The hardest move in dancing

is stepping onto the dance floor.  In public.

For me, anyway.

One of the reasons I resisted learning to dance for so long, and so stubbornly is my vanity.  I hate to fail.  I particularly hate to fail in public.

 

That's also the main reason I started by taking lessons at the dance studio rather than just showing up at the dance club and trying to copy the moves.  Or going to dancing meetups and learning there.  Or free lessons at the local honky-tonk.  The Dance studio is still my main outlet, though.

The more people are there, the less comfortable I am.  The more I feel they are watching me, the less comfortable I am.   The better the other dancers are, the less comfortable I am. 

If the other dancers are drunk, that helps me a bit, sad to say.  If I feel like I'm pretty decent at the dance in question, that helps too.  If I feel like I'm better than the average other dancer who's there, that helps.   Told you I was vain.

That "feeling confident about a dance" thing is recent. And fleeting.  Right now the chances of running into a better dancer (or several) at any random venue is essentially 100%.  And that's at the country place, where dancing is playing third fiddle to drinking and carousing.  In a Salsa club, very nearly every single person there is not only better than I am, but a LOT bett er than I am.  Some of them are stratospherically better.  Those people are SERIOUS about dancing and basically don't drink (which, I'm told, is why "Lets have a Salsa night" is often the last desperate act of a bar that's slowly dying...  I believe it too, the bar where I got hooked by the DanceEvangelista is now a Mexican Restaurant)

 I know there are people that are comfortable in the spotlight, I've met them.  Some I admire, others intimidate me, others just seem like some kind of alien.

But it's not me.  When I take the Meyers-Briggs personality test I score 75-85% Introverted.  And I've learned recently that I've got a triple threat - I'm Introverted, Quiet, and Shy.  Plus I'm definitely not a naturally graceful, instinctive athlete.  Quadruple threat.

Heck, I'm most nearly comfortable with private lessons (one person watching me fail, and she's a professional being paid to be understanding), less comfortable with group lessons (there's like 8 or 10 people in there!), even less comfortable with practice parties at the dance studio (a couple of dozen people, some of whom are VERY good dancers), and least comfortable with dancing in Real Life (panic!).  I've spent hours at dancing venues where people are dancing and all I can bring myself to do is watch.  I got into a conversation about this the other night at a swing dance when a woman noticed that I was mostly watching, and asked me about it.  She approached me, of course.  We had a nice chat, I'm pretty comfortable with words...

The best way to estimate how painful this is, is, notice how much the dance studios can charge for their services, their expertise, and most of all, their emotionally safe learning environment.   People say all sorts of things, but their true feelings are shown by how they spend their money.  And I'm happy to pay it, I prefer it to the many free options available.  Still, I think this price is actually is a low estimate.  I spent years avoiding social venues in general, and dancing specifically, rather than pay the cost in money and feeling uncomfortable.  That's cost me more than my dance hall dues, and there's no way to quantify that.

But I'm working on it.  Even just trying different studios, with different people is a challenge, but I'm doing it.  I've joined a couple of dancing clubs and I'm going to their classes and events.  I even did a couple of performance pieces at my home dance studio a few months back, and I've got another coming up (yes, I need to blog about this, but this is, in fact, one of several things that have kept me too busy to blog....)    I'm trying to get out to social dances regularly, and for the most part, I'm there (Often, I'm there standing with my back against the wall, but I'm there....)

There is no way around.  The only way is through.

2013 Day of Dance

I attended the 2013 Day of Dance on Feb 23rd.  Here are some quick impressions.

Again, it seemed the judging got more generous as enthusiasm built.  Not that there was anything nefarious going on, in fact I think it's the most natural thing in the world, just a consequence of later performances getting to build on the emotional impact of the former.  I'm glad I'm not a judge, I don't have any idea how to deal with that.

Contestants:

• Rudy Acosta - Univision / Patti Smith - CSP Dance Studios
• Sherry Aragon - Lovelace Hospital / Randy Piatt - The Dance Studio
• Donnie Chase - 100.3 The Peak / Chelsea Haining - Arthur Murray Dance Studio
• Dr Kristina Chong - Women's Specialists of NM / Bentura Madrid - Arthur Murray Dance Studio
• Jill Galus - KOB4 / Chris Quintana, CSP Dance Studios
• Gadi Schwartz - KOB 4 / Kim Piatt, The Dance Studio
• Alex Tomlin - KRQE News 13 / Nick Hill, Enchantment Dancing

Results and commentary:

3rd place went to Rudy Acosta/Patti Smith, for their Salsa to "La Vida es un Carnival".  Rudy's Bio doesn't mention dance experience, but his hips looked like this wasn't their first Salsa.  Rudy shed his shirt in a little drama that definitely got the attention of the crowd, and the judges, one of whom gave them a 11 out of 10.

2nd place went to Jill Galus / Chris Quintana, for their Hustle to "Shake your Groove thing".  Lots of energy and drama.  Jill's previous dance experience helped them out, and they did lifts and some fast, fancy moves.  The crowd loved it.

1st place went to Gadi Schwartz / Kim Piatt, for their Swing (sorry, I didn't note the music they used).  Gadi's "behind the scenes" footage mentioned that he was a fellow noob, and some of his steps didn't look terribly polished, but he had a blast, wore a big old grin the whole time, and did a pretty impressive tumbling run, followed by a partner-supported backflip.  He certainly didn't hold anything back, and the crowd and the judges responded.  It was a blast to watch.


All the performances were inspiring, but particularly so was Sherry Aragon / Randy Piatt, who danced a foxtrot.  I don't know the music, but the theme of the song was what a bad girl Sherry could be, and she totally got into it.  She vamped it up and played to the crowd and the lyrics and to Randy, who was the perfect foil.  She was flirty and playful and loving it.  Congrats to Sherry and Randy.

If anybody has corrections, feedback, opinions, or more links, please share.



Here are some links:


Highlights - Lovelace

KASA broadcast coverage

KLUZ broadcast coverage

KOB TV's coverage (article, Youtube)    KOB TV broadcast coverage - youtube

Rudy Acosta & Patti Smith's Salsa                (HT to Chris Brewington)
Jill Galus and Chris Quintana's Hustle          (HT to Chris Brewington)

A Jive Dance Presentation  by ABC               (HT to Chris Brewington)

Contestant Bios from Lovelace:
 
Lovelace Youtube page - in case they upload anything else

New Studios - group Salsa classes

I danced Salsa at a couple of new studios fairly recently.  No particular reason - I just had a free spot in my schedule, wanted to learn some Salsa, and my "home" studio didn't have anything scheduled, so I went looking for group classes elsewhere I could just walk into.

The Downtown Studio I tried was a lot of fun.  Did a 1 hour beginner's class followed immediately by a 1 hour intermediate class.  Started with basic, underarm turn, cross body lead, so the same progression I was used to.  The class was about 8 men and 7 women (or thereabouts).

The intermediate class got into cross body lead variations, including leading from a handshake hold, and a cross body lead variation where the lady does a full spin rather than the normal half spin, ending up stopped (briefly) in a shadow position (I don't remember the terminology for this, I want to say it was a stopped cross body lead, but I'm not confident of that).  I've since tried that move, and don't have it even remotely down.  I think I'm not clear on how to differentiate the lead.  The last few minutes of the class were the teachers demonstrating all the variations possible with just the underarm turn and the cross body lead.  Fun time at the downtown studio, and they were cheap and friendly, and the male teacher was pretty funny.  He made a comment about his frustrated stand-up comedy career that I came to suspect was more serious than it sounded at first.  But it was fine, he was funny enough that you didn't mind it at all.  Maybe not Seinfeld funny, but, then he's probably a better dancer than Jerry, anyway.

The Northside studio was also cheap and fun, but does half hour lessons.  The teacher managed to put a lot into the lesson, and it didn't feel rushed.  One advantage here was it was me and one woman (just by chance), so it was basically a mini-private lesson - I love it when that happens, though the teachers/studio probably doesn't.  I suppose it's better for them than nobody.

The woman at Northside was a club dancer of some considerable experience, but little or no "official" instruction, and wanted to learn a move where "He combs my hair".  I had no idea what that meant, but the instructor knew immediately.  He asked me what I knew, and I said basic, mambo basic, underarm turn, cross body lead, open break, ... whereupon he stopped me and said "that's enough".

The sequence he taught us was 1 basic, alternating turns, then the "hair comb" lead into a cross body lead.  I'm probably getting the terminology wrong.  Anyway it went well, though I hate turning - avoiding turning is the best part of being a boy, in my opinion.  I mentioned that and the teacher very diplomatically reminded me that in Latin cultures, men are more expressive and showy.  I knew that, and it's not an insecurity or "real man" type of deal, I just get dizzy and fall over.  Yes, even on a little salsa step turn.  I'm sure I'll get over it, but...

Anyway, we worked on the sequence and got it down.  The fact that the lady was a club dancer was pretty obvious to me as we were dancing - her frame was way looser than I'm used to - that's not really criticism, by the way (well, a little...), it was just a very insecure and unpredictable feeling compared to what I'm used to.  I don't know of any way to deal with that except to try to get used to it and adapt to it, (which is my responsibility as the leader), or to try to figure out a polite and helpful way to ask for a firmer frame.  I suspect this is an consequence of the fact that I'm a noob and the really solid mutual frame is my training wheels.  Not that mine is all that wonderful, Mini-Teach is constantly reminding me not to drop my right arm, and rightly so.

I also felt like she was maybe rushing the walkthrough on the cross body lead a bit.  The teacher had pointed out that she could step fully forward, not stopping her back foot parallel to her front, and she had a hard time getting that into her body (I feel for you, sister, when I need to alter my semi-automatic body habits, it's a hell of a challenge for me, too).  Anyway, I didn't feel like my lead was as in control of the timing as I'd have liked as a consequence.  I've been trained that the sidestep back and away by the man (on 3) is the lead (and only the lead), and that the lady walks through on 5-6-7.  She was powering through on 3 or 4, and I didn't feel like I was out of her way enough, as I hadn't back rocked yet.  I'm not sure if she was following my lead or just doing the sequence on her own.  I'd like to lead that better.  And of course, I need 500 or 1000 repetitions.  On the other hand, I think I could work this sequence out with a new partner in a couple three dances at most.  The instructor was very helpful and explicit and clear when I asked how to differentiate the "hair comb" lead from underarm turns and other figures.

Anyway, good times.  At some point I'll post studio reviews, but I want to try several lessons at each before I do so, and time and money will make that a longer term project.  In the mean time, if you want a studio recommendation despite my limited experience, contact me.

Update:  the proper terminology for "Hair Comb" is "face loop".  Of course.  For a guy that's incredibly verbal and spends most of his time all up in his head, I sure have a hard time learning terminology.

Let's play "name that Dance tune"

I've started to get a few dances under my belt, which means I always want to play "name that dance" every time any song comes on.  My friends are quite patient with me and haven't busted my chops too hard for playing a quiz game nobody else can play.  Or wants to.  Or even wants to watch me play by myself...  One friend encourages me and actually asks questions occasionally - if he's not careful he's going to end up in a dance class...

Of course, when I say "a few dances", I mean it.  Nearly everything sounds like a cha-cha (which I don't even dance at all, really, but it's a very versatile and common rhythm), or an east coast swing, or a salsa or a rumba.  Except the waltzes, of course.  Anyway, I definitely need more breadth of dances.  Of course, I really want to get a lot better at the dances I actually do dance.  More lessons! 

One of the instructors mentioned how useful cha-cha was with rock and pop songs, and I started hearing that (and couldn't stop...). I'm also loving Jitterbug and east coast swing - I come closer to getting out of my head with those than any other dance, so I'm hearing those a lot too.  Cha-cha and East Coast swing cover a similar range of tempos and both have a triple step in them, so a lot of the time I hear both.  Sometimes I think of East coast swing as a pair of Siamese cha-cha twins joined in the middle.  That probably is a 100% private joke...  As well as politically incorrect.

For me, the distinction between a cha cha and and East coast swing comes down to feel - the more latin a song feels, the more likely it is to be cha-cha; if  it's got a straight-ahead rock swing it feels like East coast swing.  My current examples are "Moves like Jagger" by Maroon 5 is a cha cha, and "My Body" by Young the Giant feels more like an East Coast Swing. Lots of songs feel like they might be either one. Of course, if it REALLY swings (and it's a bit slower), now we're talking foxtrot.  But you don't hear many of those out in the world,  or at least I don't.  Maybe I ought to hang out with the hipsters, they appreciate Sinatra, right?

Salsa and rumba overlap a lot in tempo too, I'm somewhat surprised to notice how fast a rumba can get and still fit.  The classic rumbas are "And I love her" by the Beatles, or "Stand by me" by Ben E King, but I just heard "I kissed a girl" by Katy Perry and it seemed like I could rumba to it (though I did not rumba around the restaurant and test it out...)  But most of the overlap here, for me, is tempo.  In rhythm, syncopation, and feel, songs are either rumbas or salsas.   "black horse and cherry  tree" by KT Tunstall is playing right now, and it feels much more like a salsa than a rumba.

OK, they followed that up with "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO which reminds me that all house and techno everywhere ends up being a merengue.  Probably not the most appropriate dance, but it's the dance I know.  Every Day I'm Shufflin'.

Social dancing and group classes

So I haven't been blogging for a long time much at all. I keep wanting to make these deep, thoughtful, insightful posts, and there's not a lot of that going on in my dancing. Maybe there never was. Lately, I've been dancing a lot (which is better than blogging about it, I think you'll agree), but I'm trying to keep all the action in my body rather than being all up in my head. Or at least, these are my excuses for not blogging. I've got drafts of nine "deep" posts, I swear.  But then, I've had them all for months, so...

I've decided just to blog everything and quit holding out for significance. So here are some random notes from recent group classes.

Lately, I'm trying to participate on all the group classes that cover what I think of as socially useful dances: Salsa, Rumba, Country, and (to a lesser extent) Swing and Foxtrot. How is this different than just going to ALL the group classes, you ask?

Well, first of all, I'm not going when the dance is totally new to me, which happens with what strikes me as surprising frequency. There's a bunch of dances in the world, and they offer most of them. Cha Cha, Samba, Quickstep, Paso Doble, Jive, Hustle, Argentine Tango, Viennese Waltz and Bolero are all stuff I've recently skipped. I probably should add Cha Cha at some point relatively soon, as there's a lot of Cha Cha-able music out there - lots of pop and rock, which surprised me.

Secondly, Before the "Socially useful" dance push, I was spending most of my time on Waltz and Tango, just because I love them so much. And down that same path I could see Viennese Waltz, Argentine Tango, and Bolero looming. Since my one of my main goals is explicitly social, it was clear I needed to emphasize the social dances more than I had been. Tango is definitely a "dancer's dance", and though waltz is fairly social, I need more venue options than Italian weddings. I think I have a lot more to say about the social vs beloved dichotomy, but if I let this post go to long, I'll trap myself in a rewriting/editing cycle, so set that aside for now.

Two Step: It was a small class, I was happy to know about two figures that my partner didn't (not bragging - the score was about four figures for me versus her two). I tried them on her anyway during warm-up, on the theory that if I timed them right, and led them definitively enough, it would all work out fine. That was interesting and instructive if not totally successful.

We did basic underarm turn right, and underarm sweetheart turn (which was new to me). We also did Promenade (new to me, very fox-trotty, unsurprisingly) and a couple of un-sweetheart turns (hey, it's my blog, I get to invent terms for things that have official names if I want to. Especially if I don't remember them). Anyway, I pretty much know one easy, basic way to half turn my partner out of sweetheart, and I've been briefly exposed to a much flashier, turn and a half version, but I know I couldn't do it without at least referring to my notes and maybe not even then.

Rumba class:  This was a pretty full class, and everybody there was pretty experienced, for a basics class. There was one person who was even less experienced than me, but he was game and so Dance-Sama took that as permission to pile on a bunch of stuff. We are working over several weeks toward an extended series, that starts with Basic, Cross Body Lead, Open Breaks, Underarm Turn / 5th Position Break, Swivel Promenade. Yes, she covered all that in one class.

This was a lot for me to take in, but it's starting to make sense, I'm starting to have some body intuition regarding dancing. I've done cross body lead in Salsa and Rumba, and it's starting to make sense that in Rumba I need the forward step that precedes the Salsa version in order to get the forward and back motion that Salsa gives you for free. Doesn't mean my body will remember to do it, but it's a start.

I'd seen most of the other figures before, so nothing earth shattering, and I certainly could use all the practice I can get. The Swivel Promenade was new, and we barely got to that in the time we had. I stayed after and practiced a little, with a partner initially, then alone.

The other insight was Dance-Sama made me feel the correct posture (or at least a better posture) for Rumba (and probably for life - I tend to have the typical nerd's horrible posture). Shoulders back, everything else in and up and slightly forward. I'm working on making that habitual.

Waltz class tonight. Social and beloved. A two-fer!

How it all began

I never thought I'd be taking dance lessons. I've been on a pretty deliberate self improvement kick for a year or two and dance lessons weren't on the short list. They weren't even on the long list. They weren't on ANY list. If you'd have suggested them, I'd have reacted like most men I know - like I was going to get cooties. And I'm not kidding - people HAVE suggested dance lessons to me in the past, and I sneered and ridiculed them. So I owe all those people an apology now - if you're one of them, find me and remind me, and I'll apologize and buy you a coffee or something.

So as a warning to other young men, here is my story. Here is how they suck you in and trap you in an experience that will enrich your character, expand your horizons and change your life.


I was eating dinner at a club one night, and instead of the usual karaoke or kickball crowd (really, I swear, they have tee shirts and everything...), people began showing up. People dressed to go out. I notice these people are pretty fit and slender, which is, sadly, rare enough to make them stand out. One lass shows up, and this girl is Put Together for an Event. She's got the sexy heels, and is in an actual dress which is also, sadly, rare around here. Whoever she's meeting will definintely be glad to see her. She heads over by where the DJ is set up, and where I now see a big happy guy in a Hawaiian shirt. I'm a nerd, so I'm not sure, but "Hawaiian shirt" feels different than "dressed to go out". If she's there to meet him, they didn't coordinate that much...

Anyway, the DJ is spinning Latin beats and these people start dancing. Like for-real dancing, not random twitching, You know, spinning and turning and stuff. Coordinated movement between two people. Like that. Hawaiian shirt guy gets even happier, because he's the only guy there so far, and he's in high demand, he needs one of those "take a number" machines. To me he doesn't look like he's the best dancer in the world - some of the time he's not moving his feet at all, he's just concentrating on spinning his partner. But when he moves it works, so he's got some kind of training or practice in his background. What he's doing looks totally doable. And he's having as much fun as is permitted by law.

Of course (as I would learn in my very first lesson), Dancing isn't about the guy, it's about showing off the lady. And these ladies are having fun and showing off. Put Together Woman (who we will now call the DanceEvangelista, for reasons which will soon become obvious) is a really, really good dancer. In my experience, there are two levels of good in most things. There is level one of good, which is totally obvious if you know something about the activity, but which is often lost on the outsider, and there's level two good, which is obvious even to an outsider, and as you learn more about it, just gets more and more impressive. The DanceEvangelista is level two good, and it showed even to my untrained eye in the span of about 15 minutes.

Some other Gentlemen show up, including Mustachios and Slender Latin Fella, and these guys are clearly better dancers than Hawaiian Shirt is. I 'm starting to see what is possible, but Hawaiian Shirt keeps reminding me it would probably be pretty easy to get started. And everybody is just having too much fun.

Of course, I'm too self-conscious to actually try anything, or ask any questions, but I am very much enjoying the show, and it's dawning on me why my Mom and everybody else kept saying that I should take Dance lessons. People come in and out, everybody has a different style, but the theme is "fun".

I get ready to leave, and I'm disappointed to notice that the DanceEvangelista has apparently left. Oh well, I guess I won't be learning to dance after all. I could ask one of the remaining dancers, but they're all the way Over There and the door is Right Here... (yes, I make excuses. I'm aware. Deal with it.)

Still, a pretty good night, all in all. Maybe I'll find out about dance lessons someday. I get in my car and head out.

And lo and behold, I drive past the DanceEvangelista and her boyfriend getting into a car in the parking lot. Sometimes the Universe is willing to give you ANOTHER hint. What the hell. I roll down my window and say "You guys were having too much fun, that's great" ... "Thanks" ... I ask "how would I get started ...?" And that triggers the DancEvangelista like she's an attack dog that just got the command. She more or less shoves the boyfriend out of the way and tells me "I'm an instructor at such-and-such studio, we have an introductory package that ...." I swear if she'd had a business card on her, I'm sure it would have been flicked into the center of my forehead like a ninja star. "Uhhhh... Thanks and good night".

In a couple of days, I make an appointment at the Dance Studio and show up to see what's what. I chat with a very pleasant, confident, mellow guy, and then he hands me over to Teach for my intro lesson. Teach asks me enough about myself to get a feel for how I learn, and immediately gets the fact that I'm a nerdly type that lives all up in my head. Not that I hide that, but it's cool that she's trying to reach me where I live. I'm not the first nerd they've taught, of course. I end the lesson only fractionally better than I began, but that's actually pretty impressive considering my total lack of experience or even a mental framework for any of this.

And there are other dancers there, Instructors and students, moving with grace and style. Inspiring, and awesome, and enviable. And some students that are on the wrong foot or locking up in confusion, or asking questions, all of which I've already done, and will clearly keep doing for a while.

And then the DanceEvangelista grabs me and gets a chance to do the OTHER thing she does really, really well - selling. And I say this with the highest respect - in a previous job I was the designated nerd for our sales staff, and I know second hand how important and difficult a job sales is. A good salesperson helps you see what's possible and shows you how your life can be made better, and makes it real to you. And the DanceEvangelista is hitting it out of the park, in addition to literally being a walking advertisement for dance awesomeness. (I'm starting to kinda hope she doesn't read this - wouldn't want her to get a big head....) It helps that she really, really believes in her product, and the staff, and the program, with good reason. It's frankly overwhelming. I know I'm a dilettante that's likely to lose interest and wander off after a while, and this is clearly her Life's Purpose (tm). That's intimidating to those of us who don't have one, and aren't likely to. But intimidated or not, there's fun and challenge and masculinity and grace over that horizon, and so I'm in.

Waltz, Rumba and Salsa lesson notes

Tonight I had a private lesson, we worked on Rumba, Waltz and Salsa. Some of this was review, but a little new stuff. This post is mostly just my lesson notes - Converting this stuff into words helps me remember it, but probably keeps me too much up in my head. So if lesson notes sounds like an uninteresting post, you'll want to click ahead.

Waltz:
We worked on Promenade. I've done Promenade in Tango, where it is similar, and, frankly, trickier. I need to remember to elongate my frame, and I think I'm opening my hips too much in promenade. The hesitation during promenade felt very natural, but then I'm a slave to the beat.

We also did an open break - underarm turn combination. Aaaarg, the critical details are already fading!! Let's see, 1st half of a normal box then sidestep? is that right? Then back rock step Left, and lead the turn, back rock step Right, (turning...) then another hesitation before we're off to the waltzes again. I'm starting to love the hesitations in the waltz, they're subtly dramatic and they're what makes it human and to me they add so much to the flow of the dance. Without the hesitations, it could be done by clockwork dancers (which I probably resemble, but not for long....)

Salsa:
We reviewed cross body lead, and I needed the review, I wanted to start it on 3 (back step), but it needs to be set up on 2, otherwise my partner can't feel it coming. We also did a double face loop, I tend to hang on too long, in which case I tend to turn my body out, but that's not the end of the world, it's a decent set up for a cross body lead. I think getting into the Right-over-Left handshake hold to start this all is probably my biggest problem right now.

We also reviewed coaster action, which I was fine with, but I had a surprisingly hard time knowing what to do with my right foot after my left foot comes up. I need a thousand reps, as usual.

Rumba:
We also did an open break, underarm turn combo, Teach is obviously building on the Waltz lesson. I need practice rolling my left hand from the closed grip to the low open grip. And I think I am often too high with my Right arm - Teach very insightfully helped me understand that if our arms aren't nice and straight, I can't provide a strong lead. I'm starting to get my lead together on the "close the door" finale to this combination (the same motion also completes the cross body lead), and I love the way that feels when I'm leading it confidently.


The DanceEvangelista has drafted me into a little dance competition on Saturday. I'm the token noob on her team, and we're going to do a Jitterbug. I'm pushing my comfort level here, Though I'm decent at Jitterbug for all my noobness, if I do say so myself. But I'm nervous about the spotlight. Making mistakes in the middle of a crowd of other people who are all working through their own dance issues is one thing. All eyes on me and no other distractions is intimidating.

I need the music

At a recent lesson, I was trying to Tango without music and ended up foxtrotting. My brain just totally locked up. I need the music, particularly for the Tango - though I seem to be able to Jitterbug to imaginary music just fine - even just sitting here typing about it, I've got "Rock around the clock" running in my head. Maybe I just need a signature Tango tune in my head.

One of the more interesting quirks I've found from taking dance lessons is how often the music is missing, imaginary or wrong. There are several private lessons and other activities taking place in the same space, and so Teach and I usually just count out the steps with no music whatsoever - which is a great way of focusing at one thing at a time. Occasionally we put on an appropriate song and dance with music. Of course, the other couples sharing the space also do so, so somebody's playlist is always playing, but it doesn't have anything to do with your lesson. At one point I was Tangoing, the music was Salsa, and the singer was singing about "La Rumba". Ignoring the music feels like trying to ignore an itch...

I'm a slave to the beat...

Music you can dance to (Part 2 - Latin)

As I began exploring in part one, learning to dance is making me approach music from a new direction - What dance is this? For a band nerd that's used to being behind the music stand, this is a new and fun thing.

This time I'll explore Latin dances and rhythms. I've always enjoyed Latin music, particularly where it crossed over into Big Band - Bossa Nova, etc (there's that Band Nerd thing again), but I ended up not listening to it all that much. I'm beginning to suspect that what I needed was a context, specifically, a context of dance. I'm getting one.


Tango - another favorite dance, and one that also has music distinctive and dramatic enough for me to recognize easily. I love that passion and the sexuality of this dance, and seeing "Scent of a Woman" didn't hurt one bit, either. I'm not sure I'll end up with a rose in my teeth at any point, but so far, I'm having fun with Tango and looking forward to more. Of course, this dance, more than any other, sacrifices my social goals for total passion. The only people I'm going to meet tangoing are going to be people in the tango club, and it's not something you just go out and do. In the US, it's a niche dance. Oh well, Art for art's sake, I suppose. Tango tunes: Nothing that's ever been played on Pop Radio in North America that I can remember or imagine (see? There's that niche thing again!), but the other night I danced a Tango to a piece with Lyrics in German, but I don't know the name of it. Funky. The Internet claims you can tango to "Roxanne" by The Police And "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers, but they both feel like they're a big stretch to me... What do I know.... The whole POINT of tango music is dancing to it - since I haven't danced, is it any wonder I don't know any Tango tunes?? Edit - "Whatever Lola Wants (Lola Gets) by Sarah Vaughan" is a tango.


Rumba - One of the many uses of the box step, I think of this as the slow, sexy end of the Latin dance continuum. But there's a lot of Rumba music out there that you've heard, and a lot of it doesn't sound Latin to me - "And I love her" and "In My Life" - The Beatles (which have a bit of a latin feel), and "With or Without You" - U2, "You've got A Friend" - James Taylor, "Stand By Me" - Ben E King, "One of These Nights" - The Eagles, "Let's Stay Together" - Al Green. The large menu of musical choices and the obvious social possibilities of a slow dance make it a serious contender for the Dance short list.

Salsa - We've spent some time on this in class, in fact this is probably the dance I'm farthest along in - which is not that far! I've gotten the footwork options in my head pretty clearly, and we worked on a cross-body lead and spin combo in group class last week, which I almost got, need to drill it another 1000 times or so... The social possibilities of Salsa are quite good in New Mexico (maybe elsewhere too, I dunno...), and the music is a hoot, even if not much of it is stuff that I ever listened to on the radio (this is probably mostly a comment on my pedestrian musical tastes, rather than on availability). Salsa is all about the clave. Salsa tunes I've heard of (maybe you have too) are "Livin' La Vida Loca" - Ricky Martin, "Mambo #5" - Lou Bega and "Tequila" - Champs. Interesting (to me anyway) that Salsa beats seem not to have been adopted as widely in Pop music as Rumba rhythms, but Salsa keeps that Latin Fire even on the "crossover" hits, where as Rumba sneaks in and pretends to be pop. And as far as the dance, this is one of the more fun and energetic dances out there - I definitely get why so many people end up wanting to dance Salsa - it's fun even to watch.

Merengue - This is the first Latin musical style that I was able to distinguish from Salsa once I started dancing and it became important to pay attention. Salsa tends to be 4/4, and the characteristic Clave rhythm makes it swing, where Merengue is (or feels) much more 2/4 and more straight ahead, and it has less swing, more urgency. Merengue as a dance is so easy, even
a caveman
I can do it - we've spent maybe an hour on it, and the footwork is locked for me, and as far as I can tell, it's so straightforward that you can pretty much do anything at any time - which doesn't mean *I* can pull it off yet, it just means I'm not having to ask myself "Is this the right time for a spin? (or any other move)" With Merengue, the answer is always "Yes, it's a fine time!". This Dance feels like something you only spend a few hours learning, after that you just need practice. Lots and Lots of practice. Salsa, Rumba, Foxtrot, Tango all get basically fractally complex very fast, where as Merengue at least starts out as basic and regular as a brick wall (which doesn't mean you can't build tall and complex dances on top of a Merengue, clearly). "Hot Hot Hot" by Buster Poindexter is a Merengue, but my favorite surprise Merengue tune is "(Nothing but) Flowers" by the Talking Heads.

Bachata - Initially I had a hard time telling a Bachata tune from a Salsa (maybe I still do, let me know!), but thanks to Amazon.com, I ordered a few CD's to listen to, and I think I've got it. Bachata is slowest, Salsa is Medium, and Merengues tend to be faster. In Salsa, the Clave is the signature percussion element; whereas Bachatas tend to have (or feel) the slow, classic guiro scrape. The other characteristic of a bachata (to my Wikipedia-informed ear, at least) is that the lyrics tend to be forlorn and heartbroken. I have vanishingly little spanish, but I can hear it in the melody and delivery - understanding the lyrics is apparently optional. I've only spent about 20 minutes with the bachata as a dance, so far, but all I can say is: Hip bump. The only song I can think of that feels like a bachata to me is "Guantanamamera" (particularly the slower versions), but that's a Cuban classic, and Bachata hails from the Dominican Republic, so I'm not confident of that. (Edit - the more I think of this, the more I doubt it. Maybe a Rumba???)

Cha Cha - I've spent very little time on this in dance class, and not a lot of listening time, but to me Cha Cha music feels like Bachata's faster cousin. I often hear the same Guiro figure as Bachata, but, well, faster - though the Cha Cha Guiro can get a lot more complex, as well. The other difference from Bachata music is that there are a bunch of cha cha's you've heard, most of them feel pretty Latin, but there are a few surprises..
Oye Como Va - Santana
Smooth - Santana/Rob Thomas
All I Wanna Do - Sheryl Crow
Soak up the Sun - Sheryl Crow
Barbie Girl - Aqua
Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) - Us3
Guantanamera - Los Lobos (this version is a little faster, feels like a slowish Cha Cha to me....)
Walkin' on the Sun - Smash Mouth
Short Skirt / Long Jacket - Cake
Spill the Wine - Eric Burdon & War - (This one feels like it's got one foot in the Cha Cha camp, and the other in Bachata...)


So that's my take on Latin music you can dance to. I'm sure I'm off base with a lot of this, please chime in, the point of all this is to help me figure this stuff out...