Can you be technically right and still be wrong?

[pygmalion]

A shy DF member just PM'd me this topic, which I think is a good one to discuss. They are working on rumba walks. At a recent lesson, their coach said that they're technically 100% right, but only doing the walks at (what the coach perceives to be) 60% of their ability. Huh? How is that possible? Is it possible to be both right and wrong?

[Chris Stratton]

I'd take it to mean they don't have any objectionable habits at the moment which cry out for correction, but could learn to develop the walk a lot more.

Or it could be that the teacher wants them to step back from technique a little and put more life and passion into the dance.

[Warren J. Dew]

Also keep in mind that a coach's job is to make your dancing better, not to give you a dissertation on dance. Sometimes a coach may even tell you something that they know is not technically accurate, if they think that telling that to you will get you to dance better.

[foursquare]

Is it possible to be both right and wrong?

This doesn't sound like a dance topic so much as an arguing with my girlfriend topic. :)

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[pygmalion]

LOL! In the dance topic, the answer's debatable. With your girlfriend, just "admit" you were wrong, whether you were or not. That's one good way to keep the peace. :wink: :lol:

[dancin_feet]

For me technique is simply a way of doing the step / figure. The degree to which you take that technique is dependant on your ability.

Maybe this is what their coach is talking about??

[DWise1]

The difference between technique and style?


I have absolutely no theoretical training in dance except for what could be gleaned from group classes. So I'd just be talking into my hat here, if I wore a hat.


You could get all the steps right and all at exactly the right time. That would be technique.

You could lack those nuances of posture and subtle body movements that are your interpretation of the music and which is your styling.

Kind of like my "Irish Salsa" when I first started out (going through the steps but with erect body and arms hanging straight down).

Technique is what you base the dance on, but it's the styling that makes it the dance.

[foursquare]

LOL! In the dance topic, the answer's debatable. With your girlfriend, just "admit" you were wrong, whether you were or not. That's one good way to keep the peace. :wink: :lol:

Having not just fallen from the turnip truck, that is precisely what I do. In addition, being the father of an eight year old girl has taught me to smile and nod through just about anything.

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(In fact, I have been invited to her birthday party tonight! It'll be her Mom, me, my girlfriend and six little squirrely-girls giggling and squeaking all night. My daughter asked why I was bringing wine, and I told her, "You'll see.")

[foursquare]

Just remembered the quote I was trying to think of:

"If a man says something in the forest, and there are no women around to hear it, is he still wrong?"

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[mamboqueen]

"If a man says something in the forest, and there are no women around to hear it, is he still wrong?"

Yes, there are always female chipmunks roaming around, ya know!

[dTas]

of course you can be technically right and still dance at 60%. take a look at ice skating... that's why they have both technical and artistic scores.

you can be dancing technically correct but have no feeling, no power, no connection... there are lots of aspects that could be lacking that would make your dance look slow, unconnected, weak... just plain BORING!