Is dancing more than 1 style bad?

This sort of relates to MadamSamba's topic on dancing more than one stylehttp://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=3483

Do you think learning more than one or 2 styles of dance can be detrimental to the learning process?

I think of my private lesson when I switch from dancing Mambo where its all knees and hips, loose upper body, then moving onto a NV dance where its all danced upright.

Do you think that slows the learning process of the dances because you are constantly switching between them both?

Would it be beneficial to learn and become good at one style before starting another?

ShyDancer said:

This sort of relates to MadamSamba's topic on dancing more than one stylehttp://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=3483

Do you think learning more than one or 2 styles of dance can be detrimental to the learning process?

I think of my private lesson when I switch from dancing Mambo where its all knees and hips, loose upper body, then moving onto a NV dance where its all danced upright.

Do you think that slows the learning process of the dances because you are constantly switching between them both?

Would it be beneficial to learn and become good at one style before starting another?

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Well, going against the general consensus here... I'll share my own experience. This isn't meant as a remark about anyone on the forum, just what tends to go thru my head when I hear a lead bragging about his knowledge of many different dances...

When I meet someone (almost always a lead) who (before knowing anything else about them) declares about how they dance all these different styles, more times than not, it's similar to meeting someone who brags about how they know all these different languages, yet you can't quite understand their English even though they declare it's one of their best languages.

I know this one guy here in Seattle, who brags all the time (to non-dancers) about how he's taken privates in salsa for over a year, and how he knows this style and that, and to be honest... he's not all that good at any of them.

Personally, I never brag about my dancing. I'd rather prove it on the dancefloor by just enjoying a dance together, rather than having this big chip on my shoulder and talking big about it.

I don't think it's detrimental at all, ShyDancer. If anything, I think it can help. You move better, feel different types of music better and have a better idea what to do when you've no idea what to do and even if you don't, your repertoire is wide enough to "improvise".
Besides, there's no such thing as knowing too many dances.

MadamSamba said:

Besides, there's no such thing as knowing too many dances.

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I've gotta agree wtih Madam Samba here! The more dance, the better! :twisted:

Though learning more ways to do things, more techniques, etc., may seem hard at first, and things may get mixed up, once they're straightened out, you have a whole new insight on how to do one thing, and you may even be able to make it easier for you to do, based on your knowlege of other styles and ways of doing things.

Of course, that's just my humble opinion... :roll:

Sakura Kitty :kitty:

Gosh I hope that you do experiment with more than just one style. If I didn't, I'd just be doing ballroom mambo when I dance salsa... or ballroom swing when I go out dancing. To understand the non-syllabus way that people dance helps you figure out the character of each dance better.

I have always taken lessons in a variety of dance styles from a variety of teachers. Initially, I found their apparently contradictory advice to be confusing and frustrating. But, I learned to simply try to do whatever the teacher of the moment was telling me, regardless of what I thought I heard the day before. As the years went by, I have found this continuing experience of learning multiple dances and styles to be valuable beyond calculation.

Time and time again, I have discovered that what I initially thought was contradictory was actually just two people explaining the same concept in different ways. Yet, sometimes one explanation will be clearer than another, so I take the clearest explanation and apply it to all dances.

Also, all dances share the same fundamentals: posture, frame, connection, timing, lead/follow, so I can apply the fundamentals learned in one dance to all others.

In addition, the patterns of many dances are connected. For example, the patterns in International style rumba, salsa, mambo, bolero, and nightclub two step share common elements. This makes learning a new pattern simple since I just string elements together that I already know.

Absolutely learn more than one style! It's fun as heck to mix it up while dancing...

There are plenty of songs out there that lend themselves to more than one style of dancing, and if you're with a good partner, you can mix it up.

I have a favorite partner that I dance with as much as I can get a hold of him. He is fluent in dozens of dance styles (I'm not exaggerating there), and if you can keep up with him, he will start out in Lindy, throw in some salsa or cha-cha, segue into tango or mambo or meringue, back into Lindy, over to Charleston and East Coast, and back and forth. He even likes to throw in some Polka!

Yes, it's challenging to learn all the different styles, but it can only add more to your dancing.

Plus, it's fun to notice how your individual style will change when you learn other dance styles.

You concentrate on one dance style you probably can get a lot better than a person trying out more then one. Is it bad? Depends on what you want to get out of your dance and how you learn. As madamsamba and others have said I love exploring the similarities and differences between the various dances. I also love the ability it has given me to go to more and more places and be able to dance.

Dame Swing Kitty said:

I have a favorite partner that I dance with as much as I can get a hold of him. He is fluent in dozens of dance styles (I'm not exaggerating there), and if you can keep up with him, he will start out in Lindy, throw in some salsa or cha-cha, segue into tango or mambo or meringue, back into Lindy, over to Charleston and East Coast, and back and forth. He even likes to throw in some Polka!

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:shock: :shock: Sounds like a great partner! =^_~=

Welcome to DF DS Kitty! I hope to see more of your posts. We Cats gotta stick together! :wink: 8)

Sakura Kitty :kitty:

Learning lots of dances at once does slow down the process a bit.

pygmalion said:

Learning lots of dances at once does slow down the process a bit.

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Yeah, but it *is* fun!

Sakura Kitty :kitty:

Im finding that my frame is the thing that is suffereing..

Ive always got my arms up too high for the Latin dances :lol: I notice it most in Jive when I have to spin and in Salsa when my arms seem to just raise themselves and are stiff, my teachers are always shaking my arms telling me to loosen up. I find that I have to really concentrate on my arms.
With the NV though my arms are fine, I dont have to think about them at all other than my free arm styling.
Maybe Im just better suited to NV and Standard...who knows!

I dance LA style on 1... I've danced with leaders doing Cuban and Puerto Rican, I've danced on 2, I've danced Rueda de Casino... I'd love to really master all of them... it can only help you, in my opinion...