MadamSamba
03-20-2004, 07:33 PM
Just saw this in today's Herald Sun. It mentions the new reality-tv show,
Strictly Dancing (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=2320) but it also talks a lot about ballroom dancing in the modern world...what do you reckon? Is ballroom still the staid and boring field most young people believe it to be or is it as sexy and funky as this article suggests?
==
Ballroom dancing. Now there's a phrase capable of sending shivers up most spines, particularly those belonging to the most recent generation. The words immediately conjure up images of ancient dancers strutting to even more ancient melodies . . . not to mention sequins, lots of sequins, everywhere.
But as diehard viewers of the ABC's hit reality TV show, Strictly Dancing, will attest, dancing these days isn't as your parents, or more likely, grandparents, knew it.
There isn't a tacky fluorescent feather boa or a diamante-encrusted ankle-length gown to be seen. Instead, viewers are treated to a feast of bitching, back-stabbing, passion, sweat, and intrigue. Oh, and then comes the dancing.
The latest cab off the reality TV rank is doing for the samba and salsa what Temptation Island did for adventure travel and, as Australia's half-million social dancers have discovered, once you've been touched by the tango or seized by street latin -- there's no going back.
Dubbed a search for Australia's ultimate dance couple, Strictly Dancing pits 48 pairs, including some of Australia's best-known and most accomplished dancers, against one another.
But each couple must dance "out of their comfort zone". So, a pair well versed in ballroom dances such as the cha cha and rumba must try their hand, or feet in this case, at street dances, such as hip-hop, salsa, and funk.
Similarly, those trained in the fluid, improvisational pop or swing styles of dance go head-to-head with some of the country's best latin performers. As one social dancer described the concept: "It's like asking a swimmer to compete in a triathlon or getting an AFL team to play a rugby match alongside the Wallabies."
The result is a strangely addictive, emotion-charged ride. It's much like following your favourite football team through a gruelling four-month season, with more than one million people tuning in nationally each Friday to watch.
The figure is higher because, as one social dancer puts it, most dancers are out on a Friday night and most tape it and watch it the next day.
By the end of the show's run, viewers can expect to be able to see a clumsy alemana (underarm turn) and tell the difference between a death-spiral and a bum spin. Don't be surprised if you're tempted to sign up for lessons.
"Dancing tends to do that to people, it can be addictive. It's huge in Australia and it's growing, especially social dancing," says Ross McCaffer, who runs one of Melbourne's oldest dance studios, Star Studios in Bentleigh.
Body: "It's no longer rigid and staid, with rows of people going around and around in circles. Lots of people dance and don't make it public."
McCaffer estimates, conservatively, that more than 7000 people dance ballroom style socially across Victoria each weekend.
"Of course, that doesn't include street latin and swing or people dancing at clubs. People love to dance," he says.
"These days dancing is dynamic. It's electric, exciting, passionate and sexy. The dancing has changed, the gear has changed and the culture has changed. Yes, people are still doing foxtrots and waltzes, but then there's swing, there's street latin, there's Argentine tango. There's something for every age and style and taste."
Star Studios started free lessons to beginners last August and class sizes have tripled, "breeding the next generation of dance addicts".
Anecdotal evidence suggests dancing studios across the country have experienced a surge, albeit a small one, in enrolments.
Owner of BJs Dance Studio in Fitzroy, Rebecca Jones, says every time Dirty Dancing or Strictly Ballroom is replayed on TV there is a surge in people wanting to learn to dance.
The ABC hopes Strictly Dancing will tap into this innate human desire.
The show was the brainchild of Paul Melville, a veteran producer whose credits include Commonwealth Games broadcasts, The Mike Walsh Show and Good Morning Australia. His dancing qualifications are not so impressive and extend only "to a basic waltz and the occasional dip".
MELVILLE pitched the idea for "a show about dancing" to the ABC in October last year using the genre's rich and successful pedigree as leverage. There haven't been many dancing shows, but those that have made it to air have done exceedingly well.
That's Dancing, a ballroom dancing competition that aired on the ABC in 1989 and 1990, occasionally out-rated 60 Minutes while its inspiration, the BBC's Come Dancing, ran for several years and has been recomissioned in England.
The annual Australian Dancesport Championships, aired on Christmas night every year, consistently take the top ratings spot.
The spectacular Burn the Floor, a ballroom and latin dancing extravaganza, has played to sold-out audiences across the globe since its debut in Australia four years ago.
Melbourne plays host to the World 10-Dance Championships, one of the world's most prestigious dance competitions, in December.
"One thing dancers kept telling me was that they were born to dance, but I think everybody was born to dance," says Melville, who, as soon as filming ends on May 31, will sign up for lessons in latin dancing.
"Humans crave three things, joy, companionship and ecstasy. Dancing, any type of dancing, provides all three. It's perfect for TV."
More than 200 couples across the country auditioned for the show, including a number of same-sex couples.
Unlike competition dancing, Strictly Dancing allows same-sex couples to perform alongside traditional male and female pairings and, as the show's host, Paul McDermott puts it, "Oh, my God".
So far four all-female teams have made the final cut, but the producers are yet to find male couples convincing enough to pass the audition process.
The show calls for dancers who perform convincingly as a couple in any of 12 dance styles, and male couples appear to have a harder time with the strict lead and follow traditions of dance.
Each couple was given between three and six weeks to learn six dances of the producers' choosing.
As is the norm in dance competitions, they were given no clue about the music to which they would be dancing.
On the night of filming, each couple performs the six dances in a nightclub atmosphere to a live band and audience. The best couple, the duo with the most points in each dance moves on to the semi-final -- like Australian Idol for the feet instead of the voice.
"Most people tune in to the Dancesport championship at Christmas after eating too much on Christmas Day," says Melville. "They're generally entertained and amazed by what they see, but they want to know more about the couples, what drives them, what they care about, what makes them compete.
" Strictly Dancing goes backstage and you get a feel for the couples, their individual personalities and just how competitive they are."
Among the couples featured is the Shepparton brother and sister team Jeremy and Amanda Garner, Australia's number two latin couple. Despite their obvious superiority in most forms of the dance, their lack of hip-hop and jazz experience meant they missed out, controversially, on first place in the maiden episode by 1.2 points.
"Amanda and Jeremy were fantastic, but the show is about the ability of a couple to dance outside their comfort zone and cross over into dance styles they're unfamiliar with, but technically capable of performing," says Melville.
While Strictly Dancing will no doubt prove hugely entertaining to the non-dancing masses, even die-hard dancers such as Marie Nogalo are not entirely one-eyed in their praise of the show.
"I can't see how you can fairly judge hip-hop against latin or jazz," says Nogalo, the Garners' coach and a nationally accredited latin judge.
"They've got totally different techniques being applied. Some of the dances are partner-oriented dance forms, whereas others are single-person dances.
"There's more skill required in the partnering dances, but at the end of the day, things may not be quite how we like them, but the show will still be enjoyed by most people and it's great publicity for dancing."
T HE Garners, who come from a family of six brothers and sisters, all of whom dance, have the same reservations, but remain gracious in defeat.
"It was fun and nerve-racking, but it was exciting and a great experience to be on TV," says Amanda, 18. "We didn't win and yes, we were a bit disappointed, but everyone danced well. We're used to competing and part of competing is getting used to losing."
Only seven episodes of Strictly Dancing have been filmed, with the remainder due to be filmed by the end of May. The winning couple, who by the end of the series will have shown proficiency in 12 dances, will be dubbed Australia's ultimate dancing couple.
It is bound to inspire new dancers such as Linh Tu, a new dancer who works as a wealth-management portfolio administrator by day and hits the dance floor at night.
"Plucking up courage to go dancing is one of the best things I ever did," she says.
"Dancing has brought so much to my life. I mix with people I wouldn't ordinarily, I've made tonnes of friends and it has brought me incredible amounts of self-confidence and I hold myself better.
"The best bit is that, particularly with ballroom, you step back to a time when men acted like gentlemen and women were treated and acted like ladies."
Strictly Dancing (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=2320) but it also talks a lot about ballroom dancing in the modern world...what do you reckon? Is ballroom still the staid and boring field most young people believe it to be or is it as sexy and funky as this article suggests?
==
Ballroom dancing. Now there's a phrase capable of sending shivers up most spines, particularly those belonging to the most recent generation. The words immediately conjure up images of ancient dancers strutting to even more ancient melodies . . . not to mention sequins, lots of sequins, everywhere.
But as diehard viewers of the ABC's hit reality TV show, Strictly Dancing, will attest, dancing these days isn't as your parents, or more likely, grandparents, knew it.
There isn't a tacky fluorescent feather boa or a diamante-encrusted ankle-length gown to be seen. Instead, viewers are treated to a feast of bitching, back-stabbing, passion, sweat, and intrigue. Oh, and then comes the dancing.
The latest cab off the reality TV rank is doing for the samba and salsa what Temptation Island did for adventure travel and, as Australia's half-million social dancers have discovered, once you've been touched by the tango or seized by street latin -- there's no going back.
Dubbed a search for Australia's ultimate dance couple, Strictly Dancing pits 48 pairs, including some of Australia's best-known and most accomplished dancers, against one another.
But each couple must dance "out of their comfort zone". So, a pair well versed in ballroom dances such as the cha cha and rumba must try their hand, or feet in this case, at street dances, such as hip-hop, salsa, and funk.
Similarly, those trained in the fluid, improvisational pop or swing styles of dance go head-to-head with some of the country's best latin performers. As one social dancer described the concept: "It's like asking a swimmer to compete in a triathlon or getting an AFL team to play a rugby match alongside the Wallabies."
The result is a strangely addictive, emotion-charged ride. It's much like following your favourite football team through a gruelling four-month season, with more than one million people tuning in nationally each Friday to watch.
The figure is higher because, as one social dancer puts it, most dancers are out on a Friday night and most tape it and watch it the next day.
By the end of the show's run, viewers can expect to be able to see a clumsy alemana (underarm turn) and tell the difference between a death-spiral and a bum spin. Don't be surprised if you're tempted to sign up for lessons.
"Dancing tends to do that to people, it can be addictive. It's huge in Australia and it's growing, especially social dancing," says Ross McCaffer, who runs one of Melbourne's oldest dance studios, Star Studios in Bentleigh.
Body: "It's no longer rigid and staid, with rows of people going around and around in circles. Lots of people dance and don't make it public."
McCaffer estimates, conservatively, that more than 7000 people dance ballroom style socially across Victoria each weekend.
"Of course, that doesn't include street latin and swing or people dancing at clubs. People love to dance," he says.
"These days dancing is dynamic. It's electric, exciting, passionate and sexy. The dancing has changed, the gear has changed and the culture has changed. Yes, people are still doing foxtrots and waltzes, but then there's swing, there's street latin, there's Argentine tango. There's something for every age and style and taste."
Star Studios started free lessons to beginners last August and class sizes have tripled, "breeding the next generation of dance addicts".
Anecdotal evidence suggests dancing studios across the country have experienced a surge, albeit a small one, in enrolments.
Owner of BJs Dance Studio in Fitzroy, Rebecca Jones, says every time Dirty Dancing or Strictly Ballroom is replayed on TV there is a surge in people wanting to learn to dance.
The ABC hopes Strictly Dancing will tap into this innate human desire.
The show was the brainchild of Paul Melville, a veteran producer whose credits include Commonwealth Games broadcasts, The Mike Walsh Show and Good Morning Australia. His dancing qualifications are not so impressive and extend only "to a basic waltz and the occasional dip".
MELVILLE pitched the idea for "a show about dancing" to the ABC in October last year using the genre's rich and successful pedigree as leverage. There haven't been many dancing shows, but those that have made it to air have done exceedingly well.
That's Dancing, a ballroom dancing competition that aired on the ABC in 1989 and 1990, occasionally out-rated 60 Minutes while its inspiration, the BBC's Come Dancing, ran for several years and has been recomissioned in England.
The annual Australian Dancesport Championships, aired on Christmas night every year, consistently take the top ratings spot.
The spectacular Burn the Floor, a ballroom and latin dancing extravaganza, has played to sold-out audiences across the globe since its debut in Australia four years ago.
Melbourne plays host to the World 10-Dance Championships, one of the world's most prestigious dance competitions, in December.
"One thing dancers kept telling me was that they were born to dance, but I think everybody was born to dance," says Melville, who, as soon as filming ends on May 31, will sign up for lessons in latin dancing.
"Humans crave three things, joy, companionship and ecstasy. Dancing, any type of dancing, provides all three. It's perfect for TV."
More than 200 couples across the country auditioned for the show, including a number of same-sex couples.
Unlike competition dancing, Strictly Dancing allows same-sex couples to perform alongside traditional male and female pairings and, as the show's host, Paul McDermott puts it, "Oh, my God".
So far four all-female teams have made the final cut, but the producers are yet to find male couples convincing enough to pass the audition process.
The show calls for dancers who perform convincingly as a couple in any of 12 dance styles, and male couples appear to have a harder time with the strict lead and follow traditions of dance.
Each couple was given between three and six weeks to learn six dances of the producers' choosing.
As is the norm in dance competitions, they were given no clue about the music to which they would be dancing.
On the night of filming, each couple performs the six dances in a nightclub atmosphere to a live band and audience. The best couple, the duo with the most points in each dance moves on to the semi-final -- like Australian Idol for the feet instead of the voice.
"Most people tune in to the Dancesport championship at Christmas after eating too much on Christmas Day," says Melville. "They're generally entertained and amazed by what they see, but they want to know more about the couples, what drives them, what they care about, what makes them compete.
" Strictly Dancing goes backstage and you get a feel for the couples, their individual personalities and just how competitive they are."
Among the couples featured is the Shepparton brother and sister team Jeremy and Amanda Garner, Australia's number two latin couple. Despite their obvious superiority in most forms of the dance, their lack of hip-hop and jazz experience meant they missed out, controversially, on first place in the maiden episode by 1.2 points.
"Amanda and Jeremy were fantastic, but the show is about the ability of a couple to dance outside their comfort zone and cross over into dance styles they're unfamiliar with, but technically capable of performing," says Melville.
While Strictly Dancing will no doubt prove hugely entertaining to the non-dancing masses, even die-hard dancers such as Marie Nogalo are not entirely one-eyed in their praise of the show.
"I can't see how you can fairly judge hip-hop against latin or jazz," says Nogalo, the Garners' coach and a nationally accredited latin judge.
"They've got totally different techniques being applied. Some of the dances are partner-oriented dance forms, whereas others are single-person dances.
"There's more skill required in the partnering dances, but at the end of the day, things may not be quite how we like them, but the show will still be enjoyed by most people and it's great publicity for dancing."
T HE Garners, who come from a family of six brothers and sisters, all of whom dance, have the same reservations, but remain gracious in defeat.
"It was fun and nerve-racking, but it was exciting and a great experience to be on TV," says Amanda, 18. "We didn't win and yes, we were a bit disappointed, but everyone danced well. We're used to competing and part of competing is getting used to losing."
Only seven episodes of Strictly Dancing have been filmed, with the remainder due to be filmed by the end of May. The winning couple, who by the end of the series will have shown proficiency in 12 dances, will be dubbed Australia's ultimate dancing couple.
It is bound to inspire new dancers such as Linh Tu, a new dancer who works as a wealth-management portfolio administrator by day and hits the dance floor at night.
"Plucking up courage to go dancing is one of the best things I ever did," she says.
"Dancing has brought so much to my life. I mix with people I wouldn't ordinarily, I've made tonnes of friends and it has brought me incredible amounts of self-confidence and I hold myself better.
"The best bit is that, particularly with ballroom, you step back to a time when men acted like gentlemen and women were treated and acted like ladies."