Do dancers always aspire to THAT dream dance?
From talking to dancer friends, modern jive (and more often than not blues) dancers seems to be split between two main types of person. Those who just like to dance, who want to have fun, get a bit of exercise and just love to be out on the dancefloor throwing some moves and having a good time. Then there’s those who are aspiring to the dream dance.
There’ll always be an overlap depending on the situation, the music and the people at the dance. But most people would be able to say which they sit in most of the time.
I love to dance. I dance for many reasons – a love of dance, fun, socialising, fitness, to challenge myself, to enjoy music, have a hobby, the list is endless.
But to achieve a dream dance is what I’d love to have every time I go to a freestyle. It doesn’t happen every time, but sometimes everything lines up perfectly to create that perfect dance connection.
THAT dream dance being the one where there’s the perfect connection between the partnership and the music.
Where both forget everyone around them and are in their own music bubble.
When the music stops and you’re a bit speechless.
Where you get the merry-go-round feeling in your legs where you stumble off the dance floor afterwards.
Where you both just say ‘wow, that was an amazing dance’.
Or maybe not, because it could be embarrassing if your partner didn’t feel the same way and you realise it was a one sided mind-blowing dance.
A friend recently asked the question of her dance peers when was the last time they had a dance with the amazing connection I’m referring to. It really did vary with some people saying they’d never had a dance like that, others saying it was a regular thing. Obviously not all dancers want this – they might just want to have a lovely bubbly, friendly dance to music they enjoy and can sing along to. But there seem to be a lot of dancers aspiring to this – with the comments coming mostly from females.
People outside of dance probably think the aspirational dream dance is a strange concept, and one that can only come between 2 people who’re together off the dance floor. With the magic of dance and connection that can be achieved through music, it’s no wonder that you see so many relationships formed on the dance floor and move off into real life. But most dancers achieving that elixir of dance are just really keen on dance, improvement, feeling the music and dance, and relaxing into the partnership, the dream social dance is what they’re after.
I’m not sure many other dance genres get this feeling. Maybe it’s all about social dancing because there’s no performance on stage required. There’s no pressure to be perfect, in fact it’s unlikely to be perfect in every move. Salsa might be too frantic with a concentration on steps and timing. West coast swing could certainly have this feeling because it’s all about feeling the music. Modern jive in the traditional sense of it (rotating round, ‘bouncy’ jive) may mean you have great dances that are fun, they all go right with every move and you both hit every emphasis or pause in the music. But for real connection in my experience, it’s the slower tracks and more blues numbers that give that high and keep you coming back for more.
Since returning to modern jive I’ve had quite a few dream dances, most feeling like the guy has felt the same, and they certainly keep me coming back for more from dance.
Are you someone who aspires to this type of connection in your dance? Does it happen more with strangers or partners you’re closer to? Do you think it’s an unrealistic thing? Let me know in the comments.
