Ultimate differences between competition and social dancing?

[Chris Stratton]

What if any fundamental differences do you think would exist between a perfect social dance, a perfect competition one?

Would it be possible for the same dance to be both at once?

Are their absolute differences in what one should do, or only different amounts of appropriate emphasis on the various elements of dancing?

Would you be comfortable with an approach to competition dancing that could not be "dialed down" to a point where it was suitable for (die hard dancer) social settings without losing its fundamental character?

 

[jon]

Re: Ultimate differences between competition and social danc

What if any fundamental differences do you think would exist between a perfect social dance, a perfect competition one?

The differences derive from whether you are dancing for your partner or for your audience. You cannot remove that distinction - even in the most social-like form of competition, Jack & Jill, people are still projecting to and performing for an audience.

 

[Chris Stratton]

It's not possible to dance for partner and audience at the same time?

 

[Laura]

That's certainly my goal: my partner and I aim to dance for each other and show the joy that brings us to the audience in our performance.

If all social dancers were as supportive, friendly, and fun to dance with as my competition partner I'd go social dancing all the time. Instead I run across gossipy people, people who give me unsolicited and often incorrect corrections, and people who physically hurt me while dancing. With all that, I'd rather just practice and take lessons.

 

[jon]

It's not possible to dance for partner and audience at the same time?

Sure. What's not possible is to focus completely on your partner and dance to an audience at the same time.

 

[Joe]

Re: Ultimate differences between competition and social danc

What if any fundamental differences do you think would exist between a perfect social dance, a perfect competition one?

Would it be possible for the same dance to be both at once?

Are their absolute differences in what one should do, or only different amounts of appropriate emphasis on the various elements of dancing?

Would you be comfortable with an approach to competition dancing that could not be "dialed down" to a point where it was suitable for (die hard dancer) social settings without losing its fundamental character?

Grasshopper, you must learn to submerge your individuality into your partnership; become one with your partner...then you will perceive no difference between social dance and competition dance.

 

[Chris Stratton]

Sure. What's not possible is to focus completely on your partner and dance to an audience at the same time.

I was thinking about this more after my quick question-reply. I think that for someone who regularly does competition dancing, some of the presentation to an audience is such a built in part of what dancing feels like that a social partner who was leaving that out would create the feeling that something was missing.

You could argue that this means competitive dancers aren't able to drop the pretenses and be really intimimate. Personally though, I've found that my most intimate dances have occured when it was possible to drop all of the pretenses and concentrate on the core things that let one feel really connected to a partner: quiet supported frame, flowing footwork, simple classic figures. It so happens that's exactly what you need to win a bronze competition.

 

[dTas]

think of this... if no one were around, would you still dance? i don't mean practice. i mean just dance, put on a song and dance for the sake of moving to music, not to be "technically correct" (there are no judges watching you).

would you still feel like you had to change your shoes? put on something "dancey"?

what if you were at home on a carpeted floor and a good song came on. would you and your partner still dance? or would you feel you needed to go and find a venue somewhere.

for me it took a while to realize that i was dancing because i loved the crowds and then to realize that i wasn't dancing to be with my partner. but now i love just dancing infront of the fire place, at home, just me and her... dancing. still using correct frame and balance and technique but leaving the world outside.

 

[Chris Stratton]

Being technically correct is to enable the ease of the dance. Sometimes judges focus on the technical details alone when they aren't yet showing all the way through to free and easy dancing, but in the end it's the quality of the dancing that they want to see. Technique is just a tool for moving comfortably together, as applicable in front of the fire as in the winter gardens.

One skill that many lack though is the ability to preserve the essence of what they do in competition in a situation where it might be very disguised. You can have posture and frame in cuddle hold. You can use footwork with baby steps. You can even be walking down the street holding hands and realize you have Eggleton thumbs!

 

[chachachacat]

Interesting questions. It seems to me that in competition, there are so many things to focus on, smiling, the routine, doing your best. (Ideally, you would let all that go and have fun...)
But in social dancing, you can be totally free to be in the moment, let spontaneous things to happen, enjoy yourself and your partner with a freedom to create. The leader is always in a position to be creative, but it seems the follower is more limited than she would be dancing alone.
(WCS and Salsa give more freedom for the follower to play.)
But the best times I've had on the floor come down to great leader, who has the same sense of musical interpretation, and the fun and freedom to play together.

 

[madmaximus]

Simple really. Intent and mindset.

To me, comparing a perfect social dance vs. a perfect competition dance is like looking at a mirror. You would see the same thing in matters of technique. Of course, for the purposes of this discussion, this disregards whether or not the movement is appropriate to the social setting in question.

But you're in a competition to win. At it's most fundamental level you enter a competition to see how a judge compares you with the others. While a number would say they don't care about winning, the mindset that comes with competing exists--however that that is in the back of their minds. That in itself IMO is enough to elevate most competitor dancing--so that it becomes markedly different from the *social version*

The reason is with that competitive mindset and attitude comes the attention to the minutiae of dancing. Form, technique, expression, musicality, and theatricality. Elements which are present, but usually scaled back--ie takes a back seat, when social dancing.

m2cw

madmaximus

 

[randomMysh]

I think the main difference is that in competition you have a routine and you have to dance when it's scheduled and not when you feel like it. All of that makes it very difficult to be natural on the dance floor, so there's always a degree of artificiality (is that a word?) in a competitive performance. If you can have fun and enjoy dancing with your partner while doing all of that, you have the perfect competition.

Socially, it's more about the music and playing and experimenting. It's more about the fundamentals of musicality and lead'n'follow. It's ok to mess up. And of course, the audience is still there, so there's no reason why you can't perform at a social dance on the spur of the moment.

 

[Laura]

I hate to rank on social dancers, but the truth is I've never social danced with anyone who was skilled enough to play. It's always people who just came out of an 8-week group class intro program who are thrilled if they can just box step around the room. Don't get me wrong -- when I'm in the mood I actually really like dancing with such people because of their sense of pure enjoyment and wonder and enthusiasm. So I have to ask -- where are all these good social dancers who can actually express musicality and play and that sort of thing? Tell me where they are and I'll gladly check them out when I have the opportunity!

 

[randomMysh]

They seem to be few and far between in ballroom, unfortunately. I thought there'd be hordes of them in NYC, but tough luck! Probably because they're all hiding, thinking that there won't be anyone fun there!

In the WCS scene it seems very common, though. I don't know why that is, but that's definitely been my experience.

 

[Laura]

I actually know a couple of people who got fed up with ballroom and fell madly in love with WCS because of this sort of thing. One of these years I should try it....