What have you got in there?
5th January 2009
"What have you got in there?!"
"Everything."
- a conversation about my dance rucksack.
Introduction
*sigh* The first night I turned up to MJ in my normal clothes and shoes. I brought money, and a few other useful bits and pieces (like plasters) that I carry normally, but I honestly thought that was it.
And now I have a rucksack full of kit.
So, this is what I bring to tango. It could be considered overkill. Certainly most people don't bring all of this. But it's useful to know. I like having my options covered.
I'll also explain the whys. The Thames Barrier regularly orders baby oil, yet so far no-one has questioned why...
Shoes
You need different things depending on whether you're practicing or dancing.
I still haven't found the one pair of magic shoes that does everything I want, so I have several at the moment.
Ballet slippers
Sooner or later, you'll be doing moves such as back sacadas, or where you do a gancho on the lady.
To my mind, ideally you want to learn these moves, or new variations of them, in socks. However some of the wooden floors out there have splinters! So I got a pair of black ballet slippers.
As an added bonus they're really easy to pivot in, which is normally important for back sacadas and man ganchos.
The catch is that they don't offer any support to your foot, so I tend to literally change into them only for those moves.
Bloch dance trainers
I noticed that a lot of dance teachers wear trainers when they teach. I got a pair of split soled Bloch's that are apparently the "standard" type worn by Cerocers. To be honest I find them hard to pivot in.
They do however change my balance slightly which makes leading tango much easier. And they're very soft so I'm happy to lead back sacadas in them. And they have very good support.
At some point I'll make the trek into London and try and find a pair I can pivot in.
Suede soles and Patent leather
Truly wonderful for pivoting. You can add talc to them and be immune to horrible dance floors (one important tip. Check the dance floor before you add talc. They might finally have got a decent cleaning crew in and by adding talc you'll now feel like you're dancing on ice - in a very bad way. The easiest way to apply it is to sprinkle a little on the soles and rub them together to get even coverage).
Make sure to clean your shoes when you get home. Small traces of talc appear to attack patent leather. Unless removed.
Apparently water has a similar effect. I've tried it once with spilled coke (at a teacher's suggestion and after he did it himself) - it does seem to help, but I'm not taking responsibility for any damaged shoes if you try it.
Also be aware that if two guys wearing patent leather shoes dance together, they're shoes will stick each time they tocuh - barridas, blocks etc. Apparently this can be overcome by applying vaseline.
Spare shoelaces
Yup - I've had shoe-laces break at the beginning of an evening as I was tying my laces.
For women
I strongly recommend that you seriously consider a pair of shoes which are not open toed and which cover the top of your foot. Yes open toes look lovely. But I know a very experienced teacher who literally tore the toenail off the woman he was dancing with! Women regularly mention either having their feet gouged by the heels of other women, or on a surprisingly regular basis, their own foot!
Comme Il Faut are the shoes for women. Apparently it's like pivoting on ice. Good support. They look really pretty. They all seem to be open-toed though...
Clothes
Deodorant, a flannel, change of shirt - useful throughout the evening, though very much depends on how hot the venue is, how much you're actually dancing, and how energetically.
Hankerchiefs - it's always useful to have a clean one
Food and drink
Snacks and caffeine / energy drinks
Blood sugar is important, especially for the journey home. Some venues get grumpy about you bring in drinks etc in, but as long as they stay in your bag to be drunk afterwards I don't see it's any of their business. Likewise you can store drinks in the boot of your car. There are also times when for whatever reason the bar staff didn't turn up, or the kit isn't working and they simply can't serve you drinks. Nice to be prepared.
Also give some thought as to ways to make it clear that a glass belongs to you. I've seen people come back to a table which now has 3 identical glasses of coke on it, hesitate, then chose one at random.
The other thing to bear in mind is that if you started dancing at 7.30 and kept going till 3am, you've just spent nearly 8 hours without eating! That's a working day. Figure out where local snack bars etc and be aware of when they close. Or bring sandwiches
Mints
I was in close embrace. It was one of those lovely dances where we're just walking. And then she started chewing my hair?! It took me a few seconds to realise she was actually chewing gum.
"Are you alright?!" - a lady deeply concerned by the crunching sounds of three tic-tac being hastily consumed at once. Try it as you walk. It really does sound like you're joints are popping something fierce; the above lady was several feet away from me.
All in all, something quiet is probably your best bet - soft mints, for example. Actually tic-tacs work well, just don't crunch them.
Others
Medication
Nurofen gel, nurofen tablets, hayfever tablets, plasters.
Sometimes it's about fixing something minor so you can keep dancing. Other times it's about killing the pain enough so that you can get home. A spare t-shirt can be rigged as a very good sling too.
Paper and pen
For making notes about classes, or revelations during the freestyle, or just writing down phone numbers.
Bottle of water
Nope, not for drinking! I have long hair. I tie it back offset to the left when I dance, but sometimes (particularly if someone creates a draft with an open a window / door) some of it escapes. In close embrace this tickles the lady's nose. So I damp it down a little with water.
Adverts and Flyers
It's not unusual to talk about where you've learnt, what teachers are like etc. If a person is genuinely interested in a specific teachers style, I've found it's just easier to be able to give them the little advert leaflet virtually every teacher has at their venues (and will be quite happy to let you take a few) - it's got class times, prices, contact details, location etc.
Talc
A small bottle of baby talc for sprinkling on my shoes (see above).
A few warnings. Most venues do not like you sprinkling talc around the floor. (There have been a few occasions where the floor was so undanceable that the teacher has quietly told me to go ahead and do it anyway... Likewise I've seen one mutiny from the dancers). Ideally just sprinkle it on the soles of your own feet. Maybe put a small amount on the floor so you can rub your soles in it throughout the night (don't be surprised if others do too).
Pocket knife
I used to bring one of these along - it was particularly useful for the night I had to splice together makeshift shoelaces, but the current anti-knife culture means it's just not worth it now.
Recording equipment
It's become increasingly the norm for people to video the teachers demonstration at the end of a lesson using everything from mobile phones to portable dvd recorders. So you might want to consider this also.
And finally...
Rucksack
If you are going to bring all this stuff with you, it's probably best to get a rucksack, otherwise it'll do terrible things to your posture.
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- Christopher O'Shea, 5th January 2009