Commentary from Brian Paczesniak, Past President

"Why can't we all just get along?"

I'm going to address two different issues in this commentary.   First, we need to be courteous to the other dancers on the floor.  We all came for the same reason: to dance and have a good time.  No matter how good a dancer one thinks they are, it doesn’t give them any special rights to more that a fair share of the dance floor.  We all paid the same amount to get in and we are all entitled to dance.  We need to adjust our dance space according to the room that is available.  When the dance floor is nearly empty we can use all of the space we desire.  When the dance floor is full, as with many West Coast Swing dances or the casino on Sunday night we will need to tighten up our dance space considerably.  I’m one who likes lots of room to dance and when I moved to the Coachella Valley, I was freaked out by how crowded Aqua Caliente Casino’s dance floor was on Sunday nights.  It took some getting used to.  However, those who go on Sunday nights love it because they get to see all of their dance buddies in one place and have plenty of partners to choose from.  It’s a tradeoff: dance floor for companionship.  I usually choose not to go for the 1^st hour or so.  That way there are still lots of dancers, but it is not quite as crowded.  It still requires adjustment for size.   Similarly, even when you are dancing on a large dance floor like the Palm Springs Pavilion, there are still courtesies that need to be observed.  When you are doing a stationary dance, such as most Latin dances and most versions of swing you should try to dance in the center of the floor and leave the perimeter free unless there is really no other choice.  Even though you are doing a non-traveling dance such as swing or Cha Cha, others may be doing something else to the same music.  Many songs that may inspire you to do a swing may inspire someone else to do a foxtrot and they should be allowed to travel around the perimeter of the floor.  Even if you are doing a tradional Cha Cha, there are verions of Cha Cha that travel around the floor such as the Cowboy Cha Cha.   On the other hand, if you are doing a traveling dance such as the Foxtrot, Waltz, Quickstep, or whatever, you should be dancing on the prerimeter of the dance floor in a counter-clockwise direction.  That’s called “line of dance,”  LOD or sometimes “line of direction”.  Counter-clockwise is universal.  It’s the accepted norm in every country of the world.  If your dance step calls for you to briefly go against LOD it is your responsibility to see that you will not be interfereing with any dancers who are stationary or dancing LOD.   They have the right-of-way.  Similarly, if your dance step or routine calls for you to make a hard left for example, that doesn’t mean you have a right to do it if someone else is in that spot or is likely to be in that spot.  If you are doing a traveling dance and decide to do a staionary step for  a short period, you should first dance into the center of the room so that you don’t block the path of oncoming dancers.   Recently I was at a dance where there was a fellow more or less doing freestyle dancing with his arms and elbows flailing around like he owned the dance floor and there was nobody else of consequence on it.  While this fellow claimed to have been a regular on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, I’m sure he couldn’t have danced that way on their floor as it was always crowded.  

Part 2:  Many dancers make the mistake of intentionally locking themselves into one dance.  There are many old-time WCS dancers who want to do nothing but WCS.  There are lots of Salseros who cringe if the band even hints at playing a Cha Cha and there are lots of Ballroom dancers here in the Coachella Valley who intentionally alienate themselves from West Coast Swing.  All are making a mistake.   Someone once asked me what was my favorite dance.  I replied it was whatever dance I could do a good job of to the music that was playing at the time.  In truth I fell in love with WCS as soon as I could do a decent jot of dancing it.  However, I didn’t need to forsake all other dances.  They are all fun and learning more dances only serves to improve one’s all around performance.  Recently, Jay Byam told me that he felt his Salsa dancing had very positive effects on his swing dancing.  I have often said that I feel Argentine Tango has very positive effects on any dance that is about lead and follow, balance and grace.  

In my opinion, West Coast Swing is the dominant dance in the Coachella Valley, followed closely by Salsa, which is growing in populariry by leaps and bounds.  Any dancer who intentionally excludes these dances from their repertoire is missing out on the opportunity for some great dancing, loads of new dance friends and more fun than they can imagine…Brian

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