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Chris
27th-October-2003, 02:10 PM
I wonder if people think about this - whether for social or competition dancing?

Most of us have had that experience where you just have one dance with someone out of the blue and you both just 'click' and have the most amazing dance without being able to explain why.

Or the more traditional view - am quoting a dance teacher who was asked, "How do you know a partner is right for you?" - and answered:
"That has everything to do with knowing each other and practicing together until you work as one, until you begin to synchronise your movements and your thoughts and your rythmical feel for the music with your partner."

Would love to hear more views on this.

DavidB
27th-October-2003, 02:21 PM
Originally posted by Chris
What makes a dance partnership work? Not arguing!

David Franklin
27th-October-2003, 02:42 PM
Originally posted by Chris
What makes a dance partnership work?

Originally posted by DavidB
Not arguing!
To paraphrase an old joke. There are 5 competitors in the village fun run. The tooth fairy, santa claus, an old lady with her zimmer frame, and a dance couple who don't argue. Who wins the race?
The old lady - the others are all fictitious characters. :rofl:

No, not terribly funny, but I do get the impression most couples do argue. For most people the trick is to stop the arguing from being destructive, and if you're in a relationship, separate the dance arguments from everything else. The position "Yes we argue about dance. But we only argue about dance." seems to be quite a common one.

There's at least one person on rec.arts.dance who maintains finding a new dance partner is harder than finding a new wife by the way...

Dave

Mary
27th-October-2003, 02:44 PM
Originally posted by DavidB
Not arguing!

If I were a man in your place I don't think I'd dare!!!:D :D :wink:

Fabulous cabaret BTW - I was open-mouthed throughout.:cheers: I'm also now a WCS convert, :cheers: :cheers:

M
(Sorry - went off thread a bit)

LilyB
27th-October-2003, 03:13 PM
Originally posted by DavidB
Not arguing!

Originally posted by Mary
If I were a man in your place I don't think I'd dare!!!:D :D :wink:

M
Oi! And just what do you mean by that, eh???!!! :innocent: :devil:

LilyB

TheTramp
27th-October-2003, 03:15 PM
Originally posted by LilyB
Oi! And just what do you mean by that, eh???!!! :innocent: :devil: LilyB Obviously it's a fact that we're all scared of you Lily.....

But you knew that anyhow! :na:

Steve

Bill
27th-October-2003, 03:27 PM
dancing on your own ?????????????? :D


Similar dance styles ??? An ability to accept ( some) constructive criticism :rolleyes: but most importnatly that magical ingredient - but not sure what that is :na:

Mary
27th-October-2003, 03:51 PM
Originally posted by LilyB
Oi! And just what do you mean by that, eh???!!! :innocent: :devil:

LilyB

Ummmmmm. Nothing miss - honest :innocent: :innocent: :innocent:

M

Bardsey
27th-October-2003, 03:59 PM
Originally posted by David Franklin
There's at least one person on rec.arts.dance who maintains finding a new dance partner is harder than finding a new wife by the way...

Dave [/B]

I agree with him. I can't find a regular dance partner either, despite my ad on here!!!!! :D Mind you, I'm not looking for a hubbie (or a wife, in case you were wondering!) :rofl:

Sheepman
28th-October-2003, 04:31 PM
Originally posted by Chris
everything to do with knowing each other and practicing together until you work as one,

I still feel this is one of those undefinable things. There are those magical first time dances where you just click. My theory is that this has a lot to do with smiling. Which means you must be feeling comfortable and relaxed, no expectations to live up to, and no nerves, and of course your dance styles have to meet somewhere. But have you ever had such first dances, and then it never seems to work again? (I'm just musing, 'cos if it has happened to me, I can't remember.)
Then there is the 3 am blues room stuff, where you are "in the zone" and things seem to happen telepathically, this has to be with someone who knows you well enough to be happy with the very UCP. Again, no pressure involved, and exhaustion usually denies the possibility of doing any moves!
There is the high energy stuff, with a familiar partner, where you give it your all, and it all works, and you think "I hope someone was watching THAT" (or is that just me? :sad: )

But all of this could be irrelevant when it comes to competition, where (depending on how far you want to take it) you HAVE to be prepared to work on it. It is essential to still have fun, even though you are going to have loads of repetition, disagreements (when do these become arguments?) and times when it feels that nothing is working or progressing and it lacks spontaneity. So in this case it is much more important that your personalities work well together, maybe even more so than your dance styles? (Easier to work on your style than your personality!)

Going off thread, in agreement with M about David and Lily's awesome cabaret spot at RBs. David, are you prepared to divulge wheter or not the ending was planned that way, or just spur of the moment?!

I must point out that all the cabaret spots were awesome!

Greg

Jon L
28th-October-2003, 05:29 PM
Originally posted by David Franklin

No, not terribly funny, but I do get the impression most couples do argue. For most people the trick is to stop the arguing from being destructive, and if you're in a relationship, separate the dance arguments from everything else. The position "Yes we argue about dance. But we only argue about dance." seems to be quite a common one.

There's at least one person on rec.arts.dance who maintains finding a new dance partner is harder than finding a new wife by the way...

Dave

I was in Perth in Western Australia last year and after the night at the rowing club (that was my first experience of ceroc at 33 C the second was this summer here), we went to a bar called Carnegies, where some of us went upstairs and danced in the pub. A fab couple where there, they really were dancing some amazing stuff. I said to the lady nicknamed 'red', do you practice at home. To which her response was he's not my man, just my dance partner.

She went on to explain that if things went pairshaped she didn't want her dancing to stop. Will and Kate are another example of a dance couple who are not an item, so it's not automatic.

Now dancing cabaret I do not feel I can comment, I must leave this to. David and Lily Will or Clayton and Janine (if they come here). However with freestyle it is different, Alot of it if you're a shorter chap in height, like Roger C, Mr. Lizard or myself, height does come into it slightly. I can dance with taller ladies but it can get difficult.

But at the end of the day we are all created differently, and none of us are cloned. Just imagine if we had a hundred Viktors, Nigels, or The Tramps around! so some women we dance better with and others not so.

DavidB
28th-October-2003, 05:33 PM
Originally posted by Sheepman
David, are you prepared to divulge whether or not the ending was planned that way, or just spur of the moment? The routine was the first half of what we did in Australia. There should be another 2 minutes after that, including another 3 big lifts. That is why it looked like it finished abruptly.

I'm almost certain we will never do the whole routine again. It took about 3 months of training to get fit enough to do it the first time, and I'd rather go out dancing instead. Having seen the time and energy that some of the new couples put into their routines, and knowing how I felt at the end of the cabaret, I did feel too old to do anything else. Hence the comment.

David

Sheepman
28th-October-2003, 06:15 PM
Originally posted by DavidB
That is why it looked like it finished abruptly.
No it didn't, it looked wonderful, I was just referring to your comment!

Greg

Gary
29th-October-2003, 12:32 AM
Originally posted by DavidB
The routine was the first half of what we did in Australia. There should be another 2 minutes after that, including another 3 big lifts. That is why it looked like it finished abruptly.

I'm almost certain we will never do the whole routine again. It took about 3 months of training to get fit enough to do it the first time, and I'd rather go out dancing instead. ...

David

(I got to see the Australian version :) )

Well thanks again for putting in all that effort David and Lilly. It's the only time I've ever seen a cabaret get a standing ovation, so I hope you guys got the idea that the effort was very much appreciated.

ChrisA
29th-October-2003, 02:13 AM
Originally posted by gcapell
(I got to see the Australian version :) )

Is it on video in any available form?

The Rock Bottoms version totally blew me away, as I've said elsewhere. I would love to see the whole thing.

At risk of repetition, it still sends shivers up my spine even to remember it - I felt so privileged to witness it first hand on Saturday.

Chris

Andy McGregor
29th-October-2003, 02:40 AM
I agree with Sheepy. Sometimes something happens. The music is just right, you ask a stranger to dance and there's a magical moment. You dance entirely in the present, there's just the music you and your partner and you seem to become a single entity. You know what she's feeling and you know she knows how you feel too.

It's only happened a few times to me and it's always been with a total stranger. The hardest bit is knowing what to do when the music stops. You sort of wake up from a dream and look into your partner's eyes and wonder what you're supposed to do next...

Gary
29th-October-2003, 02:41 AM
Originally posted by ChrisA
Is [david and lilly's oz cabaret] on video in any available form?


Probably on video, probably not easily available.

Ceroc Australia haven't finished editing/producing the video from their champs yet. I don't know what the quality will be like (I was pretty disappointed with last year's).

You could always ask them (ceroc@cerocaustralia.com.au) if you could buy the video with the showcases (aussie for "cabaret"). There were some other pretty nifty showcases and team displays (go Northern Stars! :) )

You're welcome to come over to my place and watch once I've got my copy, but it's probably a long swim/walk from your place.

Dreadful Scathe
29th-October-2003, 10:18 AM
Originally posted by gcapell
It's the only time I've ever seen a cabaret get a standing ovation,

We got one - from the part of the crowd i was looking at at least, kind of overwhelming - but cool :)

Wahey the Alley Cats !! :) miaeooow

Emma
29th-October-2003, 01:27 PM
Originally posted by David Franklin
There's at least one person on rec.arts.dance who maintains finding a new dance partner is harder than finding a new wife by the way... There's no hope for me then..I can't find a wife either!! :tears::wink:

bigdjiver
29th-October-2003, 09:35 PM
Originally posted by Chris

Most of us have had that experience where you just have one dance with someone out of the blue and you both just 'click' and have the most amazing dance without being able to explain why.



The first time I had the amazing dance experience I do know much of the "Why". It was a matter of confidence. About third move in on our first dance my partner tried a double spin, tripped over her feet, and fell away from me. By some miracle I got my arm underneath her and lowered her gently, stopping with her hair touching the floor.

There was an instant of mutual "Wow, that was... " that started to cross our minds, but we went into the next move on beat instead. We had a superb evening. I did moves that I had never done in freestyle before. I found out later that she had not done them in freestyle later. We got congratulated by the organiser - Becky of W.C.S How great an evening is that?

For those who pay credence to such things, she shared the same birthday as my wife.

Forte
29th-October-2003, 11:56 PM
Originally posted by bigdjiver
For those who pay credence to such things, she shared the same birthday as my wife.

ChrisA has just told me we share the same birthday...we haven't danced yet...maybe we should! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

ChrisA
30th-October-2003, 02:47 AM
Originally posted by Forte
ChrisA has just told me we share the same birthday...we haven't danced yet...maybe we should! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
Looking forward to it..

Chris

Jon
31st-October-2003, 08:17 PM
Originally posted by Andy McGregor
It's only happened a few times to me and it's always been with a total stranger. The hardest bit is knowing what to do when the music stops. You sort of wake up from a dream and look into your partner's eyes and wonder what you're supposed to do next...

Get her phone number! :wink:. If only I could remember that at the time :tears: