Dancers?

[alphamale]

Anybody here into dance? (I don't mean "shakin yo booty"). I've done country, ballroom, jazz dance, swing, and others.

[livius drusus]

Split from the Dance (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=140840&posted=1#post140840) thread because that one is for animated gifs and comments thereon.

I know the basics of ballroom from drama classes in high school, but there are all kinds of dances I'd love to be able to do slickly. The Tango is number one on that list.

[alphamale]

Split from the Dance (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=140840&posted=1#post140840) thread because that one is for animated gifs and comments thereon.

I know the basics of ballroom from drama classes in high school, but there are all kinds of dances I'd love to be able to do slickly. The Tango is number one on that list.

Tango is cool. Check out the show Forever Tango, if it plays anywhere near you.

[livius drusus]

What kind of show is it? You mean a stage act like a non-lame Riverdance or a movie or... ? :dancers:

[alphamale]

What kind of show is it? You mean a stage act like a non-lame Riverdance or a movie or... ? :dancers:

It's a dance show, showing the evolution of tango. It has dancers and sets and a band, all from Argentina in the original version I saw. I understand this is the tenth anniversary. Just google and you'll get lots of hits, e.g. http://www.culturevulture.net/Theater/ForeverTango.htm
If you like Tango, you'll like it.

[livius drusus]

Oooo! Brothels and gangsters. What's not to love? I'll definitely check it out if I ever come across it. Thanks for the tip. :thankee:

[alphamale]

How about jazz dance? I've taken that about five times at community colleges, and lemme tell you it'll suck the wind outta you if you're not in good aerobic shape. :snoopy:

[Sweetie]

I figure skated. I grew up in a small place, my parents didn't have alot of money and only had one vehicle. In other words, no swimming lessons, no dance lessons, etc.....for me.

[Anastasia Beaverhausen]

I love dancing; my fave is probably swing. :D

[alphamale]

I love dancing; my fave is probably swing. :D

Ever do any of the lifts? :D

[Legs]

Split from the Dance (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=140840&posted=1#post140840) thread because that one is for animated gifs and comments thereon.


Way to keep that freak off my nice dance thread :bow:

Thanks liv,

:giggle:

[Bella]

Just ballet for me :).

[alphamale]

Just ballet for me :).

Ever do any pas de deux? I was conscripted for a class from my jazz class when I was in high school.

[Bella]

yes, when i was younger (and quite a bit more active, not to mention lighter). i was dropped out of a bluebird lift once, and broke my tailbone :S - that ended my pas de deux run, and i haven't looked back since. i did enjoy it though, but i think i'd have done a bit better if i'd actually liked the person i was dancing with.

i always feel a little bad for the man - it seems to me that supporting a girl, no matter how lithe or pretty, has got to get pretty boring, and not very rewarding.

[alphamale]

yes, when i was younger (and quite a bit more active, not to mention lighter). i was dropped out of a bluebird lift once, and broke my tailbone :S - that ended my pas de deux run, and i haven't looked back since. i did enjoy it though, but i think i'd have done a bit better if i'd actually liked the person i was dancing with.

i always feel a little bad for the man - it seems to me that supporting a girl, no matter how lithe or pretty, has got to get pretty boring, and not very rewarding.

I couldn't do the bluebird in a million years! The closest to that I did was just a shoulder sit, and she better not be more than 130 lbs! They said to the girls that they have to have confidence in the guy, but he shouldn't attempt it if it's beyond him. Also, Number 1 rule for they guys was never drop the girl - if something went wrong you were supposed to grab her. I used to feel like the guy really had to be King Kong in the muscle department to do the worst lifts, although the instructors liked to say it was timing, yada yada. It all depended on the girl "going up" Incidentally, one time a girl attacked me after class!

[Carnivale Ed]

Incidentally, one time a girl attacked me after class!
Why? I know nothing about dance, but were you making her look bad, not lifting high enough, or something?

[alphamale]

Incidentally, one time a girl attacked me after class!
Why? I know nothing about dance, but were you making her look bad, not lifting high enough, or something?

I saw her in a technique class, and when she came out, I said she looked like a little dancing piggy. She marched over to me - I though she was going to yell, but she started this sort of windmill hitting on me - an instructor pulled her off - I was laughing the whole time. Also another girl wouldn't dance with me after another incident. We were trying a lift and not getting it right. She asked me if there was anything she could do. I jokingly said well, you could lose a little weight. I was young and foolish then, and didn't know you never say anything to a woman about her weight, much less (much much less!) a ballerina. The instructor was a guy named chung fu. (I'm NOT kidding!) The next week I said to chung fu where's so-and-so. He said "you talk about her weight, and I see her face change. Not want dance with you anymore." I thought, fuck her. :D

[Bella]

While it's never nice to say much about a dancer's weight (seriously, I don't honestly think there is a dancer out there that isn't worried about the battle of the bulge, which of course isn't to say that we're all anorexic, although there is a high incidence of eating disorders amongst us) - your girl was perhaps a bit too sensitive. I'd have either told you to kiss my ass or gone home and run 10k. Depending on where I was, weight-wise, when you said :). Seriously. At 175 lbs (currently) I know what I look like in technique class - I just don't care. If someone said I looked like a dancing piggy he'd be right.

Your director is perhaps partially to blame too - if you know (as you should, and it appears, did) your limit on how much you can safely transport, then he shouldn't have put you with a girl who was above that. The girl 'going up' needs to have the courage and the guts to just run and GO FOR IT - the guy shouldn't really be muscling her up into position, the momentum from her running into the lift should get her there at least half the way, if not more.

For those non-dancers out there, here's a link to a quicktime movie (http://rekabutt.com/pas/bluebird.html) showing a bluebird lift - not the best quality (or the best dancing; it's not very fluid) but you can get the general idea. also, here's a picture:

http://rekabutt.com/pas/images/bluebird.jpeg

If the guy doesn't catch the girl, the girl lands on her head. If the guy drops the girl, you break your ass.

[alphamale]

I could lift the girl - it was some balance problem. In my experience with amateurs dancers, only half the girls would go up properly. The ones that were good only felt like 60% of their weight, the worst ones felt like a bag of cement.

By the way, about the clip, the grande pas de deux is the only part of The Nutcracker that I like - did you ever see the video of Baryshnikov and Gelsey Kirkland doing it in the 1970's? The choreographer in your clip needs to do better - the guy seems to just be wandering around the stage holding her like a sack of potatoes. There are probably 50 "Nutcrackers" going on in sothern CA - ranging up to ABT. I'm tired of that and want 'em shut down!

[alphamale]

Correction - I do like the Waltz of the Snowflakes, and A Forrest of Fir Trees in Winter.