Does your Dancing have Enough Soul?

[Paisley]

An example

Here's a video of some people not really dancing, but just moving to music. They have soul. They're having a good time. I bet you'll have a good time watching them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq7q2zXHFRc

Note that they don't just move their feet, but their hips, arms, chests, heads, and shoulders. Note how the little girl twists on the Z axis at 1:04. See how the young man's arm movement at 0:18 just looks awesome. See an example of sinking into the floor at 1:44. Sometimes the movements are crisp, sometimes they flow, sometimes they stop. But it's all in sync with the music.

 

[Silver Dollar]

Unfortunately, it seems that my dancing soul has been possessed by a group of dancing circus bears. That's why I became a musician so I didn't have to dance. My wife and I have talked about learning how to dance (she's alot better than me) but we never find the time.

I know what you mean by the difference between mechanics and soul. I remember watching a TV show where they had a couple who danced every week. The man had very polished movements but when he danced, he looked like the top student in Miss Mitsie's dancing school. He was way too polished and had no soul at all. And he had was a goofy smile on his face. Taking Fred Astaire as a comparison, Fred not only had great movements, but he always looked like he was having a great time and that made it fun to watch him.

 

[Paisley]

I know what you mean about being technically good but lacking soul. There's a couple in the Denver scene whose dancing is, as a friend of mine put it, mechanical. I call it cold. I don't think they ever dance with other people. Although they've mastered mechanics, they've hit a plateau of a different kind.

 

[Silver Dollar]

COLD!! That was the word I was looking for but couldn't find it.

 

[bunnyb.gal]

Blocked in the UK "on copyright grounds", whatever that means - grrrrrr!

 

[Paisley]

If you mean the last video I posted, it's a scene from the Cosby Show, Season 2, Episode 3. I see this can be rented at lovefilm.com. If you've never seen it, it's a classic episode from a terrific TV show.

 

[Paisley]

Australian Couple on Superstars of Dance from a year ago

I loved the Australian couple's swing dance on Superstars of Dance last night. They did it with some older swing moves, smoothness and sultriness that you don't often see.

A new link that works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPedWBr8a7w

 

[Dated Guy]

A very interesting subject, I am no dancer at all, but, as a longterm percussionist in bands and so on, I have a certain rythmic style. I recall many years ago, at a town's Fire Brigade Dinner Dance, we started off playing, for a while, until someone noticed a couple bopping away, very predictably, choreagraphed to within a gnats, of being brainwashed. The guy on the drums, kept speeding up the tempo and then slowing it down again, just to see what these automatons would do. The whole band were in on it, thankfully. The couple had obviously taken lessons, were totally deadpan in their faces, and seemed to be having a thoroughly boring time of it. Religious conformity all the time, almost like robots, but, if they missed a beat, then I missed it. Others picked up on our vibe after a while, and joined in the fun, the couple remained impassive, although, their dancing to 'I left my heart in San Fransisco' at a tempo not unlike a Mazurka, was a sight to behold, but, still they remained beat perfect, in fact we began to lose it ourselves......

The one reason I dislike Ice Skating, is that rarely, very, very rarely, do they actually perform to the beat, in any state or form, a few yes, but not many. Plus, the inane handclapping of the audience, is always grating on my sense of rythym. They clap more often than not, a quarter beat behind the music, which is being danced to by a pair/solo, at least half a beat out from the music and the clapping. It just twists me up inside, so, I avoid the spectacle like the plague....:rage:

Dated Guy

 

[Puzzicato]

The one reason I dislike Ice Skating, is that rarely, very, very rarely, do they actually perform to the beat, in any state or form, a few yes, but not many. Plus, the inane handclapping of the audience, is always grating on my sense of rythym. They clap more often than not, a quarter beat behind the music, which is being danced to by a pair/solo, at least half a beat out from the music and the clapping. It just twists me up inside, so, I avoid the spectacle like the plague....:rage:

Dated Guy

I feel the same about gymnastics floor routines - I don't even know why they are set to music, there is so rarely any connection between the routine and the music!

I don't know how other dancing is taught, but in bellydance, musicality and the sensitive interpretation of music - the soul - is pretty much the last thing that gets taught. You learn the steps and the costuming and some history, but musicality seems to be seen as a refinement rather than a fundamental.

 

[Paisley]

I wouldn't expect musical interpretation to be taught at a beginner level. It's about mechanics at that point, which is probably as it should be: you really need to learn fundamentals to start with. There's a lot that instructors have to pack into a one-hour class just to get students dancing at a basic level.

But even if you have only a few moves, you can use them to interpret music. You can make them bigger or smaller, you can hold, you can make them smooth or crisp, you can try different postures. It's a bit like some bands: don't some of them get a lot of mileage out of three chords?

When practicing, it's good to count, to practice moves again and again and see how they look, and not pay attention to the beat when you're first learning something that's hard.

But when you're out dancing, it helps to forget yourself, a lot or a little, and let the practice pay off. All the great dancers in the videos in this thread seem really focused on their partners. If you're doing a solo, you can focus on the music and really enjoy it. Dance through any mistakes. I find that when I do these things, I do moves that I can't repeat in practice and would probably struggle with in a class.

 

[Dated Guy]

I completely agree with you, but, no matter how basic your steps are, then, it isn't that difficult to move to the beat as it were, but, as Puzzicato said, gymnastics also get me, although, they to a certain extent, twitch their shoulder and whatever, seemingly to keep in with any inane beat that is about. Skaters, are invarably professional, folk on the television, and trying to win a competition or other, so surely, they would try and be a little more expressive in the beat department.
I am actually guilty as charged of not being a dancer per se, I just shuffle about, usually in a clockwise direction, I sometimes, change that to anti-clockwise, which annoys the bejesus' out of the little lady. I am by this time of course, tapping out the beat/rythym on her butt, note perfect of course. I cannot help myself, it is in the blood, but, there again, we rarely go out to a dance/function, without me performing.
Perhaps, it is my insecurity in crowds, that doesn't help promote my dancing ability, but, we have learnt to live with that over the years, just content to watch others....one guy went overboard at a function a couple of years back, leaping all over the show, until he crashed into a lowflying light fitting, laid himself out pronto, I laughed like crazy, as he didn't miss a beat, he even landed flat out on the floor on the time sequence....superb.

 

[Paisley]

I'm not a fan of the aerials you mention. Some years back at one of the clubs I go to, some girls ended up crashing into ceiling fans while being flipped around. Most people I see doing aerials outside of performances or jam circles are out-of-control newbies with the girls' feet swinging inches from people's heads. Want to guess how many aerials I saw at the Denver Lindy Exchange, where most people were advanced dancers? Zero. Why? It's just common sense not to do them in crowds or with a partner you haven't practiced them with. If you've reached a level where you're ready to perform or compete, then take an aerials class. But if you want to improve your social dancing, you'll get a lot more good out of refining your leading or following, taking solo classes to learn how to move, or learning new moves or other dances.

Dated Guy, you might check out my thread on learning to dance (see my signature line). At the top of p. 3, I think, are some little things you can do to really improve your dancing.

And I agree about people not stepping on the beat. Annoying to watch, worse to dance with.

 

[Chas]

Aerials were not that common "back in the day"; generally speaking, they were for competition or perfomance. Personally, I don't see how they can have soul, I just don't.

I was never that impressed with them; it's actually much more difficult to nail down the 'perfect' swing out/Lindy basic than it is to do aerials. Generally, the propensity for aerials is from newbies who think that THAT is jitterbug. It isn't. I blame the Gap ads, personally.

They're also extremely dangerous. Rusty Frank was very nearly paralyzed doing them, and she's an expert. So was her partner at the time.


I'm not saying that they shouldn't be done - but if you want to really accomplish something, try doing it on the beat. I don't do them, personally. I like to do drops, which are perfectly safe, and IMHO, look just as cool. If you're looking for soul, check out the older expert tango dancers in the milongas of Buenos Airies. Soul is a byproduct of emotional maturity.

 

[Paisley]

One of my teachers told me she had put a good deal of wear and tear on her knees doing aerials for competitions over the years. She wasn't even 30 years old.

I enjoy watching aerials when they look smooth and effortless. That just doesn't happen at the beginner level, and even a lot of advanced dancers don't make them look easy.

On another note, it's interesting you mention older dancers, Chas. There are different flavors of soul, and I think young people can have soul, too. Where I think some young, energetic people miss out is by dancing frenetically all the time. Yes, it's fun, you dance away frustrations and people don't notice your mistakes as much. Dancing slowly takes more control and skill. But it also lets you feel the music, it gives you time to react to it and do moves in different ways and inspire and respond to your partner. My older partners tend to dance with more feeling, possibly because dancing like a jumping bean isn't a option for them.

 

[Chas]

Tis' true that young dancers can have soul, I just happen to believe one needs some emotional maturity; it comes out in how one carries oneself, not just in dancing. Some young folks have it, many do not. It's not exclusive to age. There are a lot of older folks without it, to be sure.