Approach to Salsa: Left or Right brain?

[Kindra]

In chatting with a friend...I was commenting on how great (and surprising) it is that so many people [who seem to be more left brained] are utilizing their right brains through their passion for salsa. Her response was that she thought possibly most of those people aren't really approaching it from a right brained perspective, but more from the left. Which she admitted was the case for her.
This raised some curiosity for me, as I def. have a right brained approach to dancing. (which I'm sure I pull from good ole' lefty too, at times ;) )

What do you here at DF think about this topic? What are your individual approaches to dancing?

[pygmalion]

Left brain is thinking/analytical; right brain is feeling/emotional. Yes? :? Or did I get it mixed up?

[Kindra]

Left brain is thinking/analytical; right brain is feeling/emotional. Yes? :? Or did I get it mixed up?

Yes, among other things as well....

[Sagitta]

I believe you are correct Pygmailion. I believe that most dancers start with dependence on the left and once they have recahed a particular skill level are really able to take advantage of their right. :)

[Medira]

I am very left-brained in my dancing right now because I'm learning and getting comfortable with everything. It was the same when I used to dance solo. Once I got comfortable though, I was able to tap into the emotion/performance side of things. Now, I have to incorporate another person in there too. Although I'm finding that I'm comfortable with him, it's still going to take practice and effort to be able to open myself up like that and tap into emotions.

[Kindra]

I believe you are correct Pygmailion. I believe that most dancers start with dependence on the left and once they have recahed a particular skill level are really able to take advantage of their right. :)

Yes I agree with you on that shift through the process of learning.

However, Do you think all advanced dancers are coming from that "right-brained" perspective?
Some peeps seem to care about # of moves, technicality etc...without being so concerned about emotional expression etc. And on the flip side...there are those of us who just don't pay attention to the "details" and focus primarily on that creative expression.

[Medira]

I believe you are correct Pygmailion. I believe that most dancers start with dependence on the left and once they have recahed a particular skill level are really able to take advantage of their right. :)

Yes I agree with you on that shift through the process of learning.

However, Do you think all advanced dancers are coming from that "right-brained" perspective?
Some peeps seem to care about # of moves, technicality etc...without being so concerned about emotional expression etc. And on the flip side...there are those of us who just don't pay attention to the "details" and focus primarily on that creative expression.I think that the approach is as unique as the person. :)

[chachachacat]

Interesting topic! I am very right-brained, artistic, intuitive, kinesthetic.
A lot of students I've taught have been very left-brained, analytical.
This was somewhat of a challenge for me, to put into words what just comes naturally to me. I just have to make an effort to get into my left brain as much as most people (it seems) have to strive to get into their right brains. It's not much of an effort, really, it's just that I'm more comfortable in my right brain, and "going left" it's kind of like speaking another language that I'm fluent in. I CAN do it, more easily than I'm making out, it's just frustrating sometimes.

I was in a painting class, and there was one woman, still painting at the end of class, who said she was so left-brained that it took her so long to get into her right brain that she didn't want to stop painting when she finally got there. I was a little shocked, thinking I was at home with a bunch of right brained artists.

:artsy: (without the moustache!!!)

[leaf]

ahhh.. I knew that I have the right brain, but my stiff body isnt expressing what I'm feeling... sigh

[Lucretia]

Some peeps seem to care about # of moves, technicality etc...without being so concerned about emotional expression etc. And on the flip side...there are those of us who just don't pay attention to the "details" and focus primarily on that creative expression.

It is not only the emotional/creativness that resides in the right hemisphere - also the spatial ability is placed there. I guess when you finally dance without "controlling" every detail - the work is done by the right side. This part of the brain is specialized - hand over the work to that side as soon as you can or dare. (some people don't like getting out of "control")

I have written a lot about the right/left brain here at DF. But rigth now I don't have the time to find it. I'll do it by Tuesday is someone else havn't done it by then. This is one of my favorite topics :D

/luc

[gte692h]

This raised some curiosity for me, as I def. have a right brained approach to dancing. (which I'm sure I pull from good ole' lefty too, at times ;) )

What do you here at DF think about this topic? What are your individual approaches to dancing?

i identify most with the 'half-brained' category ;)

[Kindra]

This raised some curiosity for me, as I def. have a right brained approach to dancing. (which I'm sure I pull from good ole' lefty too, at times ;) )

What do you here at DF think about this topic? What are your individual approaches to dancing?

i identify most with the 'half-brained' category ;)

Me too, occasionally. Sad but true. :) :doh:

[tj]

All right... as one of these "left brained" analytical math types... I think the way that steps are broken down and moves are put into patterns, works quite well for a typical "technical" mind.

And then, as one becomes comfortable and familar with those moves and patterns, creativity sets in, and you start to exercise other parts of your brain.

Hey, after a day of analyzing database schema and writing SQL, a little dancing that night does the mind, body, and soul wonders.

[youngsta]

My approach to dance is entirely right-brained. I'm not very good at analyzing and explaining what I do out there. And I don't learn new things in salsa by instructors explaining technique to me. Just show me once and it all soaks in.

[gte692h]

to the right brained folks :

i get what you're saying, and here's a follow through question : do you feel you are creatively expressing yourself in salsa ? is that even possible ? are you expressing joy or playfulness, or other emotions with certain moves (aside from facial expressions like laughing, teasing, etc) ?

[chachachacat]

to the right brained folks :

i get what you're saying, and here's a follow through question : do you feel you are creatively expressing yourself in salsa ? is that even possible ? are you expressing joy or playfulness, or other emotions with certain moves (aside from facial expressions like laughing, teasing, etc) ?
Si, si! Yes, I enjoy expressing creatively through salsa!
Totally possible!! Salsa is one of my favorite dances for expressing a side that doesn't get to come out and play nearly enough.

Yes, certainly, in Salsa and Mambo, I express joy and playfulness, exurberance, freedom, passion, delight, sexiness, flirting, abandon, etc.!
I express different emotions with different dances.


:bouncy:

[squirrel]

Definitely left-brained here... when you teach me you'd better be able to explain it! To break it down in small moves and techniques... Then there's the assimilation and rehearsal phase and in the end the new thing becomes "a part of me"...

Sometimes I let go and forget about "the left side"... :) They told me I dance wonderfully when I do that... but I don't really know how to all the time! :cry: :cry:

[El guru]

Good post

finally I understand a lot of things about my salsa story...

In my life I used a lot both sides of the brain.. I'm an economist, I work with numbers... but I use an artistic way to analyze them... the consultants told I find ever unconventional way to solve and analyze the problems... In any case ... since I was a child i spent my time in hobbies like painting, singing, dancing...
Numbers on books and job...
Arts in the freetime..

at my beginnings of dancing salsa, I went to school with a friend of mine and 2 girls. He's an engineer.
Like all my hobbies my approach have been immediately emotional right-minded. He was faster than me to learn the patterns and to be ready for dancing. I had better feeing with music, living emotions while dancing.. but I take much more time than others to memorize a pattern... because if my body take a direction following the music.. I follow my body.. like without control...

[Vin]

All right... as one of these "left brained" analytical math types... I think the way that steps are broken down and moves are put into patterns, works quite well for a typical "technical" mind.

And then, as one becomes comfortable and familar with those moves and patterns, creativity sets in, and you start to exercise other parts of your brain.

Hey, after a day of analyzing database schema and writing SQL, a little dancing that night does the mind, body, and soul wonders.

I have to agree with TJ here, for me creativity can only set in when I feel comfortable enough in what I have learned to move beyond that.

[Ms_Sunlight]

When you know something well, it's easier to stop concentrating when you do it. I don't know about left-brain and right-brain distinctions, I think there are very few things that are so strictly divided. Getting comfortable in something creative is about finding balance.

I have a bit of background in music and musical theory. Not that I'm particularly good at any of the instruments I play, but I have had training as a child -- many people do I suppose, it's not unusual! That also means that from following musical notation when sight-reading I'm very much used to counting notes (and rests) without it being a conscious effort. The analytical stuff feeds the creative stuff, the creative stuff feeds the analytical stuff. Anyway, even from the first salsa class I could pick up the rhythms and patterns of the music straight away. It was also immediately obvious that my husband -- and some of the other people in the class -- couldn't. They seem to hear the beats, they don't seem to hear the spaces between the beats which immediately kicks them off-beat.

I think that perhaps one of the hardest things to learn in dancing is not the steps but the musicality. When you become familiar with the music and the rhythms and start to feel and enjoy them then learning steps is just another way to express that. The music lets you just relax into what you're doing and groove with it. Everything starts to feed in together.

Learning the music, buying the music, listening to the music, is what I'm enjoying the most, I think.

[Pacion]

Can I say that I am middle brained also? Or would that be sitting on the fence? :roll: :roll: :roll: :lol:

I think I am more right brained when it comes to dancing, or, certainly at this point of my dancing. Yesterday, I was out dancing and doing some shines/footwork at the edge of the dancefloor. It was a song I didn't know but my feet were just moving, and doing stuff that I had no idea where it came from. If you were to ask me "What did you just do? Please show me." I could not tell you! :? :lol: At the end of the song, I could not even remember what I did, I just knew that I was driven by the music (now, where is the video camera when you need one! I remember liking what my feet were doing). So, I would say that I am more right brained. :D

[Alias]

And of course what about the analytical versus feeling side (with its evolution along the learning and practising process), in the leader versus follower part?

[tacad]

ahhh.. I knew that I have the right brain, but my stiff body isnt expressing what I'm feeling... sigh
You probably do express what you are feeling from time to time. As you continue to allow that to happen it will probably happen more. :wink:

[tacad]

Definitely left-brained here... when you teach me you'd better be able to explain it! To break it down in small moves and techniques... Then there's the assimilation and rehearsal phase and in the end the new thing becomes "a part of me"...

Sometimes I let go and forget about "the left side"... :) They told me I dance wonderfully when I do that... but I don't really know how to all the time! :cry: :cry:
You speak for me. Exactly what I do. I let go usually when I'm inspired by my partner. But I can't just turn it on and off at will. And my left brain has to be there to pick up the pieces when my right brain gives out.

The thing about breaking it down and assimilating, that's me too. You can just show me but I'll just stumble around looking foolish.

[chachachacat]

I can explain it, any number of ways, because different folks learn differently. I can break it down, of course! And I am very into technique, I think it's critical, and I give as much technique as the student can handle.
All I meant was that when something came naturally to me when I was learning it, then, when I was first teaching, I had to find the words to explain something that I just do.
Of course, I'd had years and years of ballet and jazz, so my body "knew" how to spot, spin, balance, etc. I know that in the beginning of ballet, I had to learn all the technique so that I could then dance and express with a body that could do what I wanted it to.
Still, even so, I danced on my own all my life, picked up freestyle trends by watching Soul Train, or the other dancers at a club. I did my little ballerina dances when I was a tyke, before I'd had any classes.

In other words, I think that there is a dancer in all of us, and s/he can be brought out and trained and polished. Some of us are more in touch with that part of us, and some come to it later in life.
I say Hooray to all the supposed left-brainers out there, who are willing to work to get there.
It is true that the more the body is trained, the wider the repertoire available to then play with.

[africana]

cool topic actually

I'd say despite being an everyday techie, I have always been right-brained in my dancing. How do I know? well I always follow my musical impulses and they have almost always translated into interesting and visually-appealing (or funny :D ) moves that both feel good to me and generate positive feedback from on-lookers. Even when I didn't know how to do a cross body lead :lol: I'd have other girls in the club asking me to teach them what I was doing haaaha! unfortunately I always had a hard time explaining moves and steps
One instructor tried to get me to break down some footwork I was doing at a musical interpretation workshop, and each time I repeated it the combination changed ever so slightly :lol: because I had a slightly different feeling/emotion each time I listened to the music
do you feel you are creatively expressing yourself in salsa ? is that even possible ? are you expressing joy or playfulness, or other emotions with certain moves (aside from facial expressions like laughing, teasing, etc) ? oh yes, definitely. Sometimes my movements are just expressions of intensity and raw passion. It comes out whether I'm doing common moves (mostly while partner dancing) or unique "on the spot" moves (mostly for shines).
I very often have to take a change of shirts with me when I go out because I put it all out there, I give it my all (depending on the music of course)

[Sabor]

corazon.. for me

[Pacion]

corazon.. for me

:? and which side of the brain might that be? :raisebro: :wink: :lol:

[Kindra]

corazon.. for me

:? and which side of the brain might that be? :raisebro: :wink: :lol:

My thoughts exactly. :)

[Ms_Sunlight]

corazon.. for me

:? and which side of the brain might that be? :raisebro: :wink: :lol:

My thoughts exactly. :)

Hehehe. More like the "lower brain" -- you know, the bit that men are so often accused of thinking with :wink: :wink: :wink: :D :D :D

[Sagitta]

corazon.. for me

:? and which side of the brain might that be? :raisebro: :wink: :lol:

My thoughts exactly. :)

Hehehe. More like the "lower brain" -- you know, the bit that men are so often accused of thinking with :wink: :wink: :wink: :D :D :D

Stop being naughty, or I'll send you to the corner!! :)

[El guru]

corazon.. for me

:? and which side of the brain might that be? :raisebro: :wink: :lol:

My thoughts exactly. :)

Hehehe. More like the "lower brain" -- you know, the bit that men are so often accused of thinking with :wink: :wink: :wink: :D :D :D


God gave us 2 organs that needs blood to work... but not enough blood to make them working together.... :lol: :lol: :wink:

[Pacion]

:headwall: I ask an "innocent" question, and this is what it has "degenerated" into? :doh: :nope: Not on my watch, you are not! :tongue:

Can we get back to corazon and brain please? :roll: Personally, I would have said that corazon (heart) was on the feeling/emotional side of the brain, which ever side that is, bless its little lime green cotton socks :lol:

Better still, can we get back on topic, which I believe was... which side of the brain influences your dancing (or something like that)? :roll: :lol:

[Kindra]

:headwall: I ask an "innocent" question, and this is what it has "degenerated" into? :doh: :nope: Not on my watch, you are not! :tongue:

Can we get back to corazon and brain please? :roll: Personally, I would have said that corazon (heart) was on the feeling/emotional side of the brain, which ever side that is, bless its little lime green cotton socks :lol:

Better still, can we get back on topic, which I believe was... which side of the brain influences your dancing (or something like that)? :roll: :lol:


Yeah...come on. Back on topic! :wink: :lol:

[El guru]

yes sure ... come back on the topic.. and sorry for the joke.. (I hope it was funny... :wink: )

I posted a similar discussion in an italian forum...
and i found interesting a message posted by a girl that introduced how the left-right minded dicotomy is used to define female-male thought...

Were female are usually much more emotional, and male rational and logic...

Yes sur not ever this is right... but it could help...

We can find it in dancing too... where the work to lead to decide what to do.. is left to the man, while the woman is forced in some lines where she can do what else she wants.... and let free the fantasy....

[DWise1]

Rather than just "which side do you use to dance", what about which side for which dances?

My very first dance lessons were in salsa, but at the time we could not find any intermediate lessons in our area so we moved on to other dances, finally settling on swing (West Coast at the time and I have since moved on to Lindy as well). Then six months ago I returned to salsa for a few months (at which point life caught up with me) after an absense of four years.

Now, in those very first lessons I was just trying to get the very basics down, so I wasn't in any position to start to analyze the music and the rhythm. Rather, I was depending very heavily on the teacher's counting to know when to step. Also, in figuring out how to move my body and to lead I was relying heavily on my Aikido training from a couple decades before. When I was swing classes, I was able to start working more on analyzing the music and correlating it with the counts. And as I've progressed, I've moved away from having to count, though I will still fall back on counting for learning a new move and for keeping my timing during a more complicated move.

Now, the funny thing is that when I returned to salsa, I didn't have to analyze the music but rather I simply picked up the rhythm and went with it. I still don't know just what it is in the music that I'm following; I simply follow it.

Now mind you, I am a very analytical type of person who spent the greates majority of my life as a non-dancer because I simply could not learn dancing the way that everybody was trying to teach me: by simply feeling the music and following it. And yet that is what I am doing with salsa -- I've started doing it with swing music and ballroom now, but it's something that has taken a lot of work to do (plus, I can analyze what's going on in swing and ballroom music, but not so with salsa music).

So, instead of it just being a question of how we approach dancing in general, could it also be a question of how we approach different dances? Or that some dances are more conducive to certain types of approaches?

[Pacion]

yes sure ... come back on the topic.. and sorry for the joke.. (I hope it was funny... :wink: )

Off the record? Boys Scouts' honour that you would never tell what my answer was? :wink:

yes, but shhh you must never tell :wink: :lol:

So, instead of it just being a question of how we approach dancing in general, could it also be a question of how we approach different dances? Or that some dances are more conducive to certain types of approaches?

This being the "world wide web", I think the question evolve into a multitude of things :wink: I think the approach could also apply to different styles within the same dance. For instance, dancing On2. Haven't done this for a while. I might have to use my "thinking" brain until such time as my "feeling/emotional" brain can take over. Put me into cuban or On1 though and I am like a pig in mud :banana: :lol:

[Sabor]

Put me into cuban or On1 though and I am like a pig in mud :banana: :lol:

yuck!

[Pacion]

Put me into cuban or On1 though and I am like a pig in mud :banana: :lol:

yuck!

:lol: And there ladies and gentlemen, is the reason why when Sabor is a zillion years old, I will still, umm, look like 21! :lol:

[Lucretia]

I guess most girls (followers) would gain a lot if they told the left part of the brain to shut up. My dance skills grew rapidly when I finally dared to do this. Give up the control system - surrender. I loved it!

I cannot learn dance as an intellectual challenge and I'm so happy I'm a girl and don't have to lead. If I sharpen up the emotional part and maintan eyecontact - my dance improves. That for sure.

For you who dont' know me - I'm both an artist AND a (pre)software engineer. My left & right brain half have been struggling so many years about the control. When ever I may stay in one half - I'm content. It's when I need to use them both I get problem. And I guess I don't have to tell you...I like the right part best (but that part don't pay my bills :cry: )

/luc

[Medira]

For you who dont' know me - I'm both an artist AND a (pre)software engineer. My left & right brain half have been struggling so many years about the control. When ever I may stay in one half - I'm content. It's when I need to use them both I get problem. And I guess I don't have to tell you...I like the right part best (but that part don't pay my bills :cry: )

/luc
Wow! I'm glad to finally know somebody else in a similar situation!

I have a diploma in Software Engineering and from there earned a certificate in Art Fundamentals. I'm not working toward my B.Sc. in Computer Science. I know exactly what you mean about the left brain/right brain wars...

[Ron Obvious]

For you who dont' know me - I'm both an artist AND a (pre)software engineer. My left & right brain half have been struggling so many years about the control. When ever I may stay in one half - I'm content. It's when I need to use them both I get problem. And I guess I don't have to tell you...I like the right part best (but that part don't pay my bills :cry: )

/luc
Wow! I'm glad to finally know somebody else in a similar situation!

I have a diploma in Software Engineering and from there earned a certificate in Art Fundamentals. I'm not working toward my B.Sc. in Computer Science. I know exactly what you mean about the left brain/right brain wars...

I think there was an article in a recent newsweek that pointed out that women have a better connection between the right and left brain sides.

[Kindra]

Now that I've really become a true salsa addict,I'm back to thinking about this topic again...as I've evolved and changed as a salsera over the last 10 months.
Mainly, I'm curious to see what the new members of DF have to contribute to this thread.

[kdogg]

Well, salsa brings the left and right sides of my brain together. Rest of the time they're fighting with each other; sometimes the right side wins and sometimes the left side wins --these days left side is kicking the right side's butt. :lol:

[Lucretia]

Rest of the time they're fighting with each other; sometimes the right side wins and sometimes the left side wins --these days left side is kicking the right side's butt. :lol:

You seems to be the same kind of person as I am. A slight lobomtomia would probably help so the right part doesn't know what the left part do and vice versa. :lol: Then it would be silence and peace in our brains :wink:

(lobomtomia is perhaps not the proper English word - I mean the surgery psychiatric did in ancient times to separate the left and right hemisphere apart )

/luc

[Lucretia]

I don't think I ever told you about when I decided to leave my left brain at home :D . It was an intellectual decision :shock: - beacuse my brain was so overloaded at a salsaweekend. I decided just to follow and not to keep any control. It took me a few months before I started to feel comfortable but I know I improved almost instantly. A year later I get compliments for beeing a good follower.

Last salsaclass several guys said things like "you are terrific", "you where great", "so smooth", "that felt soo good" and I started to wounder what kind of sensations I made them feel :raisebro: and what business I was at :lol: :lol:

And the funny thing is that I three weeks ago started to dance as a leader :shock: and I was a bit afraid of starting backleading. I guess I have made a dramatic improvment just in a few weeks. Perhaps beacuse I now know the difference of following and leading.

/luc

[RJ]

i started salsa lessons ~2 months ago and i can tell you little by little im starting to feel the music and just go with it moreso then when i first started.

Its a weird feeling to just 'feel the music' and go all "right brained" with it because i've never been one to dance and im so happy i got the guts up to go to that first lesson.

during the open dance social after the lesson thursday nite i was just doing the basic with a few other beginner steps thrown in and i quit counting or worrying about where my feet where i just felt the music and went with it. It didnt last very long, sadly, but each week it gets better :)

I did receive a confidence booster as well that nite, i was showing a girl who was new to the class just some basic arm wraps and turns, we weren't on time or on beat, just laughing and having a good time. she told me "You sure seem to have a good time doing this, you're always smiling"

that made me feel good :)

[Sabor]

'right'.. i'm so 'right' its possible i dont have a 'left'

[Lucretia]

'right'.. i'm so 'right' its possible i dont have a 'left'
:D

/luc