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| picture from Wikipedia |
At that time, the trot did not have the grand posture as it has today. there wasn't an idea of the strict CBM, but the hold was more like the embraso (as in the Argentine Tango), there was bouncing, and the foot work didn't really fit the Heel Toe theory that we teach and learn today.
They danced like everyone can do, and that's how people got to enjoy dancing to the fullest. On the contrary, today when we get on to the social dance floor, the first thing first is to try to apply the specific routines that we learned in class, the second is to criticize how the other people dance- how the frame got collapsed, how the posture was wrongly posed, how the footstep was placed in the wrong way, how the footwork was applied improperly, how the whole lacked the musicality... In short, more than half of the time we are not enjoying the dance ourselves, how we criticize other people shows exactly how we mind the technique instead of feeling the pure joy of dancing- we are demanding towards the other people, we are also demanding towards ourselves.
I am not saying that technique is not important, rather opposite, it's very important. However, the importance of technique is wrongly beheld on a social dance floor. Technique is a thing that we learn and perfect in a classroom, it is a thing we present and flaunt on stages and in competitions. However, the importance of technique should not be put in the first priority on the social dance floor. The word 'SOCIAL' tells us that the floor is mostly for social use. If you have a solid technical basis, you get more popular, but even if you don't, the lack of technical knowledge should not be the reason that you got to be looked down on, and it should not be the reason that you get to feel scared of dancing clumsily among your peer. Instead, it should be a reason that you get to dance more among your dancing peer, so that you can learn more from the well-experienced ones.
As a keen ballroom dancer, I honestly love the way how the modern Ballroom looks today. The way people trotted and foxtrot-ed in the 1930s, no matter how nice they were, is really confusing. Because, to me, that is definitely Swing.
However, I love that atmosphere more. It was so encouraging. Just by looking at those black and white films, one can already feel their passion. I think this is one thing that we need to learn from the 1930s' Trotters.
P.S. Actually, I also like Swing dancing. I just like to have a more concrete definition on a dance genre.
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