1926  Environment & no-reserved-seats-rule

Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 12:15:02 +0100
From: Eero Olli <eero.olli@ISP.UIB.NO>
Subject: Environment & no-reserved-seats-rule

There have been many good advice for creating a good environment for
dansing. I will not repeat what has been said, but just add one option:
no-reserverd-seats-rule.

I our club, we have opted for inexpencive localities (= low entrence fee),
which means that we have to organize the space every evening by ourselves.
This has allowed us to experiment some.

One practice I have not seen elsewhere, is to have a rule that says that
nobody can reserve a seat. This way there is circulation, not only on the
dancefloor but also outside the dancefloor. This helps people to mingle and
to get to know each other.

Because you end up sitting next to many people during one evening, it is
easy to end up dansing with new (less experienced) people. Because our
entrance fees are low, the better dancers can afford to take time for this.
Had it been expencive, they would probably felt compelled to dance for
theirs moneys worth, instead of building a community.

The host is responsible for welcoming any new people showing up, and
explaining to them that every seat is vacant, because there is no way to
reserve seats.

There are many small changes of the dynamics at the milonga.
* there are allways people sitting at the tables with best view.
* the tables in the back are often empty.
* there is always a place to sitt.
* if you just want to talk to someone (alone) after a dance, you pick a
table little further away.
* There are less click-formations and social exclusion (= fewer, sorry, but
this table is full) because the high degree of rotation.
* the not so good dancers get a chance to show that they are actually nice
people, and thus have a change to get into the community, before their
'mandatory 4-year period of training and suffering' :-)

Norwegians are usually really bad about mingling. However, by enforcing our
no-reserved-seats-rule we have created a crowd that mingles really well.

Perhaps a example will help to demonstrate some of the interesting aspects:
If I am sitting at a table looking at the dancers. After a dance, a woman
would just came and sitt down at the same table. There are many possible
reasons: the view is good; it was the nearest vacant chair; from this chair
she can have eye contact with the person she really wants to dance with;
perhaps she is hoping for a dance with me; or even better she wants to get
to know me for what ever reason. There is no obligation for dansing with
each other to start with, but if we engange in a long conversation, it
would be polite of me to ask her to dance. However, because it is not MY
table, I will seldom find the seat vacant after I return, which allows then
for me a gracefull way to find some other people to sitt with, if that is
what I prefer.

It is also OK to change tables: if some of my friends come of the
dancefloor, I might just jump over to their table. Because rotation is
fast, the people I left at my old table, would not take it as 'he really
does not want to sitt with us' but rather as 'he has something he wanted to
talk about with his friends, and now there was a chance'.

Rotation is good outside the dancefloor, too!

best,

Eero Olli
eero@bergentango.no