Dear Poppy,
I cannot dance and talk at the same time. It is very distracting for me when someone I am dancing with is trying to have a conversation. Please ask your readers to avoid conversation when dancing and to listen to the music.
Silence Is Golden
Dear Silence,
The chatterbox dancer can be an annoyance on the dance floor for sure, Honey. Sometimes their chatter is so steady that it ripples like a river drowning out the music so you can’t keep the rhythm. Just remind them politely that they have forgotten that Silence Is Golden on the dance floor.
Dear Poppy,
My dance partner always wants to start a conversation when we are dancing. Sometimes he chooses subjects that we disagree on, and we become lost in the emotion of the conversation and forget about dancing all together. Is it appropriate to ask him not to converse while dancing?
Quiet Please!
Dear Quiet,
Appropriate? First thing, Sweetie, remind him that two people dancing together cannot move as one and enjoy the rhythm of the music unless they feel harmonious towards each other! So absolutely, avoid conversations that might breed discord like politics, religion, and so on. Second, tell him that dancing is moving to the music. You have to listen to the music to dance to it!
Ms. Poppy Chiffon — the doyenne of dance, the baroness of ballroom etiquette, the sultana of Southern hospitality — is pleased to answer your dance-related questions. Here are a few queries that Poppy deigned to extract from her mailbag this week. If you have a question that you would like Poppy Chiffon to address, please e-mail her at askpoppy@dancestationusa.com. Ms. Chiffon regrets that she cannot respond individually to questions.
