The Distance Dance--How close is close enough?

From the 1970s through the 1990s I worked regularly for Management Centre Europe in Brussels, training programs in Intercultural Communications and Virtual Teamwork. Each Tuesday evening the Centre would invite the participants of the various courses to an after hours reception with drinks and snacks.  It was largely a noisy, stand up affair where participants mingled with their classmates and others in different programs and were often introduced around by colleagues.

A not unfamiliar sight was the "dance of distance" as in the crowded room, participants automatically struggled to establish and maintain an agreeable conversational distance in their little groups of two or three. It meant a room in motion and it was particularly amusing to see the occasional extreme chase around the room, where a Saudi would try to come "nose to nose" with a Brit who constantly walked backwards to avoid coming too close for comfort. I am sure the inner, at least unconscious conversations ran something like this: "What is wrong, doesn't he like me?" vs. "This fellow is certainly cheeky!"