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

East Coast Swing - Lindy Timing, and West Coast swing

In one of those serendipitous moments of life, I discovered a question I didn't know I had, and got it answered promptly by the universe. I happened upon some youtube videos of local dancers swing dancing wonderfully.

My reaction is one I'm starting to be familiar with.  I could see and hear that it was East Coast swing (edit: it wasn't, technically it was Lindy Hop, or Charleston) but they were doing stuff I'd never seen at all, and I couldn't fit it into or on top of anything I knew.  It was East Coast swing at a level that I couldn't imagine reaching.  God it looked like fun, and I wanted really badly to get there, but I just didn't have basics I needed.

In particular, I could see how they started with a basic - almost, and sort of did a throwout - but not quite, and somehow the timing was being changed up.  I'm watching the dancers, going Yes, Yes, Yes, HUH?


The more you learn, the more you realize how much there is to learn.

But one in a while the universe smiles on you.  At the very next East Coast swing class I took, the teacher said "Tonight we're going to learn Lindy timing".  Well, that sounds good, I love all the East Coast swing I've ever tried, and Lindy hop is like the happiest dance ever,   So, I like the sound of that -  I'm game.  The instructor demonstrated, and what do you know, that's the move that had me looking like a hound dog trying to eat a grape.  I definitely don't have it down, but now at least I have a label, some notes, and something to practice.

I also recently had my first West Coast Swing class ever.  I'd seen others dancing it, but again, didn't have anything for my brain (or my body) to hang on to with it, but it's been on my list to try for a while, because: Swing Fan, and oh my goodness the music, the music, the music.  Al Green, anyone?  "Chain of Fools" and "Mustang Sally" by the Commitments, Eric Clapton, Roy Orbison, Bonnie Raitt, Stevie Ray Vaughn, James Brown, Taj Mahal, The Eagles, Prince, Chris Isaak, the Foo Fighters, Joss Stone.  All that stuff that has the Blues in its blood.

So far I've just had the very basic sugar push and an underarm pass.  I like the fact that the dance partners are constantly approaching toward and receding from each other - that's almost a metaphor for relationships right there - and you're still dancing together, you're still connected. It Breathes.  And I like the asymmetry of the figure.  A nice box step is wonderful, but the sugar push has the not-quite symmetry of a tree or a mountain.  It feels a little fractal.

As you can tell, I'm really jazzed about West Coast (musical whiplash warning...)  Even better, my studio is doing a series of classes that build on one another focused on West Coast Swing.

I am so there.


Edited April 2013 to correct my bad guess that what I was seeing was ECS.

Music you can dance to - (Part 1 - Ballroom & Country)

OK, one of my current problems is that I don't yet have clear, separate mental categories for different dances. My other problem is that I am having a hard time picking a few dances to focus on. As you might expect, these problems interact a bit, resulting in confusion. Maybe if I blog about this, I'll start figuring them out. Here's hoping...

One of the things I'm liking most about learning to dance is that it's making me approach music from a new perspective... What dance is this?? How would I move to this??


Here are the dances that I've tried and remember, and the music they need:



Waltz - one of my favorites dances to watch/learn, and the distinctive 3/4 time signature makes it one of the few I recognize immediately, and always have. Of course, it turns out that the really fast, impressive, fluid, beautiful Waltz that I most want to do is the Viennese Waltz , which is not something you try without a bunch of instruction and practice. It's like a chainsaw - don't pick it up until you know what you're doing - somebody will probably get hurt. OK, that may be a bit of hyperbole, but honestly, you'll just end up in the way, blocking the grace and flow of the real dancers. Trust me, I know. So I'm learning the "Slow Waltz" also known as "Waltz for normal people". But Viennese Waltz is coming, just as soon as I'm a Dance God (tm). In the mean time, Slow Waltz and Country Waltz are recognizable, and something I'm interested in, both because they seem beautiful, fun, and reasonably social. Waltz tunes that surprised me a bit: "Take it to the limit" - The Eagles, "Kiss from a Rose" - Seal, and "Natural Woman" - Aretha Franklin (though once I noticed they are Waltzes, it was obvious...) The All time Classic Waltz: "The Blue Danube" - Strauss (Actually, a Viennese Waltz, it turns out...)

Two Step - So far, this is two similar dances (in my head, at least). Progressive two-step, which I learned at Dance Class (a little!), and some other two-step (Texas two step?? Not even a two step?? - dunno...) that I picked up one evening in about 3 minutes of totally unprepared combat dancing / faking it at my local Saloon and Dance Hall (hey, she was REALLY cute, and I warned her that I didn't know what I was doing... ). Socially, this has a ton of potential - I'm clearly going to meet a LOT of different people two-stepping, and experience indicates that one can probably learn it well enough and quickly enough that you can just show up on the dance floor, in public, totally unprepared, and just "monkey see" your way through it. Not that instruction and practice wouldn't help, but... Maybe that argues for spending time on it in dance class or maybe it's about just hitting the dance hall regularly, but it clearly needs to be in the mix, one way or the other. It seems like every country song ever written is a two step (unless it's a country waltz. Or Texas Swing. Or...). Anyway, Two Steps I've heard: "Guitars, Cadillacs" - Dwight Yoakam, "Past The Point Of Rescue" - Hal Ketchum, "Every Time You Say Goodbye" - Allison Krauss, "Amarillo by Morning" - George Strait, "Life is a Highway" - Tom Cochrane/Rascal Flatts/Chris LeDoux, "A Better Man" - Clint Black, "All My Ex's Live In Texas" - George Strait


Foxtrot - OK, I've danced this one a bit, and I think of it as an bent progressive two-step or an abbreviated Tango, (which tells you how much I'm focused on my feet right now. And Confused...) My other mental image is a Knight on a chessboard (feet, again...) Fortunately, the music styles are distinctive enough that I rarely try to Tango to a Foxtrot, but I have been known to Progressive Two-step when I should have been Foxtrotting (which almost works OK, though the feel is all wrong, or would be, if my either my foxtrot or my two step had any style - I really need to foxtrot to foxtrot music). Speaking of which, there's a lot of foxtrot music out there. "Sweet Caroline" - Neil Diamond, "It had to be you" - Harry Connick Jr, "New York, New York" - Sinatra (lots of Sinatra, it seems to me) "Moondance" - Van Morrison. If it Swings, it's probably a foxtrot. This is a dance I didn't think I was interested in until I started to realize how much fun, swinging foxtrot music I've heard through the years, and there's lots of social/meeting people potential here. This is not helping me narrow down my choices....

Jitterbug and Swing - We're deep in the Mental Gray Area, here. Jitterbug, East cost and West coast Swing are a jumble for me - as dances and musically. Maybe there's not a great deal of difference, or maybe I've just got a lot to learn. Lots of Fun music in this general area, though. 50's rock, doo wop, beach boys, Elvis (Presley, not Costello...) Such as: "Crocodile Rock" - Elton John, "Footloose" - Kenny Loggins, "Hey Ya" - OutKast, "In the Mood" - Glenn Miller Orchestra, "Old Time Rock and Roll" - Bob Seger, "Lido Shuffle" - Boz Scaggs, "Rock around the Clock" - Bill Haley and the Comets, "Heat Wave" - Linda Ronstadt, "Good Lovin'" - the Young Rascals, "What I Like About You" - The Romantics, and "Brown Eyed Girl" - Van Morrison.

OK, better head South before my ignorance embarrasses me severely... And explore my ignorance in a whole new culture! In Part 2, Latin...