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The Value of the Basic Level Dances
to Dancers at All Levels
by Neil Koozer
As a wise dance teacher told me, we don't improve our dancing while
learning new things. We improve our dancing while practicing things we
already know how to do. Advanced dancers sometimes look foolish by
trying to display extra styling features while botching the
fundamentals.
For example, in Ph VI cha cha’s I often see dancers using fancy arm
work while doing some sort of skipping on a cha cha chasse, or doing a
dip on new yorkers and other break steps. I even saw a Ph VI waltz demo
in which the man’s hand was spread out like a big spider on the lady‘s
back.
If we’re in the middle of a two step dance we might think, “When is
this dumb two step going to be over with?” Or, we might treat it as a
valuable opportunity to practice fundamental technique. We can practice
our posture, dance position, and dance hold. If we’re in SCP (semi
closed position) we can practice good CBMP (contra body movement
position) on the thru steps. If we’re in CP (closed position) we can
practice the art of dancing in contact with partner without going
bumpity bump. And being very precise on the closing steps will help us
to be more precise in other areas as well.
We can practice floating with only one rise per measure instead of
bobbing up and down on each step. We can practice stepping softly, such
that people on the floor below us wouldn’t know anybody’s walking
around up there. We could try concealing the weight change on the
closing step so that it looks and feels like two slows instead of QQS.
Then we could do all this without bending the legs too noticeably. The
list is almost endless.
What about the truly advanced and matured dancers who don’t need the
practice? What is there for them to do in phase II dances? Don’t worry,
they’re out there with no prompting from me, enjoying the dances by
automatically applying the fundamental technique to whatever comes
along.
An interesting aspect of round dancing is that it is a good “melting
pot”. Although there is a wide range of skill levels, we are really all
the same; we're all a bunch of "clumsy klutzes" who are also fine
dancers. Why not treat an easy level class as a one room school house.
The teacher could crack the whip at the advanced people about technique
without pressuring the beginners. But to make the circle palatable to
all dancers, the teacher would have to crack the whip at the beginners
to take long enough steps :-)
From an article
published in Apart Point Magazine, June 1991,
and
reprinted with permission
in the Dixie Round Dance Council (DRDC)
Newsletter, May 2023.
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