By Beth Knoll
Floorcraft is...sanding and re-finishing your hardwoods? Yes, obviously, but for us dancers it is much more. As all of us know, sometimes things can get a little crowded out on the dance floor, whether it's at a competition or a social occasion. Floor craft is the ability to negotiate the dance floor with a minimum number of incidents; it is also the ability to stay out of trouble, not just to extricate yourself from a squash.
As I started writing this article, knowing that there are many parts to floorcraft, it escalated from general comments to a huge multi-part series! This first installment will deal with some overall concepts and touch on floorcraft for the social dancer. The successive articles will address competition floorcraft, the lady's role in floorcraft, and conclude with floor etiquette, floorcraft violations and how to deal with them plus a few final tips for everyone.
How do you start to work on floorcraft? First is to remember that if you GIVE respect and space, you GET respect and space. That is a lovely reminder for all of us in real life, too! The best floorcraft analogy is driving. We will refer to this often for examples.
As a general rule, you want to try to give yourself a cushion of space around you of approximately 5 feet. That sounds like a lot, and it is, but if you PLAN for that much space, then you have a little "wiggle" room if you need it. Think of driving in the rain: don't you need to make sure you have a little more space all around you for safety?
WATCH for traffic. This doesn't just mean knowing where everyone IS. It means being able to extrapolate other couples' trajectories so you know where they WILL BE. All fine if someone is in the corner and you cut in front of them. But remember they are moving too, and might be moving faster than you. You've just now made yourself into an obstacle, they will crash into you, and it'll be YOUR fault because you put yourself there. If you happen to know that person, and know he'll be in the corner for a while, then it's OK, but that means BEING AWARE!!!!! Don't just go around the floor running through your routine like the dance police are after you if you don't do every step as written by your teacher! Share the floor, share the space and you will have more fun.
In watching for traffic, remember that you have a 360-degree view. That does NOT mean you can flip your head around like an owl! That means that when you are in dance position, head up and slightly to the left, you have about 180 degrees of vision, minus a tiny blind spot behind your partner's head. Two people, 180 x 2 = 360. That means that BOTH partners must be responsible for watching. Ladies (and we will address your responsibilities in greater depth later), you must not blindly follow. Follow, yes, and go where the man leads you, but do be aware of situations that are all around you, just as the man is.
Plan to have some "escape" steps that you use on a regular basis to get out of trouble. Here is where a few private lessons with an experienced teacher can help you tremendously. (My favorite plug: "private lessons are available!" Please ask your teacher for help.) Two or three steps are a lot better than just freestyling whatever strikes your fancy in the moment. Ladies need a little consistency from you (oops, another life lesson!).
Now on to social floorcraft and some specific situations: who is in charge? The man, of course. Gentlemen, make sure you know where you are going....that means LOOK. (Ladies, you too!) Make sure you are comfortable with the abilities of the lady with whom you've chosen to dance. Don't throw a beginning level lady into a situation where she will be needed to help "steer" the partnership. Keep your dancing shenanigans to a minimum (actually, that's good advice even if you are dancing with an advanced lady….I hate having an entire repertoire thrown at me when I'm just out to social dance and have fun.). And at the risk of repeating myself repeatedly, watch where you are going.
Much of social floorcraft sounds more like etiquette, and it is. How do you get to the dance floor? Letting the lady wind her way through the tables first? No, you are the leader, so lead the way to the floor. It is also appropriate for you to enter the floor first, just as you would enter the street first to "protect" the lady from on coming traffic. And NEVER WALK BACKWARDS ON THE DANCE FLOOR!!!! This leads to grief on the social dance floor, at competitions, in the studio. DON'T DO IT!
What about Sadie Hawkins? What if a lady asks you to dance? Does that mean she's in charge? NO. As soon s she asks you to dance her responsibility ends and yours begins.
One final note on social dance floorcraft. You are there to dance and have fun. Chatting should be strictly social. Don't teach (or expect to be taught if you are dancing with a professional....we want some time off, too!). If you have been deliberately asked to teach or ask some to teach you, go off into a corner. Don't do it out on the floor where you are now an obstacle.
Go out and dance, have fun, and watch where you are going. Look both ways before entering the traffic, share the space, and give respect to get respect (what was that book? Everything I Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten?).
Next up: Floorcraft for the Competitor (although everyone will learn something from this article).
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By Beth Knoll
Welcome back! Our second installment of floorcraft education addresses the unique challenges of the competition floor, although in the ensuing notes there will be tips that can (and should) be used in any situation. I'll get the plug in right away...if you have any questions, private lessons are available! Please ask your teacher for the information you need...even if you didn't know you needed it before! If I give you enough information that you have questions, I've done my job.
Competition dancing is special in that when you step onto the floor, everyone is doing pretty much the same thing at pretty much the same speed in pretty much the same general direction. At least, that is what we teach, that is what we assume, and that is what the judges expect. Anyone who gets out there with a number on his back for a Waltz and doesn't go counterclockwise around the dance floor with rise and fall in time to the music at 28-30 measures per minute isn't going to get a second look. So for the intent of this article, I will assume you are prepared choreographically and cosmetically (those will both be addressed in another, unrelated, article at a later date!).
When you enter the dance floor, please make sure that you use the "on deck" area if there is one provided. This is imperative for reasons that have nothing to do with where YOU want to be on the floor. The chairman of judges and the MC need to count the number of couples in the event, and filing on from one area enables them to do that quickly and efficiently. After you have entered the floor, then you may pick your spot. But please be courteous! If you enter the floor first, don't stop immediately and make everyone else file around you. If you NEED to be in that particular spot, step aside, let everyone else enter the floor, and slot behind them. Otherwise, walk to the opposite end or side to take position. Walk on naturally with no bowing and no pretentious presentation of the arms; that takes up valuable time and room. Command your space with confidence, and still remember to be polite… it bears repeating: if you GIVE respect and space, you GET respect and space.
And now on to the dance! Take position on the floor ready to start your routine. You may notice that there are several other couples in "your" starting spot. It will be of tremendous value to you if you practice starting from different places in your routine. The routine is there for structure and security…please feel comfortable "tweaking" what you do. Don't compress your steps if you are on a small floor-practice leaving out pieces of choreography. Don't overstep your base if you are on a big floor-practice dancing "inside" the floor…you don't need to dance on the edges or in the corners all the time. In fact, DON'T! Just as print advertising is more successful with "white space" around the message, your dancing will be better viewed (and danced) if you give yourself a space cushion. We've already discussed that 5' berth you give other couples…now apply that to the edge of the floor. Also, if you have a little space around you, there will be maneuvering room.
If you are a Rhythm or Latin dancer, please consider not starting everything in the middle of the floor. Too often there are 6-12 couples smashed in the center with no room to move or be seen, and YARDS of floor on the ends. The judges are trained to look at every couple on the floor, and in fact will appreciate greatly not having to pick you out from the masses.
WATCH THE FLOW OF TRAFFIC!!!!!! Remember that 360-degree view we have. Use it. Watch not just where people are, but where they are going. Project and extrapolate other people's movement. If you start your Waltz on a short side, head not for the middle of the floor but rather toward the corner where everyone else is (usually at the start of a long side with their Natural Turn). By the time you get there, they will be gone and you will have all the space to yourself. If you had moved toward the center of the floor just because there was no one there, by the time you get there everyone else will be there and you will be in trouble. Keep in mind the "shape" of choreography. With concern to Smooth dances, the "pattern" you and others should be making on the floor is the classic "bow tie:" from corner to center to corner on all four sides of the floor. Viennese Waltz, Samba and Paso Doble are more like being on a racetrack, and each couple should be aware of staying in a defined lane.
Get escape routes/steps (OK, second time for the plug...this is where you NEED private lessons!). Learn a grouping or a specific step that you can use in a trouble situation, either to avoid or get out of a floorcraft situation. Some teachers even address this issue in group classes on a regular basis. This is a cheap, easy way to learn some steps.
What happens when your coach has told you to be aggressive and demand your space, and here I am telling you to be polite? Both are possible! Relate floorcraft and dancing to driving. You must be a comfortable, confident driver, willing to take your space AND yield it when necessary, or else you become a hazard to yourself and other drivers. Same thing here. Be confident, take the space you need without compromising anyone else on the floor and without being a jerk! Be a good sport. This stuff is still supposed to be fun!
And now to getting off the floor. Just get off the floor!!!! There is usually a time schedule to which we adhere, and the more time you spend bowing and not letting the next heat (whether it's your competition or the next event) onto the floor, the more we mess with the program. And who will be the first to complain of not dancing as planned? YOU!! And you were the one who took three curtain calls before you left the floor. Please leave bowing to a) the finalists b) the award ceremony or c) if you and you alone are receiving a standing ovation. If you feel an acknowledgment is necessary, ask your coach to teach you (private lessons are available!) to give a brief, polished bow to the audience. Don't bow to the judges. They won't bow back, and it's the audience you should appreciate anyway....they are the ones screaming your number.
Use the "on-deck" area to exit the floor if you know you are returning soon, unless given an alternate exit by the MC. If you are at the end of your competition and you know you are either done for the day or have at least 20 minutes before your next heat, exit the floor wherever you can. At larger competitions (not our local friendly ones!) you should plan on using the on-deck area at all times.
I could have spent much time on the kinds of steps to do in a floorcraft situation. This magazine is not big enough for that! Certain steps that are common (chair and slip pivot from PP, Top Spin in Foxtrot, checked Natural and Reverse Turns in Waltz, Foxtrot and Quickstep, Corte's and Drop Oversways in Tango) you may already know. For each couple there are moves that look well and each couple is so individual that here is where the coach can help you. Your coach is familiar with your capabilities to a) think under pressure b) react under pressure and c) execute something that still looks like dancing!
In re-reading this, I am aware that much of the above sounds like courtesy. That is what floorcraft is! Be aware, keep your eyes open, plan your routes so that you are neither an obstacle nor a battering ram (or worse, using your partner as one!). Listen to the MC for direction. Have a few steps at your fingertips (that you have practiced extensively with your partner!) to extricate yourself from trouble. Each dance should have its own unique escape plan so you don't confuse yourself (or your partner). And please practice! You will eventually get to the point where you know even without thinking what you should do in any given situation. Whether you are a leader or a follower, you can breed the instinct of good floorcraft into yourself with awareness, training and quality instruction from an experienced coach.
Next up: the lady's role in floorcraft. Stay tuned!
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By Beth Knoll
The saga continues with one of the most important, and forgotten, aspects of floorcraft! Welcome back to the third part of the discourse on this neglected art form. In learning to dance, concentrating on steps and technique (including lead and follow, of course), sometimes overwhelms the larger picture of negotiating the dance floor... can't see the forest for the trees. I hope some of what I write in these columns helps raise awareness, and makes you ask questions of yourselves and your teachers.
Most of what I've talked about in the two previous articles addresses only the man. As Ballroom dancing (or DanceSport, as it is known in trendy circles) is indeed focussed often on the man's role, the lady tends to be the forgotten element when it comes to floorcraft. "Just follow the man" is something that is often heard. While it is indeed true that whatever the man does (right or wrong) is what the lady must complete and complement, the lady has an active, participating role in the partnership. Any reputable, experienced instructor will understand this and direct the teaching appropriately.
Ladies, there are several things of which we need to be aware. The first, and only, rule is DON'T PANIC! HAVE THE COURAGE TO STAND AND WAIT! That is really difficult to learn and practice, but your strength will pay off in the end. If you wait then you will feel the lead, have time to warn the man, have time to follow. If you don't, then problems arise…..unfixable ones.
Remember you have half of our 360-degree view. I have a lady student who says "There is a circle around me and my partner, and beyond that circle everything is a fuzzy haze. What can I do?" The best advice I can give on this topic is that when you are practicing or social dancing, practice FOCUSSING on what you are looking at. Don't just let the world pass you by in a colorful blur. SEE everything. You don't need to do anything about it, just be aware. I remember once at the Texas Challenge (at that time one of the biggest competitions in the US) the décor of the ballroom included a HUGE neon sign behind the podium that was the shape of Texas, with the competition's name and logo. My partner took one of his more oblivious students and turned her back to the stage and said, "OK, have you been focussing on everything in the room?" "Yes," she said. "Are you sure? What does that big neon sign behind the stage say?" "Exit," she replied. Don't fall into this trap, ladies. BE AWARE.
Mechanically, we can alert our partners to potential problems when they have been going backwards, or when someone suddenly shoots across behind them at the last minute. GENTLY squeeze the man's upper arm with your left hand. This only works if a) you are not already hanging on them, b) you are aware, and c) trust has been established. More on the trust issue later.
When we are going forward, we can also subtly change the direction of travel. Not enough to distort the alignments, but just enough to maneuver around an obstacle. My gentlemen students are familiar with this form of "helping!" It's not backleading, by the way, which is actually taking charge of the patterns and the flow of traffic. Just gently steer the partnership, taking advantage of space that you see opening up.
The trust issue is next. Trust must be built on a daily practice basis, and it goes both ways. Ladies, you must trust that the man knows where he is going, and don't freak out when you see someone ten feet away from you. Remember the five foot berth..... there will be enough clearance. Don't give the man "the squeeze" every time, and don't steer him away from one problem just to get into another, and don't freeze up becoming unleadable every single time there is a potential situation. This is tantamount to "crying wolf." It will get to the point where the man will simply not believe you when there is a real problem. On the flip side of too much awareness is oblivion (especially important at the pro/am level where the lady student thinks the teacher will take care of everything). Please remain aware. Dave Watson tells a great story of one of his students letting him run into a judge at a competition. H e was gong backwards in Viennese Waltz, extending some back change steps, his student was enjoying the thrill of dancing with him and simply didn't "steer" the partnership away from a judge. Smack-ola.
And gentlemen, please learn to trust the lady. In my very first professional competition (so granted, I didn't have any experience, but it taught my partner the valuable lesson that I was indeed to be trusted) the following incident took place: we'd made it through the semi-final and the first two dances of the final (in those days Viennese Waltz was last). My partner and I were doing extended Reverse Waves in Slow Foxtrot, with him travelling backwards for many measures of music. I saw that someone's dress had swept a glass onto the floor, and it shattered….glass, liquid, and ice everywhere. No one was stopping the competition, so I started to steer him around it. He resisted. I tried harder. Those of you who have danced with me know I'm pretty strong when I want to be! He still resisted, and it took Nic Cotton running across the dance floor to push him out of the way to actually stop him. He apologized to me, and that was the last time he didn't trust me!
The answer to the trust issue is to practice practice practice. Ladies, you must be aware of the things the man might do in any given situation. That means you have to learn them as well as the gentleman does. Why do you think we teach group classes by instructing the gentlemen and ladies separately? So you can learn what to do and be an active, participating part of the partnership! The worst thing a teacher hears is "I can follow anyone if he leads me well." Yeah, right. One of my former partners claims he can lead any girl in the world to dance anything….PROVIDED SHE KNOWS WHAT SHE IS DOING! You must have a framework of knowledge and ability, and be able to practice anything for any situation. And remember what the man might do in a given circumstance. Become familiar with his repertoire and his reactions. Gentlemen, to have this be effective, you must a) practice floorcraft and b) have a FEW steps at your disposal to plug into floorcraft. Don't overwhelm the lady by doing something different every time. She needs to know what to expect from you (oops, a life lesson, not a dance lesson!). I remember once in a competition seeing a floorcraft situation developing, and knowing ahead of time what my partner would do when we got there….in fact, I knew before he did, and didn't need the verbal lead he gave me at the last minute (again, he apologized for that!). That's the closest I've ever come to reading a man's mind.
So ladies, to recap, BE AWARE. Practice. Do the mechanics of "the squeeze" and steering. Develop trust and don't cry wolf. And above all, don 't panic. Have the courage to stand and wait. Have fun and enjoy the process as much as the rest of it.
Next and final article: "The End Result"
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By Beth Knoll
And now we conclude our series of (I hope) educational articles of floorcraft. For those of you who have stuck with me until the bitter end, thank you! Maybe you will find something of value to practice, maybe questions will be raised or answered, maybe this is just filler material for Instep. Whatever the result, writing these has been fun for me and I look forward to writing more.
The preceding articles have all addressed dealing with floorcraft situations in a positive manner. But what about the negative aspects? Often, practicing floorcraft means that you get so bound up in negotiation that you forget to dance. Please don't let that happen. Try to keep dancing, keep the flow going, and keep the energy high and positive. Minor (and sometimes major) bumps can happen, even at the highest levels. I've seen concussions, broken bones, blood spattering everywhere, bruises, lost shoes, ripped costumes, you name it! People have tripped over my feet, I've been spiked and elbowed and kicked (and done my fair share of that, too!). This is indeed a contact sport. While contact can and does happen, we strive not to let it! Judges don't "take off points" for collisions unless it seems deliberate and/or malicious. They are there to judge your DANCING, not the fisticuffs.
What are some common floorcraft violations? The first and most obvious is moving against line of dance (ALOD). There is a flow of traffic to which we must adhere. If we don't, it's tantamount to travelling northbound on the southbound lanes of the freeway. It's dangerous and wrong. If you have to go ALOD, please make sure it's for a VERY good reason, that the coast is clear, and you get back on track as soon as possible. Some judges (and I'm one of them) will drop your placements if you violate this basic rule of direction.
Being overly aggressive to the point of meanness and spite is another infraction. Your teacher tells you to be confident. That's true, and the judges like to see confidence. We all like to dance with a confident partner. But there's a difference between being confident and being mean or arrogant. Be careful how you portray your confidence. Don't bash people out of the way just because YOU have to do your routine and THEY are slow-moving objects. The mark of a confident couple is the ability to handle that obstacle with grace and elegance. Once, when I was competing in American Style, my partner and I were in a picture line, had been on the same spot on the floor for a while, and weren't going to move in the near future. In fact, I was in a backbend at the time; those of you who have danced with me when I do a backbend know that I'm not going anywhere fast! I'm there for a while. A fellow competitor came barreling around the corner, saw us there, and took aim. I, upside down at the time and with my partner's back to the floor, saw him coming. I put up my hand to ward him off, but he kept coming at us. So I stuck my thumb in his back (the other guy, not my partner) and pushed. HARD. He got the clue and backed off. I am certainly not recommending this method of warning, since I remember being really angry that my friend and compatriot was so combative. But he was just doing what his coach had told him to do....be aggressive. Unfortunately it came across as being mean, and he started to develop a really nasty reputation.
OK, so you are flying around the floor, lookin' good and feelin' fine. The comp is going well, you've made it to the final through X number of rounds. All of a sudden, despite your training, you hit the wall. Ugh. Can't take another step. No energy. What to do? You can't walk off the floor. The music is still playing, so you have to keep dancing. The answer is floorcraft. Use your newfound skills of awareness to pick a spot where you can't move very much, deliberately trapping yourself in a corner or behind someone slower than you. You purposefully give yourself a rest without endangering your placement in the final, and maybe give yourself the chance to finish dancing gracefully. This is a conscious violation of everything we've talked about, but it doesn't hurt anyone, and still uses all the principles previously discussed. I'm assuming this happens toward the end of the last dance of the final, by the way!
The bottom line to floorcraft is awareness from both partners, whether in social or competitive situations. Keep your confidence high, and be polite. Intimidation tactics don't work and antagonize both judges and fellow competitors. To GET respect and space, you GIVE respect and space. Use the 5' berth. Have the courage to stand and wait (this applies primarily to the ladies). Practice a few steps you use only in floorcraft situations; your coach can give you "trouble steps" or groupings that you can use in an emergency. And above all, practice practice practice! Practice steps, practice awareness, practice trust. Have fun, and I'll see you on the dance floor (and not crash into you!).
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