“Usch, I say to you, Busse…”
August 28, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
Dearest pupumunu. I have been away for so long again. You already know where I've been, so I won't go through the whole trip. Instead I will give you dirty slices of twisted dreams, memories of extraordinarily beautiful smears...
Arabian nights !
August 28, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
I am going to Marrakech ! ! !So now you are probably sitting there thinking 'Good for you. But... who cares?' and you are entirely right to think so.
However, I have not been this excited in ages!
Not only am I going to a country I have never been to, I am going there for their first international salsa congress and they have a great line up of instructors. Or at least, they have lots of instructors that I like anyway.
Ok, that is it. I will not try to distract you anymore. However, if you happen to be there as well stop by to say "hi"
So how did I start dancing salsa?
August 27, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
As a kid I danced a lot.My mom was an A level competition dancer in the Netherlands when she was younger and she thought that dancing was something everybody should learn. Maybe it is only because I have heard it so often but I agree.
Dancing is a great way to have fun, make friends and stay fit. It also teaches people how to interact with the opposite sex, something that a lot of people seem to have trouble with these days. It seems like that ability went out the window around the same time partner dancing did.
But I digress. Not only that, you are here reading this which means I am preaching to the choir again.
I can not remember when exactly my mom first taught me the basics of a Quickstep but it is one of my earlier memories. I can not have been much older than 5 or 6. Slowly I learned the basic steps of other dances like cha-cha-cha, rumba, waltz, etc before I was sent of to take classes. Again I can't quite remember when but it was probably around the time I turned 8 years old.
Even though I don't remember exactly when it was I do still remember the first timethat I got dropped off.
I was a shy kid and the thought of going into a class with other people, especially people I did not know, terrified me.
I tried to get out of it but it soon became clear that was not an option. I was going to have to go. Looking back now it was probably one of the best things that happened to me. I still stayed shy but at least I was not scared of meeting new people anymore.
For several years I would go dancing once a week, slowly making my way up through the levels. Bronze*, Silver, Silver*, Silver*, Silver*. No, that is not a mistakes. I actually have 3 Silver* certificates for both ballroom and Latin dancing and I have no idea why. I am sure there must have been a good reason, especially as I should have 4 or 5 of them. The others seem to have gotten lost though while moving.
At 12 I stopped dancing and started doing martial arts instead. For the next couple of years I did not dance at all. Then, when I was 17, Lambada became popular and I took 2 courses but somehow the dance virus was still gone. After the 2 courses I stopped dancing again.
Then again, martial arts have a lot in common with dancing. I just did not see that at the time. Perhaps I never really stopped dancing after all. At least not until I was about 26.
Fast forward about 14 years from when I was 17.
I was out to dinner with some friends. As it turned out that there would be salsa dancing there that night. I had no idea what Salsa was exactly. My only exposure to Latin dancing up until that point had been ballroom Latin.
As dinner was served 2 people walked onto the dance floor and the music started to play.
From the moment I saw them dance I could not take my eyes off of them anymore. I completely forgot about my dinner that had just been served. I was in awe and wished I had the amazing power that they had. To be able to walk into a room, get onto the dance floor, completely change the atmosphere and leave people speechless.
But more than that even, I wished that I was out there on that dance floor having as much fun as they were obviously having.
The next couple of days I spent trying to figure out what I could do to learn to dance salsa as well and I found that there are several ways. Taking lessons was the most obvious option and the one I instantly went for.
Unfortunately I had some startup problems and it took me a couple of years to finish my beginner's course.
The first time I started work got in the way. I was sent abroad for trainings and projects and was not at home enough to participate in the classes.
1 Year later I tried again. And again, work got in the way. This time not by making me travel abroad a lot but by actually moving me abroad. Trying to get settled in a new country where I did not speak the language was enough to distract me from dancing.
Another couple of years went by and I had finally settled down so I figured it was time for another try. It did not take me very long to realize that, aside from the basic step, I had forgotten everything I learned.
Unfortunately this time life interfered and once again I had to drop out of my class after a couple of weeks. Again.
Finally this year I started again and I had the same problem, I had forgotten everything I had learned aside from the basic step and a CBL.
I am not sure whether or not having started the beginner's course several times has helped me. At the moment I seem to be progressing faster than some people that started as the same time as me this year but then, I think I put more time into dancing than they do.
So that is how I got started. And now that I have made it past "beginner's hell" (it really felt like that for a while) I am thoroughly enjoying dancing again. Even the fact that I just hit a plateau does not phase me at all.
I know I'm internalizing things (see "Salsa is life") and I am having a lot of fun doing so.
What is your story?
The Next Project
August 25, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
I'm working on a new project wherein I, with Ring dancers, am investigating Flow Theory. Flow is the state of consciousness that is achieved through a practice of total attention and absorption in an activity. Major research was conducted on Flow Theory by Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and later published for the layperson in his book, Flow: the Psychology of Optimal Experience. It is from this book that I will be basing my experiments on the intersection of the choreographic process and the Flow state.
I have two methods for entering this state and am relying on the group process and feedback at each rehearsal to modify add or delete any aspects of these. The first is Viewpoints which is a technique of improvisation that provides a vocabulary for thinking about and creating movement for the stage. Viewpoints separates the various components of stage action into nine categories: spatial relationship, tempo, kinesthetic response, shape, duration, gesture, repetition, architecture and topography. The practitioner is to stay aware of what category he/she is operating in in any given moment. Thus it is an exercise for mental clarity.
The other method is a movement score involving the extended repetition of a Qi Qong movement. I call this the Swing Score and it is one simple movement performed right and left for 15-20 minutes as a kind of meditation. The repetition activates a different part of the brain, taking us out of analytical thinking and putting us into a calm, receptive presence.
I'm relying on these two methods to bring us into a Flow state from which we will generate and shape movement material into a new piece which I am currently calling "Out of Play". We will be performing the first draft of this as guests at Group Motion's concert, Spiel Uhr, at the Community Education Center, October 18-19.
A New Beginning
August 25, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
Dancing on the Edge after a long vacation, will now be relocating to New York City as I have just secured an apartment in Manhattan.It was a stressful, frustrating and quite expensive process, but after two months of searching, Ashleigh and I have finally found a cute little clean apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan about 4 blocks from Central Park. Special thanks to her mom, Sharon, for her unwavering effort and assistance.
The next step is securing employment and a routine dance class schedule. One thing at a time, and then I can get back to more regular dance review posting.
Karen Reedy Dance is performing at the Kennedy Center, DC
Millennium Stage, premiering her new work, Sleepwalking
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Friday, September 5, 2008
6:00 pm
This performance is FREE!!
Are you dancing salsa the right way?
August 24, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
One of the posts that I read on SalsaForums.com today got me thinking.The poster states that he feels something is being lost in Salsa now that it is mainly taught in the dance studios. To quote him:
"But there is something that is being lost, and I have mentioned it before. True Salsa de pareja, not just hand guided turn patterns and close body proximity for a dip or some other trick."
He then challenges the instructors to teach their students to dance more than just flashy combinations. He challenges them to teach their students to dance in close proximity as well.
When I read that statement part of me immediately agreed with him. The first time I saw a couple dance salsa they did a lot of flashy routines but they also danced closed for another part of the song. That made me feel that he has got a point.
It seems like we have indeed lost a lot of our closeness while dancing. But it is not just with dancing. It seems that, as societies, we have also become more distant. At least physically. We had much more physical contact 50 years ago, or even 30 years ago, then we have today. And much like we grew physically apart as individuals, the same seems to have happened to our dancing.
As most of the posters on SalsaForums.com seem to dance in the US and Europe we are more often exposed to LA an NYC salsa than other styles of salsa. So we see a lot more salsa being danced apart than in a close position.
This is probably the main reason that we feel salsa is being danced further apart nowadays.
So how did this happen? Of course I can only speculate but here is my opinion.
To me salsa is like a family. The different styles are different children born to the same parents. Like children they are all individuals but there is one very big difference between these kids. They all grew up in different places.
Some spent their childhood in Latin cultures while others grew up in the US. While they were growing up they were obviously influenced by their experiences and that is how they got to be where they are today. Different individuals even though they share the same basic principles that were handed down to them by their parents.
In my experience Cuban salsa is danced closer than LA. It is more relaxed and it is danced in closer proximity. Perhaps because the Cuban dancers seem to put more value on the connection with their partner.
LA on the other hand is high energy. It is more about excitement and it is danced further apart. The dancers often seem to be more like team members than like partners trying to create a connection. And if we look at the differences in culture that would make sense.
Cuba is more laid back than LA. LA's flashiness and the American goal oriented mindset obviously influenced the style. At the same time the Cuban style was influenced by the more laid back Cuban attitude. That definitely explains how they look so different.
But what does that have to do with dancing close or far apart?
Right before I read this thread on SalsaForums.com I was reading an entry in Jan's blog. As you probably have no idea who Jan is, she is an American who is currently in Europe for a couple of months.
In blog entry that I read she talks about 'that damn kissing business' in Europe and explains how it's completely foreign to her as she is from a "standoffish country".
I think she hits the heart of this discussion with that statement.
A dance is nothing more than the combination of it's the dancers. If you are used to a bit more physical distance then that will show in your dance. There will be more space between you and your partner. If fyou are used to a lot of physical contact then you will dance more close.
As Americans are more protective of their personal space than people from (some) other cultures it only makes sense that they grew to dance a bit further apart.
Does that mean that their version of salsa is not as good as a closer style? I do not think so. There are just different ways you can dance Salsa. And even though they share the same origin, they are not the same.
Maybe, rather than trying to change what the different styles have become we should treat them as different dances.
If you have danced both then you will probably agree with me when I say, they don't just look different. They feel completely different as well.
It could be that I have not been dancing long enough yet but unfortunately I can not explain how the difference in feeling. Then again, I have spoken to people that have danced both styles much longer and they too seem unable to explain. I'm not even sure whether that is relevant in regards to the original question.
So should we start enjoying the dances for what they are? Dance LA for instance for it's high energy and the buzz we get from that while dancing Cuban for it's intimacy and the connection with our partner?
Or should we try, like the original poster suggested, to bring closeness back.
I can see how both make sense and I do not have the answer. But I am very curious to know what you think so please feel free to comment or send me an email.
NY + Rueda = . . . disaster ?
August 23, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
Yesterday I randomly came Jan's blog.She dances Salsa and is in Paris at the moment. As I know some people that live there as well I offered to ask for some club recommendations.
One of my friends quickly came back to me with a couple of clubs and I passed the list on.
All went well so far.
Today she wrote an entry about her night out yesterday. It tells the tale of a NY style dancer who ends up in an intermediate rueda class.
It sounds like it was even worse than the time I got thrown into an advanced On2 class.
Sorry Jan. I hope the other clubs will be more fun for you.
Salsa is life
August 22, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
As we all know, life is like a roller coaster.There are highs and there are lows with moments of tranquility and amazing thrills in between.
Learning to dance salsa is just like that. There are highs and there are lows with moments of tranquility and amazing thrills in between.
Sometimes we think the stars are within our reach. At other times we feel like we will never learn to dance properly. What we often forget though is that all this time, during both the highs and the lows, we are making progress.
I'll be the first to admit that it often does not feel that way. The main reason for that is that change is often a very gradual process. It take place so slowly that we do not even notice it.
Let's look at it from another point of view first.
If you were to walk 100 meters on day 1 and the next day you would add 3 more meters you would not even notice the difference. Oh, for all of you not using the metric system, a meter is about 3 yards.
Now if you keep this up for a month you will have almost doubled the distance that you have walked on the first day. To you it will not feel like it has taken any more effort but you still walked twice as far. And unless you were walking along the same stretch of road all the time you probably will not even notice that you now walk further.
Dancing is no different. Sometimes we feel like we are not making any progress at all. We might have gone without learning anything new for a month. Or maybe we did learn things but we just can not seem to get them down at all.
But how we perceive things can be completely different from how they really are. Even though we feel that we have not learned anything we will have improved. Unconsciously, we will have been working on perfecting moves that we already know.
When we learn to dance we will soon enough learn to do a cross body lead, inside turn. After having danced for a while we can do this without thinking. However, that does not stop us from improving that simple move.
Consciously we stop paying attention to it. But several months down the line we will all of a sudden realize that we have 'found time' in the move and we start adding styling. Obviously there is no more time than there was the first time we danced it. We have just been perfecting the move over the last couple of months because we have done it so often.
This happens all the time. Even during our most frustrating moments we will be working on things that we already know. The moves we dance without having to give them any thought at all.
So enjoy the highs, enjoy the tranquility and enjoy the thrills as you would anyway. But also start enjoying the lows knowing that even though it may not feel that way, you are improving.
Daniel Gwirtzman: Body and Soul podcast
August 19, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
Program notes--http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Guest info at www.gwirtzmandance.org. (c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
The SEEDS Festival at Earthdance!
August 14, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
SEEDS stands for Somatic Experiences in Earth, Dance and Science. It offered numerous workshops. I took two - Karen Nelson's 'Pause' and Olive Bieringa/Body Cartography's 'Micro/Macro. Great stuff, both of them. Plus lots of SEEDS events – panel discussions on science and art, performances by Daniel Lepkoff and Suprapto Suryodarmo from Indonesia, lectures such as Complicities with Racism by Dr. Enoch Page, Associate Professor of Anthropology Department, UMASS. And then of course there's all the yummy food and communal vibe of Earthdance ... and the SAUNA!
