I know, I know, the term is out of date. But to me that expression accurately describes the extra flourishes we women can add to our dancing; those glittery, fancy, sensuous moves that can only be described as bling. There can be guy bling too, but this post is for girls.
The first thing to mention is the concept of lead and follow; for those of you who don’t dance, the man is the leader, the women is the follower. I’ve also heard this described as the man is the choreographer and the woman interprets that creation. Some women may think this means no freedom; that we have no say in what goes on.
No way no how. You did note I said “interpret”?
There are some female official ballroom dance steps that enable women to balk or refuse a step, such as in the tango. This post is not about those. What I’m talking about are free-form steps you can incorporate that are not led by the man.
Of course, you must do this carefully. As one rockabilly instructor said, if you don’t like being led then do line dances. Funny. But he has a point; during dancing we women cannot go off willy-nilly. Well, you could, but then what you are doing would not look like social dancing. So where to place your girl bling? Anytime you can do it without breaking the rhythm of the dance, or mess up the man’s lead.
Let’s take a few dances and explore. In the WCS the obvious place for bling is on the last half of the basic after the man pushes you back; after the “three-ah” you are free! There are all kinds of moves you can do here instead of the back triple or coaster…you can do a jazz front hip roll (called the worm, you can look it up on you tube), you can do a belly dance 360 hip roll, you can do a ronde (you tube), you can flick your feet out and in, or you can simply stand still, put your hand or your hip or behind your head and look sassy. These are just some ideas… play around and make up your own. You can also incorporate bling after a whip; some of the same things work.
The other place I love doing bling in the WCS is during a right side pass. To do this most effectively I had to ask Gary to relinquish control; usually the man leads the woman during this move into spins, arm bars, etc. But…if you can get your partner to allow for this freedom, there are any number of things you can do; skip, moonwalk, cha cha steps, samba steps, hip hop slides, the possibilities are endless.
Another dance example is the salsa. The salsa is often danced separately, which allows you to bling it up. Do a hip roll instead of the basic. Try a sailor step (you tube). You don’t have to exactly match when you are separate. But that doesn’t mean you can't embellish during together moves. For example, try hesitating a bit before you do a turn. As long as you get to where you need to be at the end of a move, you’re good.
“Street” dances such as the salsa and swings are admittedly easier to incorporate girl bling, but even in the smooth and more “fancy” Latin dances such as the rumba you can add your own flourishes.
Of course, the most important part of girl bling is attitude. If you’re going to bling, BLING; toss your head, smile, wiggle your fingers, shake those shoulders. Bling is not shy, hesitant, or half way. Think of Tinkerbell. Can’t you just see her blinging it up? Or Amy Brown’s fairies. Here’s one if you don’t know the artist:
The first thing to mention is the concept of lead and follow; for those of you who don’t dance, the man is the leader, the women is the follower. I’ve also heard this described as the man is the choreographer and the woman interprets that creation. Some women may think this means no freedom; that we have no say in what goes on.
No way no how. You did note I said “interpret”?
There are some female official ballroom dance steps that enable women to balk or refuse a step, such as in the tango. This post is not about those. What I’m talking about are free-form steps you can incorporate that are not led by the man.
Of course, you must do this carefully. As one rockabilly instructor said, if you don’t like being led then do line dances. Funny. But he has a point; during dancing we women cannot go off willy-nilly. Well, you could, but then what you are doing would not look like social dancing. So where to place your girl bling? Anytime you can do it without breaking the rhythm of the dance, or mess up the man’s lead.
Let’s take a few dances and explore. In the WCS the obvious place for bling is on the last half of the basic after the man pushes you back; after the “three-ah” you are free! There are all kinds of moves you can do here instead of the back triple or coaster…you can do a jazz front hip roll (called the worm, you can look it up on you tube), you can do a belly dance 360 hip roll, you can do a ronde (you tube), you can flick your feet out and in, or you can simply stand still, put your hand or your hip or behind your head and look sassy. These are just some ideas… play around and make up your own. You can also incorporate bling after a whip; some of the same things work.
The other place I love doing bling in the WCS is during a right side pass. To do this most effectively I had to ask Gary to relinquish control; usually the man leads the woman during this move into spins, arm bars, etc. But…if you can get your partner to allow for this freedom, there are any number of things you can do; skip, moonwalk, cha cha steps, samba steps, hip hop slides, the possibilities are endless.
Another dance example is the salsa. The salsa is often danced separately, which allows you to bling it up. Do a hip roll instead of the basic. Try a sailor step (you tube). You don’t have to exactly match when you are separate. But that doesn’t mean you can't embellish during together moves. For example, try hesitating a bit before you do a turn. As long as you get to where you need to be at the end of a move, you’re good.
“Street” dances such as the salsa and swings are admittedly easier to incorporate girl bling, but even in the smooth and more “fancy” Latin dances such as the rumba you can add your own flourishes.
Of course, the most important part of girl bling is attitude. If you’re going to bling, BLING; toss your head, smile, wiggle your fingers, shake those shoulders. Bling is not shy, hesitant, or half way. Think of Tinkerbell. Can’t you just see her blinging it up? Or Amy Brown’s fairies. Here’s one if you don’t know the artist:
Try some bling. It’s fun! And it can be a sexy little wink at your partner. As long as you don’t get in their way men like it.
Trust me. :-)
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