Dancing Subcultures (A general guide is begun)

I am a pretty seasoned dancer at this point, and have a lot to say on the subject.

I will share some disclaimers along the way, but the biggest disclaimer is that these are my opinions, perceptions and thoughts based on my experience. I reserve the right to be educated, open-minded, and above all I reserve the right to change my mind.

I'm sure I will say some offensive things in the process.

Ok, so I will talk about at least four subcultures:

Ballroom
Salsa
West Coast Swing
Argentine Tango


It's possible I might throw something in about the country scene at some point, but less likely.

I will try to describe them each in very unforgiving broad strokes this first post, but the first thing I should share is that I absolutely respect and love each culture for different reasons and they have all added to my colorful life.

Ballroom needs to be divided in my mind into three categories. There is studio life, which of course has both students and teachers. There is social scene in the Real World. And there is the competitive training scene, which again is divided in my mind into pro/am and pro/pro categories.

Salsa will mostly be about the club scene, both the dancing and the social aspect though something about the shows and congresses might sneak in.

WC Swing will mostly be about the conventions I've been to, which all have both social dancing and competition plus many classes...

Argentine Tango will be about the scene and the teaching as well...

Actually teaching styles/methods/personalities will be a thread anyway, I can't help it. And so will lead/follow.

I will tag the dance topic posts as "adventures in dance" until I learn a new or better way of sorting...but for now I suppose I will just let you be warned that I have a lot to say on all these topics!