Narrowing the Focus

There are, literally, a million dances one could learn. And as our beloved Melissa has said, she doesn’t know them all. (Although I’m thinking she comes pretty close.)

Since we’ve learned to dance we’ve focused on expanding; finding places to learn culturally specialized dances like the clave with Organic Rhythms Studio (Shayne), asking Melissa (Fred Astaire South Indianapolis) to learn and teach us obscure dances like the rockabilly jive, and claiming all of our dances as our own by adding individual flair and steps.

Gary and I were discussing the other night what dances we want to do, but more importantly, why we don’t like certain dances so we can choose more efficiently moving forward. There are lots of limitations on dancing. The obvious one is physicality. Although I am loathe to admit it, I can’t hop around all night long like I did when I was twenty. I can hop for a dance or two, maybe four or five if it’s rockabilly because I get carried away, but then I need to switch over to something else for a break.

Another limiting factor is who can teach the dance. If Melissa hadn’t learned the rockabilly jive for us, we’d still be struggling with the basic; no one around here knows that dance. Related to that is dancing the dance in public. Gary and I are already finding that the clave, even in Latin clubs, is rarely danced. We WILL dance it out, but we may be the only ones doing it. That is something to consider when you learn an unusual dance; are you OK with being the oddballs?

And finally, there are taste limitations. Maybe you can dance the dance, but you just don’t like it. This happens. What we want is not for it to happen too often, because it’s hard to start a new dance. There’s a lot of energy that goes into it. So…we figured out some commonalities with what we like and don’t like. What we like: syncopation, flow, and improvisational space. The dances we’ve discarded thus far are those that, to us, don’t allow for those things.

Getting all of this straight in our heads hopefully will make it easier next time we see a dance and want to learn it. I think this recipe is different for every couple. But knowing what you like (or don’t) BEFORE you jump in gives you a leg up. Or leg down, as the case may be.

Hey, I want to try as many as possible while I can still hop, lindy or otherwise. But I want to try with a better shot at us actually liking something new.