Black Sheep
05-02-2003, 07:16 PM
Lindy Hop vs. Other Swing Styles
At the risk of sticking my neck out...again, I feel compelled to
contradict, but understand that contradicting isn't necessarily NEGATIVE
as some fragile Moderator, dance teacher in Orange County suggest as
barbs to discredit my sometimes controversial statements.
Instead of going in the front door let me use a side door, and
approach this subject that becomes more confusing every decade, and talk
briefly about Dance Definitions so we can understand specifically what
we mean:
There are three facets for a definition of any Ballroom dance,
whether we are talking about Swing, ECS, WCS, Lindy, the Babaloo or the
Suzy Q, where I happen to go Lindy hopping every Friday night; these
three facets are:
1) The specific mode of the music, i.e. Tango, Mambo, Jazz, Rumba, etc.
2) The body deportment used to express the music, i.e. exaggerated
bouncing in Samba or ultra smooth steps.
3) And the rhythmic patterns (Slows & Quicks, not foot patterns)
used as two people move in unison with physical leads and following
techniques to the specific mode of music.
MODE of MUSIC: We have Tangos, Sambas, Rumbas, Bossa Novas, Mambos
and Swing music, just to mention a few with each mode of music having a
Dance Form different from each other. Swing music probably has the
widest range of music to dance to, from Rhythm and Blues, Pop Ballads and Jazz.
There is no rule to stop you from dancing a Tango dance to Rumba music, it
just doesn't feel as good. So the mode of music is one identifying facet
or factor of a specific dance. Did I lose anyone so far?
BODY DEPORTMENT: The dramatic exciting and sensuous Tango music
almost demands you hold your partner in an intimate caressing fashion
with serious seductive moves. The music stirs the passion and excites
the imagination. It is a serious dance with partners dancing in a
statuesque manner. Swing music is gay, playful, suggesting comical
antics and intricate combination patterns. Mambo has that afro Cuban
primitive jungle feeling that possess the Salsa and Mambo dancers that
drive them with abandon and sometimes wild movements. The Samba has its
rise and falls on each Quarter beat with shoulder and arms moving
rhythmically with ever beat. The Rumba family has its Cuban Motion with
hips sinking on each step. So each dance has its peculiar Body Movement
that identifies the dance form. Did I leave anything out?
RHYTHM PATTERNS are the basis of each dance: Triple, Triple, 1-2,
and the various combinations of Slows (Quarter beats) and Quicks (eighth
beats) describe the rhythms of most of the oother Ballroom dances.
Any objections so far? If so, I'd like to know?
Two other dance terms that need to be defined are:
1) STYLING; 2) TECHNIQUES: Now we come to two dance terms that
seem to be misused too often. So let's see if we can come to some
agreement as to what we mean when we say that she has good Techniques or
his Swing is WCS or ECS Style (Dance Form).
TECHNIQUES (most efficient way of dancing with agility and with smoothness)
Learning to move over the dance floor smoothly with an economy of
effort requires long periods of practicing on how to use the ankles and knees
to absorb the body movements without bouncing awkwardly. The balancing
on the balls of the feet is critical in dancing; something ladies are conditioned
to do because of their wearing high heeled shoes. Unfortunately, men do not
know they have balls in their feet, also; so this TECHNIQUE is more difficult
for men to dance with their weight distributed over the balls of their feet;
heels have no balls. Footwork is often a mixture of techniques and of styling,
since intricate rhythmic footwork requires techniques, and often adds
stylish embellishments; flourishers that give the dancer intriguing
footwork without breaking rhythm, by either doubling the rhythm or half
timing it or adding kicks, slides or hops.
However, most footwork and man's leads fit in the category of
TECHNIQUES. The leads can be refined by using subtle wrist movements and
using body movements to coordinate with hand leads. The man's leads
should always be subtle with a minimum of perceptible body moves. The
ladies develop techniques of following by learning to judge the man's
weight changes by his shoulders' subtle rise and fall. Most ladies can follow
good leads blind-folded. Try it and see If I'm joshing!
STYLING: ( body movements that hopefully improve the dancer's appearance.)
Any body movement that adds grace or expression to the dancer's
appearance is STYLING; it should never interfere with the rhythm or the
Leading or Following techniques. The Dance Form IS NOT changed by
Styling or Technique. AND STEP PATTERNS DO NOT DIFFERENTIATE ONE DANCE
FROM ANOTHER.
CONCLUSION:
A Dance Form does not evolve because of a dancer's innovative
Techniques or Styling or step pattern combinations, so it is patently
incorrect the say that a innovative dance combination or an intricate
footwork or a stylish way of moving one's arms or body parts is evolving
the original Dance Form, be it Swing or Salsa or the Fandango. The
beauty of most Ballroom dances, 'is it's ability to combine step patterns
in an infinite number of ways'.
When you can find a new mode of music that has no Dance Form to
dance with the music, create a new rhythm that blends with that new mode
of music, and add unique body movements to express the mood (not mode) of
the music. That's what the Black Sheep did when Bossa Nova MUSIC
became the universal craze; when he discovered there was no Dance Form
for the new music, Joe Lanza created the Bossa Nova DANCE! (in 1961)
Did I leave anything out?
Black Sheep (www.lindybylanza.com)
At the risk of sticking my neck out...again, I feel compelled to
contradict, but understand that contradicting isn't necessarily NEGATIVE
as some fragile Moderator, dance teacher in Orange County suggest as
barbs to discredit my sometimes controversial statements.
Instead of going in the front door let me use a side door, and
approach this subject that becomes more confusing every decade, and talk
briefly about Dance Definitions so we can understand specifically what
we mean:
There are three facets for a definition of any Ballroom dance,
whether we are talking about Swing, ECS, WCS, Lindy, the Babaloo or the
Suzy Q, where I happen to go Lindy hopping every Friday night; these
three facets are:
1) The specific mode of the music, i.e. Tango, Mambo, Jazz, Rumba, etc.
2) The body deportment used to express the music, i.e. exaggerated
bouncing in Samba or ultra smooth steps.
3) And the rhythmic patterns (Slows & Quicks, not foot patterns)
used as two people move in unison with physical leads and following
techniques to the specific mode of music.
MODE of MUSIC: We have Tangos, Sambas, Rumbas, Bossa Novas, Mambos
and Swing music, just to mention a few with each mode of music having a
Dance Form different from each other. Swing music probably has the
widest range of music to dance to, from Rhythm and Blues, Pop Ballads and Jazz.
There is no rule to stop you from dancing a Tango dance to Rumba music, it
just doesn't feel as good. So the mode of music is one identifying facet
or factor of a specific dance. Did I lose anyone so far?
BODY DEPORTMENT: The dramatic exciting and sensuous Tango music
almost demands you hold your partner in an intimate caressing fashion
with serious seductive moves. The music stirs the passion and excites
the imagination. It is a serious dance with partners dancing in a
statuesque manner. Swing music is gay, playful, suggesting comical
antics and intricate combination patterns. Mambo has that afro Cuban
primitive jungle feeling that possess the Salsa and Mambo dancers that
drive them with abandon and sometimes wild movements. The Samba has its
rise and falls on each Quarter beat with shoulder and arms moving
rhythmically with ever beat. The Rumba family has its Cuban Motion with
hips sinking on each step. So each dance has its peculiar Body Movement
that identifies the dance form. Did I leave anything out?
RHYTHM PATTERNS are the basis of each dance: Triple, Triple, 1-2,
and the various combinations of Slows (Quarter beats) and Quicks (eighth
beats) describe the rhythms of most of the oother Ballroom dances.
Any objections so far? If so, I'd like to know?
Two other dance terms that need to be defined are:
1) STYLING; 2) TECHNIQUES: Now we come to two dance terms that
seem to be misused too often. So let's see if we can come to some
agreement as to what we mean when we say that she has good Techniques or
his Swing is WCS or ECS Style (Dance Form).
TECHNIQUES (most efficient way of dancing with agility and with smoothness)
Learning to move over the dance floor smoothly with an economy of
effort requires long periods of practicing on how to use the ankles and knees
to absorb the body movements without bouncing awkwardly. The balancing
on the balls of the feet is critical in dancing; something ladies are conditioned
to do because of their wearing high heeled shoes. Unfortunately, men do not
know they have balls in their feet, also; so this TECHNIQUE is more difficult
for men to dance with their weight distributed over the balls of their feet;
heels have no balls. Footwork is often a mixture of techniques and of styling,
since intricate rhythmic footwork requires techniques, and often adds
stylish embellishments; flourishers that give the dancer intriguing
footwork without breaking rhythm, by either doubling the rhythm or half
timing it or adding kicks, slides or hops.
However, most footwork and man's leads fit in the category of
TECHNIQUES. The leads can be refined by using subtle wrist movements and
using body movements to coordinate with hand leads. The man's leads
should always be subtle with a minimum of perceptible body moves. The
ladies develop techniques of following by learning to judge the man's
weight changes by his shoulders' subtle rise and fall. Most ladies can follow
good leads blind-folded. Try it and see If I'm joshing!
STYLING: ( body movements that hopefully improve the dancer's appearance.)
Any body movement that adds grace or expression to the dancer's
appearance is STYLING; it should never interfere with the rhythm or the
Leading or Following techniques. The Dance Form IS NOT changed by
Styling or Technique. AND STEP PATTERNS DO NOT DIFFERENTIATE ONE DANCE
FROM ANOTHER.
CONCLUSION:
A Dance Form does not evolve because of a dancer's innovative
Techniques or Styling or step pattern combinations, so it is patently
incorrect the say that a innovative dance combination or an intricate
footwork or a stylish way of moving one's arms or body parts is evolving
the original Dance Form, be it Swing or Salsa or the Fandango. The
beauty of most Ballroom dances, 'is it's ability to combine step patterns
in an infinite number of ways'.
When you can find a new mode of music that has no Dance Form to
dance with the music, create a new rhythm that blends with that new mode
of music, and add unique body movements to express the mood (not mode) of
the music. That's what the Black Sheep did when Bossa Nova MUSIC
became the universal craze; when he discovered there was no Dance Form
for the new music, Joe Lanza created the Bossa Nova DANCE! (in 1961)
Did I leave anything out?
Black Sheep (www.lindybylanza.com)