| DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY | DANCING IN A MILONGA |
|---|---|
| Never backup – It’s suicidal! | Never take a backstep. It might not be fatal, but it could certainly hurt somebody. If it is absolutely necessary, make sure you have nobody behind you (YES, it is your responsibility). |
| Never rear-end somebody. Even if it is bumper-to-bumper traffic, you simply wait for your turn to move. | Same goes here. If you do, it is your fault. Apologize. Improvise – use turns (giros, molinettes), or a simple rockstep, or paradas (stops). |
| There is only one way you can go. | Follow the line of dance. If you find yourself going against the line of dance – stop and correct the problem. |
| Stay in your lane. | Stay in your lane of dance. Cutting across lanes can hurt your partner or another couple. |
| Be mindful of traffic around you. | Be mindful of couples around you. Don’t look down at your and/or your partner’s feet. Even if you are executing a very complicated step, you are responsible for the safety of your partner and other couples. |
| Don’t park on the freeway. Drivers have the right of way. | If you want to socialize or chat, please get off the floor. If you want to invite/meet/talk to somebody across the floor, then go around the floor and don’t cut across. It is rude to the dancers on the floor. |
| Yield when you are merging into the freeway. | Dancers already on the floor have the right of way. They have already established a ronda. By forcing into the ronda, you will be causing a “traffic-jam” behind you. Wait for an appropriate time to join the ronda. The ideal time to join the ronda is at the beginning of the tanda. If you must join later, the beginning of a new song within a tanda is also a good time. |
| Accidents happen. If you get involved in one too many, you should go back to driving school! | Collisions happen – they are inevitable. Apologize, make sure everyone is OK. If you collide more than a couple of times in an evening, you should pay attention to your navigation skills and change your vocabulary. |
TEACHING ON THE SOCIAL DANCE FLOOR
This is a big NO!
Please refrain from teaching on the dance floor unless you are asked to. And if you are asked for feedback from your partner, please step aside from the dance floor. Stopping abruptly on the floor breaks the flow of the line of dance.
If a step is not successfully led/followed, then you can try to lead it two or three more times, and abandon it if it is still not successful. Ask each other then to work it out at the Practica. Practicas are the right place for working out a step.
http://www.umich.edu/~umtango/resources/articles/etiquette.html
