Social dancing is a wonderful activity to enjoy with friends and complete strangers. When you first step into the social dance scene, it can feel intimidating to dance with someone that you don’t know. As a lead, you may wonder if you are giving the right signals at the right time. As a follow, you may wonder if you can pick up on the lead’s cues. When you truly connect with your partner on the dance floor, everything falls into place. You both feel the physical and emotional connection to the music, and dancing feels almost effortless, seamless. This level of connection and intimacy requires trust and respect from both partners.
A problem occurs when that trust and respect is broken. Unfortunately, there are social dance predators that try to use the sensuality of a dance as an excuse for inappropriate touching of their unsuspecting partners. Here are some ways that you can protect yourself on the dance floor:
- If you notice a hand in the wrong place, tell your partner to move it or you move it to where it should be.
- If you feel that your partner is dancing too close for your comfort, create some distance between you.
- If your partner is directly behind you for a move, move yourself over a bit so that you are staggered with your partner.
- If your dance partner ignores you and continues with the inappropriate behaviour, just stop dancing with them and report them to the dance organizer/club owner.
- It is ok to say no to someone that you are uncomfortable dancing with.
- Be very wary of dance partners being over-complimentary of your dancing, especially if you are just starting out.
- Always attend social dances with a friend so that you can watch out for each other.
Accidents do happen, and sometimes a hand or other body part touches somewhere it shouldn’t unintentionally. If this mistake isn’t corrected immediately after being pointed out, then a line has been crossed. No one should feel unsafe when dancing, and we should all strive to make our social dance community as safe and inclusive as possible.
