what to wear dancing?

[gamelan]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

I believe some wooden floors were sprung-built especially for dancing.

yeah, we're taking wooden floors of entire ballrooms here. at least here in SoCal i believe the Casino Ballroom in Avalon on Catalina Island and the Hollywood Palladium have spring loaded floors.

-Jeff

 

[Get Smart]

Originally Posted by gamelan

the Hollywood Palladium have spring loaded floors.

-Jeff


man, I wish Hillary was still at the Palladium for CampHollywood....

 

[gamelan]

Originally Posted by Get Smart

man, I wish Hillary was still at the Palladium for CampHollywood....

agreed. back when Eddie Reed's band was playing CH. best memory is of Marcus and Barbl encouraging their students to pour baby powder all over the Palladium floor.

-Jeff

 

[GQgeek]

So the chick asked me to go with her again and I went to a couple of salsa clubs last night. I've gotta say, watching them throw their hips around in those tiny little skirts and strappy little shoes is motivation enough for me to take lessons. There was this one blonde woman in her 30s that was really good and I could barely take my eyes off her (and i don't often look at women in their 30s). She had the body of a 20yr old.

 

[gamelan]

agreed! a well trained dancer's body is like no other! although maybe a bit too muscular for some.

-Jeff

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by gamelan

agreed! a well trained dancer's body is like no other! although maybe a bit too muscular for some.

-Jeff

She wasn't a professional dancer. They often have pretty thick legs and big calves which isn't really my thing. This woman didn't look muscular or anything. She was just had an amazingly trim body and happened to be really good. Everything was just so tight and perfect. Seeing her dance was quite the show. Anyway, salsa clubs are great. I will definitely be going back.

 

[contactme_11]

So did you dance or just watch?

 

[GQgeek]

It was actually an advanced lesson night. The girl I was with wanted to go to and I agreed to it in an observational role (cause I'd have no clue what to do). I only went to see if lessons (that I pay for and can bring my own partner to, not the freebies at the club) would be a worthwhile endeavor and came to the conclusion that they most certainly would be. I also ran in to a girl I knew that works at a clothing store, go figure ;p

I was actually pretty surprised at the female:male ratio. I figured it would be full of young latin guys but I guess they just go to regular clubs because the cross-section of people was quite mixed. Of the men, I saw some asians, some blacks, a bunch of white guys, but not many latinos. The women were pretty evenly split between white and latino. People's ages were all over the place. I have to admit that was a bit off-putting compared to what I'm used to.

The group lesson thing is a bit scary. I took a pic with my camera phone but it didn't turn-out at all. There was this one woman in her 50s that was wearing mc hammer type jogging pants hiked up to her waist with this nasty little sweatshirt on and a big-ass belt from the 80s or something. She had buggy eyes under terrible frames, a pointy nose, and long unsightly hair. Somehow an asian dude got stuck dancing with her and she was a total freak. Her limbs were literally flailing all over the place. She was doing these kicks and even though the man is supposed to lead, the asian dude was holding on for dear life. At one point he just stopped dancing and stood back and watched while still holding her hand as she continued dancing like a short-circuited robot. It was as if she was trying to do all the moves she'd ever seen performed by a salsa dancer in one dance at record speed. At the end, she grabbed his shirt and used it to wipe the sweat off of her glasses. I was horrified for him. It was like 40 yr old virgin, but a 50 yr. old woman. So ya, that sort of turns me off doing group lessons lol. You don't know who you'll be stuck with. I'd much rather pay for them and bring along a cute little blonde. Then when I go to the club, I can pick and choose who I want to dance with.

 

[thinman]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

The group lesson thing is a bit scary. I took a pic with my camera phone but it didn't turn-out at all. There was this one woman in her 50s that was wearing mc hammer type jogging pants hiked up to her waist with this nasty little sweatshirt on and a big-ass belt from the 80s or something. She had buggy eyes under terrible frames, a pointy nose, and long unsightly hair. Somehow an asian dude got stuck dancing with her and she was a total freak. Her limbs were literally flailing all over the place. She was doing these kicks and even though the man is supposed to lead, the asian dude was holding on for dear life. At one point he just stopped dancing and stood back and watched while still holding her hand as she continued dancing like a short-circuited robot. It was as if she was trying to do all the moves she'd ever seen performed by a salsa dancer in one dance at record speed. At the end, she grabbed his shirt and used it to wipe the sweat off of her glasses. I was horrified for him. It was like 40 yr old virgin, but a 50 yr. old woman. So ya, that sort of turns me off doing group lessons lol. You don't know who you'll be stuck with. I'd much rather pay for them and bring along a cute little blonde. Then when I go to the club, I can pick and choose who I want to dance with.
I'm taking ballroom dance lessons and partners rotate about every 3 minutes or so. That way you meet a lot of people and you aren't stuck with the dancer from hell all night. On the other hand, you only dance with the cuties for about 3 minutes, too. Edit: To stay on topic, I only wear leather-soled shoes that I don't mind having stepped on. I made the mistake of wearing a pair of rubber-soled Rockports once, figuring I could sacrifice them to my lead-footed partners, but I stuck to the floor.

 

[contactme_11]

Just to fill you guys in, I did in fact go swing dancing last friday. I dressed fairly casual and had a great time. Although I need a ton of practice, I will definately be going back with the girls again next time.

 

[wilson brother]

Blue suede shoes

 

[lawyerdad]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

There was this one blonde woman in her 30s that was really good and I could barely take my eyes off her (and i don't often look at women in their 30s). She had the body of a 20yr old.
Hopefully your date didn't notice . . .

 

[lakewolf]

Dance shoes leather soles
http://www.dancestore.com/shoesmens.html

These are flexible leather raw soles, for swing dance


Dance shoes suede soles
http://www.diamant.net/robot_n/robot...tandard&lang=1

These are suede soles, for ballroom, latin and tango dances

 

[epa]

Originally Posted by gamelan

if you sweat a lot, a hand towel would be nice (or hey, another use for a bandana).
oh yeah, a drink or two beforehand doesn't hurt but don't overdo. you still have to lead.
I know some people who bring an extra shirt, to change someway half through the night, when the first one starts to smell a bit too much.
I know some other people who don't, but who should give this option a thought, IMO. It is strange how some people really smell a lot when sweaty.

By the way, dancing makes a lot of fun. Also, I used to be quite a heavy drinker, but dancing has helped me to reduce, for several obvious reasons:
- while you are dancing, you are not at the bar; and
- if you are drunk, you will not be able to lead and dance well, and you may even step on your partner's feet. That just makes you feel horrible. So you have a good reason to stay (reasonably) sober.

Ah, I once tried to learn salsa and went to salsa group classes for four years, I think (basically, because my wife likes salsa and wanted me to learn). Then I gave it up. I guess that latin thing is nothing for me. It looks like a lot of fun, but I just cannot "feel" that music. Nowadays, I only dance tango. Melancholic music for melancholic people.

 

[Kent Wang]

Dancing burns off the alcohol.