What should I wear?

Comfy, secure shoes that are easy to pivot in.  Shoes with leather or suede bottoms are ideal. Try to avoid grippy-soled athletic shoes or footwear that can easily fall off. Please play careful attention to wearing CLEAN shoes that don’t have grit on them (to protect our floors).

Comfy clothing. There is no dress code, so where whatever you like, so long as you can move easily in it. We recommend dressing to sweat (as the house gets a bit warm when filled with dancers). Avoid wearing long or tangle-prone jewelry, or clothing that can get caught on things or hurt you or your partner while dancing.

Practice good hygiene. If you sweat a lot, perhaps bring deodorant and a change of shirts. Please avoid strong perfumes as some people are sensitive to fragrances.

What should I know before social dancing?

Come to class! Familiarize yourself with the dance you’re about to engage in, particularly if it isn’t culturally familiar to you.

Be aware of your partner. Are both you and your dance partner are happy and comfortable with how you are connecting to each other? If your partner seems like they might be uncomfortable, try changing dance positions or check in with them verbally. If you’re not comfortable yourself, request a change.

Be aware of other dancers on the dance floor. Both partners are responsible for keeping each other and everyone around them safe. Use your full range of senses on the dance floor to avoid collisions and injuries, and check in with/apologize if they do occur.

Avoid unsafe dancing and dangerous moves. Unsafe dancing are things like yanking or overextending your partner, using unnecessarily forceful movement, or dancing beyond your or your partner’s ability. Dips, lifts, and other weight-sharing moves require extra care and skill, so use only with experience and always seek partner consent. If you are unsure what constitutes unsafe dancing or have concerns about the safety of another dancer’s movements, please talk to an organizer or instructor.

How do I ask someone to dance?

There are many different ways, and words are often the best approach. Make eye contact, then ask someone if they would like to dance. Asking can also be done non-verbally, but we recommend this only after you’ve already met and danced with that person before.

Anyone can lead, follow, or both. GMB supports the idea that dance roles (lead and follow) are NOT tied to gender. We encourage all dancers to avoid assumptions regarding dance roles and to check with their partners about their preferred roles, or to help them explore a new one. When asking someone to dance, it helps to discuss your dance role preferences. Here are some great ways to do that:

“Is it ok if I follow?”
“May I lead in this dance?”
“Would you like to dance? I’m happy to either lead or follow, or switch.”

‘Yes’ and ‘no’ are equally-acceptable answers. We encourage you to dance with many people, it’s okay to say no to a dance. You are not obligated to dance with anyone and you don’t need to offer a reason. Use common courtesy to decline a dance, such as “No, thank you.” If someone declines a dance with you, also accept their answer respectfully.

Do I need to bring a partner? 

Nope! You don’t need to bring a partner. 

For classes we call partner changes throughout, so you’ll have the opportunity to dance with many people. If you are attending class with someone, you may remain partnered with them throughout, but we highly recommend swapping partners so that you can benefit from more diversity of movement and experience.

For the social dance, we are a very welcoming community, and people will be eager to dance with you, whether you came solo or in a group. Even if you are attending with a partner, try to dance with many other people.

What styles of Blues do you dance?

Because Blues is a family of dances, we try to honor as many of the idioms within it as we can. This always includes Jukin’, Ballroomin’, Struttin’, Texas Shuffle, and Slow Drag, plus other idioms as we introduce them via class, including Chicago Triple, Piedmont Triple, Funky Butt, Strut, and Stride. Expect an extremely wide range of Blues music to be played, from fast to slow, happy to sad, and sultry to ragged.

Do you only dance Blues? Mostly. Our community is made up of dancers from many backgrounds (Contra, Westie, Lindy, Tango…) and we include some Blues-adjacent music in the second half of the evening so that we might fuse some of those other styles into our Blues movement.

The House

What is the house like?

Cozy.

Is the house wheelchair accessible?

Unfortunately no. This is a private home and there are a few stairs one must navigate to enter.