British reticence

Petra - just saying how 'people might look at me' stupidly inhibited me when I was younger.
Can't quite see how that would affect those 'who want to enjoy life'! Surely that's what everyone wants!!

It depends what mood I am in. I'm quite happy to ask questions in front of other people, I jived with my niece's partner (30 and gorgeous!) at my other niece's wedding this weekend and we were the only ones on the floor at the time - but occasionally I will walk into a room full of friends and not feel up to talking to anyone that day.

Come on Eileen; Dancing Queen; I Want to Dance with Somebody; I Will Survive! or a bit of Bollywood. But I nowadays need a wee bit of alcohol in me to stop me thinking I shouldn't be making a fool of myself. I didn't used to be reticent on the dance floor

You're right maggie if the music's good there's no reticence. It doesn't bother me being first up either.
I always think it's a pity when people have got up and had a few dances and then the DJ puts on some terrible record and everyone sits down again.

(V good for kitchen dancing)

Abba!

Oh, dancing is different. I thought we were talking about middle-aged men on decrepit horses, pretending to be knights of old. I will dance with the best of them. Not had the chance for a long time though. Apart from round the kitchen table.

Oh, I don't mind being first up, if the music's right. DH allows himself to be dragged along - if it's a soul classic he's more enthusiastic. Uptown Girl and Brown-eyed Girl are another two of mine, janea.

It doesn't have to be whooping and hollering. Dancing is the same. Think about the dance floor at a party. Loads of people want to dance but very few are happy to be the first on the dance floor so it stays empty for ages until some gets the courage/dutch courage to get up. Once a couple of people are dancing then others get up and the dance floor quickly fills. It's that British reticence again stopping people from doing what they want to do until someone else does it too.

Me too Maggie. Uptown Girl, Hey Baby, Brown-eyed Girl, there's no holding me back.
Couldn't whoop or holler to save my life, though!

Loads for me. Dancing in the Dark. Walk of Life. Come on Eileen . I'm a shameless dancer. Don't whoop and holler though.

Is there nobody that you just have to get up and dance to?

I would rather stick to clapping.

Same here, jingl. It's not just about self-consciousness, some people just don't want to do it - fine if you do, fine if you don't!

I don't think I could whoop. Or holler. It would sound odd. I just don't get excited enough.

I was brought up that it wasn't done to draw attention to myself so I should be quiet. I used to worry people would think badly of me then I realised that most didn't even notice me and if any did they would probably either see me as having a good time or wish they could whoop and holler too. If they did think badly of me then what did it matter because I never had to see them again.

Unlike some of you 'shy' people I never thought for one moment that people would be looking at me. It has always puzzled me how people assume that others are interested in them.
At least it lets us who want to enjoy life get on with it.

I do not think it is humility that stops people letting their hair down. Humility is not having a sense of self importance.
If an occasion expects/requires participation and people do not join in maybe they have a sense of self importance, i.e. that people will be looking at them and they may look foolish. I was quite 'reticent' but realise now that most of the time people are not interested in me and what I am doing so it is OK to give situations 'full welly'!

And you are most welcome to do that but I won't be joining you!

It's fun to let your hair down and whoop and holler sometimes

The spectacle of Americans whooping and hollering (sic) and whistling on TV is more than enough to put me off that sort of vociferous audience participation. I'm quite happy to speak up in public in classes/conferences/talking type situations.

I do so agree with vampirequeen...it all depends on the situation and the company you are in although at 63 I no longer care what people think.
They can like it or lump it!

I was wondering why the British didn't do this naturally. Other nations seem to let rip whenever they feel like it. We worry too much about what the stranger next to us is thinking.

We watched some 'Tudor' horsemen (a squire and his lady wife) performing at a NT property the other week.
After a bit of encouragement, the crowd, which was not large, was cheering them on quite noisily. All great fun!

I used to be terrified of being the centre of attention and tbh I don't really like it now but DH taught me that there is a difference between people you know and people you don't. People I know can hurt me when they criticise me and I brood over what they say and think. DH taught me not to worry about strangers who I'm never going to meet again. His philosophy is it doesn't matter what you do as long as you're having fun and you're not hurting anybody.

We seemed to be in the middle of a very restrained group of people although they were less restrained as they joined in with us