Dance Etiquette-Turning down a dance.

If you’ve come to a salsa club to dance, it is proper dance etiquette that you should never turn down a dance. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know much salsa. If you’ve danced with at least one person that night, you shouldn’t turn anyone else down.

When you dance with someone, you may be surprised. It may be the best dance of your life. If it's horrible, then it's only a few minutes that you’ve wasted and never can get back, but the best part is, you don’t have to dance with them ever again if you don’t want to.

Ways to avoid a dance..

This is a fun topic.. We all do it from time to time. Its more of an art than a science. Its not necessarily mean, but just gives you an appearance that you aren’t quite ready to dance yet. I'd say that this is in the grey area of dance etiquette.

Here are some ways to avoid getting asked to dance at a bad time.

When you see someone coming to ask you to dance that you don’t want to dance with at the time, do not look them in the eyes when they are coming towards you. Once you lock eyes, it’s the kiss of death. You have just increased your chances of being asked to dance by 90%.

If you see someone coming towards you, get engaged in conversation with one of your friends. This has about a 60% chance of working if the person knows you and a 90%-95% chance of working if the person that wants to ask you to dance doesn’t know you. If they ask you to dance, don’t refuse.

Here’s another way to get out of a dance. You can turn and run with your tail between your legs and go to the bathroom when you see them coming. It’s a cowardly way of getting out of a dance, but if you must, you must.

How do you turn down a dance 'properly'? If you must, do it nicely so you don't get a bad reputation at the clubs--since the Salsa Scene is a small Community of people that you will see over and over:-)

There are some legitimate excuses for turning down a dance:

You need to go to the bathroom.
You need to rest and get a drink.
You’re feet are hurting and need a rest.
You really don’t know how to dance.
You are about to go home.
You are taking off your shoes and are about to go home.
You already have one shoe off and are about to go home.
You’re not really there to dance.
Some rude things to avoid:

Don’t go dance with another person just after you’ve turned someone down. That’s just plain in-your-face rude dance etiquette (or rather lack thereof).
Don’t just dance all night with the person you show up with. Salsa is a social dance, and its customary to dance with everyone.
Don’t keep stepping on someone. If you keep on stepping on someone, there’s something wrong. Try moving away from that person and taking smaller steps. Also pay more attention to your surroundings. Its bad enough that you stepped on that person once, but if you keep on stepping on them, it may make them a little angry.