[SCA-Dance] Flirting

[Carey Cates]

Hello everyone,

> I fear the emphasis on flirting is misplaced. I attended a class at
> Pennsic where flirting was practically recommended. To me, it is
> just silly to flirt with one's partner as a matter of course without
> regard to who they are, how you feel about them, your respective
> moods, etc. It is important to communicate, to truly interact and
> connect if possible with one's partner. Whether or not that
> interaction includes flirting should depend on the specific
> situation.

I have been in classes where flirting was explicitly recommended, and
the dancers reminded of it later in the class too.  A couple students
mentioned that the found it off-putting, or simply odd.  Many of the
students were women, who tended to end up dancing with other women,
due to a lack of gentlemen for dancing.  I have also danced with
partners who I observed flirting at other points in the ball, but
didn't seem to know how to interact with partners except by flirting,
and seemed to ignore me while we danced.  In response to all this,
when I teach I try to remember to tell the students to simply interact
with one another.  Flirting is one way to do so, but there are other
ways as well. 

Isabel