An excellent post! Heather wrote:
<I know it must be difficult to constantly try to find new ways to sell classes and workshops but when it comes to musicality we as consumers should be weary of language that treats the subject like a math equation. To over intellectualize is to tear the music apart. Deconstructing it from an academic perspective kills the essence of this beautiful music and promotes dancing from the neck up. You then create, at best, a kind of clever but soulless form that dances on top of the music merely illustrating how the music works. The best dancing doesn't come from following this path. The best dancers don't use this method but teachers will to sell another class with a title a mile long convincing you that they can unlock the secret. Just something to think about the next time your subdividing your syncopation on the downside of the upside of the quicker slowbeat- in what timing? I forget. Don't be so smart your stupid.> Although she is talking about the so-called "musicality" classes that are such a big waste of time when it comes to dancing better, (and I say this as a musician as well as a dancer) it applies as well to all the intellectualization of steps on this list ... all the analysis, ad nauseum, and search for some formula to unlock the "secret." It is not about brains and command of the language. There was a cartoon in the New Yorker recently which illustrates the point. A nerdy mathmetician has just finished a huge equation at the end of a long blackboard and turns to his colleague and exclaims: "I just figured out why we never get any dates." I realize that musicality is a bit elusive to some but it is not that complex. Just try to hear the basic beat and try to move in time with it. Which means forget that fancy step you just paid for at the latest workshop if you can't do it in time with the music. Over the years that is the single biggest complaint I hear from my dancing partners about other leaders. They do too much and don't hear the music. Maybe that's because they use their brains instead of their ears and feet. Cheers, Charles ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
