strange question

[ballroomdancertoo]

I know there are people that are mentally challenged but can have extraordinary capabilities, like in Rain Man the movie. But I was wonder does anyone know of a person that has the gift of ballroom dancing. I mean can instantly emulate the best world class dancer in standard or latin. Just a queer thought........

[Joe]

Doubt it. The capabilities of those people are mental, not physical. You don't see physical phenoms the way you see mental ones.

[Peaches]

Seems the closest you'd get is a prodigy-type situation. It's been known to happen with piano players...so obviously there can be some sort of extreme physical aptitude. I dunno if they exist in dance, though.

[Joe]

But the prodigy musicians are a good deal mental. I'd say more mental than physical.

[Peaches]

Certainly there is a huge mental component to piano...just as in dance?

But there's also a very very significant physical component to piano.

[danceronice]

Like Peaches says, there are likely physical prodigies who have a much FASTER learning time (who can be great in a matter of months, not years), but I don't think there's anyone who can really dance *instantly*, with all the associated fine motor control to be really doing it, rather than just mimicking.

[ballroomdancertoo]

Maybe there is one but we dont know that it exist out there. Kinda like UFOs I guess or the question what is the sound of a tree falling in the forest if no ones there. Anyway, I was hoping that such a person exist because it would be a gift for the dancing world.

[19DancerBabyLin]

The fastest ballroom prodigy I know went from complete beginner to prechamp/champ latin in about 1-1.5 years. I think that's really fast. But he also worked his butt off for it though.

[samina]

it all starts with the brain, so makes sense to me there'd be prodigies in dance as in anything else... and some people are truly "natural" dancers, as they can be "natural" in anything else...

[HopefulNaiive]

Interesting question. If you think about it, the modern day competitive ballroom dancing is very technique heavy and sometimes not very intuitive, like point your toe straight vs to the side, bend that elbow just so, look to the left and so on, a lot of times it against what seems natural and just rules established by someone over the last 200 years. Some people are more gifted in expressing music through their bodies and keeping that shoulder down for 10 min straight, but I doubt anyone can be born as an instant ballroom guru, so I'm not surprised no one heard of one yet.

[kayak]

You don't see physical phenoms the way you see mental ones.

Wouldn't most of the NFL fit this category? We searched the Earth and found the amazingly few 7 ft tall, 300 lb. people that can run a 4 sec 40 while catching a ball :cool:

[Joe]

Wouldn't most of the NFL fit this category? We searched the Earth and found the amazingly few 7 ft tall, 300 lb. people that can run a 4 sec 40 while catching a ball :cool:
There aren't any of those in the NFL either.

And the guys in the NFL didn't become as good they are at what they do overnight. For most of them it's taken years of training.

[danceronice]

Yeah, there's a difference between happening to luck into the right talents and/or physical gifts through genetics (the build to be an NFL linebacker, a jockey, an Olympic gymnast, etc) and being a prodigy--someone who learns a particular skill much faster than is normal. There probably ARE dance prodigies, but I don't think that you can have a dance SAVANT, which is what you're talking with someone like Dustin Hoffman's character in Rain Man, who memorizes a perpetual calendar or can count cards very accurately.

[ballroomdancertoo]

what is your rational that a dance savant does not exist?