How do you make samba "bounce"?

[pygmalion]

Here's my samba story. About a year ago, I started seriously working on samba, and, together with my teacher at the time, worked up a great samba routine. Hot! hot! I actually stalked him for one little part of the routine. Totally cool, but I digress. :lol:

The day after the routine, I went into the studio to get my critique from the judge. She gave me a 98 out of a possible 100 and told me lots of nice things about my dancing. Then, ever so diplomatically, she led me into a samba basic, told me to put my hand on her center, and she showed me samba bounce. It was clear that, in all my months of studying samba, I had never "bounced" at all. :cry:

Anyway, since then, I haven't been happy with my samba, and I haven't been able to recreate that ab contraction/leg action that the judge showed me that day.

Can anybody out there help me with understanding samba bounce?

[msc]

It's kind of like a pelvic tilt. Mostly absorbed through the middle of the body, although there's a small amount of height change in your head.

The "ideal" is to have your knees bent, your hips tucked, and on toes at the maximum contraction. Ribcage stretched and head stretched up, don't let the contraction pull your ribs down, make it pull your pelvis up.

Oh, and it's not easy. Not even close. So don't be discouraged if it takes a lot of practice before you feel any sort of comfort level with it.

[SDsalsaguy]

I know what you're talking about Jenn... but I think the terminology is seriously off! One of the quickest ways to tell a newbie from a more advanced dancer is the ammount of bounce you see, with the newbies looking like a jumping jack on crack! It's really much, much more of an intrernal contraction and pulsating action, as head level should remain close to constant. "Bouncyness" is the antithesis of what you want to achieve... well, at least IMHO. :?

[pygmalion]

Hehe! :lol: I know what you mean. Some people do bop up and down most amusingly! :lol:

That's not my goal, though. I want to create what's called the "samba bouncing action." Nowadays, that's not really much of a bounce at all. From what I can deduce, the name is a throwback to some time (decades?) ago, when people really did bounce quite a bit more.

Thanks, msc. Now I don't feel so discouraged. After about six months of three times a week lessons on samba, it was very upsetting to see how much I was lacking. I guess this is another one of those, practice it, and it will come, things.

Incidentally, the thing that finally prompted me to post this question was a couple articles I found. Google, of course. :lol:

http://www.dancesport.uk.com/tid-bits/issue037.htm
http://dancevision.com/buyers_guide/ask_the_experts/32/

[SDsalsaguy]

Yes Jenn, the key is differentiating the samba bounce action from an actual samba "bounce."

[pygmalion]

Yes. It's unfortunate that so many people use the two terms interchangeably, and probably confusing for those who haven't seen it done properly, or who haven't had coaching. *shrug*

[msc]

pygmalion-
There's a deceptively difficult exercise to work on Samba bounce where you roll your hips around in a circle, while your feet stay together under your body. It's kind of difficult to describe without physically showing it though, but basically you contract as the hips roll forward, then extend as they roll back around. Maybe your instructor knows of it.

[SDsalsaguy]

Yes. It's unfortunate that so many people use the two terms interchangeably, and probably confusing for those who haven't seen it done properly, or who haven't had coaching. *shrug*
Or get confused by thread titles... :wink: :tongue: :lol:

[pygmalion]

pygmalion-
There's a deceptively difficult exercise to work on Samba bounce where you roll your hips around in a circle, while your feet stay together under your body. It's kind of difficult to describe without physically showing it though, but basically you contract as the hips roll forward, then extend as they roll back around. Maybe your instructor knows of it.

Thanks, msc. I'll ask him. He has come up with good drills and exercises for everything I've asked him so far. :D Actually, samba bounce action, or the lack of it, is why I'm not competing in in samba for my comp next week. I've really got the feel of samba, but I'm not going to compete in a dance where I can't make a good showing of solid technique. So maybe next time. May 2004, BTW. :D

[Taita]

My 2 cents....

In my opinion, the Samba bouncing action is one of the hardest things to 'get' to look and feel right (the other being International Foxtrot, but I digress :wink: ). Most people when they're learning samba go through the awkward and amusing 'pogo stick' phase in order to get used to the subtle lifting and lowering feel (I know I had to endure this for a while!). Now that I am beginning to understand this, I try to focus on just a couple of things. I'm not going to even begin to describe the technical detail that comes with the movement. Doing so would be woefully inadequate and would probably freeze your mind and may cause you to interfere with what is really a very natural movement. For me, the key is to imagine stepping over a board and to keep my legs 'springy'. Ask your instructor and and keep practicing. just be patient with yourself, it will come.

[pygmalion]

Thanks, Taita. Methinks yuo are right. I'm thinking back on my first Latin motin lesson and what a terrible, terrible thing that was, :lol: :x So frustrating. And even though I thought I'd never get it, eventually I did. Maybe this is another one of those faith things. Just do the exercises and have faith. So I'll take your word for it, msc and Taita, and have faith. :D You guys are such a fantastic moral support. Thank you from my heart. (No emoticon for slightly teary-eyed with appreciation. )

[MissAlyssa]

I've seen samba danced flowy and controlled and also danced bouncy and sharp. I like both styles but I dance the bouncy way. I think it's in the knees.

[pygmalion]

It's weird the stuff you find by mistake on the web. :? :D For those of you who have the ISTD manuals, here's a list of errors/typos regarding samba from the latest version of the manual.

http://www.astro.umd.edu/~marshall/dance/sambaerr.html

[NeoDevin]

I was taught that the bounce in samba comes from the ankles, and the abs, not from the knees. When done properly, your upper half should remain almost level (not quite), and your lower half should should have a fairly pronounced up and down motion.

[msc]

I agree with Devin, although in my experience, more leg muscles are used.

[pygmalion]

I workd on this with my styling coach today.

(btw, her former partner is looking more and more like my next Latin coach. I saw one of his students dance last night. Holy cow! She was a beautiful dancer. :shock: :D )

Anyway, my coach said that the samba bounce (she called it the samba "tick") is like your belly button winking. Basically, contracting the abs while tucking and un-tucking the pelvis. Hence, you create the bounce, or tick, or bouncing action, or whatever you want to call it. (ISTD calls it samba bounce).

Boy, she looked great while doing it, and I didn't. This week's project? Separate the components -- first, the ab contraction. Then add the knees, then the ankles, then the hip rotattion. This week? The abs.

[DanceMentor]

My two cents...
make sure you are especially using a downward action through the knees, because the beat falls. Just like in Waltz, it is easy to be "too up".