Abrazos Devon, Friday night: 85% UK attendees, maybe 1.5m space per couple, absolutely bloody perfect 2-lane ronda with a clear space all the way down the middle. The revolution has already happened.
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| Abrazos, Devon, Friday 6th May 2011 at some point between 11pm and 01:30 |
This happened totally naturally: nobody had to announce anything or put up any notices: nobody had think about it: everyone knew perfectly well what to do: it happened as easily as driving round a roundabout, standing on the
right of the escalator and walking on the
left, or forming a single queue for three automatic ticket machines. Pretty much as you ought to expect in Britain, if you thought about it.
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8 comments:
absolutely lovely! Congratulations for that nice ronda! I wish I'd see this more often here in Europe. cheers,
Bernhard
Hurray! It can be done!
At one point on Sunday evening I saw a perfect full 1-lane ronda, and a gaping hole in the middle of the floor. People were so comfortable by that time they didn't feel the need to start a second lane!
I hope is catchy and soon spreads to other milongas in UK.
To be honest you can see this on any given night at Bramshaw-Burley-Chilworth-Bristol-Oxford-Wraysbury-Windsor-Eton-Bournemouth etc.... but I must admit on Saturday night at Abrazos I looked up from chatting at the end of a Tango to see a straight line down the edge of the dance floor of maybe 20+ couples looking as if they had been placed there...why have I never got a camera handy...
@Anonymous, mm I don't really agree- I've been to Bramshaw once and Eton two or three times, and I don't think either was anywhere even close to this. Much better than London, obviously, that's a whole different ball game - but maybe one-third of the way.
IMHO Eton has the best floorcraft I have seen (I don't go everywhere so I can't say for sure) outside of Abrazos or El Corte. I know for a fact that the organiser has discrete words with people who abuse it! But you must bear in mind that Abrazos was to a certain extent a walled garden whereas Eton and Bramshaw have, and need to have, beginners joining in. This may have a negative impact on the day but perhaps positive long term, allowances must be made, dancers gently educated or eventually when all seems lost less gently ejected for the good of the many. The Eton tea dance last Sunday was very pleasant with only one or two dancing unsociably, pretty good considering how busy it was.
@RobM, indeed, this is what you can do if you deliberately create the conditions for it.
Beginners are rarely a problem, though, in my view - if they know what is supposed to happen, and see it actually happening, and there isn't pressure to dance, then they wouldn't feel obliged to dance socially before being prepared and confident enough to keep it moving, and they would be able to move into the middle safely if struggling. And also, I think it's just easier to drive well if everyone else is doing it and your follower is not doing anything stupid either.
I think that most of the problems I see come much more from people who've been dancing for decades and have no intention of ever achieving competence or adopting good manners. I don't see any downside for anyone in encouraging those to group together and go elsewhere.
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