Information about Mates And Dates
For All
1. What is Mates And Dates all about?
Mates And Dates is a social dance club
for couples in California's Silicon Valley, USA.
We host a dance on the second Friday of odd number months.
We often have a dance lesson and always have catered food.
Music is provide by a professional DJ or a live band.
We hold our dances in Mountain View
and have one formal dinner dance a year and most dances
are "Dressy" or "Dance Casual".
The venue provides a nice dance floor
and plenty of room to dance and to sit and socialize.
Our DJ or live band provide music for a variety of couples oriented ballroom style dancing:
typically foxtrot, rumba, cha-cha, east coast swing, tango, samba,
waltz, Viennese waltz, night club two-step, and
every once in a while a hustle, quick step, bolero, merengue, or salsa.
2. What is the attire at the dances?
We love variety and have dances with various themes and attire.
The goal is to be comfortable and safe while dancing and
being respectful of the club while having fun.
Most of our dances are dance casual or theme casual with one
formal dance at the end of the year. Dance attire ranges through:
- Formal: Men wear one of:
- A tuxedo with tie and optional cummerbund or vest.
- Slacks, dress shirt, tie, and a dinner jacket
Women wear ball gowns.
- Dressy: Men wear one of:
- Suit with dress shirt and tie.
- Slacks and dress shirt with tie and sport coat.
Women wear elegant tops and skirts, dresses, or nice pants suits.
- Dance Casual: Men: slacks and collared shirts. Women wear comfortable dance attire.
- Theme Casual: Determined by the theme. Comfortable dance clothes
and dance shoes.
- No jeans or T-shirts unless that is appropriate to the specific theme.
- No sneakers, running shoes, or shoes that will leave black marks on the floor.
3. How does membership work?
Membership in Mates And Dates costs $40 for annual dues
per dance couple. This gives you a $20 discount
for each dance so if you attend at least 2 of the 6 annual
dances it's cheaper to be a member.
Typically, members have some knowledge and skill in several
couple oriented ballroom style dances such as
foxtrot, rumba, cha-cha, east coast swing, tango, samba,
waltz, Viennese waltz, night club two-step and perhaps even
hustle, quick step, bolero, merengue, or salsa.
We enjoy not only dancing and socializing, but also
inviting and welcoming sponsored guests and meeting new people.
Membership (and dance event attendance as a guest) is by
invitation only. Guests are always welcome.
For more information, please contact us.
4. Do I have to join Mates And Dates as a couple?
Yes.
5. What is a typical dance like?
We enjoy a pleasant evening with nice table decorations,
a buffet style dinner, a DJ
or sometimes a live band providing
music for dancing, and pleasant conversation with
existing and new friends.
Each dance has a specific theme for decorations and
theme relevant attire determined by our Event Coordinator.
The evening starts at 6:00 PM, usually with a dance lesson
after which we
enjoy a buffet served dinner at tables of 4
couples and the DJ or band
playing as we wrap up dinner with a wide variety of ballroom
dance music until about 10:00 PM. There are announcements during
the break to discuss club news and to welcome visitors.
6. What is the Mates And Dates personal data privacy policy?
The personal information management policy is
delineated on our website. If you have
any questions contact the webmaster at the link at the bottom
of any website page.
For Guests
1. What is being a guest all about?
Guest couples invited by current members are always welcome.
Club dance event logistics
for guests is arranged by your host member couple.
Guest couple cost is $125 per event and this is
discounted to $105 for your first dance with us.
After attending a few events, guests are encouraged to
become members. At each event, we will announce the guests
and give people an opportunity to welcome and get to know
them.
We will work with your hosts and get your name and email
and give you the opportunity to receive our newsletter and notifications
for future events.
2. What should we know about couples/ballroom dancing?
The main differences between ballroom dancing and
typical club social dancing are:
- Both members of the couple are touching most of the time,
usually in a typical dance frame.
- Smooth (or Standard) dances such as
waltz, foxtrot, quickstep, tango, and Viennese waltz
are considered traveling dances, where couples
travel along the "line of dance" which is a
counter-clockwise loop around the perimeter of the
dance floor.
It is important that if you are traveling slowly or not at
all that you move towards the center of the dance floor.
- In the couple partnership, the Lead (usually the man)
determines the direction and what steps the couple will take
and the Follow (usually the woman) interprets the Lead's
queues to embellish the steps with graceful movements to
give the traveling motion grace and beauty.
For Members
1. How do I log in?
Each member has has an account that allows them to log in to the website once
they have set up their personal password.
Your first time using the website,
click on the Login link in the navigation bar and near the bottom left of the login screen
you will find a button at the bottom left of the page labeled Forgot My Password.
Click that and follow the directions and a new password will be emailed to you with instructions on how to login and change it.
(Please check your spam or junk folder just in case.)
Note: AOL and Comcast often block automated emails. If you have a ...@aol.com or ...@comcast.net email
address, add the following contact to your contact list:
- Name: Mates And Dates
- Email: info@matesanddates.org
If you suspect we do not have your current/correct email (your partner can log in and confirm via the Who utility)
or you did not get an email, please
send an email to the webmaster by clicking on the Webmaster link at the bottom of any web page
or fill out the feedback form and we will get your
email updated so you can reset your password.
2. What if I need help?
If you get lost on the website or don't know what to do....
- Don't Panic.
- First, click on the
colored logo in the upper left corner of any website page. This will bring
you to your "home page" with a concise summary of links to the
(few) most likely things you will need to be concerned about.
-
Most web pages have a (tiny) line at the top of the page with a link to
an Overview to give some perspective of what that part of the website
does and how to use it.
- In any form that has two columns with the
field attributes in the left (colored background) column and places to enter
information in the right column, each attribute name in the left column
is a link to a help function that will provide more information on what
that attribute means and reasonable ranges to add for a value for it.
The links usually provide hints if you merely hover your mouse over them.
-
You can fill out the feedback form to provide feedback or
to ask specific questions. We will work hard to place answers to your questions
that might have broader usage in our frequently asked questions.
3. How do I see event calendar and photos?
Once logged in,
to look at a list of all dance events including the photos from past events,
select Event Calendar
from the navigation bar and you will see a list of all our events.
To see the photos for a specific event,
click on the small yellow ball icon in the first column whose column title is Options.
4. How do I fill out or see results from a club survey?
The website survey utility
allows members and guests to not only give their input on matters
involving the club but also (after the survey is closed) to
see the results of past surveys.
Once you have logged in, there will be a link labeled Surveys
in the navigation bar at the top of the page. That will lead you to
the survey utility where you can take any currently open surveys
or see the results of past surveys. There is more help available
at the home page of the Survey utility on how to use it.
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