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dance with the one that brought you

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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WOTD – 17 June 2026

Etymology

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Referring to the polite practice of someone dancing with the person who brought them to a dance, instead of ignoring them and dancing with other people.

Pronunciation

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Proverb

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dance with the one that brought you

  1. (chiefly Canada, US, informal) Be considerate and loyal to the person who has been attentive, helpful, or supportive to you.
    • [1984 February 3–4, Richard C. Richardson Jr., Improving Opportunities for Earning the Baccalaureate Degree for Urban Students, [Washington, D.C.]: Education Resources Information Center, National Institute of Education, U.S. Department of Education, →OCLC, page 1:
      There is an expression in sports about ‘dancing with the one that brought you’; it means sticking with players and strategies that have worked.
      A paper presented at a meeting of the Ford Foundation in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., 3–4 February 1984.]
    • 1986 January 30 (date delivered), Donald I. Carter, “Session I: Opening Remarks and Principal Speakers”, in Proceedings of the Joint Government–Industry Symposium on R&D Planning Information Management, 30–31 January 1986 […] (AD-A167 020), Cameron Station, Alexandria, Va.: Defense Technical Information Center, published March 1986, →OCLC, page 33:
      We support this free and open exchange of ideas. That's what got us here and as Bum Phillips, the ex-coach of the Houston Oilers used to say, you ought to dance with the one that brought you.
    • [1999, Roger D. Launius, “Patterns of Innovation in Aeronautical Technology”, in Roger D. Launius, editor, Innovation and the Development of Flight, College Station, Tex.: Texas A&M University Press, →ISBN, page 13:
      To some extent, adhering to traditional methods and ideas is understandable. It is the real-life equivalent of "dancing with the one that brought you," that is, staying with practices that brought success before and perhaps sustained the institution in times of crisis. But without the ability to innovate, eventual failure of the entire institution will be assured as well.]
    • 2000 October 18, Thomas Boswell, “Unlike the boss, Torre recognizes the right stuff”, in The Washington Post‎[1], Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 24 January 2025:
      Sometimes you have to dance with the one that brought you. And, ever since he won a crucial Game Four in Cleveland on 16 days rest in the 1998 ALCS, [Joe] Torre has trusted [Orlando] Hernandez more than any of his starters.
    • 2014 February 17, John E[dward] Sununu, “Keeping Obama at arm’s length”, in The Boston Globe‎[2], Boston, Mass.: The Globe Newspaper Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 January 2025:
      [Barack] Obama's approval ratings have fallen below 40 percent. "Dance with the one that brought you," the saying goes, but when you are a Senate Democrat stuck with the wrong prom date, there's only one thing to do: hide in the bathroom.
    • 2016 April 30, James Allan, “Leaving the dance with the one who brought you”, in The Spectator‎[3], London: Old Queen Street Ventures, archived from the original on 13 October 2019:
      I mention this Canadian Conservative Prime Minister because he coined the political adage ‘you dance with the one that brought you’. In less colourful terms [Brian] Mulroney meant that a Prime Minister should ‘never, ever ignore his party’s base’.

Usage notes

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Also infrequently found in the inflected form dancing with the one that brought you.

Alternative forms

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Synonyms

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Translations

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