Beginners Jive Dance Tips 1
Social etiquette - asking
for dances, how, and who to ask
Asking for a dance at a jive night is not like approaching
someone at a nightclub - you will hardly ever be refused.
Beginners can advance more quickly by learning to do this.
As a record finishes, stroll onto the dance floor and position
yourself next to a good dancer and ask them for a dance! The
quickest way to learn is to dance with more experienced dancers,
so be bold. Many experienced men like dancing with beginners
- they don't have to worry about exotic moves to create an
impression! Conversely, many experienced ladies know that
spending time with a beginner is a good investment for dances
later on, so everyone's happy! As much as possible, resist
the temptation to dance with other beginners or just one or
two people - you will learn most quickly by doing the same
move with a variety of partners and especially with more experienced
partners. Ladies - you don't have to worry too much about
learning the moves in the class, but concentrate on following
the man's lead.
Workshops
There's nothing like a Workshop (in Ceroc, 'Cerocshop') to
turbo-charge your learning curve. One-day workshops with small
groups of people can give you much greater insight and confidence.
Listen to the music
Dance flows from the music - or should! Feel the music, the
rhythm, in your body and make your body move to it. It's better
to do simple moves in time with the beat than complex moves
that miss the music. Some styles, such as Blues, are more
about interpreting the music itself than about stringing together
a series of moves - this approach makes for an interesting
dance! Intermediate dancers: Try to feel the beat - listen
to it in your body - you don't have to wave your hands in
time, or keep the beat with your feet or to bounce about to
the beat. Let it flow from your whole body. (Kinetic technique:
listen to your heartbeat before you go on the dance floor;
focus on this internal rythmn and keep the focus when you
start dancing, embracing the rythms of the music and your
partner into it.)
Respect your partner
Dancing is interactive rather than solitary. Part of the enjoyment
is ensuring your dance partner is having fun, so give them
encouragement, let them know you're enjoying dancing with
them, and try to adapt your dance style or moves to theirs.
Men usually look best on the dancefloor by showing off their
partner - if the lady looks good, so will the man. Choose
moves that she enjoys and does well. Give her the limelight
and make her feel wonderful. Respect that her body is her
own and check before you throw her into an arm-wrenching move,
breathe garlic over her in an extended comb, or bounce her
head off the floor from an unconventional aerial move. Throwing
her into a seducer while you drip sweat from your forehead
onto her face as she clings to your soggy teashirt will hardly
endear her to you, however skilful your moves, so be considerate
- shower before dancing and make sure you smell fresh, take
spare clothing for frequent changes if you get hot, and freshen
up often during the evening. Gentlemen can win points by being
gentlemen, and ladies by being ladies; try "May I have
this dance" rather than "wanna dance then?"
Ladies, remember the man is trying to make you look beautiful,
so be gracious.
Intermediate dancers: Sometimes
whatever you do the beat doesn't seem to gel between you.
This may be because you are syncopating the rythmn differently.
Some dancers put the same empahasis on every beat, some dramatise
it differently. There is a big style difference between "1-2-3-4"
and "1-and-2-and-3-and-4". Intermediate to advanced
dancers can listen to the way their partner is hearing the
music and reflect that in their dance style.
Respect those around you
If the dancefloor is crowded be sure to choose your moves
and flourishes with consideration to those around you. Mid-dance
collisions may help you and your fellow dancers to qualify
for free hospital food, but just kicking lots of ankles will
enable you to lose friends quickly.
Eye contact and smile! You wouldn't go for a drink with someone
and never look at them. Looking at your partner reassures
them that you are enjoying dancing with them and also make
the dance look better. A quick look and look away repeated
is probably better than a fixed manic stare. ("Try looking
at them without looking scary!") Make the eye contact
quite deliberate. With close moves like a comb or hallelujah
there may be a temptation to look away if the man is wearing
one of those gruesome jumpers. It's that moment of closeness,
a brief intrusion in your body space, but that's all. Have
a few fixed expressions (saucy or humorous) ready for such
times. Looking away in distaste will totally ruin the move.
Intermediate dancers might want to try the exercises on the
kinetic imagery page for developing eye contact and rapport.
No thumbs or jelly arms
There's a tendency at first to hold on for grim death. As
you get more confident and balanced you will realise than
quite a light hold is all that is usually necessary. It's
both more manoeuvrable and more pleasant. It is very rarely
that thumbs should be used, so if you find you have been dancing
for a few weeks and still hold on with your thumbs, make sure
you break yourself of the habit before you have an accident
and break your thumbs! Different amounts of tension are appropriate
for different dance-styles and moves, and generally the lady
should try to match the tension the man offers her, but whatever
the style or move, a 'jelly-arm' will make it harder to dance.
Make your partner look good
Focus attention away from yourself. It makes the dance look
like a partnership. The man's focus especially should be on
making the lady look wonderful - for most styles it's the
easiest way to dance well!
Warm your muscles up
Try to start off dancing with less energetic moves - your
muscles need time to warm up. Men be sensitive to whether
an individual partner has had time to warm up before putting
her into a particularly strenuous routine. Experienced dancers
may want to do a warm up before dancing - it will make your
dancing more effortless and make your muscles less susceptible
to strain (Intermediate dancers - doing some stretches before
you start dancing makes a big difference! New Zealand Ceroc
classes always start with a warm up, using stretches, spins
and double spins before the dancing starts).
Clothing, and changes of clothing
It's easy to get hot dancing. Take a few changes of clothes
so it's easy to stay socially acceptable! You may also want
to consider the suitability of different types of clothes.
Loose trousers or trousers that stretch well, bras that don't
fall off, smooth soled shoes that are good for spinning. If
you do a lot of aerial moves you may find shoes with a moderately
smooth sole but with some cushioning, such as trainers, protect
your feet for landings better than an ordinary leather sole.
Customised "jazz" shoes have this together with
a split sole for maximum flexibility. High heeled shoes look
nice, especially for Latin dances such as Tango, but they
are harder to dance in. There are a number of specialist dance
shoes distributors such as Katz Dancewear. Some clothing is
less prone to getting wet and sweaty - the "high wick"
technology travel teashirts sometimes sold by Rohan, for instance,
will stay dry longer than a cotton teashirt (they also take
up less space in your shoulder bag). A technique used by many
salsa dancers is to have two layers - a close fitting vest
or teashirt, and a loose fitting shirt over the top. I find
this works quite well - getting hot while dancing is mostly
down to the dancing and the room temperature, not whether
you have a thin additional layer - and the extra layer means
you have a dry surface to offer your partner.
Many ladies like to enjoy high spinning skirts to add style
to their dance - you might want to make sure what you wear
underneath is appropriate and matching. If you wear jewellery,
remember it may get caught or cause an injury - rings and
bracelets should be warn with caution (and consideration for
your partner) and even watches are best taken off for some
types of moves.  |
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