red and raw after a couple of hours of dancing.

Salsa dance shoes, on average, cost about $120, so as I kept trying different styles and brands, not only was I racking up a closet full of stinky shoes that didn’t fit correctly, but also a very large credit card bill I couldn’t pay off with my entry-level salary and expensive city apartment.

And yet, I kept buying dance shoes.

During that first year, I bought 12 different pairs of shoes, each one a different style or brand. I researched shoes online, ordered a custom pair from England, and drove almost two hours to go to a ballroom dance shoe store so I could try them on in person.

I became obsessed with finding the right pair of shoes because I thought that if I could just find the right pair, I would be able to move more gracefully, balance better, and step more quickly. I knew the right shoes wouldn’t solve all my dance problems instantaneously, but I did think they would improve some of them.

Finally, I did find my perfect pair of dance shoes. Five years later—now that I can social dance just as well in four-inch stiletto street shoes as I can in my perfect pair of dance shoes—I’ve realized that my tumultuous relationship with heels that year had more to do with me and my level of dance skills than it did the shoes themselves.

Finding the right pair of dance shoes is really tough, I’m not denying that at all. The cut of the style has to match your foot, and the material and make of the shoe does really make a difference. So too does the placement of the heel. Not all dance shoes are created equally, and not all brands are a good match for the unique shape and size of your feet.

But what matters even more than the shoes you dance in, are the muscles in your body and how you use them.

When I first started dancing salsa, my feet (and ankles and calves) weren’t strong enough to support my dancing. I hadn’t developed the right type of muscles in these body parts, or learned how to use them in the right way to transfer my weight, or generate movement from the floor. So even though I kept switching up my tools, improving the quality as I went, I hadn’t taken the time to learn how to use them, and so I saw no change in my dancing. It was like getting a new oven thinking it would make me a better baker, without taking the time to actually experiment with different recipes in the kitchen.

Finding the right pair of shoes is important, and chances are you’re going to have to invest in a few different styles that don’t work so well for you before you find your perfect pair. That’s just part of the dance shoe buying process—shoes stretch and change as you dance in them, and so even if you try them on first, they may not be entirely what you want after a few classes or nights out.

But be patient as you start dancing in heels. It takes hours of practice to build the strength you need to feel comfortable in your latin dance shoes. Remember, like with anything, if you keep practicing, you’ll improve, and all of those things that felt so frustrating in the beginning will eventually go away too.

If you’re looking for your perfect pair of latin dance shoes, below are a few tips to keep in mind that will also help, as well as some tips for strengthening your feet and ankles.

Tips For Buying Salsa Shoes

  • Start with a low, flared heel. Trust me, there’s nothing sexy about wobbling around and throwing your partner off balance because you can’t actually dance in the shoes you’re wearing. Start with a 2-inch or 2.5-inch heel and then work up to higher heel (3-inch, 3.5-inch, or 4-inch) as you build strength and stability in your feet and ankles. And remember, every single person you see on the dance floor started from the beginning too! They may look like they never struggled dancing in their heels, but trust me, they did! You’ll be dancing in super tall, sexy stiletto heels sooner than you think.
  • Figure out your foot shape, then look for a style that matches. Do you have a narrow heel? Then look for a shoe style that has higher, tapered heel cup. Short toes? A style with a lot of toe straps might not be the best for you. High arches? Go with a shoe that has straps you can wrap underneath the shoe and around your arch. If you can’t try the shoes on in a store, speak to a representative from the shoe company on the phone or via email before you order. They can help you find the best style for your particular foot and explain how their sizing and fit compares to other brands. You can also use the chart below to help you figure out your foot shape.
  • Go with a dance shoe size that’s 1 – 2 sizes smaller than your street shoe. Because salsa shoes will  stretch as you dance in them and ‘break them in,’ you want them to be super snug and tight when you first buy them.

Tips For Strengthening Your Feet And Ankles

  • Focus on using the ball and inner sides of your feet as you dance through each step. Using the right part of your feet is super important in building the right type of muscle strength for latin dancing. Practice your basic and other simple steps (like a suzy q or forward walk) slowly, and with extra attention on how you’re using your feet. You want to make sure to keep your weight on the ball of your feet and push from one step to the other with the inside edge of your feet.
  • Warm up with calf raises and point and flex exercises. Before you put your dance shoes on, warm up your muscles with these exercises. Try and do 20 reps, 3 sets on each leg. You can also wrap a resistance band (like this one) around the balls of your feet to increase the intensity of the exercise. It’s important to do each rep slowly and really focus on using the tiny muscles in your foot as you push to point, and pull back to flex your foot. If you rush the exercise, you won’t see the same type of results! To further increase your strength, try balancing on one foot for an extended period of time at the end of a set of calf raises.
  • Practice in your dance heels! This one seems obvious, but I’m always surprised by how many dancers I see practicing in flats or street shoes. If you want to get better dancing in your heels you have to actually try and dance in them. After you warm up your muscles in bare feet or flats, put those shoes on even if it means you’re going to wobble a bit more.

Why Are We Uncomfortable with Safety?

Rachel Cassandra
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Why Are We Uncomfortable with Safety?

The idea of making dance scenes “safer” isn’t new, but it’s also one that creates a lot of discomfort. Why is that? What can we do about it? I spoke to several people across styles and continents to bring you some answers.

Our Dance Home

Social dance scenes offer so much to us. We come to escape from our task-driven lives and have some fun. We are moved by music and learn to express ourselves creatively. We build meaningful friendships and even call each other family. In many ways, our dance scenes are our homes.

If keeping our homes safe is important, why don’t we want to talk about consent?

Rowen Dawson, founder of ACSS, commented, “I think people don’t want to deal with it because they want to have fun, so they’d rather not deal with the things that aren’t fun.”

For others, it’s just not clear that there’s really a problem that needs addressing. Dancing is a time-honored way of getting to know potential romantic or sexual partners, after all.

“Unfortunately from the lens of masculinity, there’s just the view that these women are at these events, dressing and carrying themselves in certain way, so they might be open to this attention,” said Miguel Zaragoza, organizer of San Francisco’s Hot Bachata Nights.

And hey, sometimes they are. Dance scenes with no flirting would be artificial spaces, and a lot of that attention is exchanged in a fun, unobjectionable way.

An Unfortunate Truth

Recently there have been more obvious cracks breaking through our dance scenes’ friendly façades. 2015 saw multiple accounts of sexual assault in the Lindy hop scene. In 2016, three women discovered their unborn children would all have the same father, someone they’d unknowingly shared at a Latin dance event. In 2017 came the revelation of a prominent Brazilian zouk DJ ignoring and then denying his HIV positive status, failing to warn partners that became infected in turn. And the #MeToo movement has had women from every social dance scene raising their hands if not publicly revealing their stories.

Many communities have dealt with accusations of rape and sexual assault, but even if you haven’t heard of such a case in your community, many things can cause dancers to feel unsafe, and ultimately leave the scene.

A breach of consent is any interaction in which someone does not want to do something or have something done to them, and yet it happens anyway. Sexual assault is at the dark end of that spectrum, but breaches of consent include stolen kisses, an unwanted caress, holding someone uncomfortably close, or repeated pressure to meet one on one.

So are breaches of consent really happening regularly in your scene? I think it can be hard to recognize the way our norms can allow for interactions that make some of us feel threatened.

Most of us learn how to dance (or behave) by watching what others do. Miguel explained, “There’s a kind of glamorization especially on the level of instructors. A lot of them have said, ‘Just because I dance this way with this person doesn’t mean that’s okay for you to do,’ but I think that that message is being lost.”

What’s more, when we open ourselves to connection and trust our partners, we leave ourselves open to getting hurt. “The problem is that because in the dance scene there’s a unique opportunity to connect with people, there’s a special vulnerability,” said Billy Myles of Kizomba Harmony.

So while trust can be rewarded with beautiful connection and relaxed intimacy, losing that trust has terrible consequences for our dancing. We thinking about protecting ourselves rather than enjoying the moment and the music, and we’re far less likely to take the risk of dancing with someone we don’t know.

The Problem with Coming Forward

Our dance scenes usually encourage us to give others the benefit of the doubt, to avoid making a scene, and be accommodating rather combative. Now, being polite is important for maintaining a happy dance scene! Unfortunately, an unintended consequence can be that we expect victims to deal with or accept breaches of consent – unless they are truly egregious – and patterns of behavior are overlooked.

“Experienced dancers will share information with each other about bad experiences and avoid the guilty parties,” noted Lydie Costes, director of Triangle Zouk, “which often leaves newcomers to suffer through those dances.”

Many never come back.

Thus plenty of our scene members are left completely unaware that these incidents are even occurring, which makes it hard to recognize how deep the problem runs. However, it’s a risky proposition for anyone to come forward more publicly. The worse the breach of consent, the more shame that’s attached to talking about it. No one, regardless of gender, wants to be seen as a victim – or to be judged for having “let it happen.”

That’s one reason I created the Survivor Stories page on my site. It’s intended to be a place where dancers specifically can share their stories anonymously, to help them be heard without fearing the social or even legal consequences. It’s an opportunity to show more publicly the types of stories we hear all too often privately. Yet even here, the majority of people feel hesitant about sharing.

What Now?

Please, let’s not fall into the trap of blaming one another. Many people who breach someone’s consent do so unintentionally. Norms are changing. For some people, it’s not clear what’s allowed anymore. David Hendershot, a Denver blues dancer, commented, “We live in a culture where men are suddenly afraid of consequences, especially for actions that cause unintended harm.”

But these changes are happening for good reason. Those of us advocating for safer dance scenes aren’t here to kill the fun or punish people. We want people to enjoy their dancing without feeling threatened by unwanted attention or contact. We don’t want new dancers to decide it’s not worth coming back.

Let’s have compassion for one another. Challenging a dominate culture and bringing positive change takes effort and above all time and patience.

That said, there are plenty of small actions that can make a significant impact, especially when taken collectively.

1. Consider consent in your interactions with other dancers.

A few months ago I shared an exploration of consent and tips for teaching it for social dance. I’ve also collected some resources on the topic, so there’s plenty for you to explore, but here’s one example:

“Say you try putting a hand on someone’s hip. If they say no or pull away, you stop, but if they lean into it and then wrap their arms around you, that’s perfectly fine,” offered Max Pogonowski, in Sydney, a director of Swingin’ the Blues. “There’s a lot of people who are worried about misinterpreting nonverbal communication, and to them I would say ‘Then ask!’”

2. Give feedback when someone makes you uncomfortable.

This will increase your discomfort in the short-term, but I promise it gets easier with practice. Consider getting a few friends together and trying some role-plays.

“Giving advice on the dance floor is usually a taboo, but not where your safety is concerned – you could be helping the person’s future dance partners,” advised Lydie.

3. Check in with your friends or a newbie

When you see someone looking uncomfortable during a dance, take a moment to check in with them. That could be nonverbally during the dance (perhaps even leading to an interruption) or more likely a quick chat afterwards.

“Sometimes we are so focused on the dancing we forget about the social part,” Rachel Meth of Embodied Dance commented. “Let’s have time for reflecting and talking about what’s happening on the dance floor, and not just when we see something that looks dangerous or suspicious. The better we know each other the more we will be connected and innately want to take care of each other.”

4. Listen

It’s incredibly important to listen without judgement when someone shares a story about a breach of consent with you, particularly when it’s serious. It may or may not be appropriate for you to take action afterwards, but the first thing your friend needs is to feel heard.

“Everyone says they’re against rape,” said Kate Molski, a DC blues dancer and advocate, “but when someone says your friend raped them or someone you know and are dancing with did something nonconsensual…people have a harder time taking action.”

5. Bring up the topic of consent if your scene leaders don’t.

In many dance scenes, all of these ideas are pretty new. You might find you’re paying more attention to it than your teachers or organizers.

“In my opinion, what is missing is the education of both men and women on what is ok and what is not. Just looking from outside it might feel like if you dance blues you are totally open for physical contact,” shared Polina from Blossom Blues in Zurich. “It took me more than a year to understand these kind of things and I find it very important to educate people as early as possible.”

This doesn’t have to mean a big intervention, though. “If you’re in the class with a teacher, you can ask questions about consent if the instructor doesn’t,” Billy pointed out, “like, ‘What are the consent considerations, because it seems a little sensual?’”

Our Community

As a regular member of a social dance scene, you have far more power than you realize. We pay a lot of attention to teachers and organizers, but you outnumber us. Your attendance tells us what you appreciate. Your money funds the scene. That’s why I think we should take Rowen’s advice: “Be mindful of the culture you’re creating.”

Advocating for safer spaces isn’t about making rules and shutting people down. It’s about “creating this beautiful space where every moment you’re dancing you’re really in that moment, and every moment you are in that community and every interaction with your friends and dance acquaintances should feel like a moment that you want to be living,” shared Kate.

“As we become clearer about consent and ground ourselves in thinking about fostering safety,” reflected Lior Vered of Triangle Zouk, “it also becomes easier for us to trust each other, to take risks, to be vulnerable and as a result, to elevate our dance.”

This is what we are working towards. And dance scenes around the world have been making huge strides in this direction. Next month, we will examine some policies that have had a positive impact. Check back then for plenty of practical advice for organizers and people taking a leadership role in their scenes.

In the meantime, check out all these resources on consent, including downloads from ACSS you can adapt for your scene. You might also want to read Tanya’s article, focusing on how event organizers can handle allegations of sexual misconduct.

Special thanks to David Hendershot for his invaluable contributions to this article’s final version.

What You Give Is What You Get Back On The Dance Floor

Brielle Friedman
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What You Give Is What You Get Back On The Dance Floor

I once fell during a solo competition in New York City.

I didn’t hit the ground, but I fell hard enough that the entire audience gasped. One large, loud noise that drowned out the music and echoed through the room.

The auditorium was fully lit too, so not only could I hear the audience’s reaction, I could also see the mix of disappointment, pity, and concern on their faces.

Three months earlier I had had a similar mishap occur during my showcase routine at another competition. A few seconds into the performance, my partner and I missed hands during a trick and instead of spinning gracefully on the ground, I landed with a thud.

I stood up as quickly as I could and we finished the routine, but my heart wasn’t in the rest of that show. When I physically hit the ground, I plunged emotionally into self-doubt too. My body movement was tense, my smile forced. Everything about the way I physically executed the routine dripped with the defeat and judgement I felt.

The audience felt that and reacted to it. Regardless of how loudly my friends screamed over the course of the next 90 seconds, that room remained silent and still.

It was horrible.

The second time around I didn’t want that to happen again.

This time without missing a beat I caught my balance and went right into the next part of my routine. I brought my energy up, even higher than it had been before, and gave everything I had to the last few measures of that routine.

To my surprise, the audience cheered and clapped. They applauded even more loudly than they had gasped only moments before.

In a matter of seconds their emotions had changed from disappointment and embarrassment  to awe and excitement. Perhaps they even felt a small sense of pride too. Adrenaline rushed through me, and when I walked off that stage beaming, I could see every face smiling too.

What actually happened during those two shows was strikingly similar: Both times I fell. On stage. During a competition. In front of a lot of people.

But the way I felt after each performance couldn’t have been more different because of the way I reacted in the moment.

The second time around I trusted myself. Like really trusted myself. When I fell, I pushed out all those feelings of self-doubt and focused instead on all the things that remind me of my self-worth, like how hard I had practiced for the competition and how much I deeply love to dance. In comparison, falling seemed like such a small thing, a small bump I hit in the middle of the road that I couldn’t possibly let ruin the entire drive.

Once I thought about it that way, I had no choice but to stand up and keep dancing. I had to put my heart and soul into the rest of that show.

In doing so, I gave the audience hope. I inspired them with my own resilience and in turn, they sent those positive emotions right back to me. And getting them back felt really good.

That second performance taught me just how much crowds absorb and reverberate whatever energy performers put into their shows and out into that room. However we choose to respond to what happens on stage, that’s how the audience is going to respond too.

If you’ve never performed, I can tell you that the same energetic relationship applies to social dancing too.

Think about those dances you’ve had when you can feel that your partner’s attention isn’t with you, that they’re distracted by something else. Most likely you feel slighted or annoyed when this happens, especially if your partner was the one to bring you out onto the dance floor in the first place.

Those negative feelings prompt a negative reaction; you start to mimic your partner’s lackluster energy and soon you’re both just going through the motions desperately waiting for the song to end.

But what would happen if instead of matching their energy, you gave more to them during that dance?

It’s hard to walk out onto a stage into a dead audience and give everything you have to your show. Often it feels easier to give up in that moment, to give a lifeless but technically on point performance than to be completely vulnerable in front of your audience, or in front of your social dance partner.

But what feels worse is walking off the floor after the kind of show I had at that first competition.

I’d much rather walk off stage, feeling as euphoric as I did after that New York competition last year.

I even want to feel like that after the non-dance related experiences in my life. After a meeting with my boss at work, a difficult discussion with a co-worker, dinner with a friend, or a date with a new love interest.

Sure, sometimes I’ll still need some help. Other times it might take me a few tries to get all the way back up. But now I know that when I commit to picking myself back up, I’ll bring everyone else around me up with me too.

Too Old to Dance

Melissa West-Koistila
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Too Old to Dance

I recently ran into a former dance acquaintance at a family friend’s holiday party.  She and I had always been cordial, but we weren’t especially close, so we’d lost touch after she stopped salsa dancing a couple of years ago.

After a few minutes of random small talk, she asked the question I knew was coming:  “So … are you still dancing?”  I replied, “Absolutely.  I’m still dancing, performing, and I even teach a class once a week.” After a bit of hesitation, she remarked, “Wow.  I guess that’s why you’re in such great shape…but I thought you would have outgrown all of that by now.”  I gave her my brightest smile, replied, “I guess not,” and then moved on to another topic of conversation.

As an avid Salsa and Casino dancer in her late forties, I’m no stranger to these kinds of conversations about my active involvement in dancing.  While 40 may be considered “the new 30” in many aspects of life, it seems as if 40 is “the new 80” in the youth-obsessed world of linear Salsa dancing.  I’ve been dancing for nearly a decade, and I can honestly say that I’m a much better and more confident dancer than I was 10 years ago.  I definitely haven’t “outgrown” Salsa dancing, but there’s no doubt that dancing over the age of 40 presents certain challenges as well as benefits.

Over 40 on the Floor

When I go out Salsa dancing in my local community, I don’t have much difficulty finding a dance partner.  I’ve been around for a while so I know a lot of people and I’m not shy about asking men for a dance.  I don’t feel the need to dance all night long to every song, (like I did in my younger years), so I don’t mind sitting out a dance if I’m not feeling the music.  I still feel welcome on the dance floor, and even when I travel outside of my local dance community I still have a great time.

However, some of my “over 40” female friends tell me that they are finding the dance floor to be a lonely place for dancers in our age group.  It’s not that these ladies don’t ever get asked to dance, but the invitations seem to be coming fewer and further in between.  It is not uncommon to see male dancers pass up older, more experienced “Salseras” in favor of younger female dancers who can barely manage a basic step.  But –as one male dancer told me – “sometimes you care about having a great dance; other times you just want to hold onto a tight, young, body.”

So what’s an “older” lady to do?  Don’t sweat it.  Just be proactive and assertive about getting your dances.  If you really want to dance, and no one has asked you, just go up and ask someone to dance with you.  It’s really not a big deal, as nearly everyone you ask will say yes.

If you are an older female dancer, try this technique the next time you go out social dancing: 1) scan the room for the best male dancers; 2) go ask one of them to dance; and 3) then bring your best dance energy to the dance floor.  If you employ this technique correctly, I find that no matter your age you will have no problems attracting dance partners throughout the rest of the night.

I should point out that I’ve also seen some older male dancers struggle to find willing female partners to join them for a social dance.  Personally, I love dancing with older men and appreciate the flavor, rhythm, and charm that many of them express on the dance floor.

However, I’ve found that some older male dancers have allowed themselves to become complacent and stale on the dance floor.  These are the Leads who competently learned a certain set of moves/patterns several years ago and have decided that these are all of the moves they ever need to know for the rest of their lives.  They shy away from learning anything new, and instead choose to recycle the same moves over and over again.  This is quite boring, (from the female dancer’s perspective,) and is more aging than any chronological passing of time.  It’s OK to be an “old” dancer, but it’s not OK to be a stale one. If you want to stay young on the dance floor, it’s crucial to learn new moves, and to experiment with different ways to express the music.

Over 40 in the Studio

If you are a brand new dance student over the age of 40, the Salsa dance studio can be an exciting, but sometimes intimidating place.  I was in my late 30’s when I first began Salsa dancing and a lot of my fellow students were younger than me.  Though I may have felt slightly out of place when I walked into my first dance class, that uneasy feeling quickly faded away as soon as we started dancing.  I always felt warmly embraced by my fellow students and I never lacked for practice partners to help me improve my dance skills.

I currently teach an introductory level Casino dancing class, and I am blessed to have three students who are in their mid-70s.  While it sometimes takes them longer to learn things than some of the younger students, these “Senior citizens” are undaunted in their enthusiasm for learning the dance.  The younger students enjoy having them in the class, and we are all inspired by their great attitude and energy.  My older students rarely miss a class, and seem excited and happy to be there every week.

If you are a dance teacher over the age of 40, the dance studio is generally a great place to be.  Most students accord a great deal of respect to older, well trained, and experienced dance teachers.  However, I find that the primary challenge for “older” teachers is to convey experience without being viewed as old-fashioned or out of touch. I have seen some young students flock to younger teachers who may possess little training or experience, but who do have a particular “look” or dance “lifestyle” which may appeal to a younger, more social media-driven generation of dancers.

Over 40 on the Performance Stage

This is probably the most controversial aspect of my current dance life.  For the past seven years I have been a member of an all ladies’ Cuban dance performance team, made up entirely of women over the age of 40.  For whatever reason, the chronological ages of our team members have been a surprisingly big deal to some people in the community.

When we first began performing there were people who questioned why women of our age would want to “display ourselves” on a public stage.  I even had a male friend say to me, “No offense — but y’all are kind of up in age to be performing.”  Despite these kinds of ageist comments, we continued to dance and to keep ourselves in the public eye.  We trained and worked really hard to improve our dance skills because we knew we wouldn’t get the performance “pass” often given to the hot, young, and sexy dance teams.

While this was a challenging experience at times, it was definitely worthwhile.  Today, our team is still loving what we do and we’ve gained the respect of many people in the dance community.  Performing is one of the best ways of communicating and sharing with others, so the older you are, the more stories you have to tell!

Some Final Thoughts on Dancing Over 40

  • If you’re over 40 and find yourself feeling out of place in the Salsa community, sign up for classes in another social dance style.  For some reason, the linear Salsa community is a lot more youth obsessed and competitive than many other social dance communities.  I find myself attending more Cuban/Casino events than Salsa events these days as the Casino community is a bit more relaxed and welcoming to dancers of all ages.
  • If you’re over 40, be sure to adopt the motto of “Live to dance another day.” In other words, don’t feel as if you have to dance every song and stay all night long until the DJ shuts it down. Dance when you feel like it, for as long as you feel like doing it.  If you feel like dancing all night—that’s fine; but, if you feel like dancing five times and calling it a wrap – that’s fine too.  It’s better to dance at your best level for fewer dances than to wear yourself out in an effort to keep up with the younger crowd. There’s just no need for this.
  • If you’re over 40 and want to stay young on the dance floor, stay physically fit to maintain your stamina and agility. And – keep learning new things to expand your dance portfolio.  Age is no excuse for complacency.
  • Finally – if you’re over 40 and you’re still dancing, YOU ARE WINNING. Personally, dancing is something that  I intend to do until I’ve been lowered into the ground in a box, and even then, I definitely will explore my dancing options in the afterlife.  Dancing is one of the purest expressions of  joy, and joy has no age limit.  So be smart, enjoy yourself, and never let anyone tell you that you are too old to dance!

What To Do When You’re Injured and Can’t Dance

Brielle Friedman
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What To Do When You’re Injured and Can’t Dance

As dancers, we derive a lot of happiness from movement, and not being able to dance because of an injury—even a relatively minor one that requires you to take a break for just a few weeks or months—is hard.

After a stress fracture worsened over the summer, I found myself on a forced break this past fall. I missed out on a big competition and an annual event I was really looking forward to. It was hard too to shake the feeling that I was falling behind in my training. At times I felt a bit overwhelmed and frustrated by all the catching up I thought I’d have to do when I could finally started dancing again.

But being on a forced break while unwelcome, wasn’t all bad. I had more time to focus on other interests and started a few new projects, including writing for this site! Moreover, not being able to dance for a few months actually deepened my appreciation for my dancing and the role that it plays in my life.

Dealing with an injury that has you sitting off the dance floor? Keep reading for five things you should do as you recover. 

And remember that taking care of your body to prevent injuries is just as important as taking care of yourself as you recover. Be sure to stretch regularly (especially after a long night of social dancing or during a congress event), wear the right kind of shoes, and cross train to build the right type of muscle strength you need as a dancer.

Don’t Rush It

This is the most important thing to remember while you’re injured! If you start dancing again before you’re ready, even if it’s just socially, you’re almost guaranteed to experience negative repercussions (including subsequent injuries) later on.

Six weeks, three months, or even a year—that all feels like a really, really long time when you can’t dance, but compared to the rest of your life, it’s very short! Your body needs time to heal, so take your time getting back on the dance floor.

Stay Positive And Reframe Your Injury As An Opportunity

Not being able to dance doesn’t have to be a bad thing. You can use the time you’d normally spend rehearsing or taking class to reconnect with family and friends, or learn a new skill that you’ve always wanted to try.

You can also use your ‘extra’ time to pursue some of the nonphysical aspects of your dance training. After all, dance is so much more than just a physical thing!

Take a music theory class or songwriting class. Listen to different types of salsa and bachata artists. Watch videos from shows and competitions around the world.

There are lots of great resources out there to help dancers strengthen their emotional and mental skill sets too. Check out this book,  Dance Psychology for Artistic and Performance Excellence, by Jim Taylor and Elena Estanol. It’s easy to read,  full of super helpful (and inspiring!) information, and includes access to web resources to various activities and exercises. Working with a personal coach, psychotherapist, or energy consultant can also be a great way to invest in your emotional dance training while you’re waiting for a physical injury to heal.

Find Other Ways To Remain Active and Continue Physical Training

Even though you can’t dance, there are likely other ways you can be active throughout your recovery. Ask your doctor or physical therapist to suggest exercises or activities that are safe for you to do, like swimming or pilates. If you’re dealing with a foot or leg injury, focus on building strength in places like your core, back, pelvis, or arms instead.

Staying active will also help ward off some of the depressive and negative feelings dancers often experience while they’re injured. Even if you don’t realize it, you’re used to all those endorphins that are released through movement and not having them is likely to affect your mood. So too is just not being able to enjoy something you love so much, so make sure to practice self-care during your injury, whatever that means to you.

Stay Involved With Your Dance Community

Being around other dancers when you’re injured is hard. Sitting out never feels good, especially when you’re physically unable to participate. But removing yourself entirely from the people and community that you love just because you can’t dance isn’t a good idea either. Instead find new ways to get involved with your dance community.

If you’re part of a team or a studio, you can offer to help out with administrative or promotional tasks, like checking people in, posting on social media, or selling tickets for an upcoming event. Just because you can’t dance doesn’t mean you should forgo all dance-related social events, like a big anniversary party or your city’s salsa congress. You can still enjoy the shows, the music (especially if there’s a live band!), and catching up with your dance friends. So if there’s an event you’re looking forward to, keep your plans to attend!

Know You’re Not Alone

Dancing puts a lot of stress on your body, and almost everyone experiences some kind of injury at some point—remember that you’re not the only one who’s dealt with an injury, or the complicated and confusing emotions that often come with it. Reach out to other dancers for advice and support, and take time to process everything you’re feeling by writing it down.

And finally, don’t forget that no matter how much you love dance, no single thing can define who you are. Don’t think that just because you can’t dance (or can’t do whatever the thing is that you do), that there aren’t twenty other things that you can do and really enjoy, because there are!

Have you dealt with an injury that kept you off of the dance floor? What’s your advice for injured dancers? 

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