Bossa Nova

Nobody likes a woise goy, Porfirio. :wink: :lol: (Think Three Stooges accent, LOL) Two mentions here today. I guess that means the sheep must be really getting himself counted somewhere else. :roll:
 
I recently started singingwith a Bossa Nova/jazz band and at practice last night, under a huge tree in front of a hillside cafe with 20 people watching( :shock: ) I was doing kind of a Cuban side-step to the Bossa Nova. Some folks were asking me what the step was and I said, "Er, salsa". Our sax player asked me if there was a kind of dance especially for Bossa Nova and I couldn't answer this question. The music lends itself to gentle swaying and shoulder rolls, but does anyone know if there is a particular DANCE for Bossa Nova music?
 
Yes and no. There was a choreographed ... uh ... routine for bossa nova back in the late fifties/early sixties when the music first became popular in the United States. From all the documentation available, Joe Lanza or Black Sheep, who used to be a DF member, did the choreography.

The thing is, Bossa Nova, ironically, is really nothing new. There are no distinct Bossa Nova step patterns that I know of. It's an amalgamation of steps from other dances, done in Bossa Nova style. The Bossa Nova dance has a distinctive one-hip bounce at the end of each measure (or sometimes phrase) and it has a sort of mildly bouncy character, similar to samba on muscle relaxants (just kidding!) It's mild and mellow and bouncy, all at the same time. But the patterns are all borrowed from other dances. So, basically, you get to do whatever you want! 8) :)
 
pygmalion said:
similar to samba on muscle relaxants (just kidding!)

:lol: :lol:



Ive always wondered about Bossa Nova myself.... I have a CD and one of them has a track thats says its Boss Nova.
 
When I'm dancing to a bossa nova, I always think," step, step, step, bounce." Not that my thought process helps any, LOL, but that's what's in my mind. And each step is more like a southern US step. Slow and deliberate. Not a New York step (fast, fast, fast!) Bossa Nova takes its time. It's pretty seductive that way. Slow and deliberate. Hmm. 8) :wink:
 
I was pretty much doing a Cuban side-step to the music, and a bachata could be done also!
Up until now, I'd been playing Bossa Nova as BGM for dinner parties, but listening to it at home alone, it tends to put me to sleep... :?
 
When a DJ friend of mine (who also dances) played a Bossa Nova one night, I asked him to show me how to dance to it. He told me that it was basically a slow, relaxed samba. I can't remember exactly, but it was another "three steps to the four beats" dance, like salsa and bachata, but I was told to add a bounce to it (unlike salsa).
 

Dance Ads

Advertise on Dance Forums Reach dancers, teachers, studios, event organizers, and dance-friendly brands. View ad options
Back
Top