How does your dance training "spill into" everyday

Pacion

Pacion

New Member
I did ballet years ago, for a number of years, and part of the training involved working in groups/choreography and one side had "right of way" over the other side (I have forgotten now) and therefore passed in front of the other person, that you had to keep an eye out so that you didn't clash etc etc.

I find that when I am walking and there are people close, I start "counting them in" or checking their "timing" :lol: so that I can change direction without completely slowing down or having to stop to let them pass.

I am also into a book at the moment, and therefore, when I get off my train, I continue reading whilst walking out of the station (across the platforms, up esculators, across the station concourse, up more esculators etc etc). Yesterday when I was doing this, I realised that I was walking in a pretty straight line even though I was walking at a very rapid pace!

I think, the dance training plays a big role in this. Has anyone else experienced this or similar things that you think, if it wasn't for the training, your movements/things you do may be different?
 
Maybe I'm up myself here, but after a few months of salsa I'm finding I have better balance and reaction time. For example, if someone steps out in front of me in a busy place, like the shopping centre, I find myself smoothly sliding out of the way, my weight over my feet the whole time :D
 
I sit up straighter.

I'm also prone to start doing spins in the middle of weird places...like the beach, grocery store, etc. And I'm not really thinking about it ahead of time.
 
i've noticed that whenever circumstances prompt me to turn sideways while moving i now do grapevine footwork w/o moving my upper body and continue to move forward.
 
The people who used to call me a dork because I moved around things like I moved around a horse in a showmanship at halter class have once again begun to call me a dork for the way I move around people and objects. It's not walking around- it's a grapevine, or a turn, or, when nobody's looking a spin, etc.

If you're "hooked" on something, it's everywhere and all over. It's great now that I have dance AND horse showing inside my head. I actually have posture now sometimes, I definitely have better balance, I hold my muscles and everything differently, and I move through crowds more easily.

Still, a comment comes back that I heard awhile back "Well, for a big old gal, she moves all right. If she were skinnier, she'd be purdy." That doesn't make me want to slit my wrists anymore, it makes my thinking conflicted. It makes me A- want to either be that much better, or B- stay completely out of the sight of uneducated morons. A's the only option, as... well... this planet has how many billion people, and how many of them do you REALLY think have a mental capacity broader than that of a camel? The last time I heard it, from the same guy, I just laughed gaily and fluttered back "I'd be more worried about my personality than my weight! Combined, they may be worse than you're bargaining for!"
 
It first started with opening a "pull" store door by forming connection and rock-stepping back to lead it into opening. But then I also started doing that a few decades back to practice my Aikido.

And I'm rarely caught flat-footed anymore when suddenly face-to-face with somebody else coming around a corner or through a doorway, but will either step back immediately or sideways. It's not just the footwork, I think, but also the training in reacting to changing situations on the dance floor. Ever see that Richard Prior routine on cable way back? He showed why blacks never get bitten by rattlesnakes. First he plays a white guy clomping along and standing flat-footed when he notices the snake and, of course, he gets bit. Then as a black, he's stuttin' along and when he notices the snake -- even before he does, actually -- he does a little jump variation in his step to avoid it, then looks back trying figure out what that was. It's kind of like that, you know?

And now that you mention it, I have been using grapevines to slip past people in the way, though again I've been doing something similar to it for a few decades because of my Aikido training. Though sometimes if it's too crowded, I find myself doing a 360 turn in my "line of dance" as I slip by them. Without thinking about it.

On a slightly different tack, if I'm not dancing and trying to cross a dance floor while others are dancing (necessary in our Lindy class, since the floor completely blocks the way between the front door and the waiting area in back), I find that I need to start dancing as well so that I can match my rhythm with theirs, holding back while they're in my way and then slipping through when they move out of my way. Though I'm sure that works better in some dances than in others.
 
We tango down the aisles of Kroger when nobody's around. Sometimes we wait until it's quite late to go, just so nobody will be around :oops:
 
i have a habit of doing cha cha lock steps when i walk into my building if there isnt anyone there... its a long straight hallway with mirrors. its weird. or sometimes, when im alone in my elevator, since its so slow, i go over my routines with the timing, and the steps.. i dont jump around or anything, i make suttle moves here and there, but i go over it no matter what... its fun.. My boyfriend thinks im crazy... and all i reply to him is.. "im not crazy, im just a dance".. :)
 
hmm, i've been getting more injuries since i started dancing - but that's just b/c i'm super clumsy... :tongue: :mrgreen:
 
My partner and I were told we look nice when dancing together by somebody's whose opinion meant a lot, but since we can't see ourselves on the floor, we tend to stop and dance a few steps in front of every large mirror in a clotheing store. It's pretty funny for the shop assistants...

I also sometimes slide my foot backward surreptitiously as I stand in line or wait to cross the street...
 
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