Dancers Beware

“If everyone could play like Jordan they would” – Mos Def

You are a dancer and you may not be the greatest dancer but you have some skill. You go to some social event and people are impressed. As well they should be you spent a lot of time and money to get those skills. But watch out…. In every scene there are always people who are envious and really just want what you have.

The Salsa S***

No other way to describe this person. Yep she will do just about anything just so she can avoid paying for lessons. Attractive and quite, she comes over and ask you to dance and warns “I’m not very good so take it easy one me”… “Sure, Sure…” you say and she’s right she is not very good. She continues to flirt with you for the rest of the night and finally goes for the hook. “You know I would love to learn how to dance but I just can’t afford it. Maybe we can go out sometime and hang out a little.” Please find the nearest exit and run for your life. I’m sure women can give similar accounts about men.

Don’t take the bait just tell them right off the bat I don’t teach but I know a few people who can help you out. Even if you go out and have a good time later try to avoid teaching them anything. More times than not they’ll find someone else in the scene that will teach them and move to next one that can teach them more.

Relatives

I’m not going to insult anyone’s family but everyone has that one cousin always asking for lessons. Of course you can’t turn family down but they usually only show interest for about two weeks and then they move to the next project. They continue this routine after every family wedding. Not much you can do about this because it’s family. One thing that works out well is if you invite them to a group class. After an hour of trying keep up they usually get discouraged until the social event.

Haters

This is a very general term. I actually have a sub list but I’ll save for another article. In general, these people are truly envious of anyone who has something they want. In the dance scene they usually want attention. So they talk you down and belittle you as way of making up for the attention you are grabbing. You can’t avoid these people. So just do your thing and do your best to ignore them. (Easier said then done) But the real danger is becoming one. So check yourself.

I don’t like to dwell the negative but we all know life isn’t peaches and cream. Be proud of what you can do and do it the best you can. Don’t let people steal what you have. You have skill, you have fun, and you may get a little attention. So dancers beware, someone wants it badly enough to pull you down for it.