Hey, Mr. Pinstripe Suit

Didn't I do this last semester where I wrote up something lengthy when I should've been studying for finals?

Deja vu. 

What the heck am I going to do this summer if I can't ballroom! Looks like I'll have to find other places where I can dance. One such place would be Wicked Westie.  I know I  mentioned previously that I love East Coast swing, and it's one of my favorites (probably because it's the one I know the best so far), but West Coast swing is really starting to grow on me. 

West Coast swing (from now on, WCS, and vice versa, ECS) is no beginner's dance. It's freakin' difficult, not gonna lie. I actually learned the basics of WCS before I even learned ECS. Crazy. So my first exposure WCS was a rather frustrating experience. I quickly realized one problem WCS was so difficult is because WCS is predominantly six-count dance, but the music is almost always in eight counts. Growing up with what I would call a fairly dense musical background, I listen for the downbeat, the "one" in the eight count (so much for being musically dense if I can't even properly describe the music terminology -__-;; :fail:) So each time I was dancing and restarting the basic six-count, I realized I'd start and step  on a beat that WAS NOT THE DOWNBEAT. OH GOD. This confused the hell out of me and I was constantly not on time with the music (which is another thing that really bothers me: I MUST be moving in time with the music [what can I say, music background, alright?]). 

As a result, the step-cycle as I think of it won't align with the music in terms of the beginning of the cycle, and the downbeats of the music. So if you were to count/tap/snap out a steady beat of, oh, how about 120 bpm (in this link you can also make out the distinct 4-count/8-count patterns) and try counting in 6 (specifically, the steps are one, two, three-and-four, five-and-six) you might find how your six-count cycle doesn't fall back on the downbeat. 

Also, when I said the WCS is predominantly a six-count dance, that was supposed to be a hint; a good number of WCS moves are also done in eight-counts, to make things even more confusing. 

So yeah. Uh, this probably makes no sense, but I'm trying, ok? 

Ok, so if there's the issue of WCS being a six-count dance in eight-count songs, what about ECS, which is also a six-count dance to eight-count songs? Excellent question, this brings me to the other reason why WCS is so difficult to grasp in the beginning. 

And that reason is tension. WCS is ALL about the tension. Not nervous-omgwtfamIdoing tension. Not sexual tension. Not ohgodIvegottoholdinafart tension.Tension in terms of connection between the lead and the follow. This is really hard to describe in text, and is best illuminated via live example, but here goes. 

WCS is sometimes described as a slot-dance, that between the lead and follow, the follow will spend most of her time going back and forth in a line, in terms of floor location. The lead's job is to, well, lead her back and forth in what becomes best-described as a rubber band effect. And that rubber band effect is achieved through tension in the connection between the lead and follow, with the lead's left arm and hand and the follow's right arm and hand. And the best way to describe this tension, that I've heard so far, is Barbie arms. You know how the arms on a barbie doll are bent at that universal Barbie doll angle and never change, and you can't move the arm in any direction except at the shoulder joint? Those arms are exactly what should be mimicked. 

...yeah, like I said this makes absolutely no sense on paper (or rather, monitor). 

But after a few more lessons and enough practice, I learned to pretty much channel out the down beats in the music and listen for only individual beats on which I could time my steps. And I'm not exactly the greatest lead in the group or whatever, but I think I'm slowly developing a reliable, consistent tension when I dance. 

And WCS is just pretty darn fun. It's really unlike ECS, which is peppy, fun, energetic. WCS is a very smooth dance. It's almost sexy. It's slick. It's sassy. The music it's danced to is usually a bit slower, like slow rock, or something bluesy, or funky. 

Here's a nice example: 

Mmm. If that's not slick and mischievous with all the right touches of sexy, I don't know what is.

I really like these videos that show the dancers moving without choreo. Choreo is nice and all, and it's quite show and great fun to watch, but I like watching people who dance to the music and move simply as it comes to them. Successful improv dances like these are also a testament to amazing leading and following skills of both partners. 

Right, so if WCS is sassy and slinky, ECS is definitely all about bounce, and energy, and just overall fun! There's definitely a tension element in ECS, but it's nowhere near as demanding as WCS. Actually, tension is a pretty important factor in all ballroom dances, but more important in some dances more than others, let's put it that way. 

This is my favorite video of ECS: 

This also happens to not be ballroom ECS. I think ballroom emphasizes the triple-step style of ECS, where it's tri-ple-step, tri-ple-step, rock, step, instead of just step, step, rock-step. Maybe it's because I haven't practiced triple step ECS enough, so when I dance it, it's still something I have to think about. I prefer these simple steps so far for the exact reason that I don't have to think about them. Just dance! And have fun.

Speaking of fun, "Are You Gonna Be My Girl," as performed by Jet, is my FAVORITE song to ECS to. That song is SO much fun, ugh, you don't even know. I think it's because I know it pretty well, the verses and choruses and breaks and all. Yeah. So maybe once I find other songs I think I'd enjoy, I'll learn how they go, and have just as much with them too. 

Ballroom isn't all about Swing though, but I have to admit so far swing dancing is probably pulling ahead at the moment in terms of my favorite style. Another major chunk of ballroom is all the latin dances. Cha cha. Salsa. Rhumba. Samba. All those ah's (Just kidding). Latin dances are very fun as well, but they demand a certain attitude that swing doesn't quite possess. To be honest, I think this has to do with the hips, and hip movement/shaking. Yeah. 

If I had to draw parallels, ECS is kinda like Salsa, and WCS is kinda like Cha cha, in terms of styling and attitude. Salsa's a pretty fun dance; it's like...the atmosphere at a great party, I guess, if I have to describe the mood and attitude one should have when dancing it. Cha cha is very flirty. It's about sass. It's about "Hey s/he's kinda cute. Hmm, maybe? Maybe not? Who knows!" 

Cha cha is probably my favorite latin dance at the moment (again, probably because it's the one I'm best at so far). I can have so much fun with this dance. It's also quite versatile; because it's an 8-count dance, it fits with just about any modern pop song. Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." Outkast's "I like the way you move." Cake's "You're Never There." Chris Brown's "Forever." And almost anything Lady Gaga. 

Supposedly after these social dance parties here on campus, a group of BPGers sometimes go downtown and break out the Cha cha in a dance club/bar. That. sounds. amazing. 

So yeah, swing dancing is probably my favorite style so far, but it's kinda unfortunate that ballroom doesn't include Lindy Hop. Now that looks like a really fun dance.

And then there's the remaining dances that I'm not quite sure what the exact style is. Slow dances? Traveling dances? (because they require navigating the dance floor, and you're no longer confined to a certain area). Well, they're the waltz, foxtrot, and tango. I feel like tango would be a latin dance, but I could be wrong, in terms of ballroom classification. Hm.

I know the basics of waltz. I just don't particularly like it. I don't quite have a grasp of how and when to do switch steps and rotate at the right times at the right locations and AGH. Kinda frustrating. But not gona lie, the waltz is so classy and elegant. Once I know how to do it properly, I'm sure I'll enjoy the waltz.

This would be my favorite song to waltz to:


Yeah yeah, it's originally an Alicia Keys song, but this is covered by Maroon. Freaking. 5. 


In case you haven't picked up on this already, I love Maroon 5. And there are very few things I will use "love" to genuinely describe my very intense liking for. Off the top of my head, ballroom would be one of them. Maroon 5 is another.

...'hem.

In conclusion, I am very much looking forward to learning everything I can about ballroom in the upcoming year. Oh yes, yes I am.