All right, fam. Let’s talk etiquette.

Before we begin, let me preface that each social dance will embody the values of the culture it comes from. We have stated that blues idiom dances are Black American dances, so many of the values in these dances will come from Black culture. They may also have values that are not shared across other Black dances. Black culture is not a homogenous entity, and neither are Black folks. Please don’t tokenize people.

As “blues dance” is a phrase that serves as an umbrella term for the many dances that came up with regional blues styles, different regions may also have local etiquette and values distinct from one another.

With that in mind, it also means that some of this etiquette will be shared across other social partner dances, and some of these may even conflict. It does not make certain values in the blues or in other dances wrong, just different rules for different communities and different contexts. Remember that there is no “universal” expression of etiquette and that even the same values across cultures may be expressed differently. Continue Reading