Heart - but - it varies.
If the music is not inspiring me its very hard for me to 'feel' the dance so the 'heart' is not as engaged.
If dancing with a beginner its normally the head as I'm thinking about how to make the dance a good experience for them - following them even if not quite in time to the music, managing my and their floorcraft if crowded, etc.
If dancing with someone doing lots of complicated twisty moves then definitely head as I spend all my time trying to stay balanced, uninjured and possibly trying to calculate how much longer the song will last...
Most notably at the moment - if limited physically - a lot of thinking to make sure I protect myself from injury. I just can't 'let go' at the moment.
BUT - if a partner I know (or even one I don't but can quickly have that connection with) and music I love then its heart - and those are the best dances!
(NB - the dance I find it easiest to dance from the heart is probably AT.)
Last edited by Lynn; 19th-March-2009 at 08:39 PM.
Dance for me is all about feeling, feeling the music, feeling the mood, so for me definitely from the heart (although I do think as well, sometimes too much)
Used to think way too much when dancing.. recently I have started to dance and feel the music .. apparently my dancing has come on leaps and bounds since then so I go for the heart every time!
I dance from my heart.
With the exceptions of when I'm dancing with someone with poor floorcraft/technique, and I have to use my head in order to protect myself. Results in a much less satisfying dance for us both.
If I think too much, I stand still.
If I try and soar with the music I fall over.
I try to stay somewhere between the two: soaring with the music, but with enough thought not to hit the ground with anything but my feet.
Depends on the context of when I'm dancing...social dancing is from the heart, but competition dancing is definitely from the head. At least, it is for me.
The other trick is, even when you think it's from the heart, it still has to be from the head since it's all just 'chemicals in the brain' anyway
'chemicals in the brain' is otherwise known as instinct and emotion. Mankind is more a rationalising species, not a rational one. The brain finds "reasons" for us to do what our instincts tell us to do. "Head" is always ruled by "Heart", no matter how logical we try to make it appear. Partner dance is a sexual activity. The real control centre is elsewhere.
Not inherently, no - it certainly is not. I'm sure that for some (many?) people this is the case, but for myself and many others, the sexual side is usually only a very minor aspect of the dance.
Yes, of course it crops up from time to time, but even if you removed that aspect completely from partner dancing, I'd still be just as much of a partner dance addict as I am now.
I agree with every word of your post Lynn. (It won't let me Thank or rep you).
...except the NB below.If I don't concentrate I lose it and have to start again. Even someone smiling at me as they pass can put me off.(NB - the dance I find it easiest to dance from the heart is probably AT.)
Where is the real control centre Bigdjiver?
My honest answer is...
it all depends on 'who' I'm dancing with.... and the music of course.
Some leads demand a more technical approach, with no emotion involved. I can do that and enjoy it
but the magic only happens when I feel uninhibited and able to dance with real feeling!
MODERATOR AT YOUR SERVICE
"If you're going to do something tonight, that you know you'll be sorry for in the morning, plan a lie in." Lorraine
So true!
When I look back at the dances that I've enjoyed the most, it's all heart stuff - the music, the atmosphere, and (most improtantly) the lead, "click" to the point where my head doesn't have anything to do with it - it becomes more instinctual. But it's probably different for leads who actually do have to think (I presume) for everything other that micro blues
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Bookmarks