Essential Stretches for Social Dancers

Social dance is increasingly popular these days, and any practitioner will readily explain why. It affords us fun, conviviality, creative expression, and the world's best excuse to exercise. But with any physical activity comes the unfortunate potential for injury. Obviously, no one wants to have to sit out the next dance.

So how can we employ a little preventative medicine? What exactly is in that magical elixir that will keep us dancing through our favorite songs for hours, for years? Well, let's take a few tips from the pros.

1. You

Any time you intend to dance, it is wise to take a few moments before that first number to warm up and stretch. Ask any athlete, from runners to circus artists to competitive dancers, and they'll tell you that they all warm up before they rehearse, perform or compete. Many have elaborate rituals and props to aid this process, while others just run through a simple stretching routine. Whatever their approach, it keeps them on top of their game.

Even though we are "only" social dancing, let's take a cue from the pros and develop our own warm up. This is not only to prevent injury but also to maximize our performance on the floor by conditioning our only instrument: the body.

2. The 'Warm Up'

First, take a brisk walk around the dance floor to get your heart pumping. This is the "warming up" part. The goal is to open up the blood vessels and get the circulation flowing to facilitate the rest of your stretch and, of course, the main event: the dance! If you can't traverse the floor, try a few jumping jacks in place.

3. The Stretch

Next, we want to run through a brief stretch of major muscle groups, as well as the feet. We want to maximize range of motion and notice any areas that may need extra TLC.

Raise your arms over your head with attention to your breath, bring them back and then down a few times, both directions, lubricating the shoulder joints.

Moving on to the legs, hold a wall or table for balance and bend your leg forward and back to get the hips and knees energized. Then, grab your foot behind you in the classic runners' stretch, elongating the quadriceps.

Finally, the feet. Those precious peds of yours will likely bear a lot of the work while you're promenading away. Take a minute or two to point and flex your feet, and rotate the ankles around in a circular pattern, both directions. This, of course, can be done while sitting down, as you scope out who you may be dancing with first.

5. The Rewards

Although easy to say as not really necessary, stretching for social dance reaps great rewards. Incorporating a brief stretch prior to busting out your best corte on the floor will offer a return on investment that you can never put a price on: longevity.

If you’re like many, you love seeing those tangible indications that your dancing is noticeably better than it was before. 

The concept of improving or advancing your dance skills is satisfying, shows how far you’ve come, and gives you something to brag about but, what criteria might we use to separate the different ‘levels’ of a dancer?

What makes you a dancer?

1. What you do: You enjoy music and moving to it. That’s it! 

Don’t listen to those cynics that say you need to take lessons to be a ‘real’ dancer. 

Of course, you may want to refine your abilities if you want others to dance anywhere near you…

2. How it shows in your dancing: It might be messy on the outside but you don’t care, because it just feels good to move and groove to what you hear. 

You leave silly things like ‘structure’ and ‘cohesion’ to the pros on Dancing with the Stars!

What makes you a DECENT dancer?

1. What you do: You’ve decided to take some group lessons from a dance professional…maybe you practice sometimes or social dance once and a while but, it’s all pretty relaxed and just for fun. 

You know you’d like to get better but so far, it’s not as important as other life priorities.

2. How it shows in your dancing: You know the basics…well enough so that people watching can actually tell what dance you’re doing. 

You can connect with your partner and, more or less push each other across the floor. You’re still a novice in the eyes of the wider dance community but at least you score some points for trying.

What makes you a GOOD dancer?

1. What you do: You’ve recognized that you have a long way to go to really stand out and now you want it bad enough to start pulling for it. 

You’ve moved from group classes increasingly into private lessons and pay much more attention to those boring technical tips then you did in previous levels. 

If you go out social dancing, you are now considered a ‘regular’ and you may have started to dabble in the competitive scene.

2. How it shows in your dancing: You’ve started to catch the eye of other dancers. 

Your movements feel a lot more fluid and controlled, balance is no longer a problem and maintaining connection is second nature. 

You’ve probably started to play with arm styling and other embellishments. 

It’s increasingly fun to dance with you and you start to receive smiles and compliments from your partners.

What makes you a GREAT dancer?

1. What you do: You might not be the best but, you’re good and you know it. 

How many steps you know is now less important than how you dance them. 

You may be in the competitive circuit by now…not because you can’t be a better dancer without it but simply because it’s the only place you can dance full-out anymore. 

You are king or queen of the social dance floor and may find yourself looking around for partners talented enough to challenge you.

2. How it shows in your dancing: You are what lower-level dancers look at when they say to themselves ‘I want to move like that.’ 

Guiding/responding to different combinations is so easy now that you start to improvise some movements…like you used to, only now you know how much you can get away with! You don’t lack dance partners at a social but are happiest when dancing with your regular partner, because they can connect with you on a whole new level.

On every level there are many who decided they are satisfied where they are so, if you decide to move past that, remember not to look down on them. 

Each level requires sacrificing time and money to move forward…the only difference between you and them is that for you, it’s worth it!

Social dancers – what’s with them? They try to dance with no technique whatsoever, which they don’t worry about because they’re too busy trying to ‘hook up’, where everyone hangs out in cliques and blah blah blah…

Sound familiar? Let’s see if we can set the record straight.

Myth #1: Social dancers have no technique.

Correction: Social dancers have a different focus on their technique. 

While competitive or performance dancing requires you to know a specific sequence of steps, social dancers have to plan on the fly, with partners who won’t know what’s going to happen next. 

That means there’s a lot more focus on staying connected and matching the ability level of your partner, as well as meshing your moves creatively to the music.

Myth #2: Social dancing is boring.

Social dance brings different qualities to the table but, it’s every bit as fun, and challenging, as competitive dancing. 

Where else can you meet and dance with so many potential friends at once? 

Where else can you let yourself be a bit silly, without worrying about wrecking your rhinestones?

Myth #3: Social clubs are just places where people try to pick you up.

Every social venue has its creeps but social dancing is no worse for that than most. 

It may look that way sometimes, especially in a crowded venue, with couples dancing closely together. 

Keep watching however and, those couples will thank each other and part ways as soon as the music ends…if they don’t, odds are they came in as a couple.

Myth #4: If I social dance, it will wreck my technique.

If you knew Standard Tango and you started training in American Style, would that ‘wreck’ your Standard technique? 

Of course not, it would just give you another style of technique you could switch to. 

As explained in myth #1, the basic technique doesn’t change, only the focus. 

Of course, if you fully switch over to social dancing and neglect competitive technique, well…

Myth #5: Social dancing is about showing off your fancy moves.

Often the ‘fanciest’ social dancers are not the most popular. 

That’s because no one dances to watch their partner show off, particularly at their expense. 

Popular social dancers know how to accommodate their partner, while still throwing in the occasional cool move.

Myth #6: If I don’t wear skin-tight or skimpy clothing, I won’t get any dances.

First, even your shadiest Latin bar will still dress classier than your average R&B nightclub. 

Second, while you will certainly get more dances if you dress nicely, that doesn’t mean you have to walk in half-naked…unlike some competitive events. 

Just dress in something that’s fitted to you and breathes well, smart casual or classier. 

You may not be the hottest person out there but, you will look like someone who knows their body type and embraces it. Confidence = more dances.

Myth #7: If I don’t know anyone, they won’t dance with me.

While some people are more cliquey than others, most dance venues host plenty of dancers who aren’t afraid to meet a few new people; plus, if you show up earlier in the evening, you’ll find more dancers who won’t mind ‘warming up’ with someone they don’t know. 

Once you’ve shown them you can handle a dance, that paves the way for many more.

Some dancers only dance socially with many competitive dancers dancing socially as well…and, even competitive dancers who rarely dance socially, may dance with different partners from time to time. If you fall into any of these categories or, think you might do any social dancing, here are a few tips to help you along the way.

Many people think that the most desirable dancers to dance with socially are those who are the most skilled…not exactly; the most desirable dancers are the ones that feel good to dance with, and these 6 points will definitely help you to be one of that group.

1. Respect your partner.

Pay close attention to your personal hygiene. 

Most people make sure to freshen up and have on clean clothes when meeting someone they feel is important and anyone willing to dance with you should be important to you for the time you spend together on the floor. 

After a long day at work, even sitting in an office, you will have built up sweat and bacteria on your body and clothes and, bacteria cause odour…it might not be enough to cause a smell at the office but it sure will when you start to dance. It might not be noticeable to the person sitting across from you at a dinner table, but it will be noticed by anyone with you in a dance hold. 

In general, you may not ever notice it yourself, but your partners definitely will.

TIP:  If you are planning to dance straight after a long day at work, change your shirt or blouse. 

If you cannot shower first, then you should wash or put hand sanitizer under your arms to kill the bacteria that causes smell. (I saw a sign with this suggestion in the washroom of a studio I visited and that alone made me think it would be a great place to attend a social event.)

2. If you think you know a lot, be careful about how you show it.

Don’t teach your partner during a social dance unless your partner is truly your student, and they request it.  

When dancing socially, the primary objective is to have fun. When someone gives instruction or criticism during a dance or stops the dance in the middle of the floor to give you a breakdown and correction of all your flaws it is not fun, and it is often embarrassing.

TIP: The best thing you can do to show your skill is to be a great leader or follower. 

As a leader, if your partner is struggling with a particular step, pay attention and either modify the step or don’t do it again.  

As a follower your partner may not be leading an exact textbook version of a step. That’s OK. 

The fun and adventure in following is interpreting whatever the lead might be. 

Think of life with no variety…dancing without variety would be just as dull. 

A truly skilled dancer can adapt to a partner of any level or approach. 

If you can’t dial it down or adjust, you are probably learning yourself and a bit fragile with your new information. That’s OK but, then please don’t judge others.

3. Remember that your next potential partners are watching how you dance with the one you have.

If you look extremely bored, make odd faces or talk negatively about a partner after you dance, why would others want to risk having you do the same with them?

TIP: Unless your experience on the floor is deeply insulting or could warrant police charges, remember that it will only last 90 to 120 seconds. Just relax, smile and move on.

4. The #1 rule for a leader: Don’t knock your partner off balance!

Never treat your partner like a manual gear shift. 

TIP: An aggressive push or pull with your hands only instead of a full body lead is extremely unpleasant. 

It is first of all confusing since the leader’s body and hands do not match. With this, the follower may misstep, and then may lose balance trying to recover. 

When the leader’s hand moves are not a continuation of their body moves, the follower does not have enough time to respond. 

With this the follower may appear stuck and then may lose balance; additionally, whatever you do with your hands as a leader, the follower will continue in an amplified way and if the lead is overly aggressive, it will cause too much momentum, so again the follower may lose balance.

5. The #1 rule for a follower: Don’t lead or disregard the lead you get.

The responsibility of a follower is to respond; the opportunity is to interpret and enhance. 

TIP: To respond to anything, you need to be in the moment and ready to go – “tone but no tension, and simply pay attention”. 

No leader can really cover for you here and if you are not prepared, you will risk being led like a gear shift. The roles of leader and follower should be clear before you start dancing. 

It is not up to the follower to back-lead, take over the lead, or do your own thing, unless you both agree. 

To understand how this concept feels, think about how it would feel if your leader just stopped leading in the middle of a dance and just stood there waiting for you to pick-up on a change in their role to now become a follower and, did this without getting your agreement.  

Dis-regarding the role of the leader feels just as weird as that would!

6. Just Do It!

Social dancing really is dancing for fun. 

TIP: Even if competition is your only goal, having fun in a social way is great and can make you more versatile and if you are concerned about losing your competition frame or technique, you might consider dancing socially with just your partner or replacing a lesson with a planned social dancing event with your teacher. 

In truth, you actually don’t even have to have a planned evening outing…dancing for fun in the studio will sharpen your leading or following skills and help you explore your creativity and connect to the joy of dance in the purest form.