The Hatfields and the McCoys

I apologize in advance for going on and on about our ballroom struggles, but since this dance blog is supposed to be our complete dancing journey, Gary and I both feel we must report what we are thinking and experiencing. I also believe Gary and I are fair people. We will never blast anyone, but we realize this is our opinion, and opinions are just that, no more, no less.

Dancing, in many ways, is a microcosm of human behavior. There will be different opinions, usually around those who want to maintain the status quo vs. those who want to change it. Within dancing this manifests itself by the push and pull between ballroom studios wanting to codify and preserve, and club/street dancers wanting to expand and evolve.

Take swing dancing. Before the Internet and before traveling was commonplace, every city had their own swing; west coast and east coast of course, but also more intimate city/area dances like the Arkansas street swing, the St. Louis imperial swing, and the Detroit bop. Each locale reveled in their own style. However, when folks did come together, dances merged and spawned new variations. The swing styles of the 1940s therefore, didn’t look anything like 1950s styles.

Then came studio swing. The formally wild and free dance was captured, roped, and gentrified. They had to…how else would they teach it in large numbers? Now everyone could learn to swing, not just young city hipsters. Ballroom studios also preserved the dance; who knows how many wonderful swing varieties faded from existence because people stopped doing them? The swing taught in ballroom studios might be a bit stiff, but at least it exists. Also to ballroom’s credit, many people don’t live in the areas street swing “evolves”. Or perhaps they are too shy to “get out there” and learn on the fly…maybe they need to learn by prescribed steps. And maybe, just maybe, learning by dance experts is not so bad; a little ballroom technique never hurt anyone.

But of course, as with many large institutions, what was once one of many ways to learn to dance became the only way. Ballroom swing, with its formal movements and codified steps, began to think of itself as the holder of the dance chalice, as it were. Only they could interpret and teach the correct expression of swing; any variation was wrong, sloppy, or silly.

Street swing dancers revolted. Some even formed their own studios. And many became just as high and mighty as ballroom studios; only we can teach swing. Ballroom studios kill the natural expression and evolution of dance. Ballroom studios are exclusionary and pretentious. And so on.

Swing dance is only one example, unfortunately. The latin community feels much the same way about salsa and other latin street dances now found in ballroom studios.

Ultimately, we need both. If club/street dancers didn't exist dances would become stale and old fashioned. Without ballroom studios many dances would die because there would be no one preserving dance styles and teaching the masses. What I don’t like is the assumption …from both sides…that the other is wrong.

There are studios where the old and the new happily co-exists; someone, for example, knew the tango before he or she combined it with west coast swing, creating swango. And that someone probably had ballroom instruction. In previous posts I’ve stated that these egalitarian studios are mostly found on either coast, not in the mid west. That’s a shame, but Gary and I are determined to create our own virtual eclectic studio.

Heck, perhaps by the time we’re done we can all have a big party. With dancing, of course. :-)

PS. Check out the Galaxy Studio, not on a coast, but in Texas! Their motto is “there’s a dance style for everyone”. It doesn’t look fancy, but then, they want to offer low prices so everyone can learn to dance. They teach all styles of dance including Break Dance, Hip Hop, Ballroom, Sexy Stiletto (don’t know what that is but sounds wicked and fun), Zumba, Ballet, Classic Strip Tease, and more. Cool. A waltz class down the hall from a strip class. Gotta love that. One two three, flick those panties. I think I shall call it…saltz, hee hee.

http://www.galaxydances.com/galaxy_dance_studios_home.html