After the discussion of the benefits of good dance floor navigation  I want to describe what good navigation is.  Here are guidelines that contribute to the best movement of the dance floor.  They are inspired by my own experiences in Buenos Aires in the most crowded milongas.  If these guidelines are followed everyone will have enough room to dance and everyone can share the floor and have a good time together.

On a well organized dance floor the outer part of the floor will be organized into lanes like a race track.  The outermost lane will be the best organized because it is contained by the perimeter of the dance floor.  As you move toward the center of the floor the lanes get less and less organized until the middle of the floor may be a bit chaotic.  The dancers who like dancing in lanes and who navigate well will tend to be found in the outermost two lanes on a big floor.  Those who need a little more space will tend toward the inner lanes.  At times the center may be nearly empty.  The dancers in the middle will use the space they have and not enter or disrupt the lanes near them.

When we dance in lanes it is best if we don’t change lanes.  This means that the first thing to do when the movement of the lane stops is to dance in place.  Turns are the key to dancing in place.  A dancer who has a few left and right turning movements in their repertoire, and understands how to combine these turns will have plenty of things to do when dancing in place.  Turning also gives you a view of what is going on around you.  With practice it is possible to predict the movement of the dancers near you.  Knowing when you can use space close to your neighbors, and when they may need space close to you allows you, and them, to effectively use what space there is.

As you move in your lane it is important to stay in your lane and not crowd the dancers in the other lanes.  This way you are not disrupting the flow of the other lanes near you.  It is frustratingly common for dancers to dance in what might be called lane 1.5.  Dancers in the outside lane, and the second lane don’t have room to get by someone doing this.  If this person is moving slowly then both the outside lane and the second lane will be effected.

Why shouldn’t we pass?  Mostly we don’t pass because in passing we have to enter another line of dance.  You will be entering the new lane coming from a direction that will not be easily visible to the dancers in the lane we are entering.  This is especially true if you are moving from an outer lane toward the middle.  Because of the position of the follower’s head in the dance frame, often the leader’s view to the right is blocked.  If you move from an outer lane to the next lane in, the dancer you are moving in front of may not see you until you are really in the way.  Then it is a big disruptive surprise, and that dancer may have to react very quickly.  At a minimum the flow of their dance is disrupted, and possibly the dancers behind them as well.

Sometimes you may feel that you have to pass, because, for some reason the people ahead of you have stopped to talk, or they are moving very slowly and there is a lot of space ahead of them and the dancers behind you are crowding you.  Just make sure you won’t be blocking the space of someone in the next lane and keep moving after you change lanes.

Entering the dance floor in the middle of the song presents the same problems.  Everyone does this so we all have to be aware of how it effects the existing line of dance.  It is most helpful if you wait at the side of the floor to catch the eye of a dancer on the floor, to ask for space before entering the floor.  Then the person most effected by your entry on the floor know