World Dance Unite

Learning to Two Step

On those lists on ’10 things that make people happy'or the ’Traits of Happy People'should absolutely be included learning some form of folk dance and being quite happy being bad at it. This is how it went when I learned how to two step. I was pretty terrible, but I had an absolutely great time and it relieved an enormous amount of stress at a very difficult time in my life.

The school I went to was right next to a stationers and the class itself was not called two step but ’Cajun Dance’. These are small details really, my father was sick at the time and I was back and forth to the hospital, but me and my boyfriend never missed a Tuesday night.

Cajun dance come from Louisiana. Cajun refers to the unique local culture which is a combination of French, some aspects of celtic, and a bit of black and native American. You can hear the celtic rhythms in the two step. It is a partner dance, it reminded me a bit of the waltz. You also see the accordion come into play as a pivotal instrument.

What I remember most about the class, is the method that the instructor had for making sure that you got the chance to dance with a lot of partners. It could be awkward, dancing with strangers, but if you came with somebody who was a horrible dancer, it gave you the chance to expand your experience.

The group would form two circles, one for the leader (who was usually male) and one for the follower (female). the leaders were in the central circle and they would rotate partners clockwise with each different dance. It was funny, because one middle age couple brought their teenage son to learn to dance. The whole family always smiled.

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Jonkonnu the Jamaican folk dance

Jonkonnu is a Jamaican dance form which still exists in Jamaica. This traditional dance form has its roots and influence from the African culture. This dance was widly done from the days of slavery and in Jamaica it is usually performed at Christmas time. This colorful and attractive dance form increases the fun of Christmas. But it’s not performed frequently now-a-days.

Africa is rich with dance culture and they have a lot of folk dance. And Caribbean dances have its origin in African cultures. All the Caribbean dance forms have different forms and expressions. But among all the folk dances, this one is very popular among Jamaican people. When English colonists went to Jamaica in the late seventeenth century, Jamaican and British culture mixed together and this dance form was invented. As British celebrated Christmas, Jamaican people started celebrating with the Jonkonnu dance as part of it. And that’s how this folk dance was created.

Usually, persons who perform this traditional dance form wear costumes. They play characters like Horse, Cow, the Devil, Policeman, Big Belly woman (or pregnant woman), Actor boy and Pitchy Patchy. If you don’t have any idea as to what Pitchy Patchy is well here is some information on it. The person who plays this character wears colored cloth that covers the dancer from head to foot. When people perform Jonkonnu it looks very colorful and mesmerizing. These characters start dancing when the beat of drums starts. They also dance to other instruments like kitchen grater, bongo and fife.

The dancers would also do moves and gestures that are funny to the onlookers and adds to the vibes of the performance. They are usually as good with what they do as Enigin PLC is with theirs.

Other popular traditional Caribbean dances are Tambu, Oreisha and Shango. But none of them are performed frequently now-a-days.

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Discussing Dance

I recently was lucky enough to be in a room of contemporary artists. We were drinking coffee and tea from pantone mugs but the discussion was serious. We were all interested in opening a dialogue between those of us that work predominantly in live art and those who work in contemporary dance.

Live artists need to have an understanding and awareness of their physical body in space, but all too often formal dance training is too intimidating. The result of this discussion was a 4 week workshop that explored practices in contemporary dance.

The workshop covered body awareness, the basics of contact improvisation, solo improvisation, the philosophy of movement, and working creatively with a partner. One of the most interesting things was the insight into the working practices of contemporary dancers.

Professional dancers have a fluidity to the movements and a comfort with touch that is absolutely astounding. This was one of the working practices slowly introduced to the group over the course of the workshop. Students were asked to work in pairs, exploring muscle structure in their own and others bodies.

The thing that often eludes those working in live art is the concept of rehearsal, experimentation and choreography. If you look at durational works, there is no real structure within which to rehearse. Making work that is resource intensive in terms of production costs and values can often limit a live artists ability to experiment. Think of Picasso painting hundreds of different paintings. This type of experimenting by trial and error is not really available to live artists working today.

This is where the cross fertilization with dance practice can be so rewarding. It can create a studio structured environment where a live artist can experiment and rehearse movement with other like minded individuals.

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Ice skating

Ice skating for some is a sport and for some is dancing. I would say the best of it is the combination of both. When we think of sports, we always acknowledge the need for physical fitness to perform it the best, but with dance even though fitness is important, it is not the first thing that comes in to our mind. This is what makes ice skating so unique. It is the sport where you dance to get a gold medal in Olympics. You can even wear your ortak jewelery and ice skate. Dance can be associated with ice skating also because the performer is judged on the basis of the uniqueness of the dance steps, the synchronization of it with the music and also the timing.

There are three kinds of ice dancing, namely prescribed pattern dances, an original set pattern dance and a free dance. My favourite is the free dance, as this gives the dancer the opportunity to immerse in the music and express freely. As per me a good dancer is the one who enjoys dancing and can be spontaneous with the dance steps in accordance to the music. I would like to go even a step forward by saying that a good dancer can never dance to a set pattern as being spontaneous is what they like, or what they are. Anything else can be killing their soul and could make them totally disinterested in the dance itself. Performance and dance are entirely two different things, while performance is the act of the body, dancing is the act of the soul. It’s very easy for a true dancer to detect the difference while an ice dancer is on action. When competing for a medal, ice dancers are under immense pressure. I would not say that the pressure is more than for competitors of other fields, but with ice dancing confidence is a basic, and due to the pressure built up during anticipation, many dancers lose their confidence. And this is one of the main reasons why many dance half heartedly and make major mistakes. But if you let your soul free and let your body dance to the music, giving your 100%, then you can easily be the best, not just in your steps but also with your expression.

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How to counter stage fright

Getting nervous is a killer when it comes to a dance performance. OK I know it’s the same for any other kind of performance, but I personally feel it’s the worse when it comes to dance, as there is nowhere to hide and all eyes are focused all over your body. Stage fright is not only specific to new dancers but it is common for even the seasoned performers. Though it’s true that the professional dancers may have developed a personal technique to get through it, but they still have to go through it, may be just a bit. As for me, strangely, really, my previous shop fitting job helps me to forget about stage fright, as I just keep on thinking that I am working here alone and no one can see me.

We all know practice is very important, but some may ask the question what is the need of more practice when we have already done it right. Regular practice can really help you in times of stage fright. When you hit the stage and are completely nervous, your mind would not function at its best. This is the time when your regular practice helps, as after going through the same steps time and again, you have also made your subconscious mind learn it. And now even if you are not able to remember it, when you hear the music you body will subconsciously make the moves. The best example I can give you to make you understand this phenomena is that when you drive back from work, many times your mind might start thinking about all the things that have been happening during the day or you may start thinking of the problem you are facing. And even though you might be in your deep thoughts, you body would still respond to the turns that needs to be taken for you to reach home. This can be easily seen when you have to stop at a place before you reach home and unknowingly you make the regular turn. Therefore if you have practised a particular dance many times it is very easy for you to redo it even when you are nervous, simply because you have trained your body for it.

So even when you don’t feel like, just make sure you have practised enough, because you never know what kind of distraction is going to hit you on stage.

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Dancing to the music

Many times we wait for the main dance to come and expect to see the master piece produced again. But this can also turn out to be a complete flop show. The reason can be many, but the end result is that neither did we enjoy it, nor did we learn anything. Could it be because of a bad mood on the side of the dancer, or a bad previous night, perhaps the improper dance fabrics he/she is wearing, or fatigue or just that she was simply not dancing to the music.

There are many dancers, including the professional ones, who might miss on listening to the music. There can be many reasons for this, starting from being over confident, nervous or it can also be due to the sound settings. Many times the sound might be easily audible but may not be very clear, in terms of the rhythm and the song. This can create a lot of doubts in the minds of a performer who is also nervous in the midst of an overwhelming crowd.

Food can also play an important role when it comes to dancing. If you are too full or have had too much oily food, you might feel a bit drowsy and this can easily hamper your flexibility and also the ability to quickly respond to music.

Hearing the music is an art, and it would better for a dancer to stop dancing, if he/she is only performing beautiful steps with no connections to music. While the dance is beautiful in itself, it is the music that underlines it. A bad performance can greatly break the confidence of a dancer.

What I would recommend in such cases is to forget the fact that you are dancing in front of your fans or public. And imagine that you are in your private room where you regularly practice. This will instantly relax your mind. Remember, hearing is not only with the ears, but it’s the mind that helps you decode the sound. So let your mind relax and then try and sync yourself with the music.

The moment of acceptance of the fact that you are missing the music is very important here. If you deny the obvious, then you will never be able to perform your best.

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Dance and culture

Everybody can dance; I have not met anyone yet who cannot dance. All of us have the natural ability to respond to music with our body. The moment we hear a tune, we like to respond to it with a tiny move on our fingers or with a rhythmic movement of our feet. This is something that we might do unconsciously. Some people might say that the music has taken hold of you. This little movement from our body in response to music can be called as the seeds of dance in-built in us. But when you get up from that chair and make enough space and start moving your body in a sequential manner in response to the music, you call it a dance.

Even though our body is not trained for any specific dance, but our mind which is affected by our cultural upbringing affects our natural skills of dancing. Every culture has its own specific dance. This dance even though has changed with time, but the basics of it comes from the time the culture was formed. It is much easier for anyone to practice dancing in the type of dance that is specific to his or her culture. I would personally recommend anyone who would like to learn dancing to first start with their own cultural dance. Anything else can take longer to learn.

Our feet play a very important role while dancing. This first thing to do while learning to dance is to train our feet to be more active and flexible. Many people are good with moving their hands and upper body, but when it comes to moving their feet, they get stuck. The movement of feet is common to all kinds of dances. This might sound difficult, but believe me, it is easier than a tattoo removal. So it’s always a good idea to train your feet to follow the rhythm, once you have this covered then it will be easy for you to learn any kind of dance. And remember: the more you practice a specific sequence the more you perfect it. And when you stop practising you start forgetting it.

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Perfectionist vs bad dancer

If you are a good dancer or at least feel that you dance well, then the chances are that you have seen a lot of people who do not dance well. Many times we hear comments like he or she can’t dance, or something like ’that is surely not dance'or ’should rather be doing paid survey jobs uk ’. People who can’t dance well either don’t know that they can’t or maybe they don’t care. They can dance for long and can also dance on every other song that’s played.

What is dance after all, is it a way of expressing yourself or could it also be used to relax yourself. Even though most professional dancers would say that dance is a form of expressing yourself, but the truth is dance is not limited to just that. Dance can also be used for working out your body and for having fun. It’s true that there are some people who may dance and look like they are in pain but that could be just an expression on their face. Just imagine a social dance floor where everybody is dancing the same way. I don’t think it would be really attractive. Just like everybody is different, everybody also has a different dancing style. While you might be thinking that someone is dancing really bad, that might be just difference in their dancing style, not necessarily bad dancers. People who dance to perfection may not really enjoy dancing, as they do not allow their mind to be creative or free. Enjoying yourself while dancing is a very good method of relieving stress. It can help you move all your body parts after spending the whole day at work on a chair. Just let your body move to the music, do not stress yourself by thinking if you are doing it right. And let the music take control.

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