Mixin’ it up

Let’s talk about a question that I get asked a lot at the local country and ballroom dance events.  I’ll step out on the floor with someone, the music will be playing and they’ll ask me, “What dance style will we be doing?”  Sometimes it’s very straightforward.  The count, the tempo, or the style means that it is definitely a waltz or salsa or polka.  But more often than not my answer is, “Anything.”

I was, am, and will always be a Lindy Hopper.  That being said, I am familiar with about 20 different dance styles.  What that means is that every time I dance, I’m dancing Lindy Hop.  And yet I am free to use steps and styling from a dozen other dances at any time.  Doing a Fox Trot basic step doesn’t mean I’m dancing Fox Trot.  It just means I thought there was a call for that step at that moment.

This is an important concept that a lot of people overlook.  In fact, a lot of music makes this an essential concept.  There are many musicians out there that play around with style and tempo in the middle of the song.  And when the song changes, the dance has to change with it.  I see it way too often.  A song that was a good two-step changes very clearly to a waltz during the bridge.  And there everyone goes, plowing ahead with two-step even though it no longer matches the music.

This idea is less about being creative than it is about being flexible.  Pay attention to the music and let yourself move with the step and style that is appropriate at that moment.  When the music changes, let your dance change.  And think of every style you learn as adding to your repertoire as a whole.  If all you know in salsa is the basic step, it doesn’t mean you’re a bad or inexperienced salsa dancer.  It means you are a dancer that can do the salsa basic too.

Dancing in the Aisles

My partner, Anna, and I had an opportunity recently to teach for a couple days at the Washington High School dance class.  I was a Freshman when I started dancing, and I try to share what I do with the high-school students at least once a year.  The students were polite and receptive, but probably not as involved as I would have hoped.  There was a very clear perception about learning partner dance that they had… “When am I ever going to use this?”  Worse yet is it’s not limited to them.  Time and time and time again, people who aren’t involved in the dance scene resist learning because, “When am I ever going to use this?”  So I thought I should give a few choice examples of opportunities I’ve found in Sioux Falls.

Anna, Josh and I were on our way down to Cowtown Jamborama in Omaha recently.  We were all psyched up for an amazing weekend of lessons and dancing, and boy, we were ready to dance.  We stopped at Subway on the way down and were waiting our turn at the back of a small line.  No worries.  I was humming a swing tune and Anna and I were dancing right there in Subway.  Josh took pictures.  Believe it or not, there weren’t nearly as many confused stares as you would have expected.

A couple weeks ago, coming back from day two of teaching at Washington High School, Anna and I stopped at McDonalds for lunch.  It was still early and they weren’t serving lunch for another 15 minutes, so we decided to hang out an wait.  I got my iPod and player out of the car, and there we were passing time by dancing in the isles at McDonalds.  It was very cool to see that everyone was smiling and enjoying watching us playing around and having fun.

One of my students used to work the cubicle gig at Qwest.  It’s a long, dull, frustrating job of dealing with irate customers all day.  He told me that things improved when he figured out he could be doing triple steps in his cubicle.

There are singles groups and dance studios that have dances pretty much every week.  There are a number of different bars in town with dance floors that bring in people and play music all night.  And that’s really all you need.  Music, a floor, and someone to dance with.  It’s so easy, it’s requires so little, and it really does make everything better.

When are you ever going to use this?  Anytime you want.