Agreed, the whole mood of the song is jive - but quickstep will work as well. (Am I right that they only dance for a very short time?)

Yes, I did mean to say that the QS will work really well to it too - I was getting carried away imagining Jive steps whilst typing and listening at the same time, and I don't do multitasking too well when music is involved!

Didn't they just play the track through once last year, and the two finalists split it between them, rather than each having their own go? My memory is as bad as my multitasking ...!!

Now I'm confused. I thought it was in Latin that the movement came from the feet e.g. the hip movement. Does the rise and fall in the waltz come from the feet e.g the position of the heel?

Footwork is just as important in the Ballroom dances as in the Latin ones, and is probably even more complicated to be honest. Personally I certainly find it much harder to do Ballroom footwork well, but that may just be a case of each to their own.

The rise and fall in the Waltz also comes from the feet. You need to lower from the ball of your foot down to a flat foot to get the fall element, and push from a flat foot up to the ball to get the rise element. Well, that's it simplified quite a bit, but it should hopefully help the understanding of it ...

Thanks for that Rumplebums. I know a bit more about Latin than I do about Ballroom and I'm sure that you are right that it's much more difficult to get the footwork right in Ballroom. The only element that the judges have focussed on has been heel leads.

Im afraid I bore everyone to death with this track at the dance school I teach Jive to it and also use it in the show class and included it in the christmas show

It is a great jive with just the right tick

tried picking a quickstep to the track tonight at the dance school and yes quite easy to do so but it is just not the same as doing a jive to it

I think this is what they do - I seem to remember last year being a bit annoyed that it meant there was no difference in the arrangement to suit samba/quickstep.

think that is the whole idea to pick out the dance from the music

Interesting thread.

Just wish it had started earlier in the series

thank you to everyone who has posted.

It's been really helpful to have some people know what they are talking about to explain it to the rest of us

Spinaker

All ballroom & latin dances should come from foot pressure into the floor. It is much easuer to see the reaction in the knees and hips in the latin american. The ballroom is more subtle but once you get your head round it much the same as latin.

Imagine trying to push something very heavy across a floor, you need to use all your leg joints as they provide the power to push. Now try walking round with stiff leg joints, nasty isn't it. When dancing ballroom whoever is going forward provides the impulsion by pushing forwards, BUT, this has to be done through the leg muscles from the feet (as in pushing above) the flexibility in the leg joints smooths out the action and avoids 'skipping'.

We use a word to describe this which is FLEXION. You wont find it in any dictionary, but it means FLEXIBILITY with TENSION. Too much flexibility and it looks floppy and disjointed. Too much tension and it looks stiff and starchy. Getting the balance between the two is the art.

In ballroom there is rise and fall in each figure which work with the footwork to give the overall shape of the figure. This rise and fall should come from the floor through the feet up the legs into the body. The example of Matt D on saturday was that the rise came from his knees, not from pressure into the floor.

I'm sorry if this sounds terribly complicated, it's one good reason why people need an actual teacher rather than a book or a video. A demonstration is worth a thousand written words.

To anyone thinking of taking up dancing, look up local schools around you. The following dance teachers association have web site where you have find local teachers to you. Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) www.istd.org or International Dance Teachers Association (IDTA) www.idta.co.uk. Teachers normally have classes for beginners where they include a selection of ballroom and latin dance steps to get you started. Once your toes are wet you can take more lessons in whatever you choose, dancing should be for fun so whatever you learn and wherever you learn it remember the first thing to do is SMILE.
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Hi guys!!

I'm just wondering, and this isn't to pick at Matt or anything.. but has he lead a dance yet? I know Gethin and Camilla made a big deal of the fact that Gethin led the waltz they did.... Is Matt leading his dances? As I said, not picking on Matt- just curious, I'm a total dance pleb so can't really tell.... Thought this thread might be able to answer my question...
Thanks

xx

I saw a clip of all the couple training for the AT last year, and Kele and Rafe (?) insisting that the males led throughout. I suspect that he will have led in the AT (though as they were... a little static, it wouldn't be immediately obvious).

Ellie

None of the celebs are taught how to lead as such. They have a routine of figures which must be danced in the correct order. What I think people are referring to is the individuals ability to 'control' the routine. This gives a more 'positive' appearance to the dance.

Leading itself is an art form which is built up over years with the ability to vary the routine. Matt C had that ability when their foxtrot routine wobbled and fortunately Alesha was able to follow his lead out of routine and then to get back at another point without it showing. None of the male celebs would be able to do that.
Last edited by STBDDJ : 20-12-2007 at 11:31

Loved your explanation over the last two posts. You don't teach in Kent do you ?

I'm so pleased I started dancing this year. Having decided to lose all the weight I put on as my 'new year's resolution' I started at the gym. As one of the classes was pilates, and I'd heard so much about it, I tried a class and liked the teacher, even though I didn't get much from the class.

With my new get fit and lose weight regime, I decided to dip my toe in the water and take a few ballroom lessons. Found a good school and opted for 6 private lessons - I loved it and found that I wasn't too bad.

Went to buy some dance shoes and the woman who owned the shop was training as a pilates teacher and we had such a laugh as I decribed my 'beached whale' impression at the group pilates class, so she offered to take me on as a 'project'.

Both my pilates teacher and dance teacher are fascinated at the imagery I use, as my own interest is in the training of dressage horses and riders. (Your post above about flexion is so 'dressage', I laughed.)

Now one year later, I walk around with a constant smile, I'm over 2 stone lighter, and my shape is so different, I'm amazed. I have new friends and new interests, life is good.

Dance has become a huge delight in my life, I recently took a Bronze Medal in ballroom and Social in latin. I helped my pilates teacher become fully qualified and proud of my transformation. I know that being ablle to combine and link all my other interests around my dance interest has guaranteed my little success story.

I know this has been totally self-indulgent, but if I could convince one person to make that call to their dance school, it would be worth it.

Flexion is a word in common parlance that means the opposite of extension, i.e. decreasing the joint angle. How else would you describe what happens at the elbow joint when you scratch your head?

Ah, thanks! I think I understand it better now.

xx

I danced years ago as a junior - adored it, did my medals and even won local competitions but was also passionate about horses and was made to choose between the two. I chose horses as Ballroom dancing was going into decline (early 80's) at that time and being near teenage it was decidedly 'uncool'.

Anyway, now I'm desperate to get back into it and, although there are classes relatively near me, can't because the classes near me only take couples and my husband will not even consider taking lessons with me (he's younger and still considers it uncool - even though he ardently watches SCD) - extremely frustrated about it all as dancing was such a joy when I was a kid and being in the same boat as gritty was a year ago dancing would help my weight loss regime.

Not really relevant to the discussion just having a mini rant! lol

Gritty that was fabulous - I hope your story inspires other people to dance too.

Taking the first step towards learning to dance was pretty much the best thing I have ever done. I used to dance way back in my Uni days, but since then a lot of things have put me off going back to it - lack of time having two young children, lack of enthusiasm and support from my other half, and lack of the self-belief to give me the courage to walk back in there.

2007 was a particularly bad year for me with one thing and another, and so eventually I decided to take the plunge and go back to something that I could remember having once loved. As I say, it was the best move I made. I found myself a wonderful local teacher through the IDTA website, and started on a course of private lessons.

I have gently been coaxed not only to remember the steps I once knew, but also to remember how good it used to make me feel. From being a mum swimming in a sea of nappies and CBeebies, dance has helped me to rediscover who *I* am as a person, and what's more, to actually like what I am finding.

It is an art form, a feel good factor, a stress buster, a fitness workout, a brain challenger, a social event, and a DAMNED good time, and I say to anyone that is tottering on the brink of deciding to have some lessons - GO FOR IT!

[/puts soap box back in the corner]

Way to go


passadable



Flexion is a word in common parlance that means the opposite of extension, i.e. decreasing the joint angle. How else would you describe what happens at the elbow joint when you scratch your head?

Bend it?

What a cheerful story of dance as part of life, a one-year journey by a woman now fitter, slimmer, and happier.


SCD has attracted the attention of 11 million non-dancers by featuring glamorous celebs, with excitement and pathos added through competition and eviction. As for the celebs' journeys, in the rush to perform weekly and survive, celebs had barely enough time to perfect one scripted routine with one fixed partner, much like a dancing seal. Fundamentals have been skipped to such an extent that once fallen into trouble a celeb (a male leader in particular) cannot get back into the dance.

SCD appears to attract spectators of whom over 90% appear to be non-dancers. I slightly disagree with bendymixer in that, now with millions of new dancers thanks to SCD, there will soon be appetite for an updated variant of Come Dancing, aimed at dance participants as well as spectators. There is a precedent for this: when snooker interest skyrocketed in the eighties, snooker programs on TV multiplied to meet the new appetite.

Flex it! But ignore me, I'm a doctor and flexion is a word we use in our everyday practice! Was really responding to your comment about it not being in any dictionary.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/flexion

Soulmate

I know that the celebs have rushed form routine to routine but some of them have picked up on some of the basic aspects.

I will use Gethin simply because his knowledge increase was obvious. His strength of movement really started at floor level and came upwards. One of very few male celebs who have achieved this.

Whatever else comes out of this, dancing in general and people who are involved are the big winners. Our school for the first time in years is seeing 50/50 men women new members. Girls, don't pressurise the men, go on your own if possible, men will follow if they think that you are not dragging them.

Pasodable

Knew where you were coming from and didn't intend any offence.

Note to self:

Need to take tongue out of cheek before posting next time.