Beginnning waltz
Tue, Nov. 16th, 2010 10:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterI started taking waltz classes a few weeks ago, and it's a) the first time I've steadily done partner dancing post-grad school, b) the first time I've steadily taken dance classes post-grad school, and c) the first time I've steadily learned a non-swing dance ever. (I've taken a handful of intro salsa classes, always spaced years apart, and one general ballroom dancing class back in freshman year where they teach you one dance a week or something.)
I picked waltz largely because it's within walking distance to my house, and my sister's friend introduced me to the place. I still mean to take a serious set of classes in salsa and general Latin dancing and balboa and more ballroom and I want to learn country dances and Chinese folk dancing and hip hop and belly dancing and and and...
So far, waltz is especially interesting because my greatest impressions of it are through Regency romances (including historical romances set during the Regency because I am too lazy to distinguish between them). I can see why authors go on about it so much! It really is superbly romantic, especially as a contrast to country dances or other dances where you basically switch partners during the dance. Still, every time I read about the hero and heroine getting to, gasp, waltz and how the hero holds her to his manly chest and their bodies are so close together, I want to whap them over the head and yell, "Lust is no excuse for letting go of your frame!"
I am sure they are not literally pressed chest to chest, but still! Frame! You may be the hottest guy in the ballroom and have Satanic eyebrows and skintight buckskin breeches and a dozen mistresses, but I refuse to dance with a grabby partner. Even someone with no frame and a terrible lead is better than a grabby partner.
Anyway!
(Also, if anyone knows exactly how dance cards and sets and the like work, I would love to know. I have never been able to figure out how many dances are in a set and if it's the same partner per set or per dance or if there's a specific number of dances in a set or if you can just make it up or what. That said, going to a waltz social dance was extremely helpful, as they post the dances per each set. I always used to wonder how people in the books always knew exactly which dance would be a waltz or not.)
Anyway for real!
The lessons have particularly been enlightening because I've known box-step waltz ever since I was a kid, and I could never quite figure out exactly how it translated to what I saw on So You Think You Can Dance, and it was definitely not the gorgeous dance praised so in books. I've also seen box-step waltz at a few weddings, and it was stiff and awkward and boring. But! We have mostly been learning cross-step waltz, which is apparently the newest form of waltz. It is extremely confusing because if you forget to cross your step, it's kind of hard to tell from the lead.
Today, though... today we learned rotary waltz and I am in love. It is so gorgeously twirly! The rise and fall makes more sense to me! The squared-off frame is so much easier for me to follow! I feel like I could do it forever, except when my partner and I try to do so in lessons after the instructor has yelled "Stop!" we crash into other couples.
Some of this partly may be because I got an especially awesome lead tonight who was not only a great lead, but also extremely cute and not a college student so I didn't feel like a total skeeve. Also, dear other partner giving me tips, thank you for the tips, but when you keep complimenting me on following your advice, all I notice is that your frame is kind of wonky and you're not leading so well.
It's particularly interesting seeing what's been useful from lindy and what hasn't been. The frame position is of course different, but the general principal is the same. And I still hate people who dance and just move their arms instead of their entire torso. It is extremely hard to figure out where we are going that way. And I cannot get over the traveling! We go in circles around the room! I feel like I did when I first learned how to crochet after knitting for a long time: circles! Having to watch out in case you are mowed down from behind! (Oh, the things they never tell you in romance novels. I suppose it would get in the way of the lust. Next time I read about couples waltzing, I will imagine the hero and heroine so deeply in lust that they stand stock still and block up the entire dance floor, wreaking havoc.) And it's odd being so upright all the time, though at least I am more used to that from salsa.
Socially, it's been especially interesting to me to see how our instructor focuses on couples, as compared to lindy instructors I've had. In the lindy classes I've been to, you might go to the lesson with a partner, but you rotate around the room so you dance with everyone, and you switch fairly often. But for my waltz classes, although we do rotate partners, the instructor will ask you to find your original partner after every three or four partner switches. It's somewhat awkward when you come by yourself and have to memorize your first partner's shirt in a few minutes so you can find him or her later. We also spend much, much more time with each partner than I'm used to. I have no idea if this is a waltz vs. lindy thing, or if it's just this instructor as opposed to other instructors.
Mostly, though, it was nice to see how much the skill of following carried over from lindy to waltz. The moves are totally different, but I found if it's in closed position and the lead is good enough, I can figure out what's going on despite having only learned cross-step waltz an hour ago. I also preen a bit because somewhat annoying partner told me I was the best follow he danced with in the class so far, and awesome super cute lead said I gave very good back and was easy to lead. And another super fun lead said I was doing well and that she liked my twirly skirt! Yay!
Finally, for the one social waltz dance I was at, there didn't seem like there was as much improv as is in lindy. Again, I am not sure if it was just the specific places I went to or if it's more generalizable. I figure it is a little harder to do random riffs to the music and stop and start or go slower or faster if one is attempting to keep up with the flow of the room, but I could be completely wrong!
In conclusion: waltz! Going around in circles while moving in a bigger circle around the room = awesome twirliness!
I picked waltz largely because it's within walking distance to my house, and my sister's friend introduced me to the place. I still mean to take a serious set of classes in salsa and general Latin dancing and balboa and more ballroom and I want to learn country dances and Chinese folk dancing and hip hop and belly dancing and and and...
So far, waltz is especially interesting because my greatest impressions of it are through Regency romances (including historical romances set during the Regency because I am too lazy to distinguish between them). I can see why authors go on about it so much! It really is superbly romantic, especially as a contrast to country dances or other dances where you basically switch partners during the dance. Still, every time I read about the hero and heroine getting to, gasp, waltz and how the hero holds her to his manly chest and their bodies are so close together, I want to whap them over the head and yell, "Lust is no excuse for letting go of your frame!"
I am sure they are not literally pressed chest to chest, but still! Frame! You may be the hottest guy in the ballroom and have Satanic eyebrows and skintight buckskin breeches and a dozen mistresses, but I refuse to dance with a grabby partner. Even someone with no frame and a terrible lead is better than a grabby partner.
Anyway!
(Also, if anyone knows exactly how dance cards and sets and the like work, I would love to know. I have never been able to figure out how many dances are in a set and if it's the same partner per set or per dance or if there's a specific number of dances in a set or if you can just make it up or what. That said, going to a waltz social dance was extremely helpful, as they post the dances per each set. I always used to wonder how people in the books always knew exactly which dance would be a waltz or not.)
Anyway for real!
The lessons have particularly been enlightening because I've known box-step waltz ever since I was a kid, and I could never quite figure out exactly how it translated to what I saw on So You Think You Can Dance, and it was definitely not the gorgeous dance praised so in books. I've also seen box-step waltz at a few weddings, and it was stiff and awkward and boring. But! We have mostly been learning cross-step waltz, which is apparently the newest form of waltz. It is extremely confusing because if you forget to cross your step, it's kind of hard to tell from the lead.
Today, though... today we learned rotary waltz and I am in love. It is so gorgeously twirly! The rise and fall makes more sense to me! The squared-off frame is so much easier for me to follow! I feel like I could do it forever, except when my partner and I try to do so in lessons after the instructor has yelled "Stop!" we crash into other couples.
Some of this partly may be because I got an especially awesome lead tonight who was not only a great lead, but also extremely cute and not a college student so I didn't feel like a total skeeve. Also, dear other partner giving me tips, thank you for the tips, but when you keep complimenting me on following your advice, all I notice is that your frame is kind of wonky and you're not leading so well.
It's particularly interesting seeing what's been useful from lindy and what hasn't been. The frame position is of course different, but the general principal is the same. And I still hate people who dance and just move their arms instead of their entire torso. It is extremely hard to figure out where we are going that way. And I cannot get over the traveling! We go in circles around the room! I feel like I did when I first learned how to crochet after knitting for a long time: circles! Having to watch out in case you are mowed down from behind! (Oh, the things they never tell you in romance novels. I suppose it would get in the way of the lust. Next time I read about couples waltzing, I will imagine the hero and heroine so deeply in lust that they stand stock still and block up the entire dance floor, wreaking havoc.) And it's odd being so upright all the time, though at least I am more used to that from salsa.
Socially, it's been especially interesting to me to see how our instructor focuses on couples, as compared to lindy instructors I've had. In the lindy classes I've been to, you might go to the lesson with a partner, but you rotate around the room so you dance with everyone, and you switch fairly often. But for my waltz classes, although we do rotate partners, the instructor will ask you to find your original partner after every three or four partner switches. It's somewhat awkward when you come by yourself and have to memorize your first partner's shirt in a few minutes so you can find him or her later. We also spend much, much more time with each partner than I'm used to. I have no idea if this is a waltz vs. lindy thing, or if it's just this instructor as opposed to other instructors.
Mostly, though, it was nice to see how much the skill of following carried over from lindy to waltz. The moves are totally different, but I found if it's in closed position and the lead is good enough, I can figure out what's going on despite having only learned cross-step waltz an hour ago. I also preen a bit because somewhat annoying partner told me I was the best follow he danced with in the class so far, and awesome super cute lead said I gave very good back and was easy to lead. And another super fun lead said I was doing well and that she liked my twirly skirt! Yay!
Finally, for the one social waltz dance I was at, there didn't seem like there was as much improv as is in lindy. Again, I am not sure if it was just the specific places I went to or if it's more generalizable. I figure it is a little harder to do random riffs to the music and stop and start or go slower or faster if one is attempting to keep up with the flow of the room, but I could be completely wrong!
In conclusion: waltz! Going around in circles while moving in a bigger circle around the room = awesome twirliness!
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Fri, Nov. 19th, 2010 01:11 am (UTC)It is actually really fascinating and fun and totally different from the step-step-shuffle of most high school dances, and like I said upthread to
I would much much much much rather have a good lead than a hot lead, because when you do, there's that moment of magic when everything falls into place and you're dancing together.