From the Social Dance Rag:
The character of the dance establishes the styling technique. Rise and Fall in Waltz has a natural and graceful rise and fall because of the pressure on the one count and relaxing on the two and three counts. Yet, in Foxtrot there is little rise and fall, and the dancers just glide across the floor.Though the two dances share many figures, those figures will be danced differently for each of the two dances. Applying the appropriate technique to capture the character of each dance, rather than the blindly trying a "one size fits all" approach, is one of the most joyful aspects of learning to dance socially.
Finally, there is the technique associated with each figure -the amount of turn, sway etc. Nice if you want to be an exhibition or competition dancer. However, what is often overlooked is that these are actually descriptions of what the finish product should look like, not prescriptions for how to achieve it. Many instructors teach by the book, but most social dance instructors discourage students from referring directly to a technique book because it was never intended for social dancers. The technique described in books were developed by watching good dancers perform and describing the result.
Without a good instructor to provide information about the actual method of achieving these results, the technique books can seem overly legalistic and extremely cryptic. It's understandable that someone whose exposure to "technique" consists of dealing directly with a book would have a bad image of technique. So, even if you are a recreational or competition dancer, dancing is about enjoying yourself. Dancing technique is not meant to take away from your enjoyment, its purpose is to enhance it! The more you understand about the categories of technique, the more enjoyable dancing will be to you, and the more enjoyable you will be to dance with.
The character of the dance establishes the styling technique. Rise and Fall in Waltz has a natural and graceful rise and fall because of the pressure on the one count and relaxing on the two and three counts. Yet, in Foxtrot there is little rise and fall, and the dancers just glide across the floor.Though the two dances share many figures, those figures will be danced differently for each of the two dances. Applying the appropriate technique to capture the character of each dance, rather than the blindly trying a "one size fits all" approach, is one of the most joyful aspects of learning to dance socially.
"Being a social dancer may mean you are ready and willing
to help others enjoy the dance."
Finally, there is the technique associated with each figure -the amount of turn, sway etc. Nice if you want to be an exhibition or competition dancer. However, what is often overlooked is that these are actually descriptions of what the finish product should look like, not prescriptions for how to achieve it. Many instructors teach by the book, but most social dance instructors discourage students from referring directly to a technique book because it was never intended for social dancers. The technique described in books were developed by watching good dancers perform and describing the result.
"Waikiki" by Amy Hanaialii
Without a good instructor to provide information about the actual method of achieving these results, the technique books can seem overly legalistic and extremely cryptic. It's understandable that someone whose exposure to "technique" consists of dealing directly with a book would have a bad image of technique. So, even if you are a recreational or competition dancer, dancing is about enjoying yourself. Dancing technique is not meant to take away from your enjoyment, its purpose is to enhance it! The more you understand about the categories of technique, the more enjoyable dancing will be to you, and the more enjoyable you will be to dance with.
"Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a person's growth
without destroying their roots."
without destroying their roots."
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