Running after a (dance) partner

[robd]

Inspired after Southport by the sight of (some) women sprinting after (some) men - and I am sure the same happened in reverse - I wondered:

Do you ever run across the dancefloor to ensure you 'get' a dance partner?

[Beowulf]

I had best qualify my reasons for voting "No but I do run across the floor to get away from certain people " I'm not used to dancing just yet.. In the pits of my body I have a wee aberdonian spaceship engineer saying "Ye canna make him dance any mair captain.. the engines will ne tak it!" so If I'm feeling a bit puffed and I see someone heading my way rather than turn them down which I know is percieved as being rude I'll decide it's a good time for a loo break.. or to visit the bar

[Lynn]

Inspired after Southport by the sight of (some) women sprinting after (some) men - and I am sure the same happened in reverse - I wondered:

Do you ever run across the dancefloor to ensure you 'get' a dance partner?

I didn't sprint. It was a dignified fast walk, but yes I did at Southport (yes this is the person normally too shy to ask guys to dance). In fact now I think about it I did the same thing for the same reason (and same person!) in Scarborough.

Reason - someone who is on the floor a lot, who I know won't say no and - here's the bit that makes me go get'em - they can dance tango and a tango track is on - I'll go for it!

Unfortunately this was on the Fri night when I was still in the phase of having problems trying to follow tango and breathe at the same time.

[Cruella]

I wish this was a public poll

[Graham]

I usually restrain myself to a brisk walk, but invariably fail to reach the target in time.

The biggest embarrassment is that if there isn't a suitable alternative nearby you end up walking all round the floor and back to your starting position, wondering how many of the people you ignored on your quest have noticed......

[fletch]

I usually restrain myself to a brisk walk, but invariably fail to reach the target in time.

The biggest embarrassment is that if there isn't a suitable alternative nearby you end up walking all round the floor and back to your starting position, wondering how many of the people you ignored on your quest have noticed......

This is true

[LMC]

Yep. My dance-floor dash has been commented upon before: the amount of ground I can cover in the 2 seconds between tracks is quite a lot.

However, I only 'race' for someone if I haven't danced with them already that evening and am at least 99.8% sure that they would be happy to dance with me. It isn't always the better leads either, it could just be someone I have fun dancing with

And to what Graham said

[Minnie M]

The most embarassing 'dash' is when the person behind you has already been asked by the person you are running to

[MartinHarper]

I think it's the sort of stunt that you might get away with once a month or so, but not something to make a habit of.

[drathzel]

The most embarassing 'dash' is when the person behind you has already been asked by the person you are running to

or when a person is looking at you (or so you think) and its the person behind you

[Minnie M]

or when a person is looking at you (or so you think) and its the person behind you

yep been there

[Lory]

I wonder what proportion of men and women ticked each option?

[robd]

I wish this was a public poll

I wonder what proportion of men and women ticked each option?

Very deliberately NOT a public poll though I agree it would be interesting to see the proportion of men and women. Given the usual imbalance of numbers of men to women at most events I daresay the women need to do more of the running to get the partner they want.

[Paul F]

The biggest embarrassment is that if there isn't a suitable alternative nearby you end up walking all round the floor and back to your starting position, wondering how many of the people you ignored on your quest have noticed......

A couple of times at S'port I performed a rather embarrassing semi-running walk to go and ask ladies to dance only to be beaten to it.
The problem is that you can smile and say "catch you later" but, depending on the event, you may never get around to it

[Lynn]

The problem is that you can smile and say "catch you later" but, depending on the event, you may never get around to it

This happened to me this time at Southport. Even 'didn't see you last night' discussions with people and discovered we had been dancing in the same rooms but just hadn't seen each other. In those situations yes, a rush across the dance floor would be in order.

But I don't use the 'run after a dance partner' very often because they may have already made eye contact and be heading towards someone and me rushing up can ruin that. I've had occasions where a guy has clearly been coming to ask me but has been intercepted several feet away.

So I would usually do the 'lets agree to dance look' before heading towards someone.

[Lory]

I used to make a kind of mental tick list of all the men I'd spotted in the room that I wanted to dance with by the end of the evening but when it came to about half an hour before the end and my 'list' was not completed, I used to get frustrated and spend far too much time being preoccupied with the task i'd set myself.. often missing out on other dances completely, trying to search for 'said victims'

Now i've become far more laid back about the whole thing I know now, I only get real pleasure, from dancing with men who i'm sure want to dance with me too. So now I usually just rely on making eye contact and smiling and if I see from their expression, they're definitely up for a dance, then fantastic, if not, I'm not running after them.

As the song says, 'love the one your with'

It's actually been quite an eye opener, sadly, I've realised there are some men, i'll probably never dance with again!

(in saying that, someone 'asked me' last Friday, that i'd long since given up even trying to make eye contact with )

Note: I'm not talking about people I don't know here, i'll always make that extra effort to ask a stranger or people i've never actually danced with before

[Zebra Woman]

Very deliberately NOT a public poll though I agree it would be interesting to see the proportion of men and women. Given the usual imbalance of numbers of men to women at most events I daresay the women need to do more of the running to get the partner they want.

Yes I think we do.

I tend to become motivated to trot or canter towards a prospective partner only after I have heard the intro to the next song. The first two bars are usually enough for me to know exactly who would be perfect for that track. It very rarely pays off. Given the twice as many women as men situation we often find ourselves in these days, this is a really stupid way of operating. People have either stayed together or swapped partners before the next track has begun.

Without the music to inspire me I would rarely feel bothered enough to rush after anyone.

There are some notable exceptions...As Lynn says it would have to be a popular guy that I just won't get to dance with unless I make the effort. I have in the past made 5 brisk walk approaches on a very popular person, and failed every time. At that point I give up . Running just ups the ante in a bad way IMO.

IMO there are regional variations - for example some CerocCentral venues seem to have a few women who run quite fast.

[robd]

I have in the past made 5 brisk walk approaches on a very popular person

When does a brisk walk become a run?

[Lory]

Given the usual imbalance of numbers of men to women at most events I daresay the women need to do more of the running to get the partner they want.

So, do the men always get the partner they want running after them?

[Lory]

IMO there are regional variations - for example some CerocCentral venues seem to have a few women who run quite fast.

Which region has the fastest runners?