People often ask what to wear to a dance and what to expect. I hope the suggestions below will be helpful to newcomers and others who have questions about etiquette expected at our events.

What to wear:

You will be dancing, so I advise choosing comfortable clothes and especially comfortable shoes(I don’t understand how anyone can dance well in heels!). As a lady I appreciate the opportunity to wear flowing skirts that accentuate the dances. Sadly for men, they have no way to improve their dance style through clothing(unless they wear a kilt).

Our dances are decidedly family-friendly and as such require a certain standard of modest dress. Please, no cleavage, short skirts or shorts.

Informal dances are just that: informal. Jeans and T-shirts are acceptable!

Formal dances are just an excuse for ladies to dress up. We encourage people to come in historical dress; for example, many ladies come in Regency attire and quite a few gentlemen have colonial garb. If you don’t have a costume or uniform, normal church-going clothes work just as well.

Behaviour:

Respect the callers who are teaching you the dance( ”Apply your heart to instruction, And your ears to words of knowledge.”-Prov. 23:12) Don’t chat or talk loudly throughout the teaching, even if you are not dancing. Our biggest problem at a dance is dancers talking through the teaching.

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold In settings of silver.” -Prov. 25:11

We expect men to act like gentlemen and women to act like ladies.

We request that the men ask the women to dance, by simply approaching a lady and asking “May I have this dance?” When the lady replies yes,(which is almost always the case) the man leads her out to the dance floor and into formation.