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). 

S is for Syncopation

S is for Syncopation
Musically, syncopation is defined as a disturbance or interruption of the regular or expected rhythm, or the placement of accents where they wouldn’t normally occur.  I suppose that this definition would also be generally appropriate for dances that have basic patterns which include only the basic timing of quicks and slows in their basic patterns:  waltz, foxtrot, rumba, and country 2-step would all be examples.  But what about cha-cha and polka?  Their basic patterns include a triple step or 3 steps stuffed into 2 beats of music.  Hustle?  It includes 2 steps stuffed into 1 beat of music.  All are examples of syncopations in dance:  more steps than ‘normal’ danced in a beat or two beats of music.

But what is my favorite definition of syncopation?  The extra steps or fancy footwork that a more advanced dancer uses to correct (or cover up) a mistake!  What?  Who me?  Oh no…that wasn’t a mistake….that was a syncopation!  Why yes….I thought it was pretty interesting too.  Thank you! (smirk!) 

Dance of the Day:  Salsa

Mix together:

6 Roma Tomatoes, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 seeded and minced jalapenos
½ onion, chopped fine
1 TBS olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
Salt, pepper, chopped fresh scallions, chopped cilantro, chopped parsley, to taste

Serve with tortilla chips.

Consume on breaks between dances while dancing Mambo “on the 1” to really fast 4-count Latin music!

M is for Move

M is for Move!

Dance…what happens between the beats of music….making music visible….add a partner and WOW!  What a rush it can be.  Move….move…move to the music…move with your partner, move with the music…just move.  It is good from for the body and good for the soul.  Move.

Dance of the Day:  Mambo

A Latin dance originated in Cuba in the early 1930’s.  It was originally danced to “Mambo” music (seems obvious).  It was wild and free with no breaking steps or basic steps.  Over time the dance was moved to Mexico and then in the 1940’s to New York City where it was sanitized for market-ability to the ballroom community.  By the 1970s, the current version of the dance (2 quick steps and 1 slow in any direction) or alternately “rock” or “break” step, step was widely danced, but to salsa music not mambo music.  The difference between salsa and mambo?  Mambo “breaks” on the “2” and Salsa breaks on the 1.  In other words, Mambo is simply cha-cha with a single “slow” step replacing the chasse in cha-cha that is danced on the “4 & 1”.  Of note is that the cha-cha came first….it was altered to become the Mambo.

Why Don't Men Dance?

Opps…that’s a rather broad generalization that will quickly get me in trouble because some men do dance…for which those of us who dance with them are extremely grateful!  APPLAUSE! APPLAUSE! 

But at every social dance (ballroom, swing, country, salsa, tango – it doesn’t matter) I have ever been to, there are almost always more women dancers than men.

So, more accurately, why don’t the men who don’t dance, dance?

Clearly since I am not a man that doesn’t dance, I don’t have a clue why the men that don’t dance, well…don’t dance…but I have been told a few different reasons (yup…now I am adding hearsay to generalization…the more literary inaccuracies, the merrier)!  And here are my top 5 (along with my unsolicited thoughts in response):

1)      I’ve got two left feet.  (Really?  Fascinating!  Where do you buy your shoes?  And who really knows whether or not the orientation of your feet would actually have any bearing on your ability to dance?)

2)      I wasn’t born with rhythm.  (Neither was anyone else!  Have you ever seen a newborn counting ‘quick, quick, slow, slow’ to the sound of his mother singing a lullaby? Rhythm and timing are learned skills.  Were you born knowing how to throw a football?)

3)      I don’t want to.  (Possibly, but why not?  What is the real reason that you don’t want to dance?  Some good possibilities do come to mind, but they are somewhat unusual.  In what other public situation do you get the opportunity to hold the a woman you may not know for 3 minutes, direct her movements like a puppeteer directs a puppet as you whisk her around the floor, and have her smile, say “thank you” and ask if she may have another when its over?   No….I asked about PUBLIC situations!)

4)      I don’t know how.  (Well, now we are getting somewhere! But I still think there is something missing.  You see, the guy who told me this one had just bluffed his way into a new job that was way above his ability level with a really grand “of course I know how to do that!” attitude about something that he barely know what was, let alone how to do it! Huh?)

5)      Maybe guys can fly.  (If I could fly…ahh but I can’t)

6)      ??????   (I am sure there are many, many more reasons…please drop me a comment and share your thoughts!)

I think the reason that men who don’t dance, don’t dance is that they are afraid. 

I am pretty certain that the one thing that really drives modern man is his fear of looking bad (much different than his ancestors’ fear of being eaten by a saber tooth tiger…back then looking good to the tiger was a very bad thing!).  Even worse, would be his fear of looking bad in front of one or more women.  And, oh dear, worst of all would be his fear of looking bad in front of one or more women that he likes or loves or wants to like or love!

Unfortunately, if we have to admit that no one is born knowing how to dance and that in order to learn we need to go to classes or take lessons, then we are going to have to risk looking bad while we learn to dance.

The good news?  Everyone else in those classes is taking the same risk and struggling with the same fears and concerns.  Dance classes are a very safe place to risk looking bad, so long as they are taught by a good instructor (but more on that some other day).  So…modern men unit!  Be brave!  Make many women happy (that alone should be worth the risk)!  Find a good partner dance class and LEARN TO DANCE!