Started out with a flip — how did it end up like this?

Margé Peiterse was swinging into a backward dip, expecting to feel her dance partner's hand on her back, when she hit the dance hall floor.

"I fell straight on my head and I immediately kind of felt dizzy," she said.

Peiterse says the fall two months ago swiftly ended her night.

The next day, her doctor told her she was likely concussed. It took a week before the nausea and sensitivity to light stopped bothering her.

Peiterse says falls like hers aren't uncommon on a night out at a country bar as people try to impress their partners with daring moves.

"I've seen a few people, like, lay on the ground. There's maybe one or two every night."

Those in the local country dance industry say the risk of injuries in partner dancing always exists. But mix in alcohol, crowded venues and inexperienced dancers attempting big lifts or dips — that danger increases.

And during the 10 days of Calgary Stampede, when huge crowds descend on the many venues blasting country music and promising turns with a new partner, they say self-awareness can help avoid getting hurt.

'Heel to the ankle or elbow the face'

Victor Morante is a dance coach with Outlaw Country who specializes in lifts — technical moves that often require one partner to bear the weight of the other when they're hoisted into the air for a turn, flip or stand.

The company teaches western swing, line dancing and other partnered dances.

When he dances socially at a country western bar, he's seen all kinds of injuries, like being kicked or kneed by someone doing a backflip or spinning too hard.

"I'll get a heel to the ankle or elbow to the face," Morante said, joking he should wear a helmet when he goes out.

Morante says injuries often happen when dancers aren't aware of their surroundings, are attempting a move they haven't practised or aren't on the same page as their partner. He says adding alcohol into that equation only increases the risk for injury.

That's why he recommends lessons before people attempt flashy moves they may have seen online.

Melissa Knightley remembers being dropped during a dip by a dance partner while attending a folk music festival in central Alberta a decade ago.

She says her dance partner didn't check in before attempting the move and she was left seriously concussed.

The first three months after the injury, she had to remain in a dark room with no stimulation of any kind, even a phone or a book, lest it aggravate her symptoms.

"I switched jobs because at the time where I was working, it was a really loud space and I just couldn't handle it," she said.

Lynda Mainwaring is an associate professor in the faculty of kinesiology at the University of Toronto, and a psychologist who researches dance and sport concussions.

She says the prevalence of injuries like concussions in dance is hard to track, but the greatest risk for head injuries in dance comes from falls.

"You don't even have to hit your head to have a severe concussion," she said. "In dance, a lot of head gyrations, a lot of moving, if there's any banging heads and fast movements."

'If your feet leave the floor, then you're out the door'

Matt Abalos, who also dances with Outlaw, is a frequent fixture on the country dance scene.

He says he's never been seriously injured while dancing but has seen drops, sprains and even rare broken bones happen on the dance floor.

Abalos says that when dance partners are pairing up for the first time, chatting through what you're comfortable with, and what you're not, goes a long way.

"If you're dancing with a stranger, have that conversation as to what you're comfortable with trying out," he said.

One of the most popular venues for country dancing is Ranchman's Cookhouse and Dancehall, an iconic Calgary bar that draws two-steppers and line-dancers all year long.   

A spokesperson at the bar says flips and lifts are "allowed with caution."

But longtime Ranchman's dance instructor Steve D'Arnot says there's an unofficial rule they've been saying for years: If your feet leave the floor, then you're out the door.

He says staff and even the DJ will look out for potentially risky dancing situations.

"We'll ask you not to flip and explain why," he said.

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"Generally when somebody does that and we explain why we don't like them to do that, they fully understand. A lot of times, they don't even think about [the risk]. They're not aware of how someone could get hurt."

For his part, D'Arnot enjoys the energy of a boisterous crowd, but he believes people shouldn't try moves out of their skill level when they're partying.

That said, the goal is to have a good time dancing, no matter your style or experience.

"Whether you're someone who … waddles awkwardly. Or you're someone who's a professional dancer. Whether you know how to do the trained country dancing or you're a freestyle dancer," D'Arnot said, describing the different types.

"We want people to use the dance floor, and every style of dance is welcome."