We never learned to dance

By Thomas Takizawa, Waialai Iki

"Ask any experienced dancer and they will tell you that dancing does not consist

of simply repeating a bunch of patterns learned in class."

A quote from apparently a very knowledgeable and experienced dancer on the Internet, a real "rootzi tootzi."

I read this recently and I got to thinking, that perhaps what we have been doing and enjoying immensely has been terribly wrong and maybe even illegal. I am beginning to be convinced that we have been applying the word "dancer" to most of us in error. Dancers are emerging as something else. We are movers to music and we would like to enjoy that movement, our way. But other people seem to have the authority to make rules for us to move some other way.

Waltz, just step, step, step, left, right, left. I lead the lady by going forward and then we go backward, we turn left and we turn right. All the time, the music actually leads the way. I may move my shoulder a little different, now and then, no one cares. I may vary the pressure on the one count and no one is even mildly interested. I have been doing these "repetitive" motions for over six decades in sheer joy just enjoying the music.

"Stranger In Paradise" by Tony Bennett

That is certainly different from the "rootzi tootzis" I have been coming across lately. Those that believe that they are dancing "correctly" because they have the authority to define  "correct." I have been in this world too long to be that easily persuaded. And I am just coming across long time American Style dance teachers that think International is the real class of dance. Auwe!

But they may have finally convinced me that I am not a dancer, I just move to my favorite music in the simplest way possible to enjoy the music with my partner to the max. There may be a more correct terminology for our type moving. And there seems to be more volumes of books, in full or almost full explanations of their dance theories. They are hellavah lot more complicated than anything I have ever done in the last 70 years. I always had difficulty in understanding one tenth of what I have read. They lose me somewhere along the way.

"Save The Last Dance For Me." by Michael Buble

We can consider ourselves fortunate that there are so many people in "our" developing dance world that will never read those volumes and will continue to move to their favorite music in the most enjoyable fashion. We just have to find the places where we can do that without encroaching on "rootzi tootzi' theories. ****