DANCING ON THE QM2 -- September Update

[Q-step]

The Queens Room is an excellent place for dancing. Large wooden floor, not sticky, no railings or obstacles along the sidelines and high ceilings so the heat & humidity gets away from the floor. And it's probably as big as you can get onto a ship that wants to make money. It's a known fact that competitive ballroom dancers are not big drinkers, at least not while dancing. Maybe a drink or two and a few ginger ales over 3+ hours. That's true at sea and on land. That's the main reason you can't convince many hotels to have a periodic ballroom dances. There's no money in it.

 

As you may be able to tell from my name, I was a competitive dancer for many years. I completely agree with the comment about the frame. I only know one frame. But one can tone it down for a social floor. You don't need a six foot wingspan to social dance. You shouldn't attempt a feather & three when other people are on the floor. You can still wow the crowd with a few check & weaves, turning crosses, an o/s spin and a pivot here and there. Your frame alone will make you look better than most.

 

Practice dancing in compact spaces. Swivels and double reverse spins stay almost in place. Learn to be able to stop on a dime, and look good doing it. This is your chance to expand your dance knowledge beyond the competition floor. After our first crossing we came home and learned how to dance "balboa." It's a swing dance that can be danced almost in place.

 

I also agree that it would be great if Cunard had more places to dance on the ship. They took out the small floor in Chart Room. The Winter Garden is a waste of space (IMHO) that could be used when the QR is busy. G23 is pretty useless.

 

I've attached a link to an article we wrote for USA Dance about the QM2. The article is on page 13. And FYI: You can actually do a pretty good quickstep in the QR. But only to the recorded music and when no one else is on the floor.

 

http://issuu.com/usadance/docs/online?e=1630545/2810679

[Slow Foxtrot]

....You can actually do a pretty good quickstep in the QR. But only to the recorded music and when no one else is on the floor.

 

 

Says it all really.

[Dancer Bob]

Q-step, an excellent summary of my thoughts, although being only bronze level in ballroom, I have to keep my floorcraft much more simple. But one must ask why a competent band leader would be playing a quickstep if he saw the situation foxy described? And should not the social hostess also be monitoring? (I was quite disppointed by the recorded music last time I was on QM2.)

[Slow Foxtrot]

.... one must ask why a competent band leader would be playing a quickstep if he saw the situation Foxy described? And should not the social hostess also be monitoring? (I was quite disppointed by the recorded music last time I was on QM2.)

 

If a band leader plays a quickstep and many Americans decide to jive to it - so making a quickstep next to impossible - then you cannot blame the band leader. If the band leader also acted as the MC then that would be different. But I've never seen a proper MC taking charge in the Queens Room (except for the sequence dancing).

Dancer Bob asks why the social hostess should not be monitoring these situations. I must be missing something here as I've never been aware of a social hostess in the ballroom.

The solution is very simple. There needs to be an announcement that the dance is quickstep only. And then the next dance could be announced as jive only. That then keeps everyone happy. Heavens, it's not rocket science! It just needs someone with a modicum of authority.

 

Foxy

[loerie]

will I be sent to the brig for doing a rumba when a quick step is announced. not all of us are subjects of the Queen!!!

[capnpugwash]

I think that it is almost time for a cadre of Dance Police to be brought on board to deal with those paying passengers who have the temerity to dare to seek to enjoy themselves on a dance floor when they lack the sophistication to be able to distinguish between a shuffle, a twist and a wobble. Cunard should include a question about a prospective passenger's dance grade on the booking form along with the same information for deck quoits and shuffleboard. I almost lost an eye once when someone waved their arm into me as they were tossing their quoit. I went to the Purser about it but they couldn't help me at the time!

[Andiamo]

I think that it is almost time for a cadre of Dance Police to be brought on board to deal with those paying passengers who have the temerity to dare to seek to enjoy themselves on a dance floor when they lack the sophistication to be able to distinguish between a shuffle, a twist and a wobble. Cunard should include a question about a prospective passenger's dance grade on the booking form along with the same information for deck quoits and shuffleboard. I almost lost an eye once when someone waved their arm into me as they were tossing their quoit. I went to the Purser about it but they couldn't help me at the time!

 

Cap,

 

My hero! Well said.

 

J

[brigittetom]

Excuse me for saying so but the dance floor on all ships is meant for all passengers to enjoy. I love music and when a favorite is being played, I'd like to dance with my husband. Suggesting that only a certain dance step be allowed......you might as well suggest that only couples qualified for competition be allowed to dance, period.

 

Why not take it one step further....only attractive couples are allowed on the dance floor.........or would that eliminate some ballroom dancers? Well, fair is fair.

[Andiamo]

Excuse me for saying so but the dance floor on all ships is meant for all passengers to enjoy. I love music and when a favorite is being played, I'd like to dance with my husband. Suggesting that only a certain dance step be allowed......you might as well suggest that only couples qualified for competition be allowed to dance, period.

 

Why not take it one step further....only attractive couples are allowed on the dance floor.........or would that eliminate some ballroom dancers? Well, fair is fair.

 

LB =. Like Button

 

J

[brigittetom]

Well Jeanne, I know you are an amazing dancer....nice of you to side with the common folk. :D

[gentlemancruiser]

Well Jeanne, I know you are an amazing dancer....nice of you to side with the common folk. :D

 

Jeanne & Brigitte you are both very elegant ladies and you are both Gold level in my eyes!

[Salacia]

I think that it is almost time for a cadre of Dance Police to be brought on board to deal with those paying passengers who have the temerity to dare to seek to enjoy themselves on a dance floor when they lack the sophistication to be able to distinguish between a shuffle, a twist and a wobble. Cunard should include a question about a prospective passenger's dance grade on the booking form along with the same information for deck quoits and shuffleboard. I almost lost an eye once when someone waved their arm into me as they were tossing their quoit. I went to the Purser about it but they couldn't help me at the time![/quote]

 

Well, at least the Purser didn't say

 

Eye, eye capn!

[Strictly Ballroom]

Excuse me for saying so but the dance floor on all ships is meant for all passengers to enjoy. I love music and when a favorite is being played, I'd like to dance with my husband. Suggesting that only a certain dance step be allowed......you might as well suggest that only couples qualified for competition be allowed to dance, period.

 

Why not take it one step further....only attractive couples are allowed on the dance floor.........or would that eliminate some ballroom dancers? Well, fair is fair.

 

 

That would count me out! Heck that would count out more than one of the top Pro-Am ladies in the U.S.

 

Some of us voluptuous competitors can burn up the dance floor! Just sayin. . . :D :D :D

[brigittetom]

At least you get it. Just sayin. :D:D:D

[tangoll]

I'm with foxy on this one. Just as there's a dress code on board Cunard ships so as to maintain a certain decorum and standard, there are also certain standards on a social ballroom dance floor. During the times when music for ballroom dancing is provided in the Queens Room, it should be expected that people who wish to dance to that music, should dance the particular type of dance of the music being played. If music for a quickstep or Viennese Waltz is being played, it's stupid and impolite to go onto the floor and dance a rumba, for example.

 

An analogy would be if in the Royal Theater when actors or performers are on stage, why do the audience mainly sit quietly to watch the performance? Why can't the people who want to play poker or have a debate and discussion, do it in the audience during the performance?

 

So if some dancer wants to dance the rumba, he/she should wait until the music for that is being played, and they can dance the rumba without expecting that some other dancer would be dancing the quickstep or VW during the rumba music.

 

Of course, on two of my cruises, there was this one dance host, who basically danced the jive, no matter what music was being played.

[Slow Foxtrot]

I'm with Foxy on this one. Just as there's a dress code on board Cunard ships so as to maintain a certain decorum and standard, there are also certain standards on a social ballroom dance floor. During the times when music for ballroom dancing is provided in the Queens Room, it should be expected that people who wish to dance to that music, should dance the particular type of dance of the music being played. If music for a quickstep or Viennese Waltz is being played, it's stupid and impolite to go onto the floor and dance a rumba, for example...

 

It's nice to know that there are some people on this forum who know what they are talking about. And it's amusing that there are certain ladies on this thread who admit they don't dance and know nothing about dancing yet insist on pontificating what is right and what is wrong on the dance floor! Yes, of course they are entitled to an opinion but it does help if they have some knowledge of the subject first. To simply imply that 'passengers have paid their money so are entitled to do just what they want on the dance floor' is a puerile argument. The Queens Room is a venue for social dancing and, as Mr Tangoll points out, social dancing has its codes of procedure which benefit all dancers, both beginners and more experienced dancers.

 

The two excellent professional dance teachers on QM2 give passengers group tuition classes in the quickstep. Obviously these passengers wish to practise what they have been taught in the Queens Ballroom. But if other unthinking passengers decide to block the floor by doing a jive when a quickstep has been announced it makes it very difficult for the beginners to progress round the floor. Is this acceptable? As Tangoll says, there have to be certain standards on a social floor for the benefit of all dancers. Otherwise, the dancing can descend into farce. And Cunard did not build a beautiful ballroom for that!

 

Foxy

[Strictly Ballroom]

I suppose this opens up an interesting discussion Foxy and Tango RE: what is and isn't appropriate. Granted Cunard is focused on International style, yet there is also American style as well. Can one say that American style is any less valid to dance? What if a dancer or a particular couple do not dance International and would prefer to dance American?

 

I can definitely see this coming up in the Cha Cha Cha. Bronze America Cha Cha has *far* more intricate and fun patterns that are allowed as compared to International. Three step turns, flicks and other silver and above moves are all perfectly allowable in American bronze. What if a dance host also dances American Style? Should I then be prevented from dancing the Cha Cha I far more prefer? I would claim that both styles *are* valid.

 

While I don't dance it, I believe that a Peabody might be able to be danced to a QS. Weird little dance. . it's a QS that's basically all slows. Still, it moves around the floor, just like QS. So if a couple knows the Peabody, should they then, by your guidelines be disallowed from enjoying it?

 

American style dancers have, after all, paid the same fares as International style dancers.

 

Honestly on a trans-Atlantic this wouldn't be a big deal for me. But I'm doing the full worldie. Not to be contrary or rude, but if I'm dancing with a dance host who's trained in American style, depending on the song, I may *well* prefer to an American Cha Cha, if there's a song we could do it to, I'd *love* to do East Coast Swing, and I would ecstatic to do American Smooth patterns in which one is not stuck in close hold for the entire song. Does this make me a bad dancer then?

[glojo]

I am on the outside looking in and am politely asking questions.

 

Dancing on a cruise ship

Is this a competition where folks are giving their all to show off their skill?

 

Is it all about only the best being allowed to perform and woe betide those less skilled?

 

Is it a place where novices can improve on what they have learnt?

 

Is it a place where folks can socialise and as a way of helping form a friendship they take to the dance floor and 'move to the music' as opposed to the military precision of getting the steps correct for the relevant dance?

 

Is dancing on a cruise ship so regulated that it is a pre-requisite requirement that those taking part in a social activity MUST comply to very strict rules regarding specific movements for specific music?

 

Do some folks feel this is a place to demonstrate their skills and the less able should not step onto 'their floor'?

 

Before reading posts by some clearly very competent dancers I was of the opinion that dancing aboard a cruise ship was a social activity where friendships could develop and certainly not a place where only the most competent can perform?

 

Please note these are mostly questions with the exception of my thoughts on what I was expecting when aboard a cruise ship.

[brigittetom]

In all fairness, is there really an issue of people getting on the dance floor doing the rumba when the band is playing a waltz?

 

I didn't see any one pontificating about what is being done right or wrong on the dance floor. Just because not all passengers qualify as professionels doesn't mean they should be expected to stay off the dance floor so others may perform.

 

I have stood on the sidelines many, many, times to watch and I've seen people enjoying themselves. Just because ballroom dancers think they should be the only ones allowed to dance because it's called a ballroom doesn't make it so. The band plays a variety of music that can be enjoyed by many. Just the fact that the "Balls" are considered irritating says that ballroom dancers are intolerant of others.

 

Foxy, my thoughts aside, I do feel your comments are very civil considering how strongly you feel.

 

Strictly, you are there to enjoy yourself. Don't over think it. Up until a few days ago I didn't even know that Americans are considered obnoxious dancers. I'm guessing that includes American ballroom dancers who don't even have a clue that they are unworthy. :)

[BobBranst]

It appears to me that many Americans do not realize that there are usually two distinct styles of ballroom dancing taking place on the Queens Room dance floor. Americans are are taught the American smooth style while most Europeans are taught the International style. Even the waltz and the foxtrot are not exactly the same despite having the same name. However, both do follow the same counter clockwise line of dance. Our experience on both the QM2 and the QE is that dancers of both schools co-exist quite nicely and we enjoy the balls even when the dance floor gets quite packed. Most people are courteous.

 

Those that prefer to do night club type dancing have several alternatives that are better suited for those styles than the Queens Room.

 

Bob

[Q-step]

It would be nice if dancers followed the counter-clockwise (anti-clockwise for our friends on the other side of the pond) movement around the floor and if the slower (i.e. stationary) dancers stayed more in the middle. On my last crossing the social director did mention that at least once a night.

 

It would also be nice if the real dancers just accepted that this is a compromise situation on the QR floor. A compromise that is stacked against you. If the people dancing in place knew how to move, they would. But being a buoy is all they know. Doesn't mean they're not having fun. I imagine for some this is the only dancing they've done outside of attending a wedding in years. They're on a transatlantic crossing, wearing formal clothes, and dancing. Give them their romantic moment. I dance with my wife at least twice a week. While it's still romance for us, it won't kill us to sit out a dance now and then if the floor is crowded.

 

My big QR complaint is that the recorded music is not the best. And even though the daily program lists that they play it until 12:30 AM each night, in reality they stop as soon as you sit out one dance.

 

Now if we could get the entertainment director to have good recorded music and actually follow the set times in the program for "strict-tempo" dancing, that would go a long way to solving many of the dancers' complaints.

[Slow Foxtrot]

It would be nice if dancers followed the counter-clockwise (anti-clockwise for our friends on the other side of the pond) movement around the floor and if the slower (i.e. stationary) dancers stayed more in the middle. On my last crossing the social director did mention that at least once a night.

 

Now if we could get the entertainment director to have good recorded music and actually follow the set times in the program for "strict-tempo" dancing, that would go a long way to solving many of the dancers' complaints.

 

I think the 'social director' must have retired or given it up as a bad job. On the September cruise we heard no announcements to this effect.

As for the 'entertainment director' following the set times for 'strict-tempo' dancing; actually the times were generally adhered to. What wasn't adhered to was the strict-tempo dancing!

The programme still states 'Strict tempo dancing' from midnight till 12.30am but at this hour everyone with any sense is blotto in the Commodore Club!

 

Foxy

[PoppyandNana]

I think the 'social director' must have retired or given it up as a bad job. On the September cruise we heard no announcements to this effect.

As for the 'entertainment director' following the set times for 'strict-tempo' dancing; actually the times were generally adhered to. What wasn't adhered to was the strict-tempo dancing!

The programme still states 'Strict tempo dancing' from midnight till 12.30am but at this hour everyone with any sense is blotto in the Commodore Club!

 

Foxy

Are you people serious! It's a cruise for ....sake, not dancing with the stars

[Slow Foxtrot]

....Up until a few days ago I didn't even know that Americans are considered obnoxious dancers. I'm guessing that includes American ballroom dancers who don't even have a clue that they are unworthy.

 

You really have got the wrong end of the stick! Where does anyone on these boards say that Americans are considered obnoxious dancers? And why are you guessing that American dancers don't have a clue that they are unworthy? Sadly, your comments are uninformed and certainly unhelpful and show your total lack of knowledge of the accepted modus operandi of a social dance floor.

 

Far from being 'obnoxious dancers' you may well be surprised to know that the current world champion professional ballroom dancers represent the USA !!!! And they have been champions for the past four years. Anyone who knows the first thing about ballroom dancing knows that America has some top class ballroom dancers. Mind you, before you get carried away, in the past 90 years England has had more world ballroom champions than all the other countries put together!!

 

Foxy

[brigittetom]

 

Now if we could get the entertainment director to have good recorded music and actually follow the set times in the program for "strict-tempo" dancing, that would go a long way to solving many of the dancers' complaints.

 

 

That should be taken up with the ED. Since it is so important to so many, they should be made aware until they actually take it seriously. I'm guessing a few complaints here and there are not taken that seriously because they know, even if they don't respond, those few will be off the ship shortly. Really, isn't that why they have an entertainment director? It's not about what works for him.....it's what works for the passengers and obviously this has been an ongoing problem.

 

Q-step, I like your sense of compromise. :). There are couples who come on board and expect to have some lovely evenings including a few nights of dancing....something they may not get to do at home. Just because they may not be ballroom certified, doesn't mean that they are not entitled to enjoy themselves. It's being made to sound as if the dance floor fills up with dancing misfits and that's simply not what I've observed.

 

As a side note....I've been cajoled onto the dance floor by hosts when I absolutely did not want to dance and I would hate to have people single me out as not having a right to be there.