Ain't that the truth!

I agree with the "bank account/friendliness" reasoning as well as the ballroom vs. hustle friendliness since i have had the same experience in the North East where i have been dancing over the last year or so......

How does the fast East Coast friendliness compare to the laid back West Coast friendliness ? I am fairly sure there is a difference.....

lol im going to a social dance this saturday so i'll se what the atmostphere is like..

Phil Owl:

phil.samways hit it right on the head. I used to be "strictly ballroom" (pun intended), and was single at the time. I found that the ballroom venues were somewhat stuck up (I'm sure I'll get respones on this), and that couples 'did' stick to themselves and the singles were in their own cliques. I didn't want to steal a wife or have a relationship, I just wanted to dance!

I moved on to Swing/Hustle events, and things vastly improved.

Next I tried UCWDC events, which have Country dance areas and the Swing/Hustle/NC2S area, or the best of both worlds.

This is where I have been since 1996, and I plan to stay with that . . . yet, I'd like to try the ballroom arena again. Maybe!

Hi dolphindancer,
Those dynamics are certainly a large ortion of the dynamics I was getting at (See my post of April 2, 2003).

My experience has been with Ballroom Dance parties and the Salsa Clubs.

The Salsa clubs are meat markets with most of those there looking to find a romantic partner. If you are just there to dance, forget about it. You may not get asked to dance and if you ask someone to dance the chance that you'll be turned down is great. It's like a Junior High School dance. I end up standing around most of the night. I have more fun in my Salsa class or at a studio salsa party.

At the Ballroom dance parties I go to people are there to dance not hook up, so if you ask someone to dance they know that that's all you want is a dance and not to get married and have kids together. I've only been turned down once or twice when I've asked someone to dance.

I go to 2 different places to Ballroom dance and the experience is different. At one there are mostly couples and while they do dance with people other than their partners, it seems I end up standing around more than dancing or dancing with the same guys all night long. At the other place, it's mostly singles and I dance more.

How well off the dancers are tends to affect the level of friendliness. The more they have in their bank account the less friendly they tend to be.

i only have experience of ballroom socials. It varies a lot. I Believe it depends on location. At some locations, you clearly have couples going to dance. They mix-and-match to some extent, but they primarily dance with the person they came with, and unaccompanied dancers soon stop going to these locations, as it's difficult for them to find a partner. Other locations are known to be good for unaccompanied dancers, and there's usually a much better atmosphere at these dances.
The band has something to do with it too. It's not just the music- it's the personality of the 'front' man (or woman)that makes the diference.