Dancing Brain Dump

Like I said before, this week I've been really busy. I started a full-time job, danced as much as I could, and said good-bye to one of my best friends as her and her husband begin their nomad journey.

In the process, I've neglected this blog. But that doesn't mean that I've stopped thinking about dancing and music...but it does mean that I haven't thought through most of my thoughts. But nonetheless, I want to share with you some of the things that have caught my attention or resurfaced on my radar.


First: I am really enjoying the posts over at It's The Way That You Do It.
Highlights include:
- Getting better takes practice
- Great look into the progression of "Why Don't You Do Right"
- I can relate to his frustrations here and here.

Second: Re-found a video of Dax and Sarah thought I thought was quite cute. But then it made me realize that Dax and Alice both dance with their new partners the same way they danced with each other. Check it:

Dax and Sarah (Swinglandia 2010)

Dax and Alice (ALHC 2008)

(small insignificant note: I really enjoy the move that happens around 1:32ish)

Alice and Thomas (ILHC 2010)

It's not a bad thing, but I just think it is so interesting how each half of the first partner pair (Dax and Alice) made 2 new partner pairs that dance quite similarly.

Automatic Associations

When I hear certain songs, I automatically think of certain moves. Mostly because I've watched a certain YouTube clip a thousand times and it's simply reflex to think 'this move to that part' of the music.

For instance, whenever I hear "Communication" by Slim Gaillard, I see Jo's feet doing the piano part starting at about 2:00.

Or whenever "Hit That Jive, Jack" gets played, I almost always end up slapping my leg (ex: 0:14).
Can you tell that I've watched this video a ton? I've only posted it three times now.

 Or whenever I hear "Gang Busters" by Slim and Slam, I think of this:

I'm sure there are more songs that create automatic associations in my brain, but you get the gist of what I'm saying. 

Maybe this is another reason why my friend doesn't like watching dancing clips (referring to this post)? By having these automatic associations to the music, I'm prevented from letting my body simply dance out the music. Instead, I've created for myself mini routines.

What do you think? Have you ever experienced this? Is it good/bad/neutral to have these automatic associations to certain songs? Let me know what you think.

Social Dancing Clips

One afternoon I was talking with a friend about dancing and the topic of watching YouTube clips came up. He said that he would watch clips of routines, but he didn't like the idea of watching clips of social dancing. If I understood him right, he didn't like watching them because he thought it took away from your own personal dancing...that in watching social dancing clips, part of the art of dancing is lost. Or that that dance was supposed to happen in that moment and watching a clip of it will never do that moment justice.

I think I feel the opposite, that in watching social dancing clips, it's like dancing at the Savoy and learning new moves from other dancers for your own social dancing. Plus, one of the reasons I love being a follow in the social dance realm is the never really knowing what's coming next. By watching social dance clips, you get to see that excitement and spur of the moment playfulness in someone else's dancing. (Although I will agree that a watching a video of a social dance will never match the moment in which it actually happened.)

What do you think about watching social dance clips?

Here are some of my favorite social dancing clips:

Dax Hock and Sarah Breck:

Thomas Blacharz and Alice Mei: (I've already posted this one, but I really enjoy it)

Nick Williams and Sylvia Sykes (balboa):