Not Just Wiggling.
Many people who partner dance look down upon Blues Dancing. They often take an elitist attitude about it, saying that blues dancing is "really easy" because it does not have predefined steps and structure. They also are dismissive, because the dance is "just wiggling".
And some people just dont want to do it because its "too sexy" and potentially "creepy".
Well, I hope to dispell those trains of thought one day.
I just took two workshops from Steven and Virgine. Steven Mitchell has been dancing well over 30 years. He is well known as potentially one of the best Lindy Hop dancers in the world. He has a very innovative style, that incorporates all sorts of dances (even before his 30 years as lindy hopper, he studied jazz, ballet, and modern).
In short, this genius knows how to move. And he brings that to his Blues Dancing, as well as his amazing teaching style.
In two short hours, he had my body screaming for mercy - and I dance about 25 hours a week. If you saw me after a short "routine" you would have though I ran a marathon. But in actuality, I merely travelled 5 feet ... slowly. The thing was, I moved so many muscles in my body, in purposeful and interesting ways.
I worked so hard to make it look so relaxed and easy.
This is often a fundamental aspect of good blues dancing - you spend so much time resisting your own motion and really getting into the floor. Its basically like isometric weight lifting. (this is what gives the dance that sweet molasses look.)
And then he took it in a different direction. We switched it from gritty to pretty. And it was
AMAZING
I cant even really do it justice by describing what I saw, or what I felt. So I will just let a sample video do the talking for me. Here is Steven and Viriginie showing off a little bit of their style:
Now decide for yourself. Do you honestly think that is "easy" and "just wiggling"?
If by any chance, the answer is yes ... I dare you to take one of their classes and then answer the question again.
Comments
Any instructor worth their salt will teach you techniques to deal with the creepiness, if you ask. If you cannot find one, I will teach you. The main thing that ladies dont usually process is that
1) Their body and comfort is their responsibility. (its my responsibility to listen to their subtle cues though).
2) If all else fails, you can walk right off the dance floor. That sends a loud and clear message to him, and *EVERYONE*. You will ruin his dancing for quite some time.
In blues (and other dances), its never intended to be grinding. There is space for baby Jesus in there. You are supposed to be moving in the same direction. (If I pull figure 8 swivels, it just the insides of our thighs lightly touching, at most).
I bet he is either really creepy, or has bad technique and doesnt know it. If you learn how to adjust him a bit, you will likely be doing him a favor. (and other girls!)
Hmm, since I'm very forgiving and patient with guys who just have clumsy technique, I'm going to go with option A: "really creepy".
And LMAO @ "space for baby Jesus". That's almost as good as my riding coach describing this super fancy, extemely well-trained horse she just got: "Helen Keller could get on him and win".