Hi, and question about dancing 'with the music'

[Paou]

Hello!

I'm new to this board, so first off I'd like to say a big hi to everyone here!

And I have a question:

I've been dancing salsa nigh on 2 years now, taking classes in LA style, and get out on the dance floor 3/4 times a week to practice...

My repertoire of moves is fairly solid, and I'm told I have a good lead and rhythm...Last night I was privileged enough to dance with a superb follower, and (as usual) during post-dancing chit-chat I asked how she found my dancing / leading.... (always good to learn from your mistakes say I)

The comments I got was that my lead was superb... however I was a little "funny" to dance with... and then she elaborated that I didn't really dance 'with' the music - and said that it takes a while to get good enough to do 'that' well...

Anyone have any ideas on how to improve? (beyond looking for information on the elusive Clave, and more practicing)

Any advice appreciated.

Matt

 

[Vin]

Hi Paou let me welcome you to the board. I don't really have an asnwer to your question.

The one thing I always say is that you must listen to salsa music often even when you are not dancing in order to really get that great connection with the music.
It may also be a case of different styles. I have danced with women who have said something similar and then on the very next dance I have had other women tell me they felt something different but natural in the way I felt the music. Other times I have had a perfectly solid connection from the get go.
Everyone feels the music a little differently. When I dance with someone who feels the music radically different than I do and is unable to follow the rhythm I feel, rather than think they have no concept of dancing to the music I actually try and connect with what the music brings out in them. Often times when I do this I am able to connect with them through the music when before I just thought they had really bad timing.

 

[Sagitta]

Welcome to df Matt/Paou! I've been dancing about a year, now. The funny thing is I don't think I know many moves, I tend to migrate now and then from one beat to another...usually 1-3...but I have a few things going for me. I have the latin motion thing and I seem to be dancing with the music, or that's what I've ben told.

I wouldn't say that simply practicing your moves and dancing to the clave or beat will work. The beat and the clave dictates the technical aspects of dancing, which you don't seem to have issue with. Now step back and listen to the song as a whole. The emotion/mood created by all the instruments and vocals and how that changes during the song. Whatever you do should reflect that.

 

[peachexploration]

Hi Paou. Welcome to Dance Forums.

Vin gives good advice with the following quotes:

.... The one thing I always say is that you must listen to salsa music often even when you are not dancing in order to really get that great connection with the music.......

To me, this one of the keys to "getting" Salsa music. The more you listen and study, the easier it is to identify the rhythms in the music...

.... ....It may also be a case of different styles. I have danced with women who have said something similar and then on the very next dance I have had other women tell me they felt something different but natural in the way I felt the music. Other times I have had a perfectly solid connection from the get go......

This is a good point as well. I would take into consideration many different views and go with the majority consensus and of course your own feelings about your dancing as well.

 

[MacMoto]

Hi Matt, welcome!

I second others that listening to a lot of salsa music will help. Don't just play the music in the background while you go about doing something else, but really listen. Think what each song does to you. Every song has a different style and mood (jazzy, earthy, cool, hot, funky, happy, romantic...), and brings out different emotional reactions from you. You want to reflect this difference in your dance. Also, be aware of the way each song is structured. How it has an intro, verse and chorus, build-ups, breaks, pauses, perhaps a jazzy descarga section, a dramatic finale... Each song has its low points and high points. Again, you want your dance to match these. Since you've already got solid technique, it's time to play with what you've got.

There are related threads you may find interesting:

Musicality?

what do you do when leader feels the music differently?

In defence of patterns

 

[Paou]

Cheers for the warm welcome , and thanks for the advice, spent most of my afternoon just reading through those threads and having a think about how it applies to my dancing.

The thread on musicality was especially helpful.

If I come across any more info elsewhere, or start doing something else that helps I'll post it

 

[Danish Guy]

Welcome Paou.


Dancing so the music tells me what to do is something I work with. Mostly inspired by the danceforum posts. I have a long to go, but I’m having fun.

 

[Big10]

Hi Paou/Matt!

I liked this passage from Sagitta:

step back and listen to the song as a whole. The emotion/mood created by all the instruments and vocals and how that changes during the song. Whatever you do should reflect that.

I think I wrote something similar on the "Musicality" thread in this forum, but Sagitta summed up the concepts pretty nicely. Smoothly executing your dance steps from one 8-count to the next is important, but the beauty of a good song comes from things that are happening in a broader scope than each individual 8-count.

As one exercise at home, play a song to which you know all (or most) of the words. It would be better if it's Salsa, but if not, that's okay. Anyway, for your exercise, sing along to the song while you're dancing to it. Try to pay attention to how your body is feeling during all of that. If you are like me, you will feel a difference when the lyrical phrases pass through more than one 8-count, in contrast to how you feel when the lyrics end with a particular 8-count, and also in contrast to how your body is feeling during the instrumental interludes. You may also feel a difference when certain instruments become more prominent than others.

If you can consistently capture some of that while you're dancing with a partner, then I can guarantee that the list of "superb followers" who want to dance with you will greatly increase. :wink: Good luck!

 

[dancin/dj]

Hi Matt, welcome!

I second others that listening to a lot of salsa music will help. Don't just play the music in the background while you go about doing something else, but really listen. Think what each song does to you. Every song has a different style and mood (jazzy, earthy, cool, hot, funky, happy, romantic...), and brings out different emotional reactions from you. You want to reflect this difference in your dance. Also, be aware of the way each song is structured. How it has an intro, verse and chorus, build-ups, breaks, pauses, perhaps a jazzy descarga section, a dramatic finale... Each song has its low points and high points. Again, you want your dance to match these. Since you've already got solid technique, it's time to play with what you've got.

There are related threads you may find interesting:ditto macmoto&sagitta,these aspects or listening skills of different music styles ,mood etc, many, many dancers miss or just dont listen-teachers included,each song no matter what kind of dancing your doing should be expressed acording to what the (musicans) are saying.

Musicality?

what do you do when leader feels the music differently?

In defence of patterns

 

[Sagitta]

Hi Matt, welcome!

I second others that listening to a lot of salsa music will help. Don't just play the music in the background while you go about doing something else, but really listen. Think what each song does to you. Every song has a different style and mood (jazzy, earthy, cool, hot, funky, happy, romantic...), and brings out different emotional reactions from you. You want to reflect this difference in your dance. Also, be aware of the way each song is structured. How it has an intro, verse and chorus, build-ups, breaks, pauses, perhaps a jazzy descarga section, a dramatic finale... Each song has its low points and high points. Again, you want your dance to match these. Since you've already got solid technique, it's time to play with what you've got.

There are related threads you may find interesting:ditto macmoto&sagitta,these aspects or listening skills of different music styles ,mood etc, many, many dancers miss or just dont listen-teachers included,each song no matter what kind of dancing your doing should be expressed acording to what the (musicans) are saying.

Musicality?

what do you do when leader feels the music differently?

In defence of patterns

? :?

 

[MacMoto]

? :?

Dancin/dj was so impressed with my words of wisdom he decided to repeat them again? :lol: :lol: :lol:






... Either that or he just clicked the wrong button and didn't realise it.

 

[dancin/dj]

macmoto,lol :lol: ,yes i wanted to quote you,but i responded in your qoute that came out wrong :shock: ,anyway i agree with what you and sagattia said. 8)