Dancing

So, do you like to dance, or do you have two-left feet? I tend to unfortunately fall into the latter category. Dancing is a neat skill and quite fun to watch though– and so many different types.
One of my friends, Anubhav, has taken up Salsa dancing. Several people in my extended family has tried Belly-dancing at one point or another. Lots of my friends have been into Swing dancing. Oh, and I guess some people i know like “Clubbin”, i.e. bump and grind dancing.

That said, I enjoy the concept of dancing a lot, but I suck so badly that when I do dance, I have to concentrate so hard that I really don’t have that much fun with it… Maybe I just need a whole lot of practice.

So, the topic is dancing. Thoughts?

8 Responses to “Dancing”

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I believe dancing to be less about a sequence of steps that fall into a genre than it is a way of “carrying” oneself — in all situations and senses of the word. Dancing is a way of life.

jeanine - May 13th, 2005 at 8:41 am

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I don’t know what you’re talking about, PD — you’re more of a natural dancer than the vast majority of people I know. Just because it isn’t some “standard” style of dancing doesn’t mean it isn’t good dancing 😛 When dancing is too categorized into mostly a series of steps, it takes the life out of it — your dancing, however, has a lot of life in it. It’s how dancing is supposed to be, I think. You’re enjoying yourself and expressing that enjoyment of the music through your body.

I also like to think I have some natural dancing ability, like you, PD, but I am not too good when it comes to standard dancing. That whole body-coordination thing is too difficult when you’ve got to think about it so much. It’s easier when you let your body do what it feels. However, I wouldn’t go as far as saying dancing is “a way of life”… or at least maybe for some people, but definitely not for me. If I were to pick something from the arts though, it’d probably be music — that which causes dance. (But even though I do have some musical talent, this hasn’t helped me with dancing much either!)

Teisha - May 13th, 2005 at 9:20 am

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Music as a way of life– was there ever a doubt? The grand symphopny drives around us, and we weave ourselves into the endless melody. I guess dance could be part of that. 😉

Thanks for the comment about natural dancing… 🙂 I do like to sway my body around. I guess I just got used to being looked down for “dancing like a white guy”, as some acquiantances have famously put it.

Paradoxdruid - May 13th, 2005 at 11:01 am

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It was really fun taking lessons to learn how to dance for our wedding. Jenny and I still dance in our kitchen some times, with me humming.

Owen - May 13th, 2005 at 3:36 pm

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I think that I fall into your category, Druid. But, I really have no desire to learn structured dancing. When Gilvoro and I were trying to decide what to do about our Handfasting ceremony, we just decided that we wouldn’t have dancing so we wouldn’t have to be put through the pain of taking a class that we didn’t want to take.

That being said, I do like to start swaying and “dancing” when I hear a catchy song in the car or at the mall. To be truthful, Druid, you- and others like you- who have been doing that since before I met you, sort of got me in the habit. It’s fun!

ShortSpeedFreak - May 14th, 2005 at 7:46 am

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And I’m back!

As for dancing, I took up swing dancing my sophomore year in college and have been going out on a bing and purge frequency. I love the structure, but then again I like structure in general. Tonight I plan on starting up Tango!

One would have thought that after 12 years of soccer that I would have no problems with getting my feet to do strange things, but it took me a good year to get decent at swing dancing, at least 3 before I felt comfortable saying I was intermediate. Since the swing I have had less trouble with other forms of dance (tried cuban salsa and ballroom). Just takes patience and practice.

stephen - May 18th, 2005 at 12:14 pm

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So finally…I am making the first post here. I am Anubhav (the guy abt whom Druid mentioned taking Salsa lessons). This is the first structured dance lessons which I am taking and they have been much more fun than I thought. I am not a natural dancer but always wanted to dance….so thought of learning some kind (and this was the only class open when i decided that). Everyone dances in this own ways though n some indeed are natural /better dancers. But I guess one should dance to express and not to impress :).

Anubhav - May 19th, 2005 at 9:04 pm

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How does structure in dancing take the “life” out of it any more than counterpointe takes the life out of Bach?
Expression is facilitated by discipline, not hampered by it.

pooh - July 9th, 2005 at 12:48 pm

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