Why do I dance?
"I don't want people who want to dance, I want people who have to dance." ~ George Balanchine
One of the questions I like to ask in my first class with newcomers is "Why do you want to dance?" Of course, not everybody is bold or honest enough, but the answers and their patterns are always interesting.
Majority of guys don't have a clear or convincing answer. They remind me of myself when I was a rookie. If anyone had asked me the same question that time I might have said "'cause it's something that I haven't done before and I wanted to try", or probably with a little more honesty, "my friend dragged me here." One won't be considered very presumptuous for thinking many guys join dancing for girls. That, though, wasn't true for me. On the contrary, I wasn't very comfortable with being in a close proximity with "strange" girls - one of the reasons I had issues learning Waltz! Nonetheless, I have seen enough number of cases where a guy joined dancing to meet girls. Some time back at UMass when I was pairing up our newcomers, one guy came up to me and asked if I could change his partner since he didn't think she was "cute". Not very surprisingly, he quit dancing the moment he found a girlfriend.
Girls, on the other hand, usually have better and clearer answers. Many of them have also been previously exposed to some sort of dancing like ballet, jazz, tap, etc. I still see girls whose one of the motivations would be to meet guys, but I tend to regard that as just a natural pattern.
I also like to ask the same question once the newcomers finish their first semester, provided they continue dancing. The answers at that stage are much better and enlightening. From the initial fuzzy stage, many transform to saying "I love dancing", "It's so much fun", and even "I can't stop dancing." This is when I start getting a better idea about who's going to stay and who would leave soon.
I think it is important that dancers ask themselves the reason why they are dancing. I can identify three major categories based on the answer to this question. Each category is like a stage and each stage is a subset of the next stage.
When I teach dancing, nothing is better than having somebody from the last category. These people are self-motivated and much more disciplined than casual dancers. They are also "contagious" in that they inspire others too.
As far as I go, I disovered long back that I HAVE TO dance! :)
One of the questions I like to ask in my first class with newcomers is "Why do you want to dance?" Of course, not everybody is bold or honest enough, but the answers and their patterns are always interesting.
Majority of guys don't have a clear or convincing answer. They remind me of myself when I was a rookie. If anyone had asked me the same question that time I might have said "'cause it's something that I haven't done before and I wanted to try", or probably with a little more honesty, "my friend dragged me here." One won't be considered very presumptuous for thinking many guys join dancing for girls. That, though, wasn't true for me. On the contrary, I wasn't very comfortable with being in a close proximity with "strange" girls - one of the reasons I had issues learning Waltz! Nonetheless, I have seen enough number of cases where a guy joined dancing to meet girls. Some time back at UMass when I was pairing up our newcomers, one guy came up to me and asked if I could change his partner since he didn't think she was "cute". Not very surprisingly, he quit dancing the moment he found a girlfriend.
Girls, on the other hand, usually have better and clearer answers. Many of them have also been previously exposed to some sort of dancing like ballet, jazz, tap, etc. I still see girls whose one of the motivations would be to meet guys, but I tend to regard that as just a natural pattern.
I also like to ask the same question once the newcomers finish their first semester, provided they continue dancing. The answers at that stage are much better and enlightening. From the initial fuzzy stage, many transform to saying "I love dancing", "It's so much fun", and even "I can't stop dancing." This is when I start getting a better idea about who's going to stay and who would leave soon.
I think it is important that dancers ask themselves the reason why they are dancing. I can identify three major categories based on the answer to this question. Each category is like a stage and each stage is a subset of the next stage.
- I like to dance - these are usually social dancers. They enjoy dancing, but would not compromise much in their lives for it.
- I want to dance - these folks are more definitive than just occasionally doing some dancing. They want to learn and do more. Given enough motivation, opportunities, and environment, they would train for competitive dancing.
- I have to dance - these are hard-core dance lovers. They cannot survive without having a good doze of dancing. They would not only learn and train, but make dancing an integrated part of their lives. Hats off to these people!
When I teach dancing, nothing is better than having somebody from the last category. These people are self-motivated and much more disciplined than casual dancers. They are also "contagious" in that they inspire others too.
As far as I go, I disovered long back that I HAVE TO dance! :)
posted by Chirag Shah | 12:15 AM
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