Don't lose hope - I was always a rhythm based dancer, but one day recently my brain suddenly started going "ooo I can dance to other things in this music". Not that I can do it very well, but it's a start...
I'm so glad I'm not the only one who does that!
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
i think i will hide next time i see you in a venue lori lol
i dont wanna risk the slap round the head which i so rightly deserve
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
Give yourselves a break! In fairness Modern Jive and WCS are beat dances, whereas Blues and Tango really aren't. If you have spent time learning to dance Modern Jive and/or WCS you will have been taught how and where to find your musical cues in the music to suit your beat dancing.
If you want to dance non-beat dances, grab a couple of classes... just like you did when you wanted to do a beat dance. I would caution you to look long and hard at where you take those lessons though. To make things 'accessible' it is often the case that you will go to a Blues class only to find out that it's a slow Jive or a slow WCS class teaching a 32 beat pattern with bonus tips like "eye contact is over rated"
Not helpful, just confusing. If you are looking for a Blues class try to avoid ANYWHERE that teaches sequences of moves. That may work for MJ/WCS but prescribed patterns have nothing to do with Blues or Tango dancing.
Bottom line: if you want it, you need to make a little effort if you're not one of the lucky ones who can learn by osmosis
Stokie
When learning WCS, yes it is about the beat, but from day one they teach you about Musicality. We are very lucky to have 2 world class dancers who teach us on a weekly basis.
They also teach us about different types of musicality which is not just beat orientated. We have had lots of workshops which have gone over lyrical musicality.
On a personal note after every musicality lesson I think I am the worlds worst dancer. The class feels that it is an astro physics class taught in Chinese and I only speak bad english.
Lets hope one day something clicks.
I need to stop digging my own grave
maybe you need to go to a musicality workshop such as cj's or if he ever teaches in the uk again cerocmetros as they teach how to listen to the music and not related to one style of dance.
since doing both i hear music in a totally different light and i dont mean just when i am dancing
I admire your candor Gerry. The bottom line is that WCS (even extra musical WCS danced by the likes of Jordan & Tat) is at heart a beat dance. Slotting musicality into a beat dance is not quite the same as learning to dance in a way that is sympathetic to the structure of a whole track.
As for winging it, there's a lot to be said for that. But that tends to go one of two ways. Your natural ability to hear the nuances in the music will allow you to abandon the beat and dance smoothly, musically and in a very connected way with your partner
Or your lack of natural ability will leave you looking like a demented spinning top throwing random shapes at your bewildered partner. Generally meaning that the dance ends up as comfortable as cramming size 11 feet into a size 9 dance shoes
Mmm... sort of. There are beats, they're just not dominant.
I'd say it's more that in Blues and Tango you can ignore the beat of a track at will, whereas in MJ and (possibly) WCS, the movements are more tied to the musical phrases. So it makes sense that Blues and Tango dancers can tend to develop more musical creativity.
Sounds right - same for salsa. Taking salsa again as an example, there's very little musicality in salsa, simply because there's little room for interpretation - you pretty much have to fit your movements into the rhythm of the music.
Actually, I'm wondering if learning something like modern dance or dance improv. classes might be better for that sort of thing...
Most good WCS dancers (not just talking about pros) dont seem to have trouble expressing the structure of the whole of whatever track they're dancing to (lyrics always seem to be a big driving force)
Martin I have been to CJ's musicality class, I have also been to a musicality class by Kyle and Sarah, nothing has changed.
I was talking to CJ on this subject at Hemsby, he certainly believes Musicality can be learn't, if so I have a very long journey ahead of moi
WCS may be a beat dance for the vast majority but at the upper echolons we are talking a totally different level. I have seen Lee and Fab dance, Lee's choreography perfectly fits the feel of the music. When you start looking at Tat and Jordan you certainly don't feel that they are just dancing, you feel as if there is a story being acted infront of you. I would say that is not dancing to the beat.
While I'm enjoying snooping in on this discussion, would a lovely(tm) mod please add an extra 'o' in the appropriate place. It's making my eyes bleed every time I look at the thread title!!
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