That's the new rule at Bar Risa: in the free dancing you have to dance with at least two people you haven't danced with before. The idea is to try and break up the perceived cliqueiness (is that a word?) and make sure that everyone gets to dance. It's a good idea, too. I have to admit that I sometimes get lazy about dancing with new people, particularly lately since there are so many good dancers around that I can have an enjoyable night without ever asking anyone I don't know.
So last Thursday I danced with one beginner and then with someone who I thought was a beginner (I hadn't seen her before and she was standing in a corner of the dancefloor). My mistake: she was good. But the only way to get her to smile was to do something complicated or unusual. I didn't mind - I don't expect partners to smile all the time as it's much nicer if they smile because they mean it. (A fixed grin on someone who obviously isn't really enjoying herself isn't attractive).
A fairly new dancer mentioned to me recently that one of the women he dances with never smiles, and thought she was was being unfriendly. It's more likely that she didn't smile because she was concentrating or because she wasn't feeling confident.
I had an amusing encounter with a couple of beginners in London a couple of years ago. He was Canadian and she was Spanish and they were struggling with a CBL inside turn. I asked if they wanted some advice and showed them how Andy had taught me to do it. "She smiles when you dance with her!" he said in surprise, which was quite gratifying...
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