This week, I would like to ask for your help in creating questions that could be included in a quiz or a flowchart that would help people decide what kind of dancing they might like to do. My opinion about all of the different kinds of traditional dances (modern Western square dancing, contra dancing, clogging, traditional square dancing, round dancing, etc.) is that they are not competing with each other, but that they are offering various options for people who have different tastes. I would like to create a list of questions that could be used in various ways to help dancers choose the kind of dancing that might suit them best.

Please fill out this survey with your ideas of questions that could help direct potential dancers. I will add the responses (i.e. the questions) to the bottom of this post so you can see what others have come up with.

Don’t worry about the answers to the questions for now. There are variations within one kind of dancing (e.g. pop music and country music can both be used in modern Western square dancing, fiddles can be used in contra dancing and traditional square dancing), but don’t let that distract you from making your questions. It’s okay for the potential answers to be complex or for there to be more than one answer. Right now we are more concerned with the questions.

Questions about Music

• Do you like pop music?
• Do you like country and western music?
• Do you like modern music?
• Do you like fiddle music?
• Do you like to dance to fast music?
• Do you like to dance to slow music?
• Do you like dance to live music?
• Do you like to dance to famous singers/bands?
• Can you clap on the beat of the music?
• Can you clap on the off-beat of the music?

Questions about Clothing

• Do you like to dress up to dance?
• Do you like to wear casual clothes to dance?
• Do you like wearing a traditional square dance costume (with a fluffy skirt)?

Questions about Partners

• Do you want to bring a partner to the dance?
• Do you want to attend the dance without a partner?
• Do you like to dance with just one partner all night?
• Do you like to dance with many partners?
• Do you like to dance with people of the opposite gender?
• Do you like to dance with people of the same gender?
• Do you like dancing with all people, regardless of their gender?
• Are you married, or do you have a partner?
• Are you single?
• If you are in a relationship, do you want to dance only with each other?

Questions about Steps

• Do you like remembering lots of steps?
• Do you like to just show up and dance without having to learn anything ahead of time?

Questions about Time

• Do you have time to commit to some lessons?
• Do you want to dance once a year?
• Do you want to dance once a month?
• Do you want to dance once a week?

Questions about the Style of Dancing

• Do you like tap dancing?
• Do you like ballroom dancing?
• Do you like line dancing?

Questions about Feelings about Dancing

• Do you like to use both your body and your mind actively when you dance?
• Do you like to lose yourself in the music and not have to think?

Questions about Physical Contact

• Do you mind being touched on the hands by people of the same sex?
• Do you mind being touched on the hands by people of the opposite sex?