A Semester of Swing - II

Ok, to the specifics. What did I learn from a semester of Swing classes:

1. Don't be overtly self conscious when dancing. If you really screw up, you can always join another dance club (I picked this up from a Tango class btw!!)
2. Be conscious of your partner. Couples dancing requires two people to pull off. It's a bad idea to dance with your eyes to the floor, the ceiling or some oblique point at u = infinity.
3. Any idiot can go to lessons. The real learning process comes from asking people to dance with you.
4. When your partner is relaxed, be focussed. When your partner is focussed, you've screwed up somewhere.
5. When your partner tells you where you're going wrong at a dance:
1. Understand the mistake and correct
2. Don't dance with her/him till you have
   
6. Scoring a turn between two eight count swing-outs is improv. Carrying out a turn to a six-count is just plain wrong.
7. There's always going to be someone hotter than your partner on the floor. It does not do well to stare at him/her when dancing with your partner
8. You may be dancing with a girl for the first time, but don't stare at her accordingly. It's creepy.
1. Corollary: Be conscious of your partner and not any of your partner's specific appendages. Time enough to (ahem!) worry about them when you're alone
   
9. If you'd like to dance with that cute girl you saw at the last class, but are worried you'll screw up:
1. The fact that she's in the class means she isn't exactly of Elvis/Prabhudeva lineage
   
2. Nevertheless, there'll be any number of guys wanting to dance with her, so stop worrying and get in quick!!
10. If you walk up to one girl in a group only for someone else to swoop in at the last minute, it's not bad luck, it's bad timing. If you stare at the rest of the group awkwardly, it's just.... bad.
11. Don't worry about the ramifications of asking a total stranger to dance with you. You are NOT going to get any.
12. And lastly - fast, passionate dancing cuts immediately to R+-rated scenes only for Pierce Brosnan, Antonio Banderas or suchlike. Don't try it at your level, or you're likely to pull a major stinker.