It is possible that the other parties in your evening might relate a slightly different tale.
- My shoes were broken then this lovely person, that I don't even know, let me borrow her back up pair and I had such a good evening. What a gem, she completely rescued my evening.
- My evening was a bit of a disaster. I was sitting at a table when someone moved her chair, hardly at all, but it just caught me wrong and I broke my nail. Ouch! The person on the chair wasn't really at fault but was so upset that I think her evening was actually worse than mine!
- A woman asked me to dance. She was fine but I was a bit rude to her. My day had been a bit rubbish but I still shouldn't have said that. Later I asked her to dance to say sorry but, quite understandably, she declined. Oh dear, I won't mess up like that again.
- I'd been missing out on a dance with one particular woman and I managed to ask near the end but she'd changed shoes and was ready to leave. Shame.
I never know what other people are thinking. On the rare occasions I later find out their take is often very different to mine.
When things are not going well for me I tend to seek out friends to dance with who know me well enough to respond with a smile to something like "Thank God you're here. I need a dance goddess to rescue me. I'm dancing like a numpty." I'm sure that a similar approach would work for a lady as well.
Trying to imagine what to do for a lady at a dance where she didn't know many people... Maybe find the men who lead in time, are easy to follow and don't do lots of "advanced" stuff. Then just follow and smile. [That is my translation from a man finding a smiley lady, just dancing, smiling and saying thank you at the end.]
Don't be afraid to surrender to a bit of boing boing. It's great for relieving stress and putting things in perspective. And if you and your partner both end up with a smile on your face then that counts as success
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