Legs akimbo, mouths agog, nothing smarts as much as a flung fist to the face

Have you ever watched a small child frantically mashing its own fist into its face, along with whatever food it can slide in there, knowing that the simple pleasure of a) sucking ones own fist, and b) mashing food into ones own face for absorption later is a simple pleasure that whilst for now, makes that kid the happiest it will ever be, that happiness wont last forever.

Someone will come along and mop up the mess, and introduce cutlery, and napkins, and polite dinner conversation. Someone will come along and break the spirit of that small child, but at the same time, give it the skills it needs to be able to eat solid food, at a dinner table.. without using its hands as utensils.

Sometimes when I watch students out on the dance floor, its like watching them remember their fist/face mashing childhood, and the happiness on their faces is priceless.. but someone has to come along and give these guys some cutlery.

In this instance cutlery is a metaphor for spacial awareness. I know how hard it is to dance (I just make it look easy by winking at people and using jazz hands), let alone follow/lead well, take care of my partner, remember the moves, listen to the music, make sure I don't fall on my bum.. the one thing that seems to catch us all out the most - is adding spacial awareness into that mix.

The Wednesday just gone, was a combo of roller derby, dodgem cars, swing dancing, and kung fu.. it looked great, but once in the mix, I began fearing for not only my pretty pretty face, but for limb and life!

The floor was crowded (yay), the music was fast (yay), the dancers were pumped (yay), the spacial awareness was fail (boo). Weather you are a lead or a follow, it is so important that you are aware of not only your body (and limbs) but your partners body and limbs and all of those bodies and limbs around you. Its not enough to hope that someone will move out of the way for you, its not enough to yell out duck and hope that everything is ok, and its not enough to say sorry after a bump, only to do it again at the end of the next set of 8.

We all dance to have fun, and fun we will have, but on nights like the Wednesday just gone, we needed to have more fun on the inside, less fun on the outside. Turns need to be led tighter when the floor is crowded and fast, moves like massive swing outs are not ok! Ladies who know about the air, hair and derriere need to remember, that we are soft and delicate flowers (or that's what we want people to believe), we don't want to be ska dancing, windmill attackers!

I feel like im the one giving out the cutlery here. What i want to avoid is killing every ones spirit, I don't want people to go out onto the floor with a board and heavy heart, but I need for everyone, to curb their own joy, if its going to be a risky move for those around them.

I think I will talk more about it in class (as I'm sure the other teachers will do), because at the end of the day, a safe floor is far better than a roller derby disco inferno of slap and tickle madness (not that it sounds like it), but i want to plant the seed out there. Swing dancing is a discipline (yeah like karate!!), sometimes the fun temporarily goes in lieu of responsibility, but when youve learnt how to duck and dodge and abort moves and still have fun, I honestly think it will increase the joy ten fold.

This mixed up metaphor is not just for the newbies, its for everyone who social dances, as is this message: NO AERIALS PLEASE! I know there has been a new wave of off the floor madness on Tuesday nights (with Barry and Stacey), and i personally am a fiend for a frog jump or five, and if we are responsible enough to learn aerials, we need to be responsible enough to know when to use them. As a general rule, you need a guaranteed two meter radius of safety around you and your partner, you need to be 100% sure that no one will cop a flying leg/arm/torso to the face. You need to be able to communicate your actions to your partner and often a hoi out to anyone anywhere else on the dance floor.

I cant tell you to never ever do them, but I can tell you that the Queens Head on a Wednesday night is not the best time to try them, especially a night like the one we just had, with a fast and crowded dance floor.

Right I think I've said what I need to say, and I hope that even when we are all being carefull, we can all still hear how much fun has been had (Sally.. we all know I'm talking about your infectious laughter here).

If you have any questions about how to manouver your partner out of danger and into safety, or if you would like some help knowing what the boudaries are, please ask your teachers.. its not like at school, we are actually here to help!!

Love, kisses and fists full of face mashing goodness to you all!!

Relle