V is for Variety

V is for Variety

Of all the social activities that we can get involved with, the one that has the most variety might well be social partner dancing!  Foxtrot, slow foxtrot, waltz, vieneese waltz, quickstep, International tango, American Tango, paso doble, rumba, cha-cha, jive, bolero, country 2-step, night club 2-step, triple 2-step, west coast swing, east coast swing, jitterbug, lindy, shag, polka, hustle, Argentine tango, salsa, mambo and countless local variations.  In most cities, partner social dancing can be found 6-7 nights a week.  What a great exercise plan…each dance uses different muscles, burns an average of 300 calories/hour, it’s a great social activity, fun and social dancing has more variety of movements than any musical exercise routine!

Dance of the Day:  Viennese Waltz

Viennese Waltz is the oldest of the modern ballroom dances and the scandalous.  It was introduced in Europe in the late 1700s.  In 1797, its scandalous nature (ladies held their gowns very high to avoid stepping on the hems which gave the appearance of cloaking or covering themselves and their partner from outside eyes!) became the subject matter of a pamphlet entitled “Proof that Waltzing is the Main Source of Weakness of the Body and Mind of our Generation” by Wolf!  By Gosh!  Based on that pamphlet, I say “Let’s DANCE!” 

Anyway, Viennese Waltz is danced very fast (about 180 beats/minute) to music that is written in ¾ time such as the famous Strauss compositions.  Originally Viennese Waltz patterns were entirely rotational using only a change step to switch from a left rotating turn to a right rotating turn.  This structure has not changed much in the last 200 years, closing the distance between partners while in dance hold and adding only 4 additional patterns (Fleckerls, contra check, left whisk, and canter time pivots) to the International Standard Syllabus. 

Today, while it is danced competitively as one of the International Standard ballroom dances, Viennese Waltz is not danced socially as often as it’s off spring the Waltz (danced much slower at about 90 beats/minute). 

N is for NightClub 2-Step

N is for Nothing

Nothing is what I strive to think when I dance.  I do not want to have to think about my feet and where they are stepping.  I do not want to wonder whether I have the skill to follow my partner.  I especially do not want to second guess what my partner is trying to lead…I will be wrong.  I simply want to feel my partner’s lead and respond, as well as I can.  No thinking, just the cadence of the music in my head, a smile on my face and the knowledge that I have the skills in muscle memory to move as I need to in order to follow what is led.  Nothing more.  Nothing at all.

Dance of the Day:: NightClub 2-step

Nightclub 2-step is a contemporary social dance that was created in the mid-1960s to dance to mid-tempo ballads in 4/4 timing.  It has a quick-quick-slow timing and rock-step -side to side movement that can rotate and float around the floor.  The hold is relaxed and has a casual, romantic feel.

During the 1980s, the country western dance community adopted the dance and over time adapted it for the many slower country music ballads, dancing it on slow-quick-quick timing and replacing the rock step with a close-cross movement on the quicks and a strong, developed slow.  Called NightClub, the dance is one of the 8 dance that are danced competitively on both the UCWDC and ACDA circuits.