I'm struggling a bit with the social dancing this week, and I'm not sure why.

On Monday I really wasn't feeling it, and went home after just an hour
complaining that all my follows were grumpy (which I'm sure reflects more on my
mood than on them!). Tuesday was more fun; I got several nice compliments
including a very specific one from Terri who explained that she thought my
floorcraft was amazing, as opposed to my leading. (I like Terri; she's Irish
and friendly and super-good and married). I still stopped after a couple of
hours, though, when I found myself doing the same moves over and over again and
bumping into people.

The floors are so crowded that I respond more to the random gaps in the crowd
and to the random dangers from beginners nearby than to the music. I guess the
follows are just as scared as me, and more likely to be injured. It's not a
good recipe for enjoyable dancing. Maybe it would be better later on when the
floors empty? This evening I plan to arrive at 2am, as an experiment.

I'm probably very tired, mentally. I wish I had a device for measuring my
tiredness, because beyond a certain level (and after a day of lessons I am
beyond it) I can't tell how tired I am. That means I can't test my hypothesis
that a brownie with icecream and chocolate sauce is worth an hours' sleep, or
whether it's worth skipping the daily meetings to conserve mental energy.

I've also noticed that I'm more comfortable leading less experienced follows. I
suppose it's not very surprising; they are unlikely to know all my moves and to
see all the flaws in them. The more technically experienced follows, especially
the Swedish ones, feel very light, and I am able to dance in a very relaxed
style, but it sometimes feels like not enough is happening. They often look a
bit bored, then start to try some fancy footwork variations, then give up and
go through the motions until we have had our compulsory minimum of two dances,
then move on. It's a bit demoralising and I don't know what to do about it,
other than improve my own technique. It should not be this way; you don't need
to be an expert to have fun.

I wonder if the magically light follows are faking it? I have encountered that
before. Maybe it is a style that is prevalent in some parts of the world? If
so, I hereby pronounce that I don't like it, because it messes up the physics.
It is a form of cheating. Like other forms of cheating it makes easy moves
easier at the expense of making difficult moves more difficult. How do I test
this hypothesis? Will I change my mind after a more advanced class in the
future? And what should I do in order to dance successfully with such a follow?
I need to solve these puzzles.

One of the prerequisites for a good dance is to work out what my follow is
capable of. That too is difficult here, because people come from so many
different places. Often I find a follow with absolutely perfect connection and
swing-out technique, but who just refuses to do any hand-to-hand charleston.
Sometimes I find great a follow who has apparently never been on a crowded
dancefloor. There are so many variables.

There are certainly exceptions to all of my grumbles. Some people just make me
feel great no matter what I do. Those are the people I'm looking for, of
course!