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First, a disclaimer.  I am not claiming to be good at dancing.  In fact, the opposite is true.  If you consider yourself a skilled dancer, move on and ignore this post.  If you are bad at dancing or hesitant to dance in public, this post is written specifically for you.

Growing up, I hated dancing.  I wasn’t confident enough to go out on the floor to dance, so I’d just hang back.  If I was at a wedding, I’d spend the entire time at my table.  An easy answer for this is I was often alone and nervous.  Still, people would ask me to dance and I would always say no.  Luckily, I moved on from this phase once I was finished with college.

Weddings are infinitely more fun if you are dancing

I’m glad I decided to dance at weddings because every year since college graduation I’ve gone to two to three weddings and had a blast at them.  Generally, you’ll see me out on the dance floor until the wedding reception ends.  Some people argue that wedding receptions are fun because you get to catch up with your friends.  I agree with that, but save that for the dinner portion of a reception.  After the bridal party dances, get out on the dance floor.

Some alcohol doesn’t hurt

I’m not saying you have to be drunk at a wedding, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.  You should drink enough so that your primary goal at the wedding is to have fun.  Now, don’t be silly or do anything that will upstage the real stars of the night (the bride and groom), but you should be comfortable enough to go out on the dance floor.

Grow up

Some people will simply refuse to go out on the dance floor.  If you are young and able bodied, there is only one reason for this resistance:  You are not a fun person. I’m sorry to have to be so blunt, but it’s the truth.  I know you probably think you are acting cool by not being on a dance floor, but this is not the truth.  One of two things are happening.  Either people are ignoring you or everyone thinks you hate fun.  Either way, that’s no way to go through life.  Go out there and have some fun.

Keep moving

The biggest hurdle to going out on the dance floor is not knowing how to dance.    People are afraid of going out there and doing the wrong thing.  As far as I can tell, there is very little you can do on the dance floor that is considered “wrong”.  If you look around, everyone is doing something else – sometimes to the music, other times not at all.  The only thing you can do wrong is to go out on the dance floor and stand still.  You will stick out and make everyone else feel awkward too.

Make short quick moves with purpose

Obviously, you can’t do the same movement over and over the entire night.  You should have some sort of movement you base everything off (and continue to do, so you aren’t standing still) but the night would get dry if you never mixed it up.  My suggestion is to occasionally do a short quick movement.  This is best done during a chorus or flourish in a song.  The important point to remember is do this move with purpose.  If done correctly, people will think you know what you are doing.  Occasionally, others will even follow suit.

Air guitar always works

During those classic rock songs, bust out the air guitar.  My favorite song to do this during is the end of Prince’s Let’s Go Crazy.  In fact, the header image of this blog is a picture of me at a wedding air guitaring to that very song.

Start your own traditions

Along with air guitaring to Prince, I have other traditions that I have been part of at weddings.  When the night is winding down, a lot of the guys will take their ties off and tie them around their head.  The inspiration of this comes from Rambo, but I’ve done this at a half dozen weddings and you’d be surprised how many people you can get to follow suit.

Also, at two or three weddings I’ve gone to I’ve helped start congo lines during Come On Eileen.  I’m not sure why congo lines work for that song, but just start a big ol’ train of people and lead them around the reception hall.  This also allows you to bring the dance party to those who are sitting at the tables.

Have fun

You are with your friends and/or family celebrating someone’s marriage.  It’s an awesome night and the entire wedding reception is set up and coordinated to create memories.  Have fun out there.  Get out on the floor and dance.

Posted in Music | 3 Comments »

This entry was posted on Monday, February 15th, 2010 at 6:56 pm and is filed under Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.