Sabrosura
Son Montuno
Last night, during the last few hours of the NY Salsa Congress, I nearly had my right eye poked out by a woman who decided to "style" by suddenly and forcefully extending her arm behind her without any awareness of who or what was behind her--in this case, what was behind her happened to be my face, so her hand smashed directly--and very painfully (for me)--into my right eye. Luckily, reflexes kicked in immediately and my eye closed just before her hand made contact with it, otherwise it probably would have been severely injured. So the result was "only" severe pain in my eye and being unable to open it for a while without tears starting to flow uncontrollably from it. It seems okay now, thankfully (this happened about four hours ago), but in the minutes after the "accident", as I was collapsed in shock and pain on the nearest chair with my hands around my eye, I feared for it. (The "styling" woman didn't even bother to come over and see if I was okay or needed help.)
On to my main point: what kind of idiot--strong language is warranted in this case
--thinks it is a good idea to "style" by throwing her arms behind her with complete lack of awareness of and disregard for the other dancers around her--especially while dancing on a crowded floor???! Is this what people get out of "ladies' styling" classes?! To "look cute" above all else, other dancers be damned?!
To dance instructors: please tell your students, both men and women, to be mindful of the possibility of severely injuring someone if they dance without paying attention to how their movements might affect the other dancers around them, and that having good spatial awareness and movement control involves more than just taking small steps when the floor is crowded--because uncontrolled movements of their arms can still cause injuries.
And, to women in particular: just because you are dancing with a lead who has good floor awareness and is careful about protecting both you and the people dancing near you, does not mean that you can let go of all spatial awareness--you still need to control your own movements and dance responsibly. The lead has no way of preventing your arms from "styling into" someone's face!
On to my main point: what kind of idiot--strong language is warranted in this case
--thinks it is a good idea to "style" by throwing her arms behind her with complete lack of awareness of and disregard for the other dancers around her--especially while dancing on a crowded floor???! Is this what people get out of "ladies' styling" classes?! To "look cute" above all else, other dancers be damned?!To dance instructors: please tell your students, both men and women, to be mindful of the possibility of severely injuring someone if they dance without paying attention to how their movements might affect the other dancers around them, and that having good spatial awareness and movement control involves more than just taking small steps when the floor is crowded--because uncontrolled movements of their arms can still cause injuries.
And, to women in particular: just because you are dancing with a lead who has good floor awareness and is careful about protecting both you and the people dancing near you, does not mean that you can let go of all spatial awareness--you still need to control your own movements and dance responsibly. The lead has no way of preventing your arms from "styling into" someone's face!
