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There are so many events to choose from, which means there are some tough choices. For some attendees, part of that choice involves identifying organizers who appear to have the best interests at the community as part of their decision-making…
Most leaders have been in a class where they learn a new combination that works on all the follows in rotation. They get excited that they’ve learned something new, head to the next social… and then watch their lead fizzle…
Followers, have you ever had a mediocre dance night? What about nights that needed to have a really great dance with a really great lead to get back on track, or nights with “not enough (good) leads”? What if there…
In many partner genres, steal dances and three-way dances (or more) are becoming more popular. In others, stealing has been part of the groundwork of the dance since its very inception. But, with this growing trend and with the adoption…
In my experience, there’s a spectrum between being Others-Oriented or Self-Oriented with regards to both dance and life. In dance, these orientations affect almost all our interactions. Generally speaking, Others-Oriented dancers focus on the energy they release into the world…
It’s no secret that I am very much for vaccination. I’ve worked with Dr. Hsu to write articles to give insight into the dominant view of the medical and public health professional sectors. I have gotten both doses of my…
This isn’t the first time I’m writing about the underappreciation of follows – or the sexism that is so entwined with the concept. We’ve come a long way from when I first started writing about it around 2015/16. I wasn’t the…
You likely love to dance. I do too. Like you, I am eager to get back to social dancing – but first we need to talk about deciding when to start dancing again that factors in vaccination and variants. Let’s…
A FOLLOW-UP TO THIS ARTICLE IS NOW PUBLISHED WITH REVISED INFORMATION BASED ON THE SITUATION AS OF MARCH 12, 2020 Note from The Dancing Grapevine: The Author, Dr. Hsu, is a physician actively practicing in both community and acute care…
I turn 30 today. I started dancing when I was almost 20 (except for the ballet class I got kicked out of at age 5). That means that I’ve been dancing just over 10 years. From my infancy in Salsa…
I was in a car accident last night. We were hit on the drivers’ side by a person who ran a red light. By the time I noticed the all-black car at night, it was too late to swerve or…
A while ago, I was in a workshop where the instructor told a story. She talked about a girl who spent the whole weekend waiting to be asked to dance. And, the entire weekend, no one asked her. She didn’t know why,…
Almost every scene has had a bad actor, ranging from lower-level he-said-she-said harassment to full, witnessed assault. Often, organizers and scene leaders are at a loss for an effective way to handle these issues. The default often goes one of…
There’s a lot of conversations surrounding whether specific staff and artists at events are paid enough. Very often, these stories are either told from the perspective of an individual who (rightly) recognizes that an event isn’t paying the fair market…
There’s been a trend about celebrating people who dance outside of the traditional roles. Whether it’s male follows, female leads, or ambidextrous dancers, it’s a great thing to see so many people stepping outside of the traditional. I started leading…
