Swing Analogies: Dips, tricks and small aerials are risque jokes

This one came out of waking up way too early and teaching a leadable “dips and tricks” class. The question was, “So, would you lead this trick on anyone? Just like, while you’re out dancing?” And the answer that I heard come out of my mouth was this:

Senses of humor are very specific things for each person, and most us have a slightly twisted sense of humor in some way or other. Or, to someone else it might seem twisted. At the very least, we probably all have a few jokes or guilty comical pleasures we share only with specific people — people we know will appreciate our sense of humor.

To me, a complex dip or a trick is the move equivalent of a risque joke. You don’t just do it on anyone. However, once you’ve danced with someone long enough (here I meant to imply weeks, months…but perhaps I should just go ahead and say it outright), you can gauge how they might respond, and may decide to bust it out on them. If you’re right, they will both follow it and enjoy it. But just like a risque joke, there’s also the chance it might fall flat. Which might be all too literal a description when talking about trick steps.