I'm pretty new at this. I've been reading seddit for a few months, but up until now, I've never posted an FR. I'm starting to understand the importance of documenting your progress through FR, good or bad.

So here it is. I went out to this latin dance club. I used to just invite whoever was available to dance. But I've realized it's better to approach with a situational opener before inviting them to dance. It breaks the ice and it's more conductive to having conversations afterwards.

I open an HB7. She came to the club with 2 of her friends: HB8 and HB9, but they're on the floor dancing while she's alone. I see a few guy inviting her to dance and she declines. I use that as an opener:

'Do you prefer to dance or watch?'

HB7: 'Yea I'm just watching...I didn't know people at this club were such good dancers. I don't compare.' We talk a bit, I joke a bit, but her mind is elsewhere and I'm not getting the response I want. She's nervous. So I tell her:

'It's even better if you don't know any dance moves. That way, you can let yourself go and do whatever you want!'

I invite her to dance and we dance a little bit. I try to make a few jokes, but she's so focused on her poor dancing skills and worried about her girlfriends and other people watching that she doesn't laugh at any of my jokes. At this point, she's so uncomfortable I think the only way to progress is to start complimenting her. I usually try to refrain myself from giving too many compliments, if any, because I think that's what most AFCs do when they run out of things to say. But this time, I use that to get her to open up to me:

'You're a good dancer, don't worry about a thing. You're doing very well!' (Is that a good approach? Feedback needed) The song ends, she apologizes for being such a bad dancer. I tell her:

'Never apologize when dancing!'

I thought taking the leadership here would make her more comfortable. She smiles and we go back sitting, but I sit a few feet from her to look disinterested (trying to push-pull thing, but is that the way to do it?). Her friend HB9 comes sitting between us and they start talking.

Right in front of us is a couple of really good dancers pulling some big dancing moves. I use that as an opener on the HB9:

'Can you do that?'

HB9: 'Absolutely not. Can you?' (I realize now it wasn't the best opener, because it will almost inevitably bring the target to retort back at me with the same question I asked. I sort of blank, don't know what to say so I went into AFC mode:

'Well, no, not really...Maybe I could pull moves like that in my head.'

HB9: Unimpressed by my response 'Yea well, we can all do moves like that in our heads.' and she turns away from me.

I know I shouldn't have made a self-deprecrating joke, but I sort of blanked. It was a shit-test and I failed it. Any ideas what to answer next time? Feedback needed

Some guy comes along and invites the HB7 to dance. Shy as she is, she declines. He then invites the HB9 and she declines also. I use that to reopen the HB9:

'Why did you decline? I think you just broke his heart'

HB9 laughs:

'He asked 'HB7' first and then asked me to save face? I'm not gonna dance with someone who asks me to dance, because he got rejected by someone else!' I tease her a bit:

'Oh so you've got some attitude!'

She laughs and asks me seriously:

'You would have done the same, wouldn't you? I mean, if some girl came along and asked a few guys and then asked you to dance?'

I look her straight in the eyes, without flinching or smiling:

'No, I don't care. I don't have any hang ups about that.' (I didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing to say at the time, but in retrospect, I think that was a really good answer, because I showed her I didn't need her approval, tried to agree with her, and I showed a bit of leadership)

Jokingly, in front of HB9, I ask the HB7 to dance and off course she declines and right away I invite the HB9. She laughs and we go dancing. We talk a bit during the dance, but I don't catch everything she says, because of the loud music. I notice she's not looking at me when we dance:

'Are you dancing while looking at the floor? It's a nice floor right?'

HB9: She laughs 'You notice everything, don't you?'

Me: 'Yes, I see everything!'

The song ends, we go back sitting. A few guys I know that practice martial arts pass by. I tell her about that and explain what it is.

HB9: She makes a face

'I bet it's not fun'

Me teasing her:

'Wow, you're so quick to judge! You're very judgemental aren't you? You don't even know what it is and already your opinion is set?

She laughs. Now all 3 of them are sitting (HB7, HB8 and HB9). I didn't talk to HB8 yet. She's seems like the most outgoing out of the 3. She danced all night with anyone who asked her. I didn't open to her and instead, just invited her to dance. I usually try to avoid that, because inviting a girl to dance without first opening is what all AFCs do at this place. But, because I had already opened her HB7 and HB9 friend, I thought it was a good way to give myself value and see that I could interact with other people. So I dance with the HB8, making small talk and joking a bit. She's super friendly, smiling the whole time, but ultimately, I didn't have any material so it was just that: small talk, light jokes, with no chance for building attraction.

At this point, I go open a few more sets which I'm not going to get into here.

I return to the HB7. She's still not dancing, sitting alone while her girlfriends are dancing. I had managed to make her comfortable with herself when we danced earlier so I immediately put my hand on her shoulder, leaning over her and telling her:

'Come dance with me'

She accepts right away, we dance a bit. I try to make her as comfortable as I can, complimenting her. Nothing more happens, she thanks me and I go sit. A few minutes later, she comes to me and tells me she's leaving with her girlfriends. In all my interactions, I make it a point to never ask for their names, because that's an IOI and I want them to ask me my name first. As she's about to leave, we finally introduce ourselves to each other. I guess this was a good time to #-close. I didn't have anything though and I didn't want to look too eager so I kissed her on the cheeks and said

'I'll see you next time!'

Her HB8 and HB9 friends were there as well so we all introduced each other and said goodbye.

My reasoning is that, since this is a dance club, we keep seeing the same people all the time. By asking right away for their number, I thought it was a little strong. So I try to open as many sets as possible. Whenever I do see the same people again, it's much easier to build upon that and #-close since you didn't look desperate the first time by going really strong. Some times, you never see the people again, but sometimes you do and it makes #-closing much easier. I need feedback on this approach. I also want to learn how I could've #-closed right away. Anyway, since this was a 3-set, it felt uncomfortable asking for all their numbers or just one of them, but I'm sure a more experienced sedditor would've managed to do it.

They leave, I stay for another 15 min or so, dance a bit then leave. As I'm leaving, I see the 3 of them hanging outside under an umbrella.

'Is there room for me under this umbrella?'

We talk a bit and they all call me by my name...I know this is silly, but I see it as an IOI, because my name is hard to remember. I had already forgotten the HB7's name. Anyway, the HB9 teases me a bit:

'So you're leaving too huh? So you found out it's just not as fun when we're not around!'

I know this is another shit-test, so I go blank for a few seconds. Then I remember about the stuff I read in The Game:

'You give yourself too much credit! You're not that important!' (Good recovery, but not as spontaneous as I would've liked)

Looking at her friends:

'Does she always have this attitude, thinking she's so important?'

The HB8 agrees with me. We all laugh and I eject on a high-note.

I know, another missed opportunity, but I felt I made great progress. To more experienced sedditors, this probably would be a failed night, but I see it as progress. I managed to open several sets and make light talk, making them laugh and avoiding the boring conversations about life/work/weather. I probably could've tried to close, but I didn't have the confidence, nor the material to close on the first encounter. Feedback needed