Can you stop at only one dance style?

[MadamSamba]

Just wondering about how many dances each of you does? Have read in a few threads about people who only dance one style. While I'm sure it's the norm, to me, it's amazing because I wanna try everything.

I realise these people are probably a zillion times better at their dances (and show a modicum of self-control) than me, but I can't stop "dipping my toes" in new dance styles and, if I like it, it kinda stays.

How many dances to do you do regularly? For me it's ballroom (latin and modern), salsa, Argentine tango and, occassionally, ballet. I'm starting funk this week. I know that's pretty bad, but what can I say? I'm addicted, like many here, I suspect.

[squirrel]

I do salsa, merengue, bachata... not much into ballroom or ballet, that's why I don't do these... I would be interested in flamenco though...

[MadamSamba]

Oh, Squirrel, I can't believe I forgot my beloved merengue. I need to be flogged at dawn, dammit.

Flamenco, eh? Hmmm...must look for classes. :)

[squirrel]

and I forgot about Argentine Tango... would love to learn that...

[Sagitta]

I definitely do more then one dance.

I do salsa, merengue, bachata, forro, cha cha (club and American ballroom), rhumba (American and International ballroom, social), waltz, foxtrot, American tango, zydeco, rueda, contra...do ECS swing but lapse into salsa everytime I start doing fancy moves...

[Flat Shoes]

Not as many as I'd like to. But one must prioritize.

Lindy Hop and related (Balboa, Collegiate Shag, simple WCS, Boogie Woogie etc) and Argentine Tango.

I've also tried some Ballroom, but the techers were lousy. I still can do a basic Waltz.

I've tried Salsa, but don't like the music. So I've put it aside.

[MadamSamba]

Flat shoes...you don't like salsa music...you know that kind of comment can getyou banished from DF. :) he he he

[Flat Shoes]

Flat shoes...you don't like salsa music...you know that kind of comment can getyou banished from DF. :) he he he

I know, I know. :( (:lol:) The fact is, to me, salsa music is too much salsa. Literally :!: It's pretty much just a sauce of sounds and rythms and not really getting to me. (And I don't get a word about what they're singing about either.)

When it comes to Lindy and jazz, I really love a lot of the music. I think it's a much nicer, coller and more relaxed rythm 8) and I feel it's more melodic. :)

But please, before you Salsa lovers start flaming me, this is my personal opinion coming from a very limited exposure to Salsa music. And you have probably a totally different opinion on this. :wink:

[MadamSamba]

FlatShoes, nobody's going to flame you. You're entitled to your own opinion, just as we are.

Besides swing music is soooooooooooooooooooooooo utterly cool. I used to do swing, but ran out of days in the week, but I absolutely love it. Whenever I'm listening to something I can swing too, I get horridly frustrated because I can't remember half the cool moves I used to be able to do. HMMM...I could do it on Sundays... :)

[suek]

my current list of dances I'm studying and am passionately loving:

lindy hop
balboa
carolina shag
charleston
chicago steppin'
hip hop
argentine tango
blues blues blues

[Flat Shoes]

FlatShoes, nobody's going to flame you. You're entitled to your own opinion, just as we are.


I know, but I like being a bit ... hmmm .... straightforward in my descriptions some times :lol:


Besides swing music is soooooooooooooooooooooooo utterly cool. I used to do swing, but ran out of days in the week, but I absolutely love it.


Ohh.... that's sad :cry:

I know what you're talking about. I do a little Argentina Tango, but it has been down prioritized. If I just had more time...


Whenever I'm listening to something I can swing too, I get horridly frustrated because I can't remember half the cool moves I used to be able to do. HMMM...I could do it on Sundays... :)

Exactly how I feel when I go to a Tango event. I can move to the music, changing directions and tempo etc. But my repertoire is so limited. Especially when compared to my Lindy repertoire.

[Genesius Redux]

Ballroom (AS), Salsa, Swing. Occasionally I'm required to tap on stage, but I suck so bad I can usually get out of having to be featured! :wink:

Truthfully, tap is something I've just not had the time to really focus on and I wish I could. But if I find the time, it will have to be Argentine Tango that's next. I've done some Theatre Arts as well.

It's nice to do so many styles, but one of the drawbacks is that you move very slowly in your progress.

[etchuck]

Hmm...

In order of learning and appearance (minimum 3 figures)

salsa
merengue
lambada and line dancing (next!)
Am swing/ECS/jitterbug
Am foxtrot
Am tango
Am waltz
Am rumba
Am cha-cha
Country two-step (forgetaboutit)
Country waltz
Viennese waltz
Polka
contra waltz and other contra dances
West Coast Swing
Zydeco (basics)
Intl Quickstep
Lindyhop
Int rumba
Paso doble
Int cha-cha
Am bolero
Int samba
Int jive

Standard dances (intl waltz, tango, more quickstep, foxtrot) are on my list to learn, as would be Argentine Tango once I get to it.

Actually, I find that once you get on a roll, you can find similarities between dances and that sometimes you can progress faster than you think. But you have to get that momentum and ability to adapt to different dances first.

[Purr]

Hummmm...in no particular order...

Waltz
Tango
Foxtrot
V. Waltz
Rumba
Cha Cha
Mambo
Merengue
Salsa
Bolero
Samba
Paso Doble
East Coast Swing
West Coast Swing
Hustle

C & W Two Step
3 Lines Dances (electric slide, cha cha slide, boot, scoot & boogie)
Country Cha Cha

My favorites are hustle, west coast swing and rumba. :D

[spatten]

I have tried several times to give up on Latin, as my preference and talents are more oriented to Standard. But everytime I leave it for awhile I really miss it. So, no, I cannot dance just one style.

[ShyDancer]

Nope...one style isnt enough for me! I learnt the basics in all Ballroom styles to start with and I just could decide between any of them!

I regularly dance 4 Ballroom Styles.....

Latin (Intl) - Cha Cha, Rumba, Jive
Street Latin- Salsa, Mambo, Merengue
New Vogue - Merrilyn, Parma Waltz, Evening 3 Step, Barndance, Tangoette, Gypsy Tap
Standard (Intl) Waltz & Quickstep


I also dance some progressive dances occasionally depending on which studio I go to, they include Cha Cha, Jive, Samba and quite a few of the NV dances are progressive also.

I have tried Swing, and gosh it was fun! Im hoping to try some more of that in the future.

I have here at home, some flyers for Argentine Tango classes that I was hoping to take too...

[Jack]

squirrel I'm with you on dance styles.

[tintinnabula]

In no particular order:

salsa (on 1 and 2)
bachata
merengue
cumbia
samba
I've had a little taste of swing, liked it, but couldn't find the time to contine classes
I will also be starting zouk this Sunday...can't wait :D

[Jack]

what's Samba like is it a cool dance?

[Sakura]

what's Samba like is it a cool dance?

From my 1-2 lessons on it, Samba is da w007 (pronounced "woot", and it means "very, very cool." :wink: ) However... Those damn "voltas" are eeeeeeeevil! :evil: (Not really, but I need more work on them, and my kitchen's too small a space for me to do them... Them and "bota fogas" (I don't think that's spelled right!... :oops: :oops: :oops: Sorry! I spelled it phonetically...). But I like those. :wink:

I do:

Latin:
Int. Rumba
Int./Am Cha Cha
Int. Tango (I *think* it was int. We just touched on that one for a bit as well...)
Samba
Mambo (Just started)

Standard:
Int. Waltz
Foxtrot (Don't know which kind, only spent a lesson on it, so I don't remember any of it really... :oops: :x )

Does Swing fall under Standard dance? We did two kinds in one lesson, and easier version, and then we progressed on to one that used a triple step. Count heads up at something like: 1 a 2, 3 a 4, rock-step... and so on and so forth. *sweatdrops* I don't remember what that one it. WCS or ECS. Help?

Note: I don't claim to be highly proficient at any of these dances yet, with the amount of time I get to dance, but I do my best each and every time I dance, so that's gotta count for something, right?! :D 8)

Sakura Kitty :kitty:

[Sagitta]

I will also be starting zouk this Sunday...can't wait :D

Where are you taking lessons? I looked it up on the web a while back and only found one place that teaches zouk.

[Sagitta]

what's Samba like is it a cool dance?

Samba is a really cool dance. There are two variants - ballroom samba and Brazillian street samba. Brazillian samba has a much faster tempo then ballroom samba. For a sample of ballroom samba you can check out the learning center at ballroomdancers.com They show the basic forward and back step, I believe. People rocked the house tonight when a Brazillian samba came on. You shoudl have been there to see it. I've never actually seen it happen quite this way in the several months that I've been there....or perhaps I did not know what it was before? Anyway it's a very cool dance. :D

[10Dancer]

I don't know if I would classify myself as a one style kind of girl. I started with Argentine Tango, the first dance I ever did, but there isn't much of it in my area so I moved on to International Latin and Standard.

Now I do:
Int Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Quickstep, V Waltz
Int Cha Cha, Rhumba, Samba, Paso, Jive
Some Aregentine Tango still and some Salsa

I reserve all of my private lessons for my International training but my main goal is to be a good follow. I will follow anything to the best of my ability. After all, at most of the socials I go to I spend the majority of the time dancing Am style Smooth and Rhythm and generally have no problems even though I've never taken a lesson in Am style anything.

:D

[dragon3085]

Funny you should ask, since the other day was stuck in a very boooooooorinnnng tele-confrence and got to writing down all my dance (either that or I would have had to start knawing off a body part) They are in other of how I like em, although a lot them tie for close 2nd and 3rd in term of preference,. BTW all my ballroom dance are American and not international

Salsa/mambo
Cha Cha Cha
Merengue
WCS
Hustle
Samba
Rumba
Bolero
ECS single and triple
Waltz
2-Step country western, (my least fav, but living in TX its a neccasary evil)

Yes on days like this when I listing them out, I wish I had stopped at 1.' On the other hand, when I first went to the studio, I didn't even know what salsa was, and wanted just to learn 2-step and swing so I could go out with my friends. Little did I know back the, That I would become a strong latin dancer.h

[tintinnabula]

Sagitta, I noticed that you're from NY. Where did you go dance samba? I love SOB's (Saturday nights)...the atmosphere is great and the music keeps everyone dancing...I highly recommend it.

[Sakura]

(either that or I would have had to start knawing off a body part)

:shock: :lol: That bad, eh? Sounds like my Honors Chemistry class when we're taking our average of five pages of notes a day! Ah, the pain of the brain. :wink:

Sakura Kitty :kitty:

[Sagitta]

Sagitta, I noticed that you're from NY. Where did you go dance samba? I love SOB's (Saturday nights)...the atmosphere is great and the music keeps everyone dancing...I highly recommend it.

I actually live in Ithaca, NY, home of Ithaca College and Cornell University etc etc. The samba happened this Tuesday at Commonground to my amazement. Anyway, there were these two girls who had amazing rhythm and knew very little salsa, but one of them could really attack samba with gusto. Amazing to watch. They actually did the half a samba at the end night, aftre the requisite last salsa. Earlier on there were some people who were showing off when samba was on, but these two put them to shame. If this is a regular occurrence I'll really get into samba myself. :wink: :)