From: trb@ima.isc.com (Andrew Tannenbaum)
Subject: Re: remedial waltz (was Re: waltz: how fast is danceable?)
Organization: Interactive Systems, Cambridge, MA 02138-5302
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 02 Sep 1992 22:42:41 GMT

In article <RSHOLMES.92Aug31132200@rodan.syr.EDU> rsholmes@rodan.syr.EDU (Rich Holmes) writes:
> So what's this mean? That we're both mediocre waltzers who can waltz
> well only with much more talented partners? Or that we're both OK
> waltzers but we're somehow working at cross purposes?

Mmm, let me digress on a favorite topic of mine for a moment.  In
essence, you're asking the question, "am I a good dancer or not?"

Well.  The answer to this question depends on why you dance.  I'm not
talking about boring reasons (my SO forces me, to lose weight, I'm
trolling for babes, etc).  Let's look at three common sorts of folk
dance.  You might be in a performing folk dance troupe.  You might be a
balkan dancer specializing in line dances, or you might be a contra
dancer.

A performer dances for show.  You spend long long hours practicing
suites over and over until your various parts (physical, mental,
emotional) ache.  Your focus is to please an audience.

A balkan dancer dances for show also.  Maybe you want to remain
faithful to authentic regional style and so forth.  You are a member
of a line of dancers, but the feel is a personal thing, for the most
part, the physical feel comes from within.  (I know, sometimes a jerk
will try to rip your pinky finger off, that's not what I mean by feel.)

(Here's comes the point.)
A contra dancer isn't dancing for an audience.  Your interaction with
the whole line is somewhat important also, but contra dancing is a
feel-thing, how you feel dancing and how you and your partner feel
dancing together.  Contra dance teachers will say, e.g. when teach a
swing, that if if feels wrong, you're doing something wrong, and if
you're doing it right, you'll know.  Your actions affect how your
partner feels.  Waltzing at contra dances is in this category too.
It's a feel thing, between you and your parter.

So what about the startling realization that you thought you could
waltz but theres a partner who apparently has aptitude but it goes away
when you waltz with her?  Maybe you have an impedance mismatch.  (If
you don't know what an impedance mismatch is, don't worry.)  Waltzing,
like the other types of dancing I've mentioned, have technique up to a
point, but beyond that, it's a feel-thing, it's interaction between two
people, it's subjective, a matter of choice and preference.  As I've
mentioned in this group many times, I dance and lead with a very light
touch, that's my personal preference.  Some women love it, and I enjoy
dancing with them.  Other women think I'm a limp-wristed twit who
doesn't lead unless cajoled.  With them, I trundle heavily about, and I
don't find it quite as sublime.

When you perceive a problem, it's possible that when you and your
partner are "doing something wrong."  It's also possible that you
like vanilla and she likes chocolate, and neither of you can readily
be construed as wrong.

	Andrew Tannenbaum   Interactive   Cambridge, MA   +1 617 661 7474
Newsgroups: rec.folk-dancing,oh.general,pa.general