Dancing!!!

[Mole]

The Dancers Become the Dance

Yes Victor, not performance for me. I've never performed salsa. Only performed exotic dance once, and that was at the request of my teacher. She basically threatened to stop teaching me unless I get out there to perform . You take your dance to a new level when you dare show to a crowd.

Yes, I am a bit of a show-off so dancing for others is for me exciting but it is quite different from dancing for the sake of the dance.

And the reward for dancing for the dance's sake, is that you may become the dance.

When the dancers become the dance.

Victor.

 

[RDF]

You mean your lead is not definite enough for her It takes two in a dance....

My lead is good. I give her lots of lead on new steps, and then as the steps become more familiar I lighten up the lead to a more natural level. Matter of fact, when I learn a new step, I also learn and practice the woman's side of the dance along with my own side so that I can see how and where I'll need to lead my wife.

The trouble with the Argentine Tango is that it has lots of tight turns while practically standing in place--particularly the Forward and Back Ochos. I can provide lots of lead, but it still requires muscle and control on the woman's part to do all that twisting and turning in place.

My wife soured on the Argentine Tango right from the first class. They taught basics at first, but then at the end of the class they taught Back Ochos as an advanced step. My wife practically threw out her back on that movement, and she's been a little hesitant about the Argentine Tango ever since.

Meantime, she has no problem doing Forward and Back Ochos in the normal ballroom Tango. But in normal ballroom Tango, she does the Back Ocho with a running, sweeping movement; it's not such a tight movement as in Argentine Tango. *shrugs*

 

[white]

^

Is there a video anywhere I could watch so I get an idea of it?

Re Hustle.... Not in the clubs I go to : more latin based... I don't mean to make you feel old, but I'd never heard of hustle much.

You dance a lot of styles! Your wife is lucky to have you as keen on dancing... most guys I know are not really into dance for dancing. More for meeting/pleasing girls.

 

[RDF]

^

Is there a video anywhere I could watch so I get an idea of it?

I'm sure I could find something. I'll try to remember to hunt something down on Monday.

Re Hustle.... Not in the clubs I go to : more latin based... I don't mean to make you feel old, but I'd never heard of hustle much.

Actually, I was pleased to find out that Hustle was still danced in the ballrooms. I was a total non-dancer in the 70s when disco was originally in the clubs, so I was happy to have a second chance to play around with the dance in the present. The dance itself is updated, but they usually play some original disco music to accompany it.

You dance a lot of styles! Your wife is lucky to have you as keen on dancing... most guys I know are not really into dance for dancing. More for meeting/pleasing girls.

I was such a total non-dancer when I was young that dancing became one of those things I really wanted to conquer someday. And programmed steps (like in ballroom) are often easier for a non-dancer to learn than free-form.

Nowadays, it's just something fun to do together with the wife. We have a couple drinks and enjoy getting out on the town together.

It takes a little work to stay up on the steps. I practice alone in the basement; my wife follows my lead so well that she usually doesn't need to do any practicing as long as I know my part well. So a couple evenings a week, after dinner, I mix a tall drink, head down to the basement, put on some loud music, and run through my steps. Since it involves booze and music, I don't mind putting in the practice time.

 

[am_i_evil666]

omg....how i wish i did some lapdancing or pole-dancing classes....however, i totally love doing them, even though i am not a professional.


i just returned from the so called dance classes (i went somewhere else than i used to before, to remember the basic steps) and it totally sucked. i felt retarded doing some simplified versions of things i already knew. especially when i had to dance a "waltz" and some guy explained me that on 3 i had to make a little break instead of lifting up (i have no idea how to say that in english). and i forgot how i hated to dance to someone who is really, really off-beat.

 

[anii]

Sure, I like to bust a move once in a while.

I have a thing about touch-dancing with a partner though. It feels way too intimate to me, so it's reserved only for the one I love.

 

[RDF]

i just returned from the so called dance classes (i went somewhere else than i used to before, to remember the basic steps) and it totally sucked. i felt retarded doing some simplified versions of things i already knew. especially when i had to dance a "waltz" and some guy explained me that on 3 i had to make a little break instead of lifting up (i have no idea how to say that in english). and i forgot how i hated to dance to someone who is really, really off-beat.

Introductory classes are the worst ones. They often operate at the speed of the worst class member, and there are usually one or two students who simply can't pick up the step at all and slow down the class horribly.

If you already have some dance experience, it's probably better to jump back in at the intermediate level and just hope that you can remember the basics as you go.

 

[RDF]

I have a thing about touch-dancing with a partner though. It feels way too intimate to me, so it's reserved only for the one I love.

Probably most dancers don't initially like to dance in closed position with strangers. I agree that it is pretty intimate, and the other person may be stale and flushed and sweaty if the dancing has been going on for a while already. At first, most dancers tend to hold strange partners as far away from them as possible.

On the other hand, once you get used to it, it actually becomes kind of fun to switch off partners. The intimacy only goes so far (it's not like you have to get naked for each other); and it's one of the few activities in modern life where you can embrace total strangers, get cozy with them for a couple minutes, and have fun racing around the dance floor together. Once you get past the initial awkwardness and get attuned to the physical sensations, it becomes kind of sexy and fun.

IOW, I'm not saying you're wrong, Anii. I'm just saying that it's an acquired taste and that it's actually pretty enjoyable once you get comfortable with it.

(But FWIW, I admit that 95 percent of the time my wife and I dance together. We're not big partner-switchers ourselves. We do our best dancing with each other, since we know each other's cues so well. Dancing with a stranger usually means dancing at a much simpler level, at least until you get used to each other's signals.)

 

[RDF]

^

Is there a video anywhere I could watch so I get an idea of it?

Actually, now I'm thinking it might be tough to hunt down an Argentine Tango video and then pinpoint the Ochos specifically among all the other moves. But they are easy enough to describe so that you can recreate them yourself. It's just a step-and-pivot, done four times.

Forward Ochos

1) Woman steps forward onto her right foot and then pivots clockwise on her right foot to snap around 180 degrees. (The woman keeps her left foot elevated during the pivot or taps it on the ground behind her after the pivot for balance.)

2) Woman steps forward onto her left foot and then pivots counter-clockwise on her left foot to snap around 180 degrees. (The woman keeps her right foot elevated during the pivot or taps it on the ground behind her after the pivot.) At this point, the woman is back where she started.

3) Repeat step 1
4) Repeat step 2.

Basically the woman carves figure 8s. ("Ocho" is Spanish for 8, of course.) The man stands in place beside the woman and turns her torso to help her do all the pivots. The steps and pivots are done quickly in a tight figure 8. The four steps and pivots are done across 4 beats (or 8 quick beats if you want to count the step and the pivot as separate beats).

Backward Ochos

The Backward Ochos are similar, but the woman steps backward instead of forward.

1) Woman steps backward onto her left foot and then pivots clockwise on her left foot to snap around 180 degrees. (The woman keeps her right foot elevated during the pivot or taps it on the ground in front of her after the pivot for balance.)

2) Woman steps backward onto her right foot and then pivots counter-clockwise on her right foot to snap around 180 degrees. (The woman keeps her left foot elevated during the pivot or taps it on the ground in front of her after the pivot.) At this point, the woman is back where she started.

3) Repeat step 1
4) Repeat step 2.
(Same follow-up notes as above.)

Anyway, if you try the move at home, you'll get an idea pretty quick of how it should look (and how tough it can be at high speed). Then you can watch just about any Argentine Tango video and you'll probably spot some Ochos in there at some point or another.

 

[white]

Thanks for the explanation!

(hehe your notes reminds me of my own dance notes)

those are the sharp turns I see then! It always looks so lovely. You drag the hind leg to extend the line right? *aelan dreams of tango-ing, swishing skirt and all*

 

[RDF]

Thanks for the explanation!

(hehe your notes reminds me of my own dance notes)

Yeah, exactly! I have an elaborate system of dance notes for all the dances and moves.

those are the sharp turns I see then! It always looks so lovely. You drag the hind leg to extend the line right? *aelan dreams of tango-ing, swishing skirt and all*

Ballroom Tango is about slower, sweeping movements. Each of the step-and-pivots is basically a "fan," so in Ballroom Tango you play around with dragging the hind leg to extend the line, or doing a fancy extended tap like a syncopation.

Argentine Tango, on the other hand, is faster and snappier, and the figure 8 is pretty tiny. The hind foot is usually kept in tight, perhaps hooked around the ankle of the other foot for quick movement into the next step. To make up for the lack of lines, you use the movements of the hips (the snappy pivots) to make fast swirling movements of the dress. (In general, the footwork in Argentine Tango is more about flicks and kicks and snaps rather than lines--my impression, anyway.)

But with most dances, I agree that it's good to play with the lines and look at how they work with the clothing. Ballroom and Latin are all about showcasing the woman. The woman does all the flashy, sweeping moves; the man moves with her and leads and provides support. So we both work at making all the woman's moves as flowing and broad and sweeping as possible. Very pretty stuff, when done right.

 

[file cabinet]

i danced tonight at the club

 

[Kirkadonna]

I danced last night at a club too!!I wasn't pretty awake though;I took my friend and got up on a sort of pole and danced so sexy that the guys weren't looking at the girl in bra and panties(she was working in that club) anymore.The thing that scares me is that i liked showing off like that...but...heh;

 

[file cabinet]

go-go dancers are annoying. if you're tired, get redbull vodkas.

 

[Alchemist]

*sigh* How did I miss this thread?

I've been dancing since I was fourteen, mostly at raves with glowsticks and my hands. Two years ago I began learning hip-hop, and last year I started getting into a specific funk style (popping). I'm still trying to get to the skill level where I can freely portray different elements of music without any previous choreography.

I'm a little envious of FineLine, Aelan, and Elfin though. I've never tried partnered dancing before, and it sounds like tons of fun.

Dancing... what a hedonistic pleasure. It doesn't really have to go any deeper than that for me, although it does at times.

-A

 

[RDF]

Other club dances which are fun are the merengue and bachata too, though I avoid sleazy men for the latter, as it is a close contact dance. The latter is a dance from the Dominican republic, by the blue-collar classes. Was a way of escape from the weariness of daily life. The music tends to speak of passion, love, loss. Much rawer and more sensual vs the stylised lines of latin ballroom. One of my favourite videos here: Solo por un beso (For a single kiss.. sorry to those who've seen it before )

Aelan,

I never got back to you about the bachata. I did check the bachata clip out, along with some teaching clips showing the bachata "basic step". Looks like fun.

The bachata "basic step" looks like the merengue, but in a confined space: Two steps (four even counts) to the man's left, then two steps to the right.

The "advanced" bachata (from your "Solo por un beso" clip) seems more stationary and more like rumba or salsa at times--there seemed to be times when they were doing a quick-quick-slow step. But that's how the Latin dances work: There's a lot of crossover on the steps and the moves as you get to the more advanced level.

Anyway, very nice. Kind of a merengue-salsa-rumba fusion thing, I guess.

 

[sriv]

Dancing is insane. Too bad I am sane. I am missing out.

 

[swordpath]

I kinda wish I could dance. I have very little experience with it though.

 

[scantilyclad]

i like dancing! but i'm not very good at it, so i usually do it in the privacy of my own home, although i have been known to bust some moves when i'm drunk.

 

[SillySapienne]

I LOVE dancing!!!

I finally went out dancing for the first time last night in months, (2 months), and it was awesome!!!

When I *feel* music, my body moves accordingly.