Right-o a quick do's and donts and a few doo whahh haass of exchanges, social dances, and holiday romances (ok just put that in to make it rhyme).
Top Five To Do's at Any Exchange:
1 - Take a change of clothes, specifially a change or two of your top (applies to boys and girls)
2 - Pack a snack and a drink bottle, nothing worse than dry mouth and grumbly tummy
3 - Cleanliness is close to Godliness. Start off clean, and apply deoderant, and for good measure take your deoderant with you (be a good friend, pack spray on!)
4 - Musk sticks, minties, strawberries, all great for great breath, pack a few, share them around, that way, you smell nice, and its not so obvious if you offer all your friends a mint, not just that one stinker in the back corner
5 - Take a bag to put your stuff in (including your keys, mobile phone, roll of quarters (wink), this helps avoid any uncomfortable post embrace moments when neither are sure what was poking into her..
Top Five Don'ts at Any Exchange
1 - Try not to be late, the class will start without you and no matter how exciting last night was and how hung over you are and who from the tv you met, everyone is paying to be there to learn, not to hear you "my dog at my home work" excuse.
2 - Try not to bring your previous class emotional baggage with you. You are there to learn from those teachers and learn it the way they are teaching you, even if its different to what you thought the "rule" was, roll with it.
3 - Try to avoid taking calls during class, at the very least, pop your phone onto a discreet setting
4 - Try not to freak out! The class may be hard, the lead/follow may be bung, you simply just might not get it, but dont worry! Its supposed to be fun!
5 - Try to avoid chatter in class. If you have a question, ask the people you are paying to learn from, if you have feedback for someone be sure to check with them first if they are happy to receive it from you. If you are just the generally happy chatty type, let your smile say it all!!
Most exchanges have a social aspect to them, this is supposed to be the time where you get to apply everything that you've learnt, hang out with your friends, get to know the teachers, and generally live it up a little.
Try To:
1 - Same general personal hygene, breath mint, rules apply as for when in class, try to pack a change of tops and some extra deodrant!
2 - Try to introduce your friends from different circles, sure we all met in class, but so many new faces!! Nothing worse than an awkward game of slurr the word, even if you introduce people twice, they will be thankful for it!
3 - Try to dance with as many people as you can, any money there will be a dark horse beginner out there, you just gotta find him/her. At the other end of the scale, if a teacher, or someone "above your level" asks you to dance, its because they actually want to dance with you. There is no shame in saying yes, and then "getting a few things wrong", remember what we tell you in class, its called a variation!!
4 - If you do decline a dance, try not to say yes to the next one straight away. If there is someone you simply cant imagine dancing with, excuse your self to powder your nose, change your shirt, grab some air... avoid using tired as an excuse. Its heart breaking when you've asked someone to dance and they say they are tired, then two seconds later someone else comes along and BAM, not so tired any more. Really - dancing with that one person you dont want to, just once, is usually easier than hiding from him/her all night!
5 - Have fun!! Try to avoid sitting there getting bitter and cold, mingle, chat, ask someone for a dance, grab a pretty girl a glass of water, and she will think of you as her hero!
I'm pretty excited about CCB this year, there is huge Hobart Crew, Kara will be there teaching, it will be my 3rd CCB, and my only other event other than Devil City Swing that I attend with any regularity (sooo it must be good!!). Looking foward to seeing you there, or catching you when I get back!!
Love
Relle
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