顯示具有 dance musicality 標籤的文章。 顯示所有文章
顯示具有 dance musicality 標籤的文章。 顯示所有文章

2018年5月7日 星期一

Booty Booty - Hip Actions for this new craze Kizomba


Hip Hip Hippy!!

Well, Latin Dances never die, however, the dance genres are taking turns to make a craze. Not so long ago, the dance Kizomba started to rock the world and people are literally sooooo crazy about it that you can only find this dance everywhere. With a little googling about, one can easily identify this dance since it has a very sensual hip movement incorporating in all dance step, you may even feel like this is a Latin-Belly-Dance. And because of this very fluid and versatile hip movements, people cannot really manage to 'dance' but to make just footstep. 

Now, let us see how the hip should go. 

First thing first, a Latin dance should be danced with the Cuban Hip Action (and this is not a term limited to Ballroom Latin). So if you do not know what is the Cuban Hip Action, you can check it here or an older post here. If you can do it but not knowing how do we call it, you should remember it from now on since it is most fundamental action in all Latin Dances. 

Then, apart from the Cuban Hip Action (which is drawing a figure eight with your hips), there is another hip action that involves Pelvic Tilt when knees are bent (the whole thing is a bounce). This is largely used in Ballroom Samba. 

And we also have a Pendulum Action going together with the Samba Bounce (look it up in the Dance Glossary if you need).

After you get the idea of these three hip actions, try making steps on every beat of the music applying all three actions. Then you should be able to get the basic Kizomba hip rhythm. 

After you can master the basic hip actions in Kizomba, you can try to apply other hip actions. If you find yourself not doing any new actions but to fit those 13 hip actions to different steps and moves, congratulation, you get it! Remember this, all Latin Dances share the same technique.  



...................................................

2018年3月12日 星期一

Three Very Confusing Turns in Latin Dances

Kandykane Dancing

There are three very confusing turn-in Latin dancing, the chaine turn, the three step turn, the spiral turn (you can check the dance glossary here). 

The execution of each is given below:
Chaine turn: 
- 1/2 turn towards the stepping foot, 
- usually takes half beat for each step. 

Three step turn: 
- one full turn towards the stepping foot,
- usually on the second step of a 3-step set, 
- usually takes half beat. 

Spiral turn: 
- one full turn opposite the stepping foot, 
- the turn will twist the legs,
- usually takes two counts either half-half beat or one-one beat. 
 
For all turns:
- All turning and spinning technique should be applied. 
- Posture and weight distribution are necessary.

A little tips to dance the turns:
Each turn itself is an individual action, such action will be incorporated with others to form patterns. It can also be used to advance the syllabus step, to make your dancing more interesting. We need to always remember that, figures are not our dances, they are essential reference for our dancing and thus can be varied to help our presentation. The musicality and character of individual dance should remain while incorporating turns and spins. 


 
It is also important to note that the turns can be used in all different kinds of dance (ballroom, jazz or others) but not only Latin Dancing (despite our title here is for Latin Dance). 


...................................................

2018年2月26日 星期一

Couple Freestyle (part 2)- How to Couple Freestyle?



Yes, a couple dancing improvisation is the couple freestyle. 

So there comes two major questions: first, how to improvise; second, how to improvise well.

For the first question, we can just get back to the basic questions- what is the basis of dancing? Dancing is the combined result of your enjoyment of music, your rhythmic body movements, your emotional expression through music. So first, you need to feel the music, mind that I didn't say know the music, I said 'feel' the music (Corazon). 
Then you need to train your body to move as the way you want it move (enhance flexibility, muscle strength, muscle endurance). So that you can express the music through the morning of the body. In order to do it in a coupled way, you also need to under the mechanism of leading and following (come check here if you need help with these techniques)

Improvisation is a grand term, the basis of it is your understanding of dance, music and body. Complete beginners can also improvise, for example, a beginner cha cha cha dancer would dance 23 and chasse, and the improvisation comes when the dance is led forward or backward or side, it can be progressively forward, or progressively backward, or progressively sidewards, or going around the lead, or going around the follow, the follower may not know which direction the lead might lead but can still follow, for all the follower needs to do is to keep the rhythm and 'follow' the hint that the lead gives. From this instance, one does not need to be very experienced to tell that once both dancers can take the steps at the same rhythm, improvisation would be reasonably easy. So the answer to the first question is to know the basis. 

The second question will be a little tricky to answer, for I would say 'do the basic well then your improvisation will probably be quite well'. Yes, and I can imagine that how you get crossed and say what the rubbish I am talking about. However, this is what you would probably get from different teachers. Maybe every teacher tends to use different languages or different ways to interpret, the fundamental concept is the same, you know what, because we call this the basic, and the fundamental concept is the 'basic', and to build up high level technique you need the 'basic'. 

This is not bullshit. This is the truth. 

Now let's break it a little further. The rhythm is the first you know, then to do well in improvisation, I have to mention that the posture and frame are the keys. 

Since the both the leader and the follower would not know the next step, the mindset at the point would be like 'everything is maybe', that means, when they place their foot, it is usually not fully weighted as the step could be a 'Q' or 'S' so in order to avoid a retard it is needed to keep 80% weight instead of full weight, in this case, the centre is always at its place. 

When they turn they tend to suspend the altitude until the driving fades or there is a stopping step made. The reason for the height is that they have no idea if the turn is an underturn or overturn, or a double turn or a triple turn, or just a standard turn, if they do not hold themselves high the turn will be collapsed. However, staying high all time will make any turn look elegant. 

The above two are about the posture during the dance. These tiny points help graceful dancing, now if you need to lead and follow without harshness, you will need the frame. A proper frame gives the couple 5 connecting points, and these five connecting points help convey information about directions and dance steps- imagine you are walking with clothes on or taking clothes in hands and walking naked. I like them on my body because it is easier and it is more romantic. Remember, partner is part of you. Dancing make two into one so that the couple can glide across the floor together effortlessly.


...................................................




2018年2月12日 星期一

Couple Freestyle (part 1)- What is Couple Freestyle?


I was reviewing the ISTD examination materials (not that I need to take the exams again, I just do this regularly so as to refresh the most important fundamentals), there was a section called "Couple Freestyle". So what is Couple Freestyle?

If you may not know Disco Dancing, which include all Mambo dances (Cha Cha Cha, Salsa included), Swing dances (Jive, East Coast Swing, West Coast Swing, Lindyhop, Charleston... all included), and Argentine Tango, together with Ballroom Dancing, which include Polka, Waltz, and Tango, are all freestyle.

Now your jaw dropped. You may know that Argentine Tango is mostly improvisation, but Ballroom Tango, and Waltz and the others... You think I must be kidding, but I can assure that they are definitely freestyle. Oh maybe not quite all, these dance genres in Sequence Dance do have sequence and cannot be improvisated.

Well in short, everything that involves a 'Lead' and a 'Follow' can be Couple Freestyle. But then we have a problem- how to couple freestyle well?

Tell you next time.







...................................................

2017年12月4日 星期一

The Latin Beat


Kandykane dancing

I assume every one knows what is Latin Dance (if you still have doubt about please read the article here first), in order to dance Latin Dance, we need to dance the Latin Beat. Since all the nowadays Latin Dances somewhat relate to the Mambo, it seems not quite possible to dance Latin dance without knowing the Mambo rhythm. 

We all know that there are three kinds of Mambo rhythms:
  1. Single Mambo, which is the 234hold, each count take 1 beat, same as the International Styled Rumba.  
  2. Double Mambo, which is the 2 3& 4& hold, valued 1, half-half, half-half, one. 
  3. Triple Mambo, needless to say, it is  the Cha Cha Cha, counting 234&1, and that is exactly why Cha Cha Cha was called Triple Mambo when it first appeared in the 1950s.
From these three basic rhythms, we have developed some variations by syncopating between the regular beats using the '&' beat or the 'a' beat.  

The '&' beat is used between full beats, for example, the regular single is 234 hold valued one-one-one-one, then we change it to 2&3&4&hold, valued half-half half-half half-half hold. Or we can double the Triple Mambo by putting the '&' beat in between the full beats, making the 234&1 to 2&3 4&1. 

The 'a' beat is used between half beats, or used to replace the half to indicate a delayed action, or used to indicate a quick action. We then have the 1&a 2&a 3&a 4, valued half-quarter-quarter, half-quarter-quarter, half-quarter-quarter, one; or the 1a 2a 3a 4, three-quarter-quarter, three-quarter-quarter, three-quarter-quarter, one.  

Wow, that seems so complicated! However, it is needed if you want to really dance the Latin dance- no matter which Latin dance it is- because a true Latin dancer is one who dances Cuban motion to any of the basic and/or the variation of the Mambo rhythms. So let's practise with the Latin beats and enjoy dancing!

...................................................
instagram.com/kandykanedance

2017年8月14日 星期一

The Magic of Actions


I always say that body actions are limited, because how the body is built basically governs what you can so, for instance you just can twist your hips and do a hip roll, but you can't twist your hip 360 degree no matter how flexible you are.

Then there is the music which is defined by a number of things like time signature and tempo, chords and tones etc.

Yet, I also emphasize that there unlimited ways to dance with limited body actions. Let's take a look at the simplest dance move, step-tap and see how simple action fit in the music.



1. Simple step tap;
2. Step tap with a dip;
3. Step tap with a swing;
4. Step tap with syncopation;
5. Step tap with a hip rock;
6. Step tap with a wiggle & hitch;
7. Step tap end in a slide;
8. Step tap with a ripple;
9. Step tap end in a sit.

What other variations can you create? Share with me. 

...................................................
instagram.com/kandykanedance

2017年7月31日 星期一

Dancing is a harmony...


Dancing is the harmony within your body and between your body and the music.

Body means the body actions that express your feeling.

Music has a time signature, a tempo and a rhythm.

Body actions may have rhythms differ from the music's, but time signature and tempo largely defines which dance it is going to be.

Music goes with a melody, telling its story.

Body actions should interpret the music.

Music has its own personal feeling.

Body actions intersect the music's feeling and dancers' personal feeling.

Music is created by limited elements but giving numerous possibility.

Body actions are limited but the number of combinations is infinity.

Music is not written for dancing, it governs the dance.

Then what is dancing?

Dancing is the harmony within your body and between the music and your body. 

...................................................
instagram.com/kandykanedance

2016年11月21日 星期一

Conserve our Dances




It is not uncommon for us to pull elements from other dance styles to create our own routines, in fact,this has been a long tradition in the evolutionary history of dance to share figures (click here for Dance History at a Glance, or here for Dances' History Intertwined for more). Through so many years of 'sharing', our dances now look the same- if you mute the music, you can't tell whether a couple is dancing Salsa or Samba, ChaCha or Rumba.

Is it inevitable that the individuality becomes blur? Maybe not.

Certainly we gave the same figure in a number of dances, for instance, the very popular figure, chasse, is in Jive, Cha Cha Cha, Waltz, Quick Step, Paso Doble, but when it is executed, the dance never looks alike (read here for the Chasse in different dances) because first, the music which defines the dance has significant difference; second, the dancers are alert of the personalities of the dance.
People who see dancing is just a series of steps may be able to dance a number of dances styles, but they do not identify the characters of each dance. We give each dance style a name because even they all evolue from the same one source, i. e. Mambo, each descendant has its own style!

Personally, I think keeping and retaining the difference is important. Not only because it is the key to win in a competition, but also because of the cultural value. We pull the figures and share the steps because we want to enrich the world of dancing; if we lose the dances and merge them all into one, we are actually achieve the opposite.

...................................................

2016年11月7日 星期一

Actions, Rhythms & Diff Dance Styles (part 2)- Rhythms


Kandykane teaching dancing in a class

Hey social dancers, so you know the basic if 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4, and you know you break on 2 for some dances but then you basically step on every beat, except when you chasse on the & beat. These are all you know about social dancing.

I believe this is also true for most social dancers. It is true that we only dance to these few time signature, however, exceptional dancers can make magic with just these few rhythms. We have beats and we step on the beats, but do not need to only step on those hear-able beats! If we can chasse on the &, we do not need to always fall back to the same old rhythm 23 4&1, we can change it to 2&3 4&1, then we can try 2&3&4&1! Now we must have busy feet!

If you are too busy with the feet, maybe we can hold for a beat or two, yes, it is absolutely alright to hold the beat. And in fact, you can hold whichever beat you want even it is Rumba, you can hold 23 then dance 4&1&. Just forget about the rules and experience it yourselves!

Do you actually know that we also have a beat? It is mostly used in Samba but it does't mean that you can use it in other Latin dances. Try implementing the a beat with you hip actions, then with feet actions, and then with body actions! Now you have a much richer dance!!

In the world of dancing, if you keep limiting yourself with the same old rhythm same old action, you will get tired of your own dancing. You know, we have a tune, a time signature,  a tempo and limited body actions (as we need to fit into the plane of motions), but the possibilities of outcomes? Infinity.


Part 1- Actions
Part 2- Rhythms (you are here)

...................................................

2016年10月24日 星期一

Actions, Rhythms & Diff Dance Styles (part 1)- Actions


Ballroom Dancing

We have syllabus figures for dances, not only the International Standard and Ballroom, other Club Dances are also very well developed to have their own syllabi (check here for Dance Learning Notes). However, there is no need to study the syllabi thoroughly to tell that we in fact have a limited number of figures in each syllabus (well, I can recall that we only have a total of 143 figures for the five International Latin dances), but we can always have surprises in a good show, why?


It is because the choreographer can make use of the basic actions to re-create new combinations of dances (read here for more about Choreography). In Latin Dances, no matter the Ballroom Latin or other Latin Dances, as long as it’s partner dance, people usually just focus on the feet and overlook the arms.

Dance, especially a good dance, does not mean the foot step; dance, if not initiated from the spirit and presented with the whole body, can only make a correct dance but never a lovely dance- think about normal handwriting and calligraphy, one is writing correctly, one is writing artistically.

We have already learned the 13 fundamental Hip Actions (check here if you haven’t), now let's see some body actions that we can have in our dancing.



Part 1- Actions (you are here)
Part 2- Rhythms

...................................................


2015年4月20日 星期一

A little more compicated to be Musical

As a dancer, you must know the beat, tempo, meter and measure, time signature, note values, simple meter, compound meter, mixed meter, accent & syncopation (if you don't, click here for my dance glossary or click here to see what is Dance Musicality). The next step is to understand rhythmic pattern and musical phrases.

Rhythmic Pattern- created by the combination of note values, accents, and meter. For example, a simple Waltz in 3/4 time with the accent on the first beat of the bar would have a rhythmic pattern of one, two, three; a 2/4 time with the accent on the first beat would have a big rhythmic pattern of one-two. Normally accented 4/4 time would have a rhythmic pattern of one-two-three-four, with a major accent on the first beat and the lesser accent on the third beat; a syncopated rhythm in 4/4 time might have a rhythmic pattern of one-and-two-and-three-and-four-and or accenting the upbeat, one-two-three-four. More complicated rhythmic patterns are created as notes of differing values are combined.

Musical Phrases- is a division of the musical line, somewhat comparable to a clause or a sentence in prose. They are like short statements that comes to recognizable points where the person who is giving a speech needs to take a breath. A musical phrase is at least two bars long. In most dancing I have been involved in like Latin, Ballroom, Line, Jazz and other improvisation, music in 4/4 time is usually counted in two-bar phrase which means eight counts. Breaking a sequence into phrases makes it easier for dancer to remember the steps.

These two highlighted points are the combined result of the terms we have discussed before in Dance Musicality. Through time, with continued exposure to music, a dancer will develop an ability to recognize tempos, meters, accents, rhythmic patterns, and musical phrases.

* Figure adapted from Jump into Jazz


...............................................................................................................

Follow me for more updates on:

facebook.com/KandykaneDance

instagram.com/kandykanedance

2015年3月10日 星期二

Versatility of a dance

In my opinion, none a dance is not versatile. Even formal dances like Waltz, it doesn't only have the timing 123 or 12&3; nor it only takes closed hold position. More advanced dancers know how to make the dance better by delaying the timing a little more and to take the step on 'a', and experienced dancers are able to lead and follow in the Side by Side position and pick up a same foot routine, creative choreographers love trying to incorporate figures and movements from other dance genres. In popular dance shows, there is an increasing influence from jazz dance and contemporary dance.

Trained teachers of more formal classes mostly believe that dancing the syllabus way in an organized setting provides a solid technique ground and a sound knowledge base for you to create your own routine with your own style. It is a fact that all Latin dance beginner classes start with the bronze figures and learners are taught the most fundamental steps and everything exactly the same as the syllabus. When they move on, variation of timing will be taught, delay and syncopation are the two timings that we need to manage. At the same time, 'new' figures are taught. However, 'new' figures are not new, they are basic syllabus figures got broken down and re-combined, plus some fundamental Latin actions in between.

Social dance class focus more on 'social' and less time is spent on technique like centre and balance; however, even social dancers feel the need of proper technique when they come to a point that they find their dancing has come to a bottle neck and they want a break through. Like, proper footwork is needed for precisely predicting which foot the partner will be on so as to determine which foot should be moved next. Without consensus on the weighted foot, leader might accidentally step on the followers' and the followers might find difficulties to maintain harmony in dance.

The ability of applying different rhythms and timings is equally important in creating a good dance. It is not only an essential element in set routine, it is vital in improvisation in which synchronizing the partner's rhythm and cooperating accordingly forms the basis of the dance.

So, the condition for a creative dance depends on the dancers or the choreographers, not the dance itself. If a dancer can apply rhythms and timings, incorporate different dance moves, rearrange figures and actions, plus clever floorcraft skills, every time this dancer on the floor will bring surprise. Some tend to achieve this in a top-down way, some like to take it reversely; no matter whIch way, successful dancers acquire the technique before entering a higher level. If you want to join them, dig your dancing deeper, and learn more about the other dances.

...............................................................................................................

Follow me for more updates on:

facebook.com/KandykaneDance

instagram.com/kandykanedance

2015年1月21日 星期三

Swing/Rumba/Foxtrot to the same music

Usually when music starts, people start to dance. People tend to think that the music should fit a particular dance style, and they all dance the same thing when the music starts. I used to think that way too and sometimes got confused whether a piece of fast music should be Jive or Quickstep, a very fast song with heavy Latin feel should be Samba or Salsa, a neat two-beat sounded quite like Tango but also Paso Doble-able.

After some more professional exams and some more of studying, I now know that it is not impossible to dance different dances at the same time to the same music on the same floor. The Dance Floor Etiquette explains a lot. It is because our floor, ideally, should be zoned in which different dances are danced in the specified area. If there is only one dance on the floor, we will not be required to study the etiquette.

But how does it happen? Surely we need some basic dance musicality so that we can match the dances and the music. To start with, we need to have a basic knowledge of the features of different dances, “Musical Fact Sheet for Different Dance Styles” is just a quick note for you, from the chart we can see that Bolero and West Coast Swing can share common music; East Coast Swing, American Rumba and American Foxtrot can be danced to the same song, Salsa and Mambo are a pair too. Check it carefully and you can find a lot of possibilities. And of course, Line Dancing can be danced to all music so Line Dancers can always stay at the centre.

So we can see that it is possible to have East Coast Swing at the centre, American Rumba in the inner circle, and American Foxtrot in the outer circle. It may take time to build the courage to Foxtrot when the rest are all Swing-ing- you may told that you are dancing the wrong dance (I am always told not to dance differently), BUT always remember you are not wrong.

...............................................................................................................

Follow me for more updates on:

facebook.com/KandykaneDance

instagram.com/kandykanedance