Ultimate differences between competition and social dancing?

[randomMysh]

Now I just want the same socialness of WCS applied to the ballroom dances. One of these days....

r u kidding? down here the consensus here is that WCS dancers eat their young!

LOL! I don't know about that...When I visited CA people seemed pretty friendly, at least in the SF area where I was. And if WCS is the national (yes, national, not state! :lol: ) dance of CA, wouldn't you run out of young pretty quickly??
I'm being silly.

And yes, people don't play socially in ballroom. Well, they do, sometimes, but the ones that do are few and far between. I think it's because the ones that really want it already gave up on the hope that other people that want it are ever going to show up, or even exist. I say we should change that by showing up en masse to dance events and showing people what's really fun about dancing!
Who's with me on that?? :bouncy:

 

[Laura]

weren't you just saying that you've recently had problems getting leads to ask you to dance or am i thinking of someone else??

Yeah, that's another problem. People have told me that they look at me and make prejudgements about how I dance and then are pleasantly suprised when they actually dance with me. I'm not thin, so people tend to assume that I dance like a lump, but when they actually give me a chance they find out that I am very light in the frame and move easily. Here's an example: last week I danced a bit with a former Chinese national champion and his assessment was that he'd have never guessed that I dance as well as I do based on my body type. All I can say is that I'm lucky I've found a partner who likes the way I dance as much as I like the way he dances. If we hadn't started dancing together I'd probably have quit entirely by now. We had very respectable results in our first competition together last November, so the judges there could see past the surface look and notice the quality of the dancing, which certainly made us feel good about what we're doing.

I realize competition dancing is different from social dancing, and I really do concentrate on being sensitive to whoever is leading me in the social setting. In a social setting it's my responsibility as a follower to respond, have a good time and help my leader to have a good time. But sometimes I think that without competition dancing I'd have no dancing at all.

 

[chachachacat]

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!

Laura said this.

Thanks, Tacad for the box lesson!
The box is not only in waltz, rumba and foxtrot!
8)

 

[chachachacat]

Quote Tacad - And give me a couple of years. :wink:[/quote]

For what?
To get musical and playful? Yes, that can take years.

My ex and I used to play a lot in cha, rumba, mambo, bolero.

 

[chachachacat]

Testing 123

 

[Laura]

Looks good!

 

[tacad]

Testing 123

:banana:

Quote Tacad - And give me a couple of years. :wink:

For what?
To get musical and playful? Yes, that can take years.

Musical and playful I got. I'm developing the technique to allow me to express it. I can do it on foxtrot pretty well. I seem to get the structure of that dance better than the others. I'm just beginning to get the structure of cha cha and am beginning to express myself a bit, varying the moves. The others I'm still doing patterns, waiting until I get them too.

 

[tacad]

If I may one more time :wink:

And give me a couple of years. :wink:

EDIT: Ooh! Never mind. That works!

EDIT: Also if you copy and paste, the smilies don't come out right, at least for me. So I fix them since I'm a bit nuts.

 

[chachachacat]

Randonmysh - who's with me on that?

I'm with you!

To play, I need a leader who will be sensitive to when I want to add something to the mix. Some might call this 'backleading,' but give-and take is how creativity can be born. Why should HE have all the fun of musical interpretation???
I like to express myself and the music. Playing is necessarily a two way street. :friend:

 

[tacad]

Can you do this on dances like foxtrot and waltz? I mean I can play but the follow just comes along for the ride. I guess she can move her head around and sway a bit but not much more right. I could see this happening more on cha cha and rhumba, certainly swing.

 

[chachachacat]

Yes, certainly swing. In WCS, the man is taught to be sensitive to the lady - if she wants to play, let her.

Now that I think about it, Waltz and Foxtrot really don't lend themselves much to playing for the follower. One can choreograph fun and expression into a dance, of course, but that's different.

 

[randomMysh]

Now that I think about it, Waltz and Foxtrot really don't lend themselves much to playing for the follower. One can choreograph fun and expression into a dance, of course, but that's different.

Only if it's Standard so you stay in closed all the time. Even then you could probably manage, but it's hard. In Smooth, once he lets you into open, everything's fair game!
Who said the chase is only a figure?? :shock: :lol:

 

[tsb]

Can you do this on dances like foxtrot and waltz? I mean I can play but the follow just comes along for the ride. I guess she can move her head around and sway a bit but not much more right. I could see this happening more on cha cha and rhumba, certainly swing.

the follower should have quite a bit more freedom if you do more release moves vs. staying in closed position. and it actually helps if you have music that has an occasional rubato that gives you a chance to be more lyrical...

 

[tacad]

Right, right. I forgot this is why I like Smooth.

Maybe you can point out a rubato to me Sunday if I make it.

 

[Chris Stratton]

Only if it's Standard so you stay in closed all the time. Even then you could probably manage, but it's hard. In Smooth, once he lets you into open, everything's fair game!
Who said the chase is only a figure?? :shock: :lol:

The problem is that it's very rare for a follower who decides to take the initiative and do something independent to also take on the full set of responsabilities associated with leading. One of the reasons you don't often see leaders improvising in the traveling dances beyond recombining known figures/figure elements is that there are a heck of a lot of factors that have to be taken into consideration when inventing really new material. Also, no matter who is leading, your freedom is really limited by the degree to which your partner is succeding in staying with you - often you have to change your mind to compensate for something happening differently than what you intended. Neither partner should ever feel like they are chasing the other around the floor.