Male/Female moves/styles/venues?

[bigdjiver]

I have been dancing for many years at a venue that has worked its way up from small numbers. I have a very exuberant"style". I would say it is very masculine, lots of lifts and dips. I would say that most ladies prefer something gentler, but I have the build for the "strength" moves, and made the decision to cater most for the ladies that like those.

I have seen a lot of guys imitating moves that I do. The M/F ratio is close to even. I wondered if the facts were related, if the frequency of "Male" moves had created a "Male" venue. Are there Male/Female moves/styles/venues?

[Andy McGregor]

This has reminded me of something I've observed in my travels. I go to a lot of venues and each venue has a different personality. Sometimes it reflects the teacher, other times the dancers and sometimes the venue - and on rare occasions the DJ.

The most obvious one is Hipsters. It's now all about the dancers. But I don't think it started off that way. I think a venue goes through various evolutionary phases. I think Hipsters went through this process in a sort of hot-house, forced way but I think it still evolved.

The worrying thing is that a highly evolved venue can be quite off-putting to beginners. All the dancers would seem to the of the I-could-never-be-that-good type and the music would be too difficult for beginners. If every venue got to that stage we'd end up like ballroom with a mostly ageing/dying population

[Gus]

The worrying thing is that a highly evolved venue can be quite off-putting to beginners. All the dancers would seem to the of the I-could-never-be-that-good type and the music would be too difficult for beginners. :

Why would you want beginners there? IMHO the beginners market is adequately covered by the standard MJ classes. My perception is that Hipsters and the like are catering for a different market. At Cool Catz we havent said that beginners are banned but we have strongly suggested that they might not enjoy it. We cater for beginners on our Northwich club, Cool Catz if for those who want to be challenged.

[stewart38]

I have been dancing for many years at a venue that has worked its way up from small numbers. I have a very exuberant"style". I would say it is very masculine, lots of lifts and dips. I would say that most ladies prefer something gentler, but I have the build for the "strength" moves, and made the decision to cater most for the ladies that like those.

I have seen a lot of guys imitating moves that I do. The M/F ratio is close to even. I wondered if the facts were related, if the frequency of "Male" moves had created a "Male" venue. Are there Male/Female moves/styles/venues?

I think its human nature to try and copy a move you see on the dance floor, if you think you can !

I’m not aware of any major differences at different venues (apart from places like Hipsters where the standard is generally higher for reasons mentioned)

What I've found with major influx of beginners (that could be due to come dancing etc) that some venues are being watered down and it’s harder to find the 'good/better' dancers at a given venue. Where they go I dont know.

[jockey]

I have been dancing for many years at a venue that has worked its way up from small numbers. I have a very exuberant"style". I would say it is very masculine, lots of lifts and dips. I would say that most ladies prefer something gentler, but I have the build for the "strength" moves, and made the decision to cater most for the ladies that like those.

I have seen a lot of guys imitating moves that I do. The M/F ratio is close to even. I wondered if the facts were related, if the frequency of "Male" moves had created a "Male" venue. Are there Male/Female moves/styles/venues?

I think there are two distinct points here: 1)Do ladies like to do lifts and drops (and are they masculine?)?
and 2) do venues have individual character?
(Though 1) and 2) ARE related when it comes to size (of venue) - where lifts and drops are concerned size matters).
On 1) some do some dont and always find out first, naturally; lifts are pretty irresponsible and dangerous in a freestyle but some drops are ok (ballroom drop, seducer, deathdrop, dropkick ('trustme'), maybe starjump (exception); for safety I stick to ones that my partners are likely to know because they are more frequently taught. IMITATION of drops could lead to problems cos u need to be taughtthem (at Camber Nov 2004 a lady went to hospital after a man attempted a lift he had watched in an aerials class; he hadn't done the class and it was in freestyle (!)).

(I wonder how 'masculine' he felt after that little episode..)

On 2) Yes, and thought-provoking: character could depend on the architecture, the floor, the DJ, and the standard of dancers and whether it was a holiday/weekender venue. But I cannot think of one where the presence or absence of lifts and drops is a determining factor - with one exception (and its a big one) AUSTRALIA where they do them all the time and where, I shouldn't wonder, it is considered masculine..

[Daisy]

it’s harder to find the 'good/better' dancers at a given venue. Where they go I dont know.

Where they're not going to get critisised for a perceived lack of musicality!

[Yliander]

- with one exception (and its a big one) AUSTRALIA where they do them all the time and where, I shouldn't wonder, it is considered masculine..

we don't do them ALL the time ....... just whenever we get enough space